Destiny 2 Story Review (Xbox One)

Destiny was a game infamous for having a, let’s say, lackluster plot. In developing Destiny 2, Bungie faced a lot of pressure to nail the narrative. Long story short: they did it. The plot is easy to follow, but still interesting for an FPS/MMORPG. The dialogue felt very human and the characters acted as if they really cared about one another in some fashion. Bungie also included many potential themes threaded throughout the narrative that were open to interpretation. Needless to say, while there are still flaws, it’s a vast improvement compared to the first installment of the series.

Campaign

“Welcome to a world without light.” Throughout the campaign in Destiny 2, the heroes’ new mortality presents the main conflict. How do heroes who forgot what it meant to fear death suddenly adapt to being mortal? Are superheroes really superheroes without their powers? It makes for one of the most interesting AAA FPS plots in recent history.

Unfortunately, this interesting plot is only pushed forward by completing the story missions, which lack the inspiration and grandeur of the overall plot. During the missions, I never felt I was doing anything impressive in the campaign, battling the ‘unstoppable’ army of the Red Legion. On Earth, I fixed up some communication systems. On Titan, I fired up some generators. On Nessus, I messed with some teleportation technologies. Finally, on Io, I stopped some drills. Granted, I felt fantastically heroic in the last couple of missions (which I can’t explain further because (*spoilers*), but, for most of the main game, I was stuck doing menial tasks for colorful personalities.

The actual missions do no justice to the real treat of the campaign: the cutscenes. If I had to say the area where Bungie improved the most in Destiny 2, it would be the writing, direction, and overall production of their cutscenes. Destiny’s cutscenes lacked emotion and never really brought a sense of the continuity of an overarching plot. Destiny 2 fixes these issues and brings better writing for some of our favorite characters Cayde-6, Zavala, and Ikora.

The campaign was amazing. While the actual missions may be lacking for players like myself, the cutscenes alone make Destiny 2 a must-buy.

Adventures

Comparable to story missions, Destiny 2’s Adventures provides side missions that further explain the universe for casual players and lore fanatics alike. It’s nothing too crazy. Adventures only answer small questions. Say you see two enemy factions fighting one another at some point in the game and wonder, “Why are they fighting? Shouldn’t they be trying to kill me?” In an Adventure, you’d discover that your fellow guardians lured one of the two factions into an ambush by acting like they were the other faction, thus leading the two factions to wage war amongst one another.

While this addition to the game wasn’t necessary, I found it a pleasant and a thoroughly enjoyable part of the game. After completing the campaign, I relished in going through these Adventures to consume just a bit more content to saturate my hunger for Destiny 2’s lore. Adventures also involve less tedious tasks than many of the story missions. During Adventures, whether I was setting up ambushes, learning about new threats to humanity, or finding lost companions, I I always felt like I was contributing somehow to the ongoing conflict and I felt heroic. It gives you a certain level of satisfaction.

Adventures are some of the most fun things you can do in Destiny 2 and you’ll get the opportunity to learn just about everything about this universe while completing these missions.

Dialogue and Characters

Bungie nailed it. The dialogue and characters make the game one of the most immersive experiences I’ve ever played, despite some clash from the protagonist. Unlike in Destiny, the vanguard here feels like a real team. Zavala makes comments on how much Ikora and Cayde-6 mean to him, Ikora shows she does care for her fireteam (despite her harsh exterior), and Cayde-6 makes it known he listens to his friends, even if it may not appear so much of the time.

Destiny 2 also introduces a few new colorful characters. Devrim Kay is an old British sniper for the Tower Militia on Earth. Sloane is Vanguard Scout on Titan. Failsafe is a malfunctioning AI on Nessus with two personalities (one good and one evil, of course). Then there’s Asher Mir, a prickly Awoken Warlock researcher. All these characters are quirky and fun, and they give the game a bit more personality and humor, which will benefit it in the long run.

In Destiny 2, it seems like Bungie put extra focus on the dialogue and characters. It pays off, tremendously. Each character and interaction feels important and provides a little fun to an already excellent shooter.

Silent Guardian

Here is my only major complaint:  In Destiny 2, your character remains mute for the entire campaign. No matter what happens to you or who talks to you, your ghost (who is your buddy throughout the whole game) will answer for you. This is a problem and it’s so awkward to watch.

Another character can relay the most emotional story you’ve ever heard, and your character only nods. Your character can lose the thing that means most, and just shake his or her head in sadness. I think this is the one thing Bungie needs to fix in a later update because it destroys the immersion. I understand, of course, voice actors are expensive and Bungie would need to hire a number of them to cover all possible versions of the character), then they would have to support all languages, meaning more voice actors … but it’s the one glaring flaw in an otherwise excellent story. If the Mass Effect Trilogy could get both male and female Shepard voiced, why not your Guardian in Destiny 2? So, I hope Bungie will invest in fixing this for future stories, or maybe even an update. It makes part of the story feel fake, and stories that feel fake aren’t as fun or as immersive.

Overall, Destiny 2’s story is one of the best in recent AAA FPS games. The intriguing plot mixed with well-written dialogue and quirky characters make it an extremely enjoyable experience. Even after you finish the campaign, you’ll be left with Adventures, which is even more fun than most of the story missions. The story’s only major flaw is, once again, the mute protagonist, which lessens the immersion.