Tag: Destiny

Destiny has been out for a few weeks, and while the critics kind of hate it and the shine is wearing off because of all the grinding, it still has me in its clutches. Whereas LOTRO or Star Trek Online used to be my “comfort games,” now Destiny fills that role. I always felt like playing LOTRO or STO, even if I just has a little while. I could blow off steam, accomplish something, and complete a mission or two. I didn’t touch either LOTRO or STO this weekend, but opted for Destiny in every moment I could spare. I’m a little sad about this. I have a lifetime subscription to STO, so I’m not wasting money by not playing it, but there are still places to see and aliens to kill. I do pay yearly for LOTRO, so if I’m not playing it, I’m wasting money. Besides, I still haven’t even finished the new story that came with the latest update. So I feel guilt over my choice in how to waste my time.

Destiny, on the other hand, has a very short story that I’ve finished. Everything else PvE is just replaying the same things over and over, with the exception of the Raid, which I won’t be able to tackle maybe ever. But the gameplay mechanics are so comfortable and natural and satisfying (note that I didn’t say “rewarding” – more later) that it is easy to jump in and do a couple patrol missions or even a short story mission when I have a few minutes available. If the infernal and interminable loading could be reduced or eliminated, the game would be even better and less annoying.

The game isn’t very rewarding, however. Most missions give no reward or perhaps some random crappy reward. The Queen’s Wrath missions are a great way to get good gear, but they are very hard and often give the same damn helmet over and over! Random loot drops are all we can hope for, and I got very lucky yesterday when my first and only Legendary Engram turned into an Exotic sniper rifle. Yay!

And then I went into the Crucible (PvP) and got my ass handed to me.

I finished the “story missions” in Destiny last night after nearly 18 hours of play. So all the people that claimed the Destiny world is small (myself included in previous posts) are both right and wrong. It turns out that we only get a small region to explore on each of the game worlds (Earth, Moon, Mars, Venus), but those areas are pretty big, detailed, and complex. Also, if you think about it, 18 hours is a lot longer than it takes to finish most games other than RPGs and MMOs these days. It’s way longer than The Last of Us and Tomb Raider, to name a couple.

So now that I’ve finished the story missions and reached the level cap (20), what’s next? Well, now the game takes on a new life. I haven’t even touched the PvP Crucible, nor have I put much effort into maxing out my reputation with any of the various factions. I’ve only played one Strike mission (twice, though). I’m not even high enough level to play the current raid nor some of the harder mission difficulties. The game changes into a lot more grinding, which could be bad if it weren’t for the good game mechanics and nearly perfect feel of the action. There is a lot more to do, much more to explore, and more fun to be had. Places to go, things to see, baddies to kill…

I haven’t even tried out all three character classes (only the Warlock so far). In addition, each class has two different skill trees that are apparently quite different, but I haven’t touched the 2nd Warlock skill tree.

Now that I’ve reached this milestone, however, I will try to obsess over Destiny a little less and get back to LOTRO, STO, Diablo III, and more. But Destiny certainly offers more compelling future fun than Titanfall does, in my opinion, yet the costs the same (at release).

I played the first 4 missions of Destiny last night and enjoyed them, even though they were exactly like the beta, as far as I could tell. I got the slight impression that thing were a little harder than the beta, but that may just have been my lack of practice. But I did notice some glitching that wasn’t in the beta: Some enemies were glitching between a couple of different spots, much like laggy play in other multiplayer shooters. Except these were computer controlled enemies, not players, so it wasn’t due to someone’s crappy internet connection. These were also very low level enemies (level 2), so it wasn’t some special ability – it was a glitch. It wasn’t a terrible problem, but it sure messed up my aim as I tried to kill them. It also messed them up, too, so at least the disadvantage went both ways.

Other than that glitch, all seemed just as good as the beta, and it was good fun. I played the 4th mission with a friend (who was much better than I am), so that was great fun.

One of the things I like about Destiny is that the enemies are not omniscient. They can be surprised if you sneak up on them, and some of them can even be a little cowardly if you knock down their shields. Overall, the feel of the game is great, so I’m looking forward to playing more.