
The year was 2014. Following a really exciting beta, Bungie’s first post-Halo effort hit PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. A “shared world shooter”, Destiny was envisaged as a ten year project, constantly being iterated on. A shooter clad in MMO trappings, first impressions suggested that its estimated five hundred million dollar budget had been well spent - it was beautiful, it was responsive, it just felt right.
Sadly, Destiny’s dearth of content and muddled progression systems ensured that once players finished the dull, convoluted campaign, there was little else to do. The raid (the main attraction of Destiny for many), was a shining example of game design -- something that was lacking everywhere else. For the studio that brought us some of the best first-person shooter campaigns of the last two console generations, it was disappointing.
While The Dark Below and House of Wolves expansions were the definition of “give and take” - adding a new raid and the Prison of Elders alongside yet more currencies and materials to a bloated economy -- The Taken King expansion tore Destiny apart and rebuilt it as a closer approximation of a finished game. It added a wealth of new content, a coherent story, and did a good job of hiding plenty of secrets for endgame players. It essentially fixed Destiny, and the following expansion, Rise of Iron, added a cherry on top towards the end of the game’s lifecycle.
Wait... The end? But wasn't this a ten year project? Not so much. This history lesson is important for context.

Destiny 2 launched in 2017, and players were forced to restart from scratch. Explained through the story as the player’s gear being destroyed in the game’s initial mission, Destiny 2 pulled no punches - all that equipment you spent hundreds of hours (and potentially around £120) grinding for was gone. Fans were promised Destiny 2 would earn the right to be called a sequel as opposed to an expansion, and initial reviews were positive. Quality of life improvements (like the map, somehow absent from Destiny even after four expansions) and a stronger focus on an antagonist meant the campaign was a blast to play.
Within weeks, however, it became clear that Bungie had no endgame outside of the raid. Player vs. player battles in the Crucible were neutered - the loot wasn’t exciting and the time to kill was extended, so the meta became ganging up on stragglers with team mates carrying the same weapons. Minor controversies popped up on a seemingly weekly basis - shaders became consumables, and Bungie throttled XP gains without warning, ostensibly to push players towards microtransactions.
The Curse of Osiris expansion was embarrassing, with a campaign that could be completed within two hours. Warmind didn’t fare much better, but it at least added some secrets and long term goals for the dedicated fanbase. That said, Destiny 2 was dying, and fast.

Does this sound familiar? A lack of endgame content, underwhelming (but expensive) expansions, and a player base falling off?
Destiny 2 repeated almost every misstep that its predecessor made. Bungie learned little to nothing, and pushed players away in droves. It needed something to restore the community’s faith.
In June, Bungie announced Forsaken - the biggest expansion for Destiny 2 yet. The pre-Forsaken patch turns Destiny 2 into the game it should have been at launch. Weapons setups are more varied, allowing for greater player choice. Crucible encounters are pulsating, with player abilities feeling powerful again. Daily Heroic Missions return, and Bounties (daily quests) are a constant itch that needs scratching. All of those “additions” were part of the original Destiny.
Forsaken itself is a shot in the arm for the Destiny franchise in the same way that The Taken King was. It adds a campaign which is easy to follow and fun to complete. It redesigns progression to be constantly worth the time invested - anyone can level at their own pace by completing weekly milestones or daily ones that stack for those unable to commit to playing every night. Weapons have random perks, making each loot drop exciting again, and there are two new open areas to explore.

Since release, I haven’t stopped playing Forsaken. I clung to the franchise through the dark days, and I’m so thankful Destiny 2 is in a better place than I think the franchise has ever been. I’m also mindful if you’ve paid £50 for Destiny 2 and £35 for two dismal expansions, your faith will be tested by Bungie asking for £35 for Forsaken (the Annual Pass, the content for which hasn’t been revealed yet, is also £30). £120 is a lot to pay for this beautiful, all-consuming wild ride of a game. New players can jump in with a cheaper bundle, but those that have been grinding to increase their level since 2014 may find that a bitter pill to swallow.
If we see a Destiny 3, Bungie will do well to remember the lessons learned from Destiny 2, and the original Destiny. As a diehard fan of the franchise, I’ll be watching with bated breath. I cannot recommend Forsaken enough - it's full of secrets, content, and fun. It really is everything Destiny 2 should have been. The fact it took £120 to get here, however, is embarrassing.
Do you agree with Lloyd? Are you a fan of Forsaken? Do you think Destiny 2 is in a good state right now? Voice your own thoughts in the comments section below.
Comments 20
Pretty much in the exact same position, although I don't have the time to play Forsaken as much as I'd like. Good stuff @lloydcoombes.
I have heard a lot of good things about Forsaken I just cant bring myself to give Bungie any more money. The greed got to much for me. I don't mind paying for expansions if the content is worth it but don't have Tess in the game selling micro transactions as well. The annual pass on a expansion is just ridiculous especially after the 2 lacklustre expansions they have released already. Destiny 1 got lucky there were not many big games out when it released so kept a lot of players. Now though there are a lot of big hitting games out every week.
Its great but the sheer volume of stuff to do in the game is silly I am lost trying to get all my characters up to level to raid but hey ho we wanted more content we got it
I'm already burned out after getting 3 characters to 540, and my friends are ok no-lifing it for another few months. Sorry guys, I've got other games I want to play. Dragon quest, octopath, and mega Man deserve my attention more than the grindfest.
@Bliquid I’ve lost faith that D3 will fare any better - hence my “bated breath” comment in the article. I’ll certainly be waiting it out and hoping Bungie can win back some confidence!
"If we see a Destiny 3, Bungie will do well to remember the lessons learned from Destiny 2, and the original Destiny."
They wont
I’ve said it before, but I’d love to play Forsaken, but I won’t soend money on the other two to get it 😂
"If we see a Destiny 3, Bungie will do well to remember the lessons learned from Destiny 2, and the original Destiny. "
How can you say this when it's clearly not going to happen?, This is the 2nd game of the franchise and if they never learned after the first one they sure god dam ain't going to do it for the 3rd. I personally can see the 3rd being the last because the way it's going and the fact that it's going to be the same Destiny 3 hardly no content release 2 expansions no content release a 3rd which puts the game where it should be.
I didn't buy 2 I got it given from a friend and I've not bought the expansion either when all 3 become cheaper then I will .I don't care if I'm seriously far behind but as for 3 I will not buy it if I didn't get 2 given I wouldn't of even played it.
@Nakatomi_Uk in essence, you've described the challenge Bungie has to prove they can still deliver. That said, I'm hopeful they do!
Forsaken - especially now we have a good idea of the cycle and support planned for the year - has certainly rekindled my love for the game. Its much less static and whilst not perfect requiring a number of tweaks, it has kept me coming back and is the only game I want to play. A lot of the issue with Destiny is that world was static, the only things that added more reason to play was the random loot - which stopped in D2. Therefore, once you had played everything, it felt more 'grindy' because everything was the same. With the cycle of Dreaming City, it at least adds something new, if familiar, and with the planned events appearing to be very regular, looks like we won't get bored and be craving something new. Some people saw everything Destiny offered in the first week or two and wanted more, wanted something new to explore and wanted DLC every month to feed that desire instead of going to the same places, killing the same enemies, doing the same thing every week just to level up and/or acquire loot.
I know I was craving more after a few weeks and that was part of the reason I basically stopped playing around a week or two after the Curse of Osiris DLC which added so little to do, Forsaken offers more incentive to do more and the Dreaming City changing offers something different every week. The new supers on the whole are fun and a lot feel like 'supers' too and overall, I am having a lot of fun playing.
How I will feel in a few months, and after experiencing a few of the upcoming events and DLC, I can't say but I am feeling optimistic and already spent a LOT of hours - more than I expect to get from many of the best AAA games I have bought, probably many more hours than all of those games combined. It may not all be 'new' content, quite a bit of repetition too but it will be (mostly) a LOT of fun hours.
I got the game free with ps plus so I personally didn't experience all the bad times but I did buy forsaken and it's so good I feel like if they keep the good content flowing with the a nual pass then I can see a great future for the franchise
if you STILL support bungo i feel bad for you son
You are an Angel Investor in Bungie's DLC laden future. Go forth and grind. I'll never buy another Destiny game after Destiny.
I can’t wait to see in D3 a variant of the Taken, hive or fallen etc destroy the farm and all your gear. Making you start from scratch again!
i dunno, i thought the taken king ruined the original destiny.. or at least started a trend i found very hard to justify, and i stopped playing it after a month or two, that was after about 700 hours in year one. i borrowed destiny 2 last year, and then with it being on ps+, giving it another go recently, it looks like the forsaken king has turned the base game into an almighty joyless chore. so if you haven't spent £30 on the two crappy DLCs and another £35 on forsaken, the game some people paid £50 at launch for has been a bit neutered imo. plus the reliance on the crucible (which is still garbage) to get higher ranked gear just annoyed me.
it looks like the game is dying on its ar*e a bit. if you look at the trophy stats, about 21% completed the raid in the original destiny. for destiny 2, raid completion drops to about 10% (and with less than half the copies sold) and that's with guided game being available.. for forsaken, it currently stands at 0.1% - i know it's only been out for a few weeks, but i would have expected the most active of destiny players to have notched up a raid completion by now.
The Bungie of today, isn't the Bungie of yesteryear, especially since most of the original talent left Bungie. I was a loyal Bungie fan on the Xbox for years, these days, I couldn't give two fecks if the studio was disolved. For me, they represent all that is wrong with modern gaming. If they did go bust, then at least that would make room for other developers, with fresh ideas, that treat their customers with respect and don't try to rip them off, at every opportunity.
Guys, do you have to have Osiris and Warmind to play Forsaken?
@stueyd67
I don't believe you have to have Osiris and Warmind in order to play Forsaken. You can just dive right in.
@stueyd67 unfortunately you need all CoO and Warmind to play Forsaken, despite neither of them being particularly good 🙁
@lloydcoombes Ah. That's a shame. Thanks guys.
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