I want to preface this with the following:
I play gacha games; predominantly Honkai Star Rail and other Hoyoverse games. I am also a Destiny 2 player and have been for years. Warlock mains unite! I play various other mobile games that are neither of these (puzzles mostly). I'm currently only in the first part of the game's story and have been doing more area exploration/farming for resources than anything else. Some of my friends are dabbling so I'm trying not to rush too far ahead of them so we can suffer/cackle through things together.
Which is to say...Yes, I'm playing. So, here's my review to this point...
Do I think it's an amusing game for what it is? Yes. It's an AU Destiny Prequel. Could I get a similar or better gaming experience and writing Hoyo or another studio? Yes.
So, here's why I'm playing: We get Kabr as a playable unit, which means more lore and maybe Praedyth and Pahanin later. We also meet Tan-2, a new character, who I'm curious about given some of his voice lines and his ghost's dialogue. Don't get me wrong, I love Ikora but I'm more interested in what's happening with her in main/real Destiny than in this mobile game. If you've finished Edge of Fate or seen the ending cut scenes then you know. I won't elaborate here for spoiler reasons...and given I have yet to complete the aforementioned campaign. From what I can tell, everything they transposed into this is designed to work on a mobile framework. Don't expect PVP, Strikes, or Raids (yes they're planning those) to be as complex or involved as real Destiny. Also don't expect the same level of polish on the models. Everyone gives very Dragon Age Inquisition vibes (looking younger than they should despite lore and actual designs), plus there's some strange polygon and animation stuff going on but nothing I don't expect on a mobile platform.
This game will probably suffer from the "Mass Effect Andromeda" Dilemma. By that I mean - Mass Effect Andromeda is a fun SciFi ARPG wearing ME's clothes. It is, however, a garbage Mass Effect game. As of right now, I expect exactly the same from Destiny Rising. It'll be a fun little scifi Gacha with looter shooter mechanics wearing momma Destiny's clothes but it will not be a good Destiny game. So depending on how the rest of this initial story patch unfolds and what we get out of it in the next banner cycle/update will determine if I keep playing and if I can recommend it to others.
It also desperately needs it's own launcher (like Hoyo does) on PC. I don't use emulators for mobile games. No do I enjoy plugging my controller into my tablet to play a mobile game. Not when I know the UI could be better (see points of order below). It also defeats the purpose of being a mobile game.
I very much dislike that the Main PC is both a 4-star and locked into being a Hunter - I didn't get to choose my class or my race. They could have given us the same kit but changed the clothes and jump without much effort. (Warlock for life.) While I understand the PC/MC being a human, though I'd prefer to be an Exo or an Awoken.
That 2 of the 3 voice choices for the body I picked sound like the same pubescent boy to me is infuriating and has led me to turn off sound. I know they're supposed to be feminine but they're failing at even sounding gender neutral.
Not sure how much research Netease actually did into Destiny 2 once they got Bungie's/Sony's blessing to make this but I have lore concerns...
I dislike the UI and everything about playing it on mobile - I'm using a tablet/iPad. To make it feel better (and work) I plugged in my controller and it plays infinitely better. (Colour me un-surprised.) Netease, do better. I know you can - I play Marvel Rivals.
Note: I firmly believe that Hoyo's UIs for their games are superior. While not perfect, they are absolutely made with player ease of navigation in mind.
No, I will not be giving them money.
Yes, I am going to ignore 99% of the lore inaccuracies that even an AU can't make me accept. There are some I've seen in the tags here and on reddit but I haven't encountered them yet in the in-game lore. Again: I plan to ignore them.
I have spotted what sounds like a couple AI voices from NPCs but it could also be a VA giving a painfully wooden performance. For comparison, in Love & Deep Space we're pretty sure the English VAs were given shit direction despite a decent script. I'm hopeful that's the case here. Regardless, I'm going through the VA list and am trying to match performances with non-named characters.
Allegedly Netease used AI for some of the marketing images so I wouldn't be surprised to find out the throw-away/one-interaction NPCs are AI. But I don't have confirmation one way or the others.
F*ck AI in art.
If the game does well enough, I could absolutely see Bungie/Sony lifting ideas from it. That auto-crossbow is in-particular is very appealing. I would slap that on my Warlock in a heartbeat.
Speaking of weapons...What do you mean my load outs are locked and I can't put the weapons I want on another character Netease?!?!?! I don't like hand cannons in Real Destiny. Attal will be languishing in my roster because of that. So far the only characters who have weapon load outs that I like and "feel good" for me and my play style are Kabr and Tan-2 (another reason I like those units).
What about the abilities? I don't have any issues with and even like the different ability sets and that they are unique to each unit. If I had Kabr's super and "grenade" in real Destiny, I would probably play a Titan more than once a year.
Remember the only reason realistically we have the classes and sub-classes we do in Destiny 1 and 2 is because of game play mechanics and limitations. The closest we got in game-play to how the light works in lore is with Prismatic...boy howdy has Bungie tried to walk that back.
The unit kits are probably how they are going to lure people into making the jump from F2P to dolphin or, more desirably for Netease, whaling.
Vocab for those who need it:
F2P = Free to Play (pretty obvious), spends no money on in-game premium currencies
Dolphin = F2P who spends money occasionally or has a set amount they are willing to spend in a gacha (aka: the Budgeter)
Whale = person willing to spend money to get what they want sometimes to max level. These people are the bread and butter of Gachas.
Unit = The Playable characters, including the Player/Main Character.
Reminder: All Gacha Games can be played FREE. You do not need to participate in the Gacha of it all and can 1. use only the characters provided (ie. Ikora, Wolf, and Kabr thus far) and 2. can live that F2P life - I did it in Genshin during my brief tenure playing there with success and expect to do it here as well. Netease appears to be pretty generous thus far with the "normal" premium in-game currency, so do with that what you will.
Hoyo games, for example, provide weapons and consumables on their banners if your pull(s) don't yield the Unit(s) you were saving for. Those extras can be dismantled in game for free currency and materials. Far as I can tell, the same is true for Destiny Rising thus far.
That said, if you think you have a problem or are spending more than you're comfortable with or is reasonable, please stop playing. Delete the game if needed. Please play responsibly.
Eyes up Guardians. Happy Gaming!
