Destiny 2 – The Season Two Report Card

Destiny 2 is a living game that is constantly changing. In addition to its major expansions, Bungie is regularly updating, patching, and otherwise tweaking the ins and outs of the play experience, and dedicated players are quick to note how even the smallest change affects their time in-game. As Season Three is about to launch alongside the Warmind expansion, I want to take the opportunity to look back at Season 2, which began with the launch of Curse of Osiris back in December, and comes to an end today.

Before looking at specifics, there’s some important things to consider. This isn’t a review of the full game, or of every aspect of play. My original review of Destiny 2 explores a look at the game very shortly after launch, and represents what players encountered in those early weeks – that is, a strong campaign, numerous strikes, a raid, and competitive Crucible opportunities, adding up to several dozen hours of fun and leveling. The picture became significantly more nuanced with a Season One report card. That article speaks to the game several weeks later, as some of the dilemmas around long-term play had begun to affect its most dedicated players. A subsequent review of the first expansion, Curse of Osiris, cited increasing problems in core aspects of competitive play, long-term engagement, the collection experience, and more, and noted increasing frustration from a voracious community. 

Cut to several months later, and Destiny 2 feels like it’s in a precarious position. In the days since Curse of Osiris launched, Bungie has revised several aspects of play, but is also struggling with a dearth of players that is evident to anyone who logs in and examines their clan roster. Several core systems feel like they’re not built for the kind of investment experience that many serious fans want over half a year after the core game launched. 

Simultaneously, Bungie has dramatically adjusted its approach to communication with its community, offering a clear roadmap of upcoming features that is regularly adjusted as schedules shift, which is a welcome change. 

Where is Destiny 2 at as this second season comes to a close? And where are the opportunities for the game to see improvement as we head into season three, which begins tomorrow?

The Big Picture

Increasingly, two dilemmas stand out in the ongoing Destiny 2 play experience as it is experienced by dedicated players.

First, with each passing month, I struggle to understand the choice to abandon the wealth of locales, weapons, and adventures that unfolded in the three years of the original Destiny. Destiny 2 was built as a new system (rather than an addition to the old), in part to entrance new players and give veterans something new to chase, but also likely because it allowed Bungie a clean slate to redesign how the game was put together on a technical level. To its credit, the sense of newness did genuinely help Destiny 2 to shine at launch, and several systems felt better as a result, including planetary discovery and exploration, clan integration, and a more logical and understandable approach to gear acquisition, among other things. And, sure enough, the game activities and locations did indeed feel fresh and exciting at first, and brought many new players into the fold who were frightened off by the original Destiny’s sometimes cryptic systems.

Unfortunately, several months in, new locales and missions on places like Io and Titan don’t feel any fresher or more engaging than a patrol mission might on the old stomping grounds of Mars or Venus. In fact, I miss the variety that came through a return trip to places like the Dreadnought, or even patrols on the Moon. On a thematic level, Destiny speaks about humankind rediscovering its past and flexing out into an ever-widening universe; it feels strange that as Season Two comes to a close, Destiny 2 still feels like a smaller universe than what was on offer in the original game. 

The second dilemma is about where and when in the arc of a player’s journey through the game that they could expect to find the most fun. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that critics and community alike had consistently high praise for the initial launch of Destiny 2 (especially compared to the initial launch of the first Destiny game back in 2014), but that same community has struggled to find meaning and engagement in these later months of Destiny 2. Many of the design decisions that shaped Destiny 2 frontloaded the exciting battles, growth, and storytelling into the first several dozen hours, but it came at the cost of opportunities for depth further in. 

Most players I know had a really good time early on with many of the new systems. Static rolls on equipment meant that it was easier to chase that one weapon you wanted in the early weeks, but it also meant there was no reason to go after a better version later on. Team-focused, small-team competitive play in the Crucible was a lot of fun, especially for new players to feel capable, but later on the skill curve seemed to drop away, since there were fewer ways to chase one-on-one mastery over opponents. Many activities flattened the power level so that everyone could participate together, as we saw with events like Iron Banner and public events, but it meant that there were fewer reasons to strive and grind for those pinnacle power points on your character sheet. 

For dedicated fans who are eager for a daily hobby, it’s easy to find fault in these decisions, but in many cases, it helped Destiny 2 jump to a strong gallop out of the starting gate. Unfortunately, these same decisions have meant that during Season 2, in particular, the horse feels like it is dragging. The long-term engagement problems are apparent, but Bungie hasn’t yet had the time it needs to address the bulk of the concerns. But it doesn’t mean that the developer hasn’t been trying.

Next Page: The painful crawl of Season 2, and the surprising bright spots along the way

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