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-While Destiny might not be your standard MMO because it’s also a shooter, it's nonetheless doing something similar to the likes of the original FFXIV. Destiny is raising itself to the ground and just like a flower that finds a way to bud up through the ashes, just maybe Destiny 2 will deliver on things its parent game couldn’t. By the likes of the new trailer , as flames consume the Last City and the Towers burn with it, it gives cause to rise up and begin the fight anew. This is a time for Guardians new-and-old to band together and join in what is sure to continue a name of legacy, even if Destiny didn’t quite get everything right. Before any of that can begin, Destiny is turning it on and by far this is the best time to give it the send off it deserves.
+The Strike is a good place to start. It reveals a little more of the world players can expect, showcasing great improvements to Destiny. The most notable thing about the Strike is just how open it felt. Instead of running casually down one big hallway that twist and turns, the Strike makes use of all the space available. The number of paths available was astounding and never has it been so easy to get separated from the group, meaning communication (or keeping an eye out) is key. Party members can’t just run ahead to go off and do their own thing; the Strike actually requires some teamwork and that’s a good thing. More than a few times, imminent danger is awaiting any careless Guardian who might think "I’ve got this." The mechanics of it all also helped with this feeling, giving the Strike enough complexity, but not so much that it felt bogged down. It’s hard to get an exact read, though, because this is only one Strike and without leveling of any sort, it might just seem tough. This is how every Destiny expansion has played out. Things feel like they were getting more challenging, but level up enough gear and light, and those Strikes become cake-walks. I even encountered some of this already, by just breezing past the giant drill without stopping. What looked like a challenging set piece became just a set piece. No interaction required.
-Completing the campaign can last anywhere between 6-8 hours, and that time is mostly filled with well-written and varied missions. Sure, some cookie-cutter missions are just there to pad out the length, but for the majority of missions, there’s more than enough context and agency to keep players going. One mission you may be driving a vehicle, in another you’re escorting a valuable object and then you may be teleporting around areas to save a friend. There’s a lot more variety on display in Destiny 2’s missions.
-Other (obvious) additions to Destiny 2 are the new subclasses and extra abilities. I'm a Titan main, so most of my time was spent with the new Sentinel class, but I also got to check out the Dawnblade Warlock and the Arcstrider Hunter. All three are similar in a lot of ways to their previous subclass, but with more aggressive tendencies. The Arcstrider is almost identical to Bladedancer, save for the super, which gives you some mad bow staff skills. Dawnblade gives you a flaming sword and the ability to essentially fly around the map as you swing fiery blasts at everyone. That's instead of Sunsinger, which brought you back to life and gave you unrestricted access to all the melees and grenades you wanted. Instead of Defenders and their Wards of Dawn, Sentinels will get a Captain America shield that they're able to throw around and smash into people with. So while I think that the new subclasses are less tactical than the original ones, they grant new and interesting game mechanics to players. The new supers are about taking out as many baddies as you can, and in that case, all three are extremely successful.
+Weapon rarity remains identical to Destiny. Basic (white), uncommon (green) and rare (blue) will be your most common drops while playing the campaign. Once you reach level 20, legendary (purple) and highly coveted exotic (yellow) weapons will begin dropping.
-Starting with Record Books seems like the appropriate place. Destiny took the idea of achievements or milestones, whatever they might be called, and put them in the form of Record Books. A way for Guardians to keep track of all their glorious achievement plus receive gifts for leveling up through the Record Book that can be shown off when around other Guardians. Nothing like a sweet skin, right? Much like its Age of Triumph title comes the ultimate Record Book. Not only is this Record Book the largest seen so far,  [[https://www.Destiny2focus.com/articles/unlock-god-mode-destiny-2-s-edge-of-fate-exotics-are-game-changers.html|Exotic Armor Guide]] but it also is tough as nails to get through. It is sure to keep any Guardian busy, especially those that might be returning. What’s nice about the Age of Triumph Book is even if it seems like a slog (nothing new for Destiny), the records are easy to achieve, especially before September. Nothing bombastic or hardcore. Just a challenging but fair checklist. Things players will find worth doing, hell maybe even starting up that class you’ve always wanted to play but never got around too. September is a long way away after all and that Age of Triumph book wont fill itself out.
+While including a loot box that doesn’t award duplicates is better than only having completely random loot boxes, doing so doesn’t take away from the fact that Bungie’s game is still highly encouraging its players to engage with loot boxes instead of actually earning loot. It also doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re still pushing random microtransactions in a game with a sixty dollars price tag and paid DLC. What’s more, they don't appear to see anything wrong with this.
-Destiny 2 is what Destiny should have been, but it’s not what a sequel should have been. That isn’t to say it isn’t fun; in fact, the world of Destiny has never been more entertaining. Destiny 2 successfully adds plenty of quality of life improvements that make the game less of a grind. An in-game map, Faction Leaders and Public Event tracking make the game more rewarding. An actual campaign, a good amount of Strikes, the Crucible and a plethora of side activities ensure that Destiny 2 will remain in your console’s disc-drive for a long time. In other aspects, however, Destiny 2 feels more of an expansion than it does a sequel. The lack of new enemies is extremely disappointing, which means another few years of fighting enemies we’ve already fought for the past three. While the new worlds offer more spectacle and detail than anything in the Destiny 1 era, they still feel empty without NPCs or an increase in the player count. Then, of course, there are the microtransactions, which gate the franchise’s best customization option behind either a paywall or, if you don’t want to pay, excessive grinding for Bright Engrams. Still, Destiny 2 is fun. It may not be the huge sequel that initial leaks made it out to be, but it’s still more Destiny, and this time it’s far more refined and rewarding.
+Assassin’s Creed II, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Mass Effect 2 are some of the greatest sequels of all time, but why? Each of these games had a flawed predecessor that showed great promise, which the developers were able to take and refine into strengths. With Destiny 2, Bungie is looking to achieve something similar. After three years of growing pains throughout the Destiny 1 era, the developer is finally ready to look to the future with a numbered sequel. With an actual campaign, new worlds to explore and an update to the game’s progression systems, is Destiny 2 the sequel fans deserve or is the number at the end warrantless?
-The next week the raid reset and all Destiny 2 players learned something new about the raid: not only did the raid reset, but the order of the rooms was different. This is a smart design, allowing players to take on challenges they are unfamiliar with or maybe were having trouble with the week previous to improve upon them. Dogs were now first; this was fantastic news as the same fireteam could tackle the raid and knock out the part that had been challenging us, first. Unfortunately the same fireteam couldn’t all make it, instead the four that did show (myself included) ended up playing Trials of the Nine. We did try everything in our power to fill the two spots putting out lines throughout our friends list and even Destinylfg.net and other sources, but we gave up after a few hours at this. No raid this week it looked like. This is not a new problem for Destiny, with Destiny 2’s new feature of Guided Games it seemed some of this searching for party members stress could be alleviated.
+While there no new classes, each of the three returning classes get a new subclass. Hunters get Arcstrider, Titans get Sentinel and Warlocks get Dawnblade. Each of the new subclasses is a joy to use and players can unlock their other Destiny 1 subclasses (Gunslinger, Striker and Voidwalker) and The Taken King subclasses (Nightstalker, Sunbreaker and Stormcaller) if the new ones aren't their cup of tea. Each returning class has been tweaked to make them more viable in Destiny 2, and both new and old are fun to play.
+Each species now has new enemy types that do change the flow of combat. The Fallen’s Wretch lunges at you with their long spear. The Cabal are the key beneficiaries here with multiple new enemy types. The Incendior uses a giant flamethrower to ignite the floor around players and War Beasts gallop in on four legs to tear out Guardians throats. The Hive and the Vex, while getting some new variants of existing types, haven’t gotten the same amount of attention as the Cabal or Fallen.
+Which brings this full circle back to the Strike. With only one Strike to tackle, any Guardian checking out the beta will probably play this a few times. It was with my second group that more problems started to crop up. The beta is a stress test on Destiny 2’s system, so having such sparse…everything...became more noticeable. There is a limited arsenal in Destiny 2 at the moment, and when the party hit the boss, we started to wipe. After the third wipe I began switching out weapons in every combination imaginable, but we just couldn’t land it. Having played Destiny since vanilla, I’d say the skills are there. But here is Destiny 2 presenting itself as challenging,  [[https://www.destiny2focus.com/articles/the-void-hunter-s-melee-void-my-destiny-2-journey-in-2025.html|Void Hunter Melee Rework]] but there is always that inkling that it’s a façade. Again, every Destiny expansion has done this. New encounters, new mechanics, new gear. It makes it all seem like the game has changed, but level up enough, equip the right stuff and that boss that was causing so much grief becomes laughable. One can only hope that this beta is not tricking players into a false experience, but that won’t be revealed until September. So, for now it’s the waiting game.
+Bungie did turn a corner with the laying out of the plan moving forward for Destiny 2, which was a nice gesture, but showing us the content road ahead isn’t what earns trust back ; it’s the work put into Destiny 2. Guardians have been putting in the work of playing the game. Many couldn’t keep up with the grind, but those that stayed see that brighter tomorrow that every NPC is always gabbing about to whichever Guardian will listen.