Destiny 2’s Biggest Problems Don’t Include a Lack of Loot

While I didn’t mind Dragon Age II, it still was a step down from the incredible hardcore experience that was Origins. BioWare was able to meet in the middle, creating a more modern Action-RPG while maintaining an old school essence. There was no game on this list that I spent more time with than Dragon Age: Inquisition, and for good reason. It’s an RPG of the highest caliber, introducing us to Thedas like we’ve never seen it before, and some of the most affable characters to ever grace the Dragon Age fiction. There’s so much lore packed into this sixty dollar package that you’ll be engrossed in the story, not to mention the vast expansive world that has been finely crafted. The branching paths and party specific dialogue also give Inquisition an incredible amount of replay value; never before directly after finishing a game did I want to replay it an entirely different way. That’s not to mention the fights with dragons are some of the most satisfying occurrences to be found. Dragon Age: Inquisition has it all, and while I would like to see BioWare expand upon the addictive multiplayer mode, its campaign drove deep into my addictive personality.

Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls were easily two of my favorite games to have hit the last generation of consoles, so when From Software announced a "direct" sequel, my anticipation was palpable. Somehow, From Software is able to create some of the most grueling, most depressing worlds out there, while at the same time urges us to venture forth. While there are some hitbox issues that can add to the frustration, the bosses, environments and enemies are all well throughout, along with an incredibly intriguing hidden storyline that ties directly into the past game. It’s almost as if the developers deliberately set up scenarios to screw over players, but we took it and enjoy every minute of it.

However, probably the most disgusting offense this expansion imposes on players is that vanilla players are now locked out of key content they had access to just weeks ago. The Prestige Leviathan raid now requires a Power Level that can only be attained by purchasing the DLC. This is especially terrible for PC owners who have only had six weeks to enjoy this content. Considering ‘Dark Below’ did not lock vanilla Destiny players out of the ‘Vault of Glass’ hard mode, there’s no excuse for what’s going on here.

Placing all the powerful weapons in the same category has good potential for PvP, but it’s also a functional misstep in terms of PvE. Power weapon ammo drops more often in Destiny 2 than heavy weapon ammo in Destiny 1, but still not nearly as often as kinetic or energy weapon ammo. So right away there’s less incentive to use that ammo for any weapon other than a rocket or grenade launcher. Why waste that relatively rare and precious ammo on a sniper rifle when it could instead be spent on something much more powerful? It’s the same issue with abilities in that they’re all restricted by ridiculously-slow cooldowns. Instead of enjoying the ability to toss a grenade into a group of minor enemies, dodge around the battlefield at one’s leisure or even pop a super to take on a mid-boss, the game encourages players to bank them instead. To use one’s abilities in any situation other than the most desperate is to see them go to waste. Nobody wants to be caught staring at a cool-down meter when they’re stuck in a tight spot. These can at least be adjusted a bit with mods, but who wants to waste their mods on anything other than top-tier armor? The net result is gameplay that’s gone from fast-paced, fluid and fun, to something slow, limited and dull with no incentive whatsoever to make use of the game’s most enjoyable weapons and powers. If the developers truly felt that these changes were necessary to achieve a more fun and balanced Crucible, then perhaps it would have been better to just separate the Crucible from the rest of the game.

House of Wolves is almost completely avoidable as it mainly sets up a wave-based cooperative experience. Here, the Fallen leader of the House of Wolves, Kell Skolas, breaks out of jail and sets forth plans to attack the Last City. The Queen requests you capture him and throw him back in his cell. Skolas has beef with the Queen as The Wolves and the Reef did battle at some point, at least until Variks, the current Warden of the Prison of Elders, switched sides and betrayed his Fallen brothers. You catch him and put him back where he belongs.

I’ve played a lot of Destiny, whether that be in Destiny or Destiny 2 form. This of course means I’ve also done everything Destiny has to throw at me. Being someone who likes Destiny means you can look here’ll probably end up grinding toward the be all end all raid content for whatever iteration the series is on. Destiny 2 has a serious problem, though, and it's its raid Leviathan and what it exactly it wants to be.

What makes Public Events so exciting is that, if the right triggers are activated, players will kick-off a Heroic Public Event. This changes the objective from something simple like capturing a location or killing off all enemies, into something more challenging.