A new game in the Destiny universe is in development. The first players have been able to test it, and some experienced Guardians have shared their impressions.
What game is it? With Destiny: Rising, a new game in the Destiny universe is officially in production, but it is being developed by the Chinese studio NetEase. Recently, an alpha test (not in Europe) took place, in which well-known Destiny experts participated and viewed the game. Many conclude that Destiny: Rising is surprisingly good but has a big problem.
What kind of game is it?
- Destiny: Rising is a mobile game set in an alternate timeline. It will not continue the story of Destiny 1 and 2.
- There will not be the typical classes Titan, Warlock, and Hunter. Instead, Destiny: Rising focuses on various characters like Ikora Rey, which you can unlock and play.
- The playable characters have fixed abilities. Furthermore, they can only use specific weapon types and subclasses like Void or Solar, and cannot switch between elements.
- Destiny: Rising will be a free-to-play title that relies on a gacha system for monetization. This means you unlock new characters by spinning a gacha machine and hoping to pull a character.
There is already a first trailer for Destiny: Rising, showing some gameplay and a selection of playable heroes:
Experts agree on what makes Destiny: Rising good and bad
Who are the experts? Among the first players who could try Destiny: Rising during the alpha test were some experienced Guardians and Destiny experts who later released a review and video.
We looked at the reviews of English-speaking content creators “Fallout Plays,” Paul Tassi, and Aztecross for you.
Short introduction of the experts
Fallout Plays is a YouTuber and streamer who creates guides, news, and reviews about Destiny, but also occasionally covers games like Helldivers 2 or Space Marine 2.
Paul Tassi is a journalist and writer for the English-language magazine “Forbes.” He is well-versed in Destiny and regularly writes about Bungie’s shooter.
Aztecross is a YouTuber and streamer whose focus is primarily on Destiny 2. In his videos, he reports on the latest developments of the loot shooter, presents builds and new weapons or armor pieces, and shares his thoughts on the latest content.
What is the experts’ conclusion? The impressions of the experts largely align: for a mobile game, it is surprisingly good. While it may not reach the quality of Destiny 2 in some areas like visual presentation, story, and gunplay, the gameplay is generally solid. The negative feedback primarily centers on the monetization.
What is good? The variety of different modes (PvE and PvP) and the “MMO feeling” are particularly praised. The social system, including the social area called “Haven” (the counterpart to the Tower), is especially well-received and is said to be even better than in Destiny 1 and 2.
Additionally, there are features they wish to see in Destiny 2, such as Sparrow racing, new exotics, weapon perks, or a clan area that the clan can collectively expand and upgrade. Aztecross praises:
What is astonishing is that Destiny: Rising is genuinely a good game. It has really great activities, and the gunplay is pretty solid. […] I expected a mobile game, not even a good mobile game, and what you get with Destiny Rising is truly a fantastic mobile game.
What is bad? The major criticism from everyone is on the monetization, specifically the gacha system including pay-to-win mechanics. Fallout Plays states in his review: “I really wish this specific design philosophy of the video game industry would just crawl into a corner and wither away.”.
Aztecross adds in his video: “This is my only real criticism. […] It’s the monetization that I’m so concerned about. […] I just don’t like gacha systems.”.
In addition to the monetization, the voice acting is also heavily criticized. It supposedly contained text spoken in poor quality by artificial intelligence. However, according to NetEase, this is only a placeholder until the final recordings of the real voice actors are available.
The experts also pose the question of who the target audience for the game is. While they understand that Destiny: Rising is primarily aimed at the Asian market, it seems that due to its nature, it is only interesting for players who are interested in the new lore or enjoy gacha games like Genshin Impact.
The developers of Destiny: Rising, NetEase, also created the mobile game Diablo Immortal. The game has repeatedly struggled with persistent pay-to-win accusations and criticism regarding its monetization system. More about this can be found here: YouTuber reveals how “crazy pay-to-win” Blizzard’s new game is
