Destiny 2: Beyond Light Review for Steam

Introduction 

Beyond Light is the latest expansion for Destiny 2, first released in 2017.  Beyond Light marks the beginning of the second yearly expansion since Bungie split from Activision and the beginning of a new 3 year plan of expansions that starts with Beyond Light.  It is available for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC for $40 with more expensive versions that include the next year of seasonal content.  At the time of this review, I have put about 60 hours into the expansion and have beaten the campaign on two characters and unlocked and played with the new Stasis subclass for the Hunter and the Titan classes.  I have also played several hours of PVP in the Crucible with both the Hunter and Titan.  Despite some early server issues and constant error codes (curse you weasel), Beyond Light is now stable and I have had no problems playing it on my aging MSI laptop, with slight frame drops during particularly intensive combat sequences.  Any player looking to play Beyond Light now will find a similarly smooth experience and Bungie’s work improving the load times on consoles has made playing on even half decade old hardware smoother.  This review will be covering the PC version of Beyond Light and the content within the expansion, with coverage of the new Season of the Hunt and Deep Stone Crypt raid in the works.  

Welcome to Europa 

With every new expansion comes a new campaign filled with new characters, destinations, and quests for players to experience.  Destiny 2: Beyond Light is no different, adding in the icy moon of Europa and the familiar ruins of the Destiny 1’s Cosmodrome into Destiny 2.  These locations are vast and the newly improved Lost Sectors make these destinations worth exploring.  The Beyond Light campaign has about 20 missions with 5 main quests that have power recommendations.  The main campaign missions will take the player all over Europa and even a brief excursion to the Cosmodrome and will only take a few hours to beat, landing at Europa to defeating the final boss. 

There are 3 main boss fights in the campaign with each boss fight acting similarly to Forsaken’s Baron missions.  Each boss has their own unique mechanics and arena to fight in and can be a challenge for those who attempt to tackle them under-leveled.  Guardians are not the only ones who can use Darkness powers now and the addition of Fallen enemies wielding Stasis does make fighting them frustrating, what with them being able to freeze you mid-Super or leave you exposed for enemies to just shoot at you, but adds in an additional layer of difficulty to otherwise easy and simple fights.  

“Insect-like chattering”

The content on Europa doesn’t end with the campaign’s final boss though, with extra missions from the two new vendors Variks and the Exo Stranger giving players ways to unlock new gear and upgrade their newly acquired Stasis subclasses.  These extra missions also progress some of the story beats the main campaign touches on and with plenty of lore books and collectibles to hunt and unlock, there’s more to do after the main campaign.  Overall, Beyond Light’s campaign is relatively short but enjoyable and the return of and cameos from beloved Destiny characters alongside a new and sympathetic enemy means despite not being as long as Forsaken or the Taken King, Beyond Light is still a worthy addition to the Destiny mythos and is a storyline Destiny fans can enjoy.   

Stasis – N-Ice to See You 

The most notable addition to the Destiny sandbox is the addition of a new Darkness themed subclass: Stasis.  The longtime foe of the Guardians and Traveler, the Darkness has arrived and has gifted us guardians with the powers of ice.  Stasis is honestly one of the most interesting gameplay additions Bungie has added to the game; its emphasis on crowd control being a departure from the other Light-based subclasses’ focus on DPS or raw firepower.  Stasis gives Destiny players a new way to play the game, to mix up the standard Destiny gameplay loop of weapons, abilities and supers.  The Stasis abilities on their own are quite weak, damage wise.  With most of the abilities consisting of different ways to freeze or slow enemies, these subclasses were definitely not designed for pure damage.  The freezing and slowing abilities then are there to give players more options and the customization that Stasis brings highlights that. 

Aspects and Fragments are a new mechanic in Destiny, allowing players to customize their Stasis subclass to fit their playstyle.  Each Aspect and Fragment either add to or enhance the default abilities each subclass gets.  For instance, one of the Fragments that can be unlocked post-campaign enhances slowing abilities, granting them an upgrade to the duration of the slow and even if the enemy escapes, the slow debuff is applied to them for longer.  The Hunter Stasis subclass has several slowing abilities, a multi-hit shuriken and a super now creates a slowing field.  With this Fragment equipped, my shuriken gains a boost in recharge rate due to the Fragment giving a straight buff to my Strength stat as well as well as making it more effective at slowing enemies.  Now, I can focus on throwing my shurikens to as many enemies as I can, knowing that on hit, those enemies will be slowed down for longer and won’t escape as quickly, allowing my team to attack them freely.  This can even be boosted by using the Duskfield grenade, which creates an orb of slowing Stasis energy, which will also benefit from this fragment.  The Aspects and Fragments mechanic is a promising step into subclass customization and hopefully is an indicator of Bungie’s goal of allowing players to further customize and deepen their Destiny experience.   

PVP – Somehow more disappointing than usual 

Compared to how much new content has been added to the PVE aspect of Destiny, Crucible feels like it has been relegated to the background, with the launch of Beyond Light removing many of the maps and modes that were staples of the PVP experience.  The other change Bungie tried to make to the sandbox, the introduction of sunsetting or placing a hard cap on the power level of gear is irrelevant in most PVP modes.  The existence of non-power enabled playlists means old PVP weapons that were dominant can still be used.  The introduction of Stasis is also much less engaging in PVP than it is when used against AI enemies.  Stasis feels like it was made for PVE without any considerations for the Crucible at all.  The freeze effect is too long, the damage you take after freeing yourself is too high and many of the freeze abilities are instant, preventing the opposing player from being able to react in any substantive way.  Long story short: you get frozen, you might as well just put down the controller and accept that your opponent has achieved their free kill.  

It could be the honeymoon or honeyterror, in this case, phase of a new expansion, but with everyone using Stasis in Crucible, it only highlights how unbalanced and unfun the ability to suddenly stop your opponent is.  Bungie needs to take a second look at the Crucible’s balance and consider adjusting Stasis in some way at least in PVP, whether it be reducing the time you’re frozen or changing some of the ability effects for PVP only.  For now though, Crucible will be only a way for day 1 raiders and dedicated players to get some powerful rewards but I expect that Bungie will be looking at feedback over the next season.  The endgame PVP mode, Trials of Osiris, being delayed until after the second weekend of the season seems to indicate that Bungie is looking to make some small adjustments to how PVP plays out.  PVP may be worth avoiding for now if possible with a keen eye on any updates Bungie may make to balance out some of their new additions.   

Gambit – New and Improved but is it enough? 

Gambit used to be split into two modes, the best of 3 rounds Gambit and the one round Gambit Prime.  It has now had the two modes combine in a way, with the new Gambit being one round only but lacking the roles and Primeval invincible phases of Gambit Prime.  This new version of Gambit is now much shorter, with both teams needing to deposit 100 motes and then proceeding to a simplified Primeval boss phase.  The Primeval Envoys will still spawn and they will respawn periodically, giving players the choice between building stacks of Primeval Slayer or attacking the Primeval directly.  

These changes are good and they make Gambit feel like less of a chore but they don’t get rid of the main core problems with Gambit.  However, a lack of meaningful rewards besides the one weekly powerful and pinnacle drop, a long arduous grind to Legend that doesn’t reward anything unique and the same Invader problem that has existed in the mode since its introduction in Forsaken leave Gambit feeling much emptier and less rewarding to play than before.  For people who didn’t like Gambit in the past, this new Gambit will probably be more tolerable but unfortunately, much like Crucible, there aren’t many reasons for players to really go out of their way to play it besides the standard rewards they can get elsewhere. 

Say goodbye to all that gear 

Rest in peace Titan, Mars, Mercury and Io.  Gone too soon. 

The two biggest changes to Destiny with Beyond Light are the addition of sunsetting gear and the Destiny Content Vault.  The Destiny Content Vault is Bungie’s way of removing and re-adding old Destiny content with all of Destiny’s content even from Destiny 1 existing within this Vault.  With Beyond Light, many of the destinations and content, including several raids, were removed from Destiny 2 to be held in the DCV for who knows how long.  Bungie has promised that old content will be re-added though, with the Vault of Glass raid from Destiny 1 returning with the next few seasons.  Unfortunately, with the removal of much of the old content, Destiny 2 is reliant on what’s left, the few strikes, Crucible maps and modes and the 2 raids to keep players engaged.  Beyond Light has added two new locations but with only one new strike and no new Crucible or Gambit matches, there is definitely a feeling that too much has been taken away.  Time will tell if Bungie can handle the balancing act of removing old, unpopular content with adding in new content and fan favorites from Destiny’s past.  

With constantly increasing power levels, past flames get left behind. 

Sunsetting is another issue that veteran players have had many opinions on.  Sunsetting refers to Bungie’s decision to effectively give every piece of gear in the game an expiration date of one year after it has been introduced.  For instance, the Hailing Confusion pulse rifle introduced in Season 12 will be sunset and have its power capped at Season 16.  Although players can still use old, power capped gear, for content that has a recommended power, like the Beyond Light campaign or Crucible modes like Iron Banner and Trials, they will need to find new and updated gear.  Unfortunately, Bungie has sunset or powercapped all of the weapons and armor from Destiny 1’s launch to Shadowkeep, nearly 2 years-worth of gear that players have spent hours grinding for.  The perceived lack of enough new weapons and armor have left many players concerned that Bungie will continue to make old gear obsolete without providing enough rewarding or fun replacements.  Like the Destiny Content Vault, it will take time to see how well Bungie can balance removing the old and replacing it with new content.  So far, however, it seems Bungie has not done enough to satiate the player base’s hunger for gear.   

The New New Light 

“Eyes up guardian” 

With the launch of Beyond Light and the removal of the original opening to Destiny 2, the Red War, the New Light experience has been revamped.  Previously, new players would simply be dropped into the Tower after creating their character and immediately barraged with a series of quests.  These quests amounted to nothing more than short introductions to the planets, the vendors and the one or two activities at each destination.  In short, New Light players were basically given an uncomfortably short and lackluster tour of everything that Destiny had to offer.  This new New Light experience, however, aims to rectify that.   

New players will now find themselves waking up to their Ghost finding them in the Cosmodrome, a sequence very familiar to those who played the opening of Destiny 1.  The player will fight their way through the Wall, arm themselves and meet a brand new NPC named Shaw Han (yes, that’s a Fast and Furious reference).  Shaw Han, along with a liberal use of tooltips, will help walk the new player through all of the different aspects and mechanics of Destiny, from why the bad guys are bad to what the different rarities of gear means.   

A relatively short but informative questline has the new player trekking across and fighting enemies in the Cosmodrome, familiarizing players with Destiny’s gameplay and gunplay.  The more curated and directed way that Bungie has set up the New Light experience allows for a less intimidating drop into Destiny’s sandbox.  The various icons and destinations on the map are now helpfully introduced, ensuring now player gets lost or confused.  The New Light experience is now the best way to be introduced to Destiny 2 and with the removal of much of the older content, the route for new players to start playing and fall in love with Destiny has been even more streamlined. 

Conclusion 

Beyond Light feels like the start of a new game, an ersatz Destiny 3.  The addition of a new destination with new gear and weapons and the removal of most of the old content leaves Destiny 2 feeling like it has been cleaned out and new snow themed wallpaper has been put up.  Beyond Light therefore feels more like a new foundation for Bungie to build on rather than an expansion of the game.  Some additions have proven to be fun and interesting, particularly the Beyond Light campaign and the Stasis subclass in PVE.  However, Bungie will need to prove that they are dedicated to keeping veteran players engaged, especially since they don’t seem to be very focused on much in Beyond Light besides the expansion itself.  The main campaign is enjoyable and Europa has a whole host of activities and quests for players to really sink their teeth into, with new enemies and challenges that will keep dedicated players busy, especially once the raid releases on November 21st.  However, Crucible and Gambit have never been in a weaker spot and without much else to do, I can see Bungie struggling to keep players’ attention without adding in a lot of new content or updates soon.  For new players, Beyond Light is the perfect time to jump in and experience Destiny.  An updated new player experience and hours upon hours of content to explore for the first time means new players will have plenty to do.  As a whole package, for a new player, Destiny is worth every single penny.  You don’t even need to buy it to experience most of Destiny anyways, the free to play version still having access to a giant wealth of content even without Beyond Light.   

For veteran players, Beyond Light acts as an insight into Bungie’s vision for Destiny moving forward.  The days of Forsaken and Taken King style expansions are over.  Bungie no longer has extra studios and a giant publisher to help them make massive expansions now.  If veterans are not interested in anything Beyond Light has to offer, it can be difficult to justify the price.  However, the addition of new destinations, new gear and armor, a full campaign with post-story missions with the promise of more lore and the much anticipated Deep Stone Crypt Raid will still offer players a trove of valuable content that I believe any Destiny player would fall in love with.  For a new player, I cannot recommend Destiny 2 enough and with an updated New Light experience, Destiny 2 has never been easier to get into.  Beyond Light is the first stepping stone into a new frontier for Bungie and despite a worldwide pandemic, Bungie has delivered a deep and engaging expansion that will leave players still engaged hours later.   

Final Score: 8/10

Check Out the Destiny 2: Beyond Light Season of the Hunt Trailer:

To watch the Destiny 2: Beyond Light launch trailer, go here.

For more information, please visit: https://www.bungie.net/7/en/Destiny/BeyondLight

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