You see, when you have a crush on someone, you start really liking them and appreciating everything they do. And you decide to move forward, to see where this can go, but you quickly start to see things that weren't there in the first place. Then you hit a wall and things start to just feel the same, every day. You still like that someone, but it all feels like a chore and not the awesome adventure you were thinking before starting the whole thing. One or two good things might come still they won't be enough to make a drastic change. But then, a major event happens and that old flame is reignited again and it feels so so good!
My relationship with Destiny 2 has been just like that and the release of Forsaken was that major event. I love everything that Bungie brought with Forsaken. They addressed nearly every problem and today Destiny 2 looks, plays and feels better than ever.
One major sandbox change is the new weapons system where now you have full liberty to have the loadout you want. You might have heard people say "You can have 3 shotguns" and while, yes, you could do that, limiting yourself to just close range is stupid. Instead, you could rock a shotgun, a sniper and a pulse rifle so you can wreck at close, medium and long range. Or you can use one of the new weapon archetype, a fricking bow which is amazing!
Min-maxing is another welcomed change, where now the weapons and armor have random perks which in other words mean that the grind for that "god roll" is back. And it's exciting when you drop a legendary engram or decrypt one, cause you never know what it might be. Well, 9/10 times it will be another Edge Transit, but that one time you might hit the jackpot...jk. The weapon mods system was also changed and the mods now feel more significant, cause they are rare and they do feel like true weapon modifications that impact the way a gun or armor work. What else is new? Well, a sh*t ton of other changes which if I decided to talk about, we would be here all week so I will try to go quick.
Supers, yes, there are 9 new supers, 3 for each class. The rest of the supers have also received some tune-ups, but the new ones are amazing. I main a Warlock and I am in love with the new "Kamehameha" arc super, it is truly devastating. The same can be said for the Titan's missile or Hunter's knife barrage. And I really like how you get to unlock these supers... you have to play the game. They are not given immediately to you, but by doing activities you can drop an exotic consumable that will unlock the new super.
Wow, close to 500 words and I still haven't talked about the story. Cayde-6 dies, you already know that, everyone knows that. But I wish we didn't. I wish Bungie and Activision kept their mouth shut about the whole thing and let us experienced that... it would have been 100 times more powerful and heartbreaking. The writing and the cutscenes are on a whole another level in Forsaken. There's no overcomplicated world-ending story. This time is personal and you truly feel that. You are seeking vengeance for the death of Cayde-6, but that is just the first layer as later the game asks a very powerful question, revenge or justice?
In his last moments, Cayde-6 is fantastic and I am going to miss his (bad)ass. The rest of the cast, both old like Zavala and Ikora and new like Petra or Spider have their moments, some cool character development happens here and they don't feel like just some random quest giver NPCs, but real characters with emotions trying to deal with what just happened. The same can be said about the villains, Uldren has a nice arch and the barons each have a unique feel or trait to them.
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Rest in peace you beautiful bastard![/caption]
I love how the devs married story missions or the critical path with the adventures this time around. Adventures this time don't feel like something extra, not connected to anything you are doing or what's happening in the world. Quests too, as you complete them, you learn new stuff, unlock new lore which you can read in-game in the awesome new Lore tab.
The Tangled Shore is an exciting destination with a cool aesthetic, pathways, a new type of public event, patrols and some of the coolest hidden sectors in Destiny 2. Here you will meet Spider, a "smart" Fallen "businessman" from which you can buy materials and get bounties to hunt Wanted enemies through the solar system. Speaking of bounties, everyone has bounties now, Shaxx, Zavala, Hawthorne, Tess etc. for you to do and get tokens, legendary gear or the powerful gear which will increase your power level so you are ready to tackle the endgame activities.
And the endgame is awesome in Forsaken. The raid, Last Wish, dropped last Friday and it is the best and most difficult raid a Destiny game has ever had. Fantastic boss fights, intriguing and very challenging puzzles to complete and a beast of a last boss... it's a raid I will probably never complete. However, I can roam around, complete activities and find cool secrets in the Dreaming City or as Bungie calls it "the endgame destination". It truly is an endgame zone, enemies are powerful, the public events are cool and challenging to complete and the Blind Well is a cool new addition. It works like the Court of Oryx event from Destiny and it has a potential of dropping powerful gear and the cool exotic consumable that unlocks supers.
Another cool thing about this destination is that it will change depending on what the players do in-game. After some Destiny veterans finished the Last Wish raid, the Dreaming City changed, opened a few new activities like an additional level of the Blind Well, a quest and an amazing new strike. All of the new strikes in Forsaken are amazing and they truly capture the one thing Destiny has over all the other games, the expansive feel. You start at one side, go through a lot and end up on a totally new place at the end. In one strike you get to traverse the whole Prison of Elders, from the underground dodging trains to the top reenacting the Prison of Elders event back to the underground against the final true boss. The new strike that unlocked this week, is even better expansive, tons of platforming, dimension hopping and a cool raid-ish boss fight.
Gambit is another awesome new endgame activity. I say endgame cause your power level actually matters, so the higher level you are the more you kick ass. Anyway, this mode is a combination of PVE and PVP where 2 teams of four compete in two separate arenas against enemies and each other. Enemies drop motes when defeated, you collect these motes and deposit them to the bank in the middle of the map. Once enough motes are deposited in the bank, blockers or elite enemies spawn around the other team's bank. Deposit enough motes and a portal to invade the other team opens up. Only one player can invade and depending on how many players he/she kills, that affect the enemy team score. First team to 75 motes deposited spawns the boss in the arena and the first one to kill it wins the match. Win 2 out of 3 matches and you win the Gambit game. This mode is completely new, it feels so fresh and it needs true coordination if you want to succeed and win the game. The Drifter is the main NPC behind this event and can be found in the Tower. He has bounties to pick up, cool gear to unlock and buy. He is a really cool new character to join the Destiny universe and I cannot wait to learn more about him as I unlock new lore in the Lore tab.
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Loot all day, all night![/caption]
Forsaken is amazing. It changes the base game so much and it adds even more awesome content on top that makes Destiny 2 better, a lot better. I am excited to see what new things will be coming in the upcoming weeks. Iron Banner is back and power actually matters now. Exotic quests are a thing now and hidden quests like The Whisper are bound to be added in the game. It's an exciting time for Destiny 2 and hey if you are on PS4 and got the base game for free via PS Plus, upgrade to Forsaken now, thank me later!
Thanks for reading this review and thanks to Activision for providing the code for this review.
