My love for Bungie dates back all the way to the original Halo, back when Xbox first became a thing, seeing them leave that franchise to create their own was very exciting, I personally very much enjoyed the first “Destiny” video game. By the time the sequel had released, I was growing very wary of getting addicted to anything that smelled of “game as service” so for the most part I tended to stay away from “Destiny 2.” While I may be in the minority there, because the franchise is still thriving, since its original release in 2017 there have been large expansions coming out every year, making this one “Lightfall” the seventh one.
Going into this review I need to point out that, I do not own, nor have I played most of the previous expansions, so my knowledge on how things have improved or gotten worse over the years is something I cannot attest to. This review will also primarily be a review on the campaign itself, I know there is a lot more to “Destiny 2” with its endgame content, but I got a life, and many other games I need to review, I can only do so much. That being said, I did group up with some more seasoned Destiny players on my journey and they did the best they could to fill me in where I needed to. Going into the story for this “Lightfall” expansion, I’ll be honest, I wish I had played previous expansions, because I was often lost. My whole experience was primarily going with the flow and doing my best to enjoy the journey. Even for someone essentially hopping into the middle of an ongoing story, things started off really strong and interesting. But throughout the eight-hour campaign I felt it quickly lost steam and the writing tended to get lazier and lazier and just felt flat at the end. By the time it was over I felt like nothing we had done really mattered and the story didn’t even progress all that much. The boss fight with Emperor Calus was also particularly very fun and kept me and my team on my toes.
While that may have been a bummer for me, like any other Bungie title, gameplay is king, and their first-person action gameplay feels as polished and as fun as ever. This expansion particularly added a new subclass called “Strand” which adds unique new powers to the Titan, Hunter, and Warlock classes. The missions during the campaign are also fun and creative, it was cool to see a lot of natural evolution in gameplay from Bungie over the years. A lot of the campaigns take place on Neomuna, a city on the planet Neptune, which has been highly advertised for this expansion. While on surface level the city can be very gorgeous with its neon lit cyberpunk look to it, when you really look at it, it’s actually pretty baron, with not much life in it. I feel like without the creative lights around the map, Neomuna would actually be rather basic I’m sorry to say. Conversations with NPCs can also be a bit of a mixed bag, the dialogue written here is uninspired and at times I hate to say, cringey to hear to say the least. With all that said, while narratively a lot of things fall flat, and level designs leave more to be desired, the gameplay is as rock solid as ever and it’s hard going into “Destiny 2” and not having a fun time shooting enemies and getting loot.
I was fortunate to play “Destiny 2: Lightfall” with a hardcore fan that knows a lot more than me and I couldn’t help but want to get some of her input on her thoughts. I think the general consensus between the both of us was, this wasn’t by any means the best expansion Bungie has put out but continues to build intrigue for something bigger on the horizon, hopefully for me and especially the hardcore fans, I hope that’s true. After asking for her thoughts, this is what she shared with me:
“Those last two missions were freaking insane and frustrating, but I love a good challenge on legendary and I love how it stacks! I highly enjoyed it. Now it wasn’t the “Witch Queen” by any means. That story was long and amazing, and this is pretty throw you in the action in your face etc. Although it didn’t lack compared to that but that ending though. That ending regardless of what we’re still learning…was pretty wicked! My face is pretty shocked! Bungie did a good job on that last mission, but I feel like it should have been a part of everything, but I get why they went that direction… because it’s leading up to even more. Is it worth what I paid compared to “Witch Queen” and them putting out more in seasons I think that’s where they went wrong. They changed it up again because of everyone complaining and again people are going to complain because they expected both with story and seasonal, I feel like no matter what people are going to complain. A lot of people look for more plot, which this did lack a little. However, Bungie delivered what everyone was complaining about, content and gameplay. It’s pretty solid. The changes are amazing! I’m excited to see where the raid will put us! Strand is so much damn fun! However, I am a little angry at them for saying strand wasn’t like stasis yet it feels like it again with unlocking. I think some of the complaints are justified but I love that Bungie did that ending.”
7/10
For more information, visit: https://www.bungie.net/7/en/Destiny/Lightfall
Related: Nick Navarro Reviews
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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