People have been wanting some new content for Destiny 2, and they got it yesterday with the launch of Curse of Osiris - the first DLC for Bungie’s MMO shooter. Bringing with is hours of new story, tons of new weapons and gear to hunt down, new PVP, and new PVE options, players should be satiated... for at least a week. That’s the way of the gamer, my friends. This is our Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris review in progress.
Now, some will say it’d be nice if it wasn’t paid DLC, but I’m not going to debate the realities of a world where goods must be paid for. Hell, I can’t complain, I got my season pass as part of my review copy of the game. So I’m not really in a position to make an argument. I get it, I really do. I even said that D2 should have kept most/all of D1’s content as “legacy” content, in previous articles. At least Destiny 2’s microtransactions are purely cosmetic lock boxes and the doesn’t have a subscription, right? Now, onto the expansion itself... it’s fantastic so far.
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The story picks up right where the main campaign left off, with a good solid few more hours of main story missions. I’ve yet to finish it, but I’m hearing it’s more similar to The Dark Below than The Taken King in terms of size. While there are 9 missions total that take about 30 minutes to complete a piece, the real expected “meat” of the expansion lies in its repeatable content, level cap raise, and new light level cap. But it bears stating that the story of Curse of Osiris is a heck of a lot more interesting to me than the Ghaul storyline, as the Vex, Osiris and his past, and the Infinite Forest make for really great sci fi fantasy. I just wish there was more of Osiris, and more of his Ghost, Sagira, voiced by Monica Baccarin.
The Infinite Forest is a cool idea, a way for Destiny 2 to toy with randomized maps. In the context of the robotic Vex, it totally works. I’ve got to do some more in Mercury still, and see what the new Heroic Strike Playlist is like, but so far Curse of Osiris feels like it’s adding more of what the game needed, even if it’s all very similar in content. No real new “features” are here that are worth mentioning, except maybe the ornaments for your weapons and armor, which add more cosmetic variations. Of course, most of them will be found in the Bright Engrams (loot boxes), but at least you still get those for free from filling the XP bar. You can now level to 25, and gain new power points... but there’s nothing to spend them on. It feels like it’s setting us up for some new subclasses, but right now it’s a pointless increase.
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In large part, this expansion is more of the “same” for Destiny 2. So if you liked the game to begin with, but wanted more stuff to do in it, you’re going to be happy. If for some reason, you didn’t like Destiny 2 to begin with, this probably won’t win you over. Me? I’m in such a busy place in real life right now that Destiny 2 is proving to be the perfect casual MMO experience for me. I can log in, do stuff, and logout, all while feeling like I made progress. I can do that in other games like ESO, WoW, or GW2, but none of them have the same satisfying combat of Destiny.
I sincerely hope there’s no “Destiny 3” on the minds of Bungie anytime soon. Instead, I want to see them treat this game like a true ongoing service for the next five years. Let it grow, become massive in content and scope. And if there ever is a Destiny 3, you’d better make it carry over all the progress of players’ work in D2. In any case, I’m loving the direction that Destiny 2 is headed. They’re making the right changes (including incoming changes to the super overpowered Prometheus Lens in PVP). If there’s one thing that “Games as a Service” are good for, it’s for continued changes and striving to make the best game possible. So far, Bungie is on the right track. Let’s hope the next expansion is longer and meatier, like The Taken King.
Final Score 8/10
Pros
- Great story
- Love the new map
- Infinite Forest is promising new tech
Cons
- On the short side
- Prometheus Lens, ugh
- Why a level cap increase?
