I wrote last week about Bungie’s reveal event and how they had an opportunity to step out of the shadows and show us their true vision for Destiny 2. I wrote that they would have no one else to shift the blame to if they didn’t give us a creative and thorough plan. Well Bungie have done what we have wanted them to do for a long time plus more and completely blown us all away with their plans and visions for the title so many of us love and are addicted to. Here is what we learnt…
DESTINY 2: FIRST LIGHT
Destiny is technically going Free-To-Play. The entirety of Year 1 content, the Red Legion campaign, Curse of Osiris and Warmind will all be free in a new package called Destiny 2: First Light. Bungie decided to do this to dramatically decrease the barriers of entry for new players. You’ll start off by completing essentially a remastered version of the first mission of Destiny 1 in the Cosmodrome. Then you will be sent to the tower to explore any of the content provided within the first year of Destiny 2. You don’t have to complete anything else to gain access to it and they will provide you a Power Level of 750 to start so you won’t be held back by power to complete any of the content.
The idea is that if you enjoy all of that content you’ll then likely want to play more. If so, you can find Forsaken and the Y2 season pass available to buy as an add on and then if you want more, Shadowkeep is there. Or you can skip Forsaken, and just get Shadowkeep, Destiny’s latest expansion. Bungie want to provide an a la carte range and this will extend to all seasons of content going forward as well.
CROSS SAVE
This is perhaps the number 1 feature I saw requested and one most predicted we would see at the reveal. Bungie have finally delivered it. Mark Noseworthy said that for capital R “Reasons” they weren’t able to launch D2 with it, despite having it ready to go. This is likely due to Playstation and Activision’s exclusivity deal that was present all the way up until Bungie and Activision parted ways. Now that they have been released from those shackles, Bungie can finally bring this incredibly popular feature to the game.
However there are still some questions, or rather concerns, about how it will work. For those who moved from console to PC, like myself, we have all of our D1 data and even some Y1 gear which can’t be re-obtained (Trials of the Nine armour and weapons etc.) that we are now looking at completely getting rid of. We’ve already had it said that there will not be a way to merge accounts. That has been confirmed by Bungie. Which, while I am very excited for Cross Save, makes me a bit disappointed. The legend area which shows off my accomplishments in D1, exclusive emblems and un-acquirable gear are all things I will be disappointed to leave behind.
Having said all of that, while it is disappointing to lose that progress, I do believe being able to move across each platform to play with friends is worth the sacrifice.
One other question fans have had, which was answered by Bungie during their recent E3 panel, was if we would need to buy multiple copies of the game across each of the platforms. The short answer is, Yes. However there are some caveats to this as well. Of course, as mentioned above, Destiny 2: First Light will have all Y1 content so that will be accessible for free across all platforms, as well as all PVP modes/maps and Strikes. But if you want to access content you have on one platform from Forsaken and beyond you’ll need to buy it everywhere you want to play.
STADIA PARTNERSHIP
Well who saw that coming? I guess everyone if they believed the leaks… but even so, Google Stadia partnering with Bungie on this and releasing the full copy of Shadowkeep along side the Founders Edition of the game is incredibly smart. A whole new wave of gamers can get their hands on the game this way without feeling like they’ve actually spent any money on it. The game however only stays in your collection should you continue your Pro subscription once the free 3 months are up.
The biggest part of this for myself, as an established Destiny player, is how we now have another platform for Cross Save to integrate into and how we can potentially play the game absolutely anywhere on nearly any device! Playing on my iPhone is a dream and still not quite there, but Google have said that they plan to add more mobile devices for Stadia to operate on than just Pixel phones.
PC MOVE TO STEAM
Now that Bungie have split with Activision, using Battle.net doesn’t make sense anymore as a launcher for Destiny 2. That’s why Bungie have announced that Destiny 2 on PC will be moving to Steam. With Cross Save, all of your progress on PC will move over to Steam for free. You’ll keep all your content up until Shadowkeep and Bungie have assured it will be a seamless transition. Shadowkeep itself is available to Pre-Order on Steam now.
A MORE MMO STYLE FOCUS
Bungie seem to be embracing the term MMO and are re-designing the armour to match this. With essentially trans mog coming to armour you can pick your favourite looking armour and add the perks and mods that you want to use to those. Included within this is the re-addition of intellect, discipline and strength attributes (previously found in D1, subsequently dropped in D2). These will re-add extra layers of customisation and will allow guardians to really build the exact builds they want.
Bungie are also introducing new “Finishing” melee attacks where, for example, a warlock can use an almost jedi like hand movement to lift their enemy into the air and then force push blast them! Hunters attack with a dual spinning knife attack and Titans perform a Superman Punch to knock out their opponents.
This seems like the very start for Destiny 2 embracing the MMO title and you can expect to see more going forward.
SHADOWKEEP
Shadowkeep will be released 17th September along side all of the above we have spoken about. It is their new story driven content and you will be reunited with an old ally of yours from Destiny 1. Eris Morn has been on the moon and has accidentally unleashed new foes called Nightmares, an enemy made up entirely of defeated foes from the past. In the trailer we see our guardians facing off once more against Crota and more. Our job will be to investigate and defeat these enemies but from what we have seen that may not be as easy as it’s been previously.
With the year 2 season passes, we’ve seen a different take to story telling and I am quote excited to see a more traditional campaign back for Shadowkeep alongside seasons of content like we’ve seen recently for Year 3.
We don’t know too much past what we were shown but you can expect to find out more over the summer.
BRIGHT FUTURE
The future of the Destiny universe is bright indeed and I’m personally really pleased and excited for what Bungie revealed to us. Without any outside influences, they can create the title they have wanted to since the beginning and it now we can see what shape that will take and how they plan to execute it.
Cross Save, Stadia, PC moving to Steam and everything else are all huge changes that will hopefully draw many more eyes and thumbs to the product and help lead the way for a bright, optimistic future for Destiny.
Tell us what you think of all of the announcements below in the comments!
