There are two things that I really like about Destiny: its tried and true Bungie combat, and its phenomenal vistas. As I’ve written about in the past, I find the FPS gameplay in Destiny to be engaging enough, and I really enjoy the game’s visuals, but have been unimpressed by its overall approach to content and lack of streamlining. A lot of that has been updated somewhat with the recent 2.0 patch, with more on the way in the form of the upcoming expansion, The Taken King. Here are five things that the update and expansion can bring to Destiny!
5. Activities that Matter
Destiny tends to err on the side of tradition when it comes to its non-story activities. Most patrols consist of kill/fetch diversions, while many quests, and most bounties, turn out to be glorified grindfests. This tendency seems to have been mitigated somewhat by the addition of new types of content in The Dark Below and House of Wolves, but it looks like Bungie is aiming to take it a step further with new strikes, a new raid, and new Crucible modes in The Taken King.
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4. More Class Options
I like my Hunter well enough, but like the other classes in Destiny, it’s in desperate need of some more variety and revitalization. The Taken King looks to remedy the lack of class diversity by adding three new subclasses with new supers into the mix. Hunters will get to play as Nightstalkers, Warlocks will get Stormcallers, and the Sunbreaker subclass will become available to Titans. If Bungie somehow finds it in their hearts to eliminate the ludicrous cooldowns on throwing knives, we’ll really be set.
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3. Nolan North
I like Peter Dinklage as much as the next person, but for some reason his talents seemed to be wasted on Destiny’s portrayal of the robotic-voiced Ghost. In an unexpected twist, Bungie has decided to go with Nolan North for the character’s VO in The Taken King, and has already replaced all of Dinklage’s lines in the original campaign with the dulcet, albeit mechanized, tones of Nathan Drake. Opinions may vary about the change, but I very much prefer North’s take on the Ghost, which is much more lively and encouraging than Dinklage’s.
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2. Streamlining
A number of Destiny’s systems have needed overhauling since the game’s launch, and it’s great to see so many quality of life changes and balancing fixes in the 2.0 update. The separation of character level and Light are much appreciated, along with the commensurate simplification of leveling in general and the cap increase. You’ll want to check the patch notes for the full list of class balances and skill updates, but suffice it to say that Bungie looks to be listening to its community’s feedback and implementing the right changes over time. Destiny’s inventory system could still use an overhaul, but hopefully that’s in the works as well.
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1. More Story Content
I’ll be honest: I’ve found Destiny’s original campaign to be only slightly more engaging than the game’s other more monotonous and repetitive activities. I haven’t played any of the first two expansions’ stories yet, but I must say that The Taken King’s new campaign does give the impression that it will address the lack of meaningful narrative content. Oryx, the Dreadnaught, and the Taken themselves are kind of interesting, and the promotion of the expansion seems to be aware of the need to have more spectacular and compelling presentations of Destiny’s campaign and quests.
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It almost feels like Bungie is reaching a point with their MMOFPS that approximates where it should have been when it launched, but we’ll have to wait until The Taken King launches on September 15 to try it for ourselves.
What do you like about Destiny? Are you going to be playing The Taken King when it releases?
