My relationship with MMOs and now live-service games — across a number of genres — has always been complicated. The model can be great (Destiny 2) or terrible (Lost Ark) depending on how you tackle its main issues and try to keep up with demand for more content. When it’s done well, I think it offers some unique opportunities for developers and storytellers; that’s why I’m always eager to check out a new, nice-looking “always online” title.
I haven’t become a live-service cynic… yet. Dodging stinkers and derivative releases that try to replicate already proven hits without a voice of their own is rather easy. Put some hours in, and the design flaws and creative shortcomings stick out like a sore thumb. However, avoiding burnout while playing games that you love is much harder.
Personally, I’ve averted the terrible feeling of hating an engrossing online title I used to love by jumping in and out regularly, never spending too many days in a row with them. This might sound counterproductive, as these games usually seek player engagement through seasonal activities, battles passes, or, at the very least, progression systems and meta adjustments that require being a regular to stay on top of everything going on.
Image via Bungie
Indeed, not being obsessed with updates and what’s “hot” equals not being one of the cool kids, but that’s exactly how you avoid growing tired of your favorite grindfest and leaving for good. In my case, I like things that make my brain go happy, but I don’t do drugs, which means I don’t do digital drugs either. If you want to play “numbers go up” games that don’t punish you for missing out and are actually enjoyable in solo or casual play, that alone reduces the options available by a lot.
For me, Destiny 2 and The Division 2 have felt awesome when it comes to looters, since they have both consistently offered solid endgame activities, the option to go try-hard if that’s your vibe, and, most importantly, plenty of chill casual play embellished by great settings and art directions. Their communities don’t suck and can be pretty helpful too, which is a nice bonus. In the case of Destiny 2, everything that surrounded the sudden and heart-shattering death of Lance Reddick made me realize how much I love online games that cultivate a wholesome culture.
Image via Bungie
I believe a huge part of Destiny 2’s appeal is its balls-to-the-wall, grand space opera setting and ongoing storytelling efforts. Yes, diving into it for the first time right at the end of a 10-year saga, with much of the original content now vaulted, is kind of hard, but the permanent changes and story developments have only made the time investment more meaningful. Veteran players are already sharing stories about the Red War times and the deaths of key characters that are now only present as in-game monuments or bits of dialogue, among other things.
There’s a history to Destiny 2 that happened for real. As time goes on, the experiences shared by its community and its biggest events become lore that actually matters. “I was there,” is something that cannot be said while playing many online games. Such a live-service model comes with a number of caveats, sure, but it seems everyone who’s really interested in Destiny 2 knows that’s just how it works and why it’s so special even when it’s broken as shit.
Going into Destiny 2: Lightfall, this year’s major expansion release, everyone was excited about Bungie kicking off the two-part finale of the “Light and Darkness Saga,” which will culminate in 2024 with The Final Shape. A few days into it, more and more players started to realize this big release was closer to the lighter ones (such as Shadowkeep) than to bangers like Forsaken or last year’s The Witch Queen. “Wait for the ongoing narrative that will be told across seasons”, said Bungie, but it’s been disappointing to see the long-anticipated final stretch of Destiny’s first MCU-like phase start with a whimper.
Image via Bungie
Without getting into real spoilers, Destiny 2: Lightfall ultimately feels like a cool side event that is going on while the real shit is going down. Think of Avengers: Infinity War focusing on Thor forging Stormbreaker over the battle for Earth and ending right as he arrives in Wakanda. That would have put so much extra weight on Endgame. Well, that’s what has happened with Lightfall and its main offering. Yes, seasons can clean things up and cook up some key narrative beats until The Final Shape arrives, but the reality of the situation is that many players jump in every year for the main expansion and then go full casual, missing most of the seasonal events that unfold over many weeks. So far, you could get the full main story sticking to just the main campaigns, but Lightfall simply feels weak and incomplete on its own.
The actual playable content is nice though. Mind you, I believe Neptune is unforgivably dull when you consider it’s a cyberpunk-ish, high-tech city inhabited by digital souls as the planet is under assault by Cabal forces, but the art direction alone and new Strand class make the package a nice change of pace for the game. On top of that, the public events and unique activities on Neptune are among the best and most tense the game has had so far. Those are perhaps some of the many reasons why I keep coming back to it, as running Strikes, Nightfalls, and other playlist-based activities (such as PvP if you’re a masochist) can get old quick, and Dungeons and Raids are kind of a no-go until Bungie improves the experience for solo players trying to form Fireteams with randos.
Image via Bungie
As you can infer from my words, Destiny 2 is in a weird place right now: I find myself booting it up more often than in any previous year because there’s so much going on all the time for every type of player, but at the same time, its most recent big release and current health status aren’t good. I’m choosing to believe the actual game is great at the moment, as I wouldn’t be spending so much time shooting ugly aliens in the face for better loot and gear if the core experience was miserable.
With the upcoming “Season of the Deep” being billed as the game’s most important season ever for a myriad of reasons, Destiny 2 could soon get over many of the bumps in the road it has encountered recently, but regardless of what happens next, it’s far from being that brittle Activision-published release that was deemed as dead on arrival in late 2017. The time spent fighting alongside fellow Guardians is never wasted.
