Our author Schuhmann believes that Forsaken now shows how much was missing for core players at the release of Destiny 2 . While the story was okay, the underlying game mechanics turned out to be too thin. Can Forsaken bring about the turnaround for Destiny 2, or is it too late for that?
Destiny 2 made casual gamers happy: Destiny 2 faced so much criticism that we forget the good times. Because Destiny 2 did quite a few things right at launch in September 2017.
Compared to the disastrous story of its predecessor, Destiny 2 had a self-contained narrative. This time, Bungie took the “time for explanations”.
The campaign was set, the story missions were interesting. It was time to marvel at new impressive worlds. Destiny already offered high production values in sound and graphics. Added to that was fantastic gunplay. All of this was cool and provided 6 weeks of fun.
Much more than that is not expected by casual gamers from a game like Destiny.
Destiny 2 was built on sand
But no time for game mechanics: Yet, Destiny 2 stood on a rotten framework. The critical game mechanics were either missing or just alibis that offered no depth.
These game mechanics had still worked in Destiny 1, bringing Guardians to spend thousands of hours in Destiny.
For outsiders, this fascination for Destiny has always been a riddle: “What are they doing in the game for so long?” asked everyone who was not involved.
Because these game mechanics are enormously important for core players. While casual gamers mostly don’t even get to engage with the progression mechanics, the heavy players draw motivation from them to keep entertaining themselves with a game for months.
Then the creativity of the players kicks in, communities form, streamers and YouTubers contribute their part, and a video game becomes more – it actually becomes a hobby. Bungie succeeded with Destiny 1. Perhaps much was not planned, but they managed to achieve it.
The fault was Noseworthy’s brother-in-law
How did the directional change come about? Before Destiny 2, it suddenly seemed as if this “being in the know” was somehow exhausting.
Producer Mark Noseworthy said it was difficult to convince someone to try Destiny.
„Destiny was a game that was hard to recommend. My brother-in-law once asked me if he should play this Destiny game. And my first instinct was to say: Hmm, I don’t know if I have the time to explain everything you want to know at the beginning.”
Suddenly, it was uncool to have to dive so deep into Destiny.
Destiny 2 has taken away players’ character customization
The new design idea: Yes, we are very accessible on the surface. But the deeper you dive, there is substance for the heavy players. This seemed to be the new motto for Destiny 2.
But while the campaign was set, after a reboot there apparently wasn’t enough time to achieve these design goals that had been previously set.
Design goals for heavy players fell by the wayside:
- Players only needed each weapon once – because there were no random rolls anymore
- There were only limited options to customize one’s character – No weapon was truly powerful, and armor pieces played almost no role anymore
- Many decisions about one’s Guardian were boring; they had no effect. The mods felt like a cumbersome attachment that seemed obligatory. You just needed mods with +5
- Furthermore, Bungie slowed down the PvP in Destiny 2 and thus significantly lowered the skill ceiling – top players hardly had any opportunities to shine. This ruined the streaming culture on Twitch around Destiny 2. Many streamers have since switched to Fortnite.
Too little, too late
This is how Bungie wanted to solve the problems with DLCs: The problems had been clear at least since the end of 2017. But Bungie reacted hesitantly and put patches over open wounds.
During the last year, Bungie tried to counteract with “Masterwork weapons”, a strengthening of exotics, and a “Go Fast” update. But all of this felt like patchwork and did not bring about a turnaround.
New game mechanics appear smart and well-rounded
Now was the time: The big theme with Forsaken is to give players back the decisions about their character that Destiny 2 took away from them.
- It should make a difference which weapon you use, what rolls are in the guns, which armor you wear, and what mods you use.
- Moreover, they want to speed up PvP again and bring back more “hero moments”. Bungie wants to give good players the opportunity to shine.
The current game mechanics seem – at least in theory – smart and well-rounded.
All of this is commendable and good. But it also has the bitter undertone that Destiny 2 was released in a state, of which Bungie must have known how fragile the framework was.
How does Bungie explain the problem? In retrospect, a Bungie developer said there was a blindness to the operational issues. They polished the game so much that a lot of the original charm was planed away. But that could only be seen from the outside, not from the inside. There, they thought: “Of course everyone will find Destiny 2 better than 1. It is much cleaner, polished, and better.”
Lead developer Luke Smith said before release that he had ideas about how to make even the umpteenth version of a weapon “interesting”, but he did not know if they would make it into the game before release. They did not make it. Apparently, there were significant time issues before the release of Destiny 2.
Forsaken faces a tough task
Destiny 1 as a basis: Bungie now had a year to improve game mechanics. With many ideas, it seems like Bungie has taken Destiny 1 as a base again but has brought in more depth than before.
It seems as if Destiny 2 Forsaken is now the game that should have been released in 2017. Hopefully, it is not too late for that.
If you watched the stream on “Forsaken” about the combat, it was noticeable how relaxed and calm the developers looked: satisfied with themselves and their work.
This can inspire confidence that Destiny 2 can still make it.
Forsaken faces a killer task
This is what Forsaken aims for: Forsaken aims to re-engage core players with Destiny 2. It aims to win back the players it has lost.
That’s why we keep hearing from Bungie that they have oriented themselves on the community feedback. The company line here is : “Destiny 2 should become a hobby again.”
Heavy task: Winning back the core players will be a tough task for Forsaken. The disappointment is great. Moreover, the core fans had actually wished for quite different things in 2017, like 60 FPS on PS4 and Xbox One or dedicated servers. Those are still not being talked about.
Bungie had to use 2018 to build the foundation that there was apparently no time for before Destiny 2. Any further development is only to be considered once that stands.
The time window for Destiny 2 is still open but closing quickly
On a positive note: Destiny 2 Forsaken comes just in time. There is still nothing to see from Anthem, The Division 2, or even Borderlands 3.
But if Destiny 2 stumbles, these games will be there. The current half-year will be the last in which Destiny 2 has little competition.
