In Destiny 2, Season 10 finally manages to continue the story in a cool way. What impact does the almost forgotten threat have and why is it worth looking up at the sky?
What is happening up in the sky? A lot has happened in Destiny 2 since May 5. This time, it’s not about a new Exotic or a balance patch that turns the game upside down, but rather about changes to the skybox, the environment, and the way the story is told.
On several planets, massive towers suddenly appear. If you hurry through the various locations, you might almost think that these structures, which emerge from the background, have always been there.
But the towering giants are not there because of their appearance. They coolly continue the story and will soon become a weapon against an immediate threat.
This is the threat: In Season 10, Guardians face a danger from space. Currently, the oversized Cabal ship is crashing towards Earth. However, this direct threat feels largely in the background.
Guardians are spending their time in Olympic competitions or speculating about the mysterious Pyramid ships, which we have been eagerly awaiting for almost 6 years.
The fact that the orbital threat isn’t really the focus of the season, except for a few short cutscenes (from two months ago), is also to blame.
But now the story of Season 10 is finally picking up speed and Destiny 2 finally achieves what it has been trying to do for a long time.
Storytelling in a Different Way: Environmental Storytelling
Telling the story through the environment: Through seasonal activities such as:
we equip the powerful Warmind Rasputin with weapons and expand his influence. We players form an alliance with the shady AI to restore its former power. For only through Rasputin do we promise ourselves a chance against the crashing Cabal ship.
Now the power of the Warmind has increased through our efforts to the point where it could activate its network of towers – which we see at the locations of the Seraph activities. The environment thus changes with the progression of the story and our actions.
This way of advancing the story without cutscenes, quest dialogues, or lore texts, is something that Destiny 2 has wanted to establish for a long time: For example, Ikora built a Vex portal in the Tower in Season 8. Week after week, the structure grew, but instead of an epic finale, there was unfortunately disappointment.
This time, however, it could be anything but a boring story finale, as leaks show very impressively:
What else has changed in Season 10? Since the start of the Season of Worthy in March, several things have changed that you might have overlooked:
- The Seraph Tower Event is now much harder – Since the newly activated towers, it is in a more challenging phase
- The Almighty is no longer visible in the skybox of Mercury – Since it is crashing towards Earth
- In the EDZ on the Moon and Io, you can now encounter the popular Sweeper robots and lead them on small escort missions to Rasputin’s sleeper nodes
The currently most prominent example of Environmental Storytelling in Destiny might be the Doomsday Clock. There, Guardians marvel at how more and more dark invaders enter the solar system each week and lay the foundation for future content.
Did you notice all the changes in Season 10, or has something escaped your attention? What do you think of this kind of storytelling, and have we possibly overlooked a change?
