Take a look back at my thoughts on the beta HERE so I don't have to repeat all the mechanics and make this post as long as a Destiny load time (ouch). I will be focusing on a few things here that I have experienced the retail version.
So, after 15 - 20 hours with the game (campaign, online, solo, with friends) here is what I think of Destiny.
My time with the beta was great and it got me excited to jump in and level up well past the cap of level 8, get sweet gear, and get into this new universe Bungie is creating.
I always want to start on the right foot so I want to highlight some of the positives:
- Destiny is gorgeous.
This should go without saying since everyone thought that when they first saw footage, but actually seeing that translate to my actual TV is an accomplishment for sure. I have experienced zero noticeable frame drops or stuttering on my PS4, even after spending so much time with it I was sure it would catch fire. The worlds look amazing, the lighting is second to none, and you'll find yourself stopping and staring at some of the vistas.
- The sound design is among the best in gaming history
Sure it looks great, but it also SOUNDS great. All the space sounds (your various WOOSHES and whatnot), the sound of your melee attack (probably the most satisfying thud in a video game), the sounds of the spaceships, the weapons, it's all fantastic. The music really stands out and goes along very well with the action. Some people have some issues with Peter Dinklage and, for the most part, I find him to be fine. He fits the tone of the game well and it gives me a chance to say "Get your Dink out" when I'm using Ghost to scan things (it's a win-win really).
- A lot of fun with friends.
Sure, most games have that quality, but I joined up with some friends from Alaska, Ireland, and Sweden and we had a genuinely fun time going through the campaign, fighting through enemies, figuring out tactics, going on the "Strikes", getting new loot, and eventually getting destroyed from being underleveled at points. The game still can be fun playing solo, but the "fun factor" goes up immensely when others are involved.
- It IS fun to play
Probably the most vague sentence I have ever written, but it's true. The idea of roaming the planet, shooting enemies, finding new loot, completing side missions, completing bounties, leveling up, it's all fun, and I do genuinely enjoying actually playing the game...
...for the most part.
Not every game is perfect, so here are a few of my negative takeaways:
- The missions tend to be pretty repetitive.
Usually the mission structure is: go to marked area, deploy Ghost to scan an old computer, go to the next marked area, scan another thing and defend Ghost from enemies, and enemies will be populated on the way there. It just feels like there is a lot of scanning old computers and defending Ghost while he is scanning said computer. Also, you're travelling through the same locations on the planet, but instead of going down one hallway in the building, you may turn and go down the other one...to scan a computer.
- The load times
Once you get on a world, they are non-existent, which is pretty awesome, but if I want to go back to the main hub (The Tower) after a mission to cash something in, I start the process, go make myself a sandwich, and come back before I'm loaded in. While that's great for my eating habits (Turkey, cheese, mayo FTW), it's really a bummer that the loads are that long. I think the only reason they even have different ships that you can buy, is just so you have something to look at while the game loads.
- The level cap is 20 and Bungie says there is plenty of content after that.
I don't know about all that since I am working on my level 18 Titan, so we shall see how this pans out. I will say that it is pretty cool that you have to level up the subclasses individually, giving you a reason to switch and go back and build it up. However, with a game like World of Warcraft getting to level 100 (a little unfair comparison, I know, but just some reference) I can't help but feel a little let down by 20. Sure, with the right gear you can technically get to level 25 or so, or they could have just raised the leveling beyond 20. Maybe this will increase in future expansions. Plus, a big part of the fun is gaining XP and leveling up, so how can there be so much content AFTER you level up, seems contradictory but we shall see.
- Let's talk about the plot.
Seriously, because I have no idea what's happening. First I see Mars and the discovery of what I assume is The Traveler, which is this giant ball that sustains life and generally makes things awesome. Now The Darkness is closing in, which looks like a dark cloud ready to consume everything (basically how Galactus looked in the most recent Fantastic Four movie). The Traveler can now only sustain one city, since the Darkness has brought the Fallen onto Old Earth and I have to save the universe, I find this out from The Speaker who is the voice of the Traveler, but then I go to The Moon and fight The Hive because ....well I'm sure they are part of the Darkness, and then I have to save a sword from Princes, but no, now I go to Venus and fight The Vex which are death robots because....well they are there. Now I go to The Reef to meet the Awoken who are....
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???
Honestly, I mean I was able to follow the plot of the Halo games but I have no clue here. The storytelling is less than ideal.
Plus, the game throws a lot at you up front and doesn't really cover it. What are Vanguard Points and why do I have 0 even though I have done several missions which supposedly gave me points. Why am I picking up crafting materials? I don't see a crafter.
Maybe there is a real "A HA" moment at the end that will tie all this together, but right now I am truly lost in all the wrong ways. There is content planned (supposedly) for the next 10 YEARS, and I hope I don't have to wait till 2024 to figure out the plot.
Let me wrap this up. Destiny is like a really great picture in a weird, relatively ugly frame (Like a picture of me with my hockey heroes Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby, but in a Philadelphia Flyers frame, no offense Flyers fans, just an example). There is genuine, awesome fun to be had here, but I can't help but feel a little underwhelmed. We will see what the future holds over the "Decade of Destiny", but the moral of the story is this: Destiny is a good game, it's just not the killer app that we were led to believe at the moment.
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