It’s no secret that Destiny 2’s year of existence hasn’t been a joyride. From a disappointing launch that lacked vital features present in Destiny by the end of its lifecycle to several controversies, both Bungie and fans have been put through the ringer. Destiny 2 needs a reset and Bungie hopes to recapture the magic with Destiny 2: Forsaken, a true expansion built to give players exactly what they want. With a new campaign, weapons, locations and quality of life improvements, does Forsaken successfully press the reset button?
Likewise, it’s nice that we finally got a new race of enemies to battle. The Scorn may have some relation to the Fallen, but they look and fight differently. The Scorn brings enemies that rush the player, swing fire-infused maces, attack mid-range and snipe from a distance. They’re not wholly unique from the current crop of enemies, but they provide a good change in pace.
Uldren Sov serves as a passable antagonist but ultimately suffers from a lack of interaction with your Guardian. Outside of a handful of cutscenes from Destiny and a brief interaction at the start of Forsaken, Uldren hasn’t had much impact on your story. Much of the animus you’ll hold for him lies solely on whether you like Cayde-6. It doesn’t help that a random final boss appears out of nowhere to rob Uldren of his spotlight.
Hive Ogres attack by shooting unrelenting Void beams from their eyes, while Taken Ogres can shoot beams intermittently with enough force to knock Guardians into retreat. If one of these beams does not instantly kill a user, they can lift you into the air or toss you off the entire game
Crucible remains mostly intact outside of quality-of-life improvements. Bringing the player count back up to 6v6 was the right move and the lower time-to-kill vastly improves the experience. The significant multiplayer addition in Forsaken lies with Gambit, a new mode that blends PvE and PvP elements. The 4v4 mode tasks players with killing AI-controlled enemies and collecting and banking motes of light. After accumulating 75 motes, a Primeval enemy appears and the first team to defeat their Primeval wins. Of course, it’s not that simple thanks to the PvP elements. Players can spend motes to summon Blockers on the enemy’s map. Collect enough motes and a player can invade the enemy’s map for a short period.
This is an easy one but an important first step. Due to all the change that has come with Forsaken getting one’s bearings on what all has changed with menus and inventory will be the most important. There are now Triumphs to be tracked, Collections to be had and an assortment of other things that are all around different. The Cryptarch can now break down Shaders in quantities of five; all those Shaders going to no use? Head over to Rhaul and he’ll be happy to get rid of them quickly as you can hit a button over and over (took me less than five minutes to get ride of most of my useless Shaders). Players returning might also notice that all of the modifications are null and void. This is due to the entirely revamped modification system, so might as well delete those too. Don’t freak out seeing that light level of certain items has gone down, this is just the modifications being useless and one’s Light Level going up will quickly fix this.
Destiny 2: Forsaken takes place sometime after the events of the base game. You and Cayde-6 fly to the Prison of Elders to help an old friend, Petra Venj, put down a prison riot, but the trio quickly learns that the riot was orchestrated to cover up the breakout of eight Scorn barons. Rescued by the long-missing Prince Uldren Sov, the nine successfully escape the prison, but not before killing Cayde-6. Fleeing into the Reef, you pursue them to exact your revenge.
The Modular Mind can also make the footing beneath a Guardian vanish in the blink of an eye, dropping them into a new environment altogether. They can also withstand decapitation and continue to attack while headless. In the final portion of the three-part final battle, the Modular Mind beckons innumerable Vex for reinforceme
Though short at 5-6 hours, the campaign provides enough thrills and excitement thanks to the great barons. Each of the eight barons offers a unique boss fight that keeps players on their toes. The Rider forces you to fight from aboard a Pike, the Trickster rigs ammo to explode and the Rifleman summons decoys to trip you up. Not all were created equal, like the Machinist whose single identifiable trait is firing a few missiles. Then, there are some like the Fanatic who make up for lack of personality by throwing hordes of enemies at you. Still, the boss design is a huge step up from previous Destiny 2 secret mission experiences.
Hive Shriekers serve as large turrets that defend the Hive locations. What makes them so powerful and difficult to defeat is their protective shell, which only opens if a Guardian comes close enough. Shriekers fire Void totems that can quickly harm a user’s health unless they defeat them immediat