Now that Destiny 2 has been given a full announcement, here’s a wish list of items I’d like to see in Destiny 2 when all is said and done
The new Destiny update, The Age Of Triumph, just released which brought all the end game raids up to max light and has the game feeling fresh again. Re-expediting the classic content which made up the early days of the game and the release of the Destiny reveal coming in the next few days from Bungie has me thinking about what I would like to see in Destiny 2 when it releases in September 8th.
1. Better Story
This should come to no
surprise to anyone that this is on my list. The problem with Destiny’s story is that half of it is not even in the game. What I mean by that is most of the lure is buried on Bungie‘s website on what is called Grimmore Cards. If you want to learn more about a story event or a raid boss you basically have to flip through pages of cards to find what you are looking for. The in-game story is very light and there are only a few cut scenes and not much story progression; although this was remedied a bit in later expansions. One baffling thing about Destiny is the number of characters we had in the story and how little we knew about them. Most notably the speaker and the stranger who just vanishes at the end of the main story and is never seen again. Also, who can forget the most cringe worthy line in the game “I don’t have time to explain why I don’t have time to explain”? A way to fix this would be to have more cut scenes and more story development by making the other NPCs more a part of the story rather than just venders and quest givers that hang out in a social space. Rise Of Iron did this a little by giving Lord Saladin center stage and a bigger part of the story. Before ROH we knew next to nothing about him except that he oversees Iron Banner. If Destiny 2 improves on its story it would go a long way into making it a more memorable experience.
2. More Variety
In Destiny there were only a few different encounter types and one was repeated far too often. In most of the story missions and a few of the strikes you would put the ghost out and kill waves of enemies until the next part opens. The only encounter that stood out and was different was the raids; which is by far the best PVE content the game has to offer. I feel that in Destiny 2 the story missions and the strikes should have simplified raid mechanics to keep things fresh. Maybe not as complex as raids but enough to mix things up. Another thing that could be done is integrate some important NPCs in some missions like other MMOs have done in the past.
Destiny 2 — Rally The Troops
3. Different Weapon Balance For PVE & PVP
One thing that was a thorn in the side for many Destiny players was the way that Bungie balanced the weapons. There is nothing worse than having your PVE go-to weapon being destroyed because it was considered to be a bit overpowered in the PVP space. PVE and PVP are very different and it’s crazy to nerf weapons just based on PVP which is what Bungie seemed to do in most of the patches. Just look back at year one when auto-rifles were nerfed and made completely useless in not only PVP but also PVE they did almost no damage across the board. It took them almost two years to make them viable again. Most recently fast firing pulse rifles and the Truth Rocket Launcher was hit just based on PVP reasons. Having a balanced PVP is important but it seems that Bungie goes overboard with their nerfs. Whenever a nerf comes it’s almost like they destroy the gun completely. For an example, look at Red Death after the pulse rifle nerf back in the Taken King. It just became not a viable option in PVP. Another one is the exotic Thorn Hand Cannon. I will admit that in year one it was overpowered but after it was nerfed in the Taken King it was balanced. However when it was brought back in the Rise Of Iron the range was nerfed again and was made into the worst hand cannon in the game. After the nerf the legendary Hand Cannon could easily out gun it. Weapon balanced is important factor in Destiny and I hope that they can improve upon it in Destiny 2.
I have had some great memories with Destiny and met a lot of my current Xbox friends along the way. The purpose of this list wasn’t to pick Destiny apart but rather to voice my wish list for the future of the franchise in Destiny 2. I look forward to learning more about Destiny 2 and experiencing it for myself later this year.