A bit of a birdwalk, and a potentially spoilery screenshot.
I remember firing up my old Xbox - I honestly think it might have been a 360 - and checking out a little public preview for a game that looked cool, and was made by the people who made Halo. Destiny.
I lived in a tiny room in a small home with three roommates, and my desk with my console was crammed in to an even tighter corner behind the foot of my single bed. There was a lot in my life that felt new and exciting, but this game -- this felt...special. That little intro where a solemn-voiced companion told me I didn't know it yet, but I could do some real good if I could just get to someplace special. Running around and learning to spring lightly across a chasm, throw flaming knives, and spend bullets to buy myself time to learn what to do next felt fluid, seamless, fun. As I started to pick up bits and fragments of the fiction, and learned more about the people and the struggles of this strange new world, I was enthralled. When my jumpship warped through space the first time, I half-wished that mesmerizing loading screen of promise would never end.
It grew, it changed. I grew too. Yeah, I had to take breaks - sometimes I felt like this game demanded too much of me, and I didn't have enough to give it. Even then, when someone would ask me what my favorite game was (and this was a shockingly common question), Destiny was my first answer. I came back and left a multitude of times, trying to find a balance I could maintain. But as soon as it got better - by that I mean my thing, it got better - I jumped back in with both feet. I'm so glad I did. I found a game that had matured by trying new things, then keeping the good bits and working out the tough bits. More excitingly, I found the game unleashing some of the most creative uses of a first-person-shooter-platform as it worked towards the conclusion of a story it started to tell me almost a decade ago.
This was a beautifully executed closing chapter. The adventure was swaggering and boisterous and fun spirited. It resolved flawlessly. Each moment was written and performed with deliberate purpose. Care. This tremendous portion of my life and attention resolved with gravity, dignity, and a glimmering promise.