Since Destiny first launched in 2014, an ambitious yet overly vague storyline has been built deep within an ever-expanding lore. What’s the point? Good vs. Evil, or in this universe’s case, Light vs. Darkness. For so long, shooting aliens across the solar system has felt like a lame excuse. But with the launch of last year’s The Witch Queen and now Lightfall, the narrative seeds planted almost a decade ago are beginning to germinate. The end result of this latest expansion is a contradictory blend of disappointment and pure FPS pleasure.
Lightfall has been tagged as “the beginning of our end” and will serve as the second chapter in a proposed expansion trilogy that concludes a decade-long storyline with next year’s The Final Shape.The game’s opening cinematic certainly feels high stakes in The Witness’ harrowing arrival — for those who don’t know, The Witness serves as the physical embodiment of darkness and the first collapse of this universe. As fans of Destiny since its original launch, we were blown away by the grandeur of this opener as it felt like the beginning of everything we’ve been waiting for. Avengers: Infinity War.
Immediately hyperspace to the new setting of Neptune and the neon-wiped city of Neomna. If you’ve been playing Destiny for a while, you’ll be amazed at the visual difference in this city, with its striking skyscrapers, clean streets, and vibrant clusters of bright, vibrant colors. Destiny has always excelled in visually striking settings, and Neomuna is no exception.
But where it suffers is its lack of character. Neomna was one of the first settings we visited, and it was not desolate, destroyed, or abandoned. I was disappointed that the streets of this city were completely devoid of life, even if for narrative reasons. Whether it’s the Moon, Nessus, or the Dreaming City, Destiny’s settings capture the spirit of each realm and planet, immersing you in the details to make you feel its history. Neomna is flamboyant but lacking in charm, serving more as his dressing on set than as a backdrop for the story. While there’s certainly a fair amount of lore to delve into if you go looking for it, Neomna didn’t involve us in the way we’d hoped.
But what about the story that inspires us to explore Neomna in the first place? finally We get to fight alongside some of our favorite characters from the series in the wars we’ve been training for years. It was frustrating to be offered a setup campaign for. The narrative being acted out here felt too small and disconnected from the actual action of this narrative. When that happened, it left us with many questions rather than many answers.
I’m sure Bungie even managed to condense everything into a seasonal campaign. But we suspect an integral narrative beat will sprout from his Lightfall and spread across his storyline next season. Next year may be more narratively interesting, but so far I couldn’t help but be disappointed. I wanted to protect the last city.
That said, we left Ligthfall with big smiles and a curious enthusiasm for the series. Lightfall may be a setup, but it still leaves the universe in some very exciting places. Destiny as a whole no longer feels like it’s stuck in various stagnations. It’s evolved, it’s matured, and I really can’t wait to see where it all goes.It may sound like a broken record to most fans of the series, but there are exciting times ahead for Destiny’s story. increase.
Okay, but with all our talk about the narrative disappointment of this expansion, what about its actual content? While exploring the city of Neomna, Guardians will become acquainted with the new Strand subclass. We can say this is already a fan favorite. Threadlings seek prey in the Broodweaver Warlock subclass, Titan’s Berserker claws cut through waves of his Vex, and Hunter’s Threadrunner wards off hordes of Cabal. These new abilities are fresh, powerful, and fun to use, but the Strand subclass’s most exciting introduction is its grappling ability.
Guardians can switch grenade slots to grapples, and it’s hard to put into words just how satisfying a great grapple swing can be. Destiny 2 was already one of his best-feeling first-person shooters, and the introduction of the Strand Grapple makes it even better. I’d certainly like to play around with the build to be able to swing more regularly, but whether it’s to avoid lethal blows or provide momentum melee attacks, it’s not the fun it can be There is no end.
Then there’s the new Tormentor. You need Strand’s mobility to survive and take them down. This new, large and intimidating enemy type is a standout in the Lightfall campaign. Destiny is well known for its reliance on bullet-sponge enemies, but it’s nice to see the game hurl some really tough enemies your way. Tormentor caused dizzying excitement when playing in our fireteam. Especially because we knew that the campaign’s wildly enjoyable legendary difficulty required us to bring our A-game and stay on our toes. Whenever Lightfall drove our fireteam to claustrophobic levels with a Tormentor or two, it was the best fun we’ve had in an FPS in years.
Conclusion
With Buildcrafting 2.0 and the new Guardian Rank system, there’s still a lot more to cover with this latest expansion. Both aim to simplify the Destiny experience. The heart of Lightfall, however, is the story, setting, and gameplay changes. The campaign and setting let us down so much that the whole thing felt like the middle child in a trilogy of Witch Queen, Lightfall and Final Shape. has some nice enhancements thanks to Strand subclasses and grapples that greatly improve the overall Lightfall experience. It’s frustrating to be left for another year with the story in limbo, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a space shooter this enjoyable.
