Destiny 2 Reveal Stream: Notes
Here are my notes from the reveal stream, with some concluding thoughts at the end. All of this information is available from the Bungie reveal stream, and is not speculation unless marked as such:
In the beginning of Destiny 2, the Last City has fallen. Dominus Ghaul, leader of the Cabal Red Legion, has laid waste to the Tower and to the City itself, and his legions have torn our home apart.
The reveal trailer shows us fighting through the tower in the first campaign mission, called “Homecoming,” in which we battle alongside the Vanguard until Amanda Holliday deposits us atop some kind of Cabal ship, where we attempt to face down the bad guy.
Unfortunately, we fail, and Dominus Ghaul succeeds in deploying some sort of device that places the Traveler in a cage, instantly draining the Guardians of Light, and causing us to lose our powers. We cannot go back to the Tower.
In response, the Vanguard scatters. Ikora has fled to Io out of anger, Zavala is on Titan healing and having an existential crisis - “Are we Guardians even without the Light?”, and Cayde-6, in attempting to play the hero, has gotten himself into trouble on Nessus. Apparently, the Speaker has disappeared. More on these new worlds below.
In the campaign, we will have to track down and collect the Vanguard, as well as fight the new Red Legion enemy, led by Dominus Ghaul. Dominus Ghaul believes that he, based on his past experiences (which were not elaborated upon), is most worthy of the Traveler’s blessing, and does not understand why Humanity was chosen. He has come to Earth to prove his worthiness, and sees humanity as being in his way. He is not a “psychopath” bent on genocide. Luke Smith described him as “Having his stuff together,” and “Like Alan Rickman in Die Hard.”
Destiny 2 is a game about loss, and transitions into an experience about recovery and reclaiming what is ours.
Shown classes remain the same: Hunter, Warlock, and Titan. Nova Bombs, Defender Bubbles, and Golden Guns were shown but not remarked upon. However, new Super abilities were showcased:
Titan Sentinel: A Titan with a voidlight shield that can be used to block damage, thrown at enemies, or used in melee combat. There also appeared to be some new kind of Striker Titan Dash and a different sort of ‘Ice Wall,’ neither of which were discussed.
Hunter Arcstrider: A Hunter with a staff of arclight that focuses on acrobatic melee combat.
Warlock Dawnblade: A Warlock with a sword made of solar light that can be used in melee combat or to fling ranged attacks. Warlocks also appeared to be able to place some sort of buff zone beneath them, one of which “empowered” the player.
These look pretty awesome.
Weapon loadouts have been revamped to give players more flexibility. Weapons are now divided into three categories:
A variety of new weapons were shown. In addition to hand cannons, sniper rifles, shotguns, pulse rifles, and shotguns, we saw:
Minigun-like machine guns
A type of fast-firing rocket launcher
I assume we will learn more about this in the coming days. It appears that weapons such as hand cannons occupy the kinetic slot, but I would like to see more information about how these slots will work.
Destiny 2 features four playable worlds:
Earth: The European Dead Zone is now the location of Destiny’s largest playable area, and this is the zone where Humanity flees and attempts to rebuild after the Cabal attack. This camp was founded by Hawthorne, who features in the D2 Preorder, and who once left the City to live in the Wilds.
Titan: Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is covered with a Methane ocean with 40 ft waves, and features a human utopia, a relic of the Golden Age, sinking into ocean. There is no landmass on Titan.
Io: A sulfuric moon of Jupiter, Io is the last place the Traveler touched before it appeared on Earth. Io is a sacred place to the Guardians, and to Warlocks in particular. In the trailer, there appear to be the remnants of some kind of civilization.
Nessus: A centaur, or type of icy minor planet. The Vex have transformed Nessus into a machine world, and it now features native vegetation, large canyons, and plateaus based on tepui, a type of South American highland plateau.
Destiny 2 has revamped the map system. Now, players will be able to use an area map to navigate and discover locations and events. These include:
PatrolsAmbient enoucntersCollectable materialsAdventures*Treasure maps*Public events with treasures*Lost sectors*
*denotes a seemingly new feature
Destiny 2 will emphasize the sense of exploration that players experience. For example, players will be able to discover and unlock secret, hidden dungeons, which will contain both loot and bosses. There appear to be many, many secrets to discover.
Furthermore, there will be more interaction with NPC’s, resulting in numerous side-quests and further adventures.
Destiny 2 features a revamped map system that players will use to uncover and navigate the new areas. Waypoints, such as those corresponding to the activities listed above, will show up on this map. It will also show WHERE and WHEN public events will take place.
In addition, players will no longer have to ‘go to orbit’ to navigate to new locations. The world navigation system will now be usable from anywhere.
Co-operative play was heavily emphasized by all presenters. Bungie attempted to strike a balance between easy matchmaking and ensuring that all players are comfortable with the strangers they are matched with. The notable new features are:
Clans:
Clans will no receive official, in-game support. These will offer rosters, tools for fireteam building, custom banners, and shared clan experience and progression. Achievements, whether done solo or in a group, will benefit your clan.
Guided Games:
Guided games are a new way for solo players to find a fireteam without joining a clan and while being able to ensure they have a positive experience. Solo players will be able to see a brief summary of clan information, as well as the activity proposed, and will then be able to join the clan for that single activitiy without committing to the clan.
Guided games will open up your party to more players, in case one of your fireteam members must drop out of the activity.
Crucible:
The Crucible has been revamped for 4v4 combat across all game modes. There will also be a new attack/defend mode called “Countdown.” I assume we will learn more in the coming days.
In partnership with Blizzard, Destiny 2 for PC will be available exclusively through Blizzard’s Battle.Net.
“More cinematics than ever.”
There will be a new raid.
There will be new strikes. The strike played at the reveal is called “The Inverted Spire.” You will traverse Red Legion territory to a Vex Stronghold, where you will fight a 3-stage boss.
There will be more quests and story missions
There may (SPECULATION: ENTIRELY UNCONFIRMED) be new vehicles.
There will be “More to do than any game we’ve ever made at Bungie.”
Community, community, community. Destiny 2 was referred to several times by different people as “A world I want to be in, where I can always find people to play with if I want to.” Bungie appears to be focused on making all of D2′s content accessible to more players. This, to me, is a great thing.
Exploration: the words “Open World” were not used, and from the gameplay demo of “Homecoming,” that mission at least appeared quite linear. That’s not to say the rest of the game will be that way, and if the new map system is any indication, we can look forward to a lot more exploration.
I, personally, cannot wait to see the new worlds. It seems like Bungie has done a lot of work to make each location feel unique.
Gameplay-wise, it sounds as though Bungie has learned from D1, and is looking for ways to make D2 more engrossing and meaningful for all kinds of players. If the new strikes have harder, more involved boss fights, it sounds as though we can expect more than the bullet-sponge boss fights that dominated D1.
The revamped weapons system also sounds great, and I can’t wait to hear more about it.
I am unsure about the Crucible being reworked for 4v4. Reference was made to it being “For PvP Players,” although what that means remains to be seen.
And, most importantly: Throwing Knives return.
kaledo-art
baratheonpilled
jbbartram-illu
izzy806
tangentwithtanner
titsay
turnnoffyourmind
pixelskylines
2087
annaxmalina
areudirty
