In a familiar loop, Destiny 2 fans are trapped. After a year of slow content updates following the promising expansion of Shadowkeep in 2019, players are once again excited about the next chapter of the game. Beyond Light promises to be a significant move forward for the franchise, as the annual expansions before it, which fans hope will turn the ship back on track.
Beyond Light looks like the most critical expansion of the game since The Taken King of 2015, which entirely redesigned the first Destiny game. If what we know so far is any indication, an increase in November could be just what players have wanted for years. Here are four reasons Destiny 2 could be incarcerated by Beyond Sun.
Beyond Light will focus on the story.
The plot of the series has always been a tricky idea. The campaign was noticeably mediocre in the original Destiny, with most of the game’s lore only appearing on a separate smartphone app. Expansions like Forsaken, introduced more concentrated storytelling to the short-term game, but it has been a narrative grab bag for the past year.
By eventually focusing on many of the loose ends of the franchise, Beyond Light seeks to fix the issue. Finally, old favorite characters like The Exo Stranger are coming back, making Beyond Light sound like it’ll make more use of the series’ rich mythology.
The upgrade also pays out the pyramid ship teaser of the initial campaign, giving the game a Thanos-sized challenge. For years, the tale of Destiny 2 has meandered without a right big bad to pursue, so this new villain, Eramis, can add to the grind some much-needed stakes.
There’s a whole new element to play with
Players have a new feature to play with for the first time in the history of Destiny. As a new damage form, Stasis joins void, solar, and arc, adding to the game an entirely new set of character sub-classes and supers.
That is a massive deal for players who have been tooling around with the same forces for six years. While Bungie has tinkered with what those skills can do, after hundreds of hours, using the same tricks repeatedly can feel stale, and Destiny 2 certainly has less personalization of characters than is typical of massive, persistent online games.
On the other hand, Stasis is unlike anything previously used by athletes. In their tracks, the element has the ability to freeze enemies, which introduces an entirely new dimension to battle. Stasis will give new space for exploration and make experiences look refreshed again as the group shares their discoveries.
The new exotics bring much-needed utility.
Loot will always be a make or break piece in every extension in Destiny. If players are going to grind for hundreds of hours, it needs to be worth the rewards. Fortunately, with a wild assortment of exotic gear, Beyond Light is prepared.
The expansion includes gauntlets that ricochet off walls for Hunter’s knife, a mask that gives teams a protecting aura after revival, and a literal sword of a chainsaw.
What is exciting is that many of the latest exotics seem to offer the game with more utility choices. For instance, Titans are given an overshield by one set of gauntlets, making them a much-improved tank. It’s one thing to have a cool benefit, but being able to equip something which helps to serve a particular team function goes a long way to making exotics feel like they’re worth chasing.
There’s new customization, too.
Part of Destiny’s appeal was always the fact that players can get really granular about how they create their character. With new technologies that give players more control, Beyond Light aims to take personalization even further.
Destiny 2 Beyond Light
Elements and fragments expand subclasses in innovative ways. Beyond Light also introduces transmogrification, enabling players to transform every piece of gear into a universe decoration. That means that, while maintaining the stats and benefits of another piece, players can wear any piece of armor they like.
That’ll allow players the freedom to create a character that best reflects their personality rather than one that’s purely meta-friendly. Hopefully, public spaces can become more colorful as players can eventually make their characters as nice or goofy as they choose.
Much-loved content returns
Lots of material is going away with Beyond Light, like entire planets. It may sound like it’s going to give players less to do, but there’s a silver lining. Bungie revealed that fan-favorite content would return to the game too, beginning with Destiny’s beloved Vault of Glass raid.
Opening the Vault of Glass
Over the years, Destiny 2 featured several events, but most of it felt like a filler. Spaces like Io began to feel like dead space at some point, crowding the game’s ballooning file size. A good indication is the fact that material like that is going away, while practical activities such as Vault of Glass are coming back. It suggests that Bungie will concentrate on activities that fans want to do versus those they feel they have to do.
Spicing up the game’s grind could go a long way to make Destiny 2 feel less like a mission and more like a developing world with fulfilling tasks to complete.
