Destiny 2 Is Finally Giving Players What They Want

Fans and critics alike had a sort of love-hate relationship with the original Destiny, and that didn't change when Destiny 2 launched in Fall 2017. The sequel negated a lot of the strides made in the first game, and forced players to once again offer feedback for how Bungie — the developer of the title — could make things better.

A little over two years later, we may have finally entered Destiny 2's Golden Age.

The Destiny 2 sandbox feels like it's in a very good place right now. There aren't any guns that feel problematically overpowered, nor are there any character subclasses in obvious need of nerfs or buffs. Progression feels more rewarding, thanks to the game's new Season Pass system, which acts much like a Fortnite Battle Pass in that it gives players 100 levels of equipment and resources to grind. You can play a little each day and feel like you've accomplished something.

Shadowkeep was a small expansion by Forsaken standards, but moved the overarching story of the Destiny universe forward for the first time in a long awhile. Destiny has had the tendency to chase "monsters of the season," creating a brand new threat that takes players off to the side without progressing the main narrative. The story in Shadowkeep addressed that criticism, and even Season of Dawn — which isn't an expansion — has included a few story missions, too. They're not viewed as a campaign in the way Forsaken or Shadowkeepmissions were, but they still feel like they're building toward something big and important.

Season of Dawn in particular feels like one where Bungie finally "got" what it was doing with Destiny 2. New story missions? Check. New weapons and armor to chase? Check. An interesting new activity in the Sundial? Check. Substantial qualify-of-life improvements? Check. These are likely what most players expect out of a season, and what they probably anticipated past Destiny 2 seasons would contain. If every seasonal content drop going forward resembles Season of Dawn, it's safe to say Bungie may have finally cracked the code.

In fact, Season of Dawn is so good that players have barely noticed it's missing a raid. In past Destiny and Destiny 2 seasons where content was scarce, the lack of a raid would've drawn a lot of heat from fans. The absence of outcry says a lot about how players have responded to the new seasonal content model thus far. The question is, can Bungie sustain this kind of output?

We sure hope so. It's been said enough that it's become cliche at this point, but Destiny 2 has never been better than it is right now. We'll have to wait until next season, however, to see if Bungie can keep the content train chugging.