There has never been a game harder for me to review. First because of what the game is : an ever (or so we thought) evolving world. And second because of the emotional baggage I carry with it. It is like reviewing not a single course of a restaurant you love, but the whole menu, heck menus. All of them, through all of the staff changes and years. This game is, has been, a journey. One too long to sum up in a paragraph, too emotional and vast to reduce into a review. A journey that is so uniquely mine. So maybe we should not think of this journey, and instead turn to its legacy. You are its legacy dear reader. If you have not taken your first step in Destiny, then try. Make your own journey. Immerse yourself in its sprawling universe. Meet the characters we have come to love for more than a decade. Discover all that the Sol system has to offer in this last update. Explore, lose yourself and find secrets at every turn. For the more hardy amongst you, take on Destiny’s fearsome raids, dungeons and pantheon. Dare to complete them in the highest of difficulties. And if you enjoy it. If this experience fills you with joy, go further. Leave the confines of the game and explore the internet in search of the stories you missed, those of the community. Maybe like me and countless others, you’ll make lifelong friends or deepen the connections you already had. Maybe this game can become a place for you to hang out alone or with friends, as it has been for so many of us. One that feels like home. Live the Legend, become the Legend.
There has been this long standing inside joke in the Destiny community : “I hate this game, it’s my favorite”.... But it was not hate, it was frustration, born of unreached potential. We all could see what the game could be, players and Devs alike, but business decisions and mismanagement kept this potential from ever fully blossoming in the long run. Until today, in its last breath, where the Devs were able to give us what they and we wanted : A place we could return to, always. Sure I would have loved to get Forsaken back in the game, or even Red War however unlikely it was, but this is one of the best updates we ever got. I can still hear the unknown calling, do you ?
Destiny is unique and can’t be replicated by any other game. I love playing Warframe, it’s great, but it is not Destiny. I love playing Helldivers 2, it’s unbridled fun, but it is not Destiny. Destiny is irreplaceable. It is, however, not lightning in a bottle. For Bungie themselves, over the years, have succeeded in capturing this elusive thunder again and again. My only wish is that they get to do it again, on their own terms. To the Destiny 2 Teams over the years, Thank You. Thank you for your devotion, thank you for being brave in difficult times, thank you for all that you sacrificed in order to make this game as great as it could be. You are my favorites, don’t ever forget that.
To my fellow Guardians, shine bright into the unknown.
