The campaign of Destiny 2 relies on very special gameplay that can be fun if you don’t overdo it while gaming.
On Tuesday, the new expansion of Destiny was released, The Edge of Fate. I was eagerly staring at the screen, waiting to jump into the new campaign. Then it started, and I did my best to rush through the story as quickly as possible so I could share my impressions of the gameplay with you – and unfortunately, that was exactly my mistake.
A campaign that does NOT invite grinding
In my opinion, The Edge of Fate has a difficult position, making it not easy to give a recommendation to buy or a “stay away from it”. At its core, the expansion plays like a typical Destiny campaign, but with an aspect that some Destiny veterans or shooter fans might hate.
The gameplay is very straightforward and just what veterans have been used to for years: You rush from mission objective to mission objective, shooting a bunch of aliens and picking up some loot here and there. The structure of the missions follows a consistently repeating pattern.
However, this consistent pattern made the gameplay feel repetitive after about 2 hours of continuous playtime. I quickly felt the urge to play something else, make food, or simply go to sleep – which is suboptimal when you want to rush through the campaign to write a report on it.
Now comes the big BUT:
For the casual player who takes their time while gaming, this shouldn’t be a problem. Just play 2-3 hours per day, take breaks when you feel like it, and continue from where you left off the next day. Feel free to take the whole week for the campaign because if you play 1-2 hours casually, the gameplay loop is really okay. Since I was very tired on Tuesday, I stopped early and went to sleep. On Wednesday, I had no problem with the mission design at first – that only came after several hours.
Casual gamers, occasional players, and gamer dads might have much more fun with the mission design than hardcore gamers, content creators, or other enthusiasts who rush through the campaign in 1-2 days.
The big feature that becomes nothing special after 2 missions
Bungie has tried something with “The Edge of Fate” that meets a major desire of the community on one hand while being perfect for annoying the biggest fans of the game on the other.
The big new aspect that differentiates the expansion’s campaign from the usual Destiny gameplay is the new Matter abilities, such as the Matterspark or the Translocator. You use these abilities to solve various puzzles and progress in the story.
However, the problem with the new abilities is that this gameplay principle is massively overused in the campaign. Every mission is overflowing with Matterspark implementations, to the point where, in a boss fight against a Vex Hydra, you can only deal damage after finding a small hole in the floor of the boss arena, dashing through it, destroying an energy source on the other side of a barrier, and thus disabling the boss’s shield.
This gameplay loop has quickly become very boring and extremely annoying. In the mentioned boss fight, I walked through the entire arena under constant fire from the Vex Hydra for about 15 minutes, searching every pipe, ventilation shaft, and unevenness in the walls for an opening for the Spark. Ultimately, I was too inattentive and missed the opening in the floor for far too long, but that was still a very frustrating and unenjoyable gaming experience in the middle of the boss fight.
Destiny has amazing gunplay and really good movement with cool combat abilities – WHY DO I HAVE TO ROLL THROUGH THE BOSS FIGHT AS A GLOWING BALL?!?! I play a sci-fi shooter to blast away with futuristic weapons, not to play first-person billiards.
Overall, it is positive that Bungie was willing to introduce the Matter abilities, which haven’t existed in this form in the game before. The principle is quite interesting, and in a game like Destiny, which constantly struggles with the accusation that all new content is recycled, this is exactly the right direction.
Critique that may not concern you
So far, my report sounds like a clear recommendation against buying the expansion, but it’s unfortunately not that simple. There are some very subjective points that can fully relativize my criticism:
- If your gaming sessions are of a normal length, the missions feel significantly less repetitive because you then have a certain gap between the missions.
- The Matterspark etc. is not fun for me, but I generally enjoy very action-packed gameplay, tough battles, and I’m not a fan of puzzles. I really want to enjoy the shooter aspect of Destiny.
Overall, it is understandable that a new gameplay aspect like the Matter abilities may not please everyone. That’s completely normal. Nevertheless, the campaign of the expansion feels like Destiny, and if you have been a fan of the game and its gameplay for years, you can have a good time with the expansion. Technically, I had no problems, no disconnects, no bugs, no stutters.
I would also play the expansion even if I expect it won’t be fun
The most important point in favor of The Edge of Fate is the entry into the new saga. Everything that will happen in Destiny in the next few years begins here – and this makes me excited for more.
You meet Lodi, a new, quite interesting and well-written character, and the story of Orin is also excitingly continued. Moreover, at least in my case, curiosity is awakened about what is to come and where the saga will develop. I am really eager to learn more about the past and the end of the Earth; after all, there’s still so much that we Guardians do not know. Lodi and the Nine could change that.
If you plan to play Destiny 2 in the coming years, you should buy the expansion to experience at least the campaign and the start of the new saga. Additionally, a new raid will also be released on July 19 that you can only play if you own the expansion – and new raids are always good. You can read more about that here: Destiny 2: Raid for ‘On the Edge of Fate’ starts in a few days – Everything about the World First race
