Just like everyone else I was excited about the release of Destiny 2 back in September. Over the past several months the excitement began to die. I am sure it was the same for all of you. That enthusiasm was reignited with the release of the Curse of Osiris DLC. I was excited about the new weapons, new levels and most of all a new story about a known character. Not just any character but the strongest Warlock ever that was thrown out of the vanguard. Being as my favorite guardian to play is a warlock finding out more about Osiris was exciting alone. I was also excited about a new strike and a new raid or section of the leviathan raid. Explore a different part of the vast ship sounds exciting. Then the release date came, and I began playing the expansion and slowly but evidently became disappointed by insignificant details about the expansion. I must be honest the issues I have other people might not have and might not find relevant. I found various aspects of the expansion to be a waste of time and just put in place just to keep you entertained for a period. It was also like Bungie wanted to give you something to do and make you feel like it was a purpose behind it all. They did this by adding a story to each quest your guardian needed to complete.
Story:
In the beginning, I was excited to move my way through the story to find out more about Osiris and how he was thrown out of the vanguard. That excitement quickly changed as I noticed I was making my way through locations I have previously gone my way through before the DLC. An example of this is the mission Pyramidion; you make your way through the pyramid battling taken before the Curse of Osiris DLC. As you battle your way through pyramid destroying taken you reach the bottom of an alleged lake where you battle Brakion. The DLC version is the same Pyramidion mission, but now you fight Vex as you make your way through the pyramid and reach the lake. Where now you have no real battle but instead you need to open a conflux and find out the map you are looking for does not exist.
Just like all of you I found it typical going back to places we have once searched for information prior. This time I wanted things to be different, wishful thinking I guess. I wanted to be able to explore new worlds and new enemies. I was hoping the DLC would take me on a journey that I have never made before.
Once finding our way to Brother Vance on Mercury I was excited to see a new space that we could explore and to continue to the next section of the story. To only find the following section takes you through several different Vex simulations that you interrupt and stop to see Osiris. The first simulation I must say it was interesting as again it’s new and looks cool. You also have bright images of Osiris guiding you through telling you various aspects of the simulations and the story. Maybe this was just me, but after a while, I found having to go through a gate after a gate to only travel through another portal was a bit much. I mean all that battling to just end up at an entrance which took you to another gate battle. I felt like I was going in a circle half the time. At times to just merely battle a yellow bar. The rewards at the end of the battle not even being as exciting as you would want them to be.
Another broad aspect that annoyed me was the fact the fights were not challenging as I wanted them to be unless you completed a heroic version of the simulations. These you can not play until after completing the story missions. One of the tasks you have to go back to the tower and talk with Ikora, where she says she is going to go into battle with you. I mean how exciting is that, you get to take on Vex with Ikora. To only find out that she opens a gate for you and stays behind. I don’t know about you but that was disappointing, to say the least.
The overall story missions and quests were nothing like what I expected. I complete it all within two hours. I wanted and expected more of a challenge than that, and I purchased the deluxe digital version so I would not have to buy each season separate and now I honestly wish I would have waited to buy season 2. As I was playing, I figured maybe the story was not challenging because I was a high-power level, but as I went along that quickly changed.
I played a few missions with a friend, and he thought I was crazy as he was a lower power level than I was, as his character increased in power-level. He agreed that it was not as challenging. We all know the higher your power level, the easier tasks are in Destiny, but not to the point that you begin to lose interest in the beginning.
Crucible:
I was also excited about the new maps and possible new game modes that would release with the Curse of Osiris DLC, but again they found some way to disappoint. My first Crucible match from the DLC this was my first introduction to Destiny’s version of Laser Tag. Almost every opponent had Prometheus Lens, in which anything you tried to do against this weapon failed, and you are dead. This gun made it nearly impossible to win a match if you or someone on your team did not have one. What fun is that to battle in multiple player games and the fight is not a fair one? I do understand that you do have better players out there, but when it is just because of one weapon that is not fair at all. Now I am not the best crucible player by any means, but I can hold my own in a gunfight, but when the gunfight is one-sided by default and not in my favor that is just downright crazy. I understand the people who had the gun gained it from playing the game. I also understand that I had a similar chance of getting the gun, but I was not so lucky and did not have it at the time.
I am sure I was not the only person getting annoyed by this and how every time you turned a corner you were hit with a beam of solar power. I will say I did like the new map but was also disappointed that we did not have a new game mode, just the same game modes as post Curse of Osiris DLC release.
Social Space:
Now that the story is over you can explore Mercury and find all the exciting things you can see just like all the other social spaces. The social area begins right when it ends; your searching is extremely limited. You might say Titan is not that big either, but at least it is big enough that you can explore different sections and still find something you have not noticed before. It is also significant enough that it has more than one lost sector that took you some time to locate. Mercury has only one Lost Sector and finding it was not as challenging as you would like. They do have other things for you to do to keep you entertained, occasionally, circular portals will open (Yes more Portals) with Vex enemies standing next to them. If you kill the enemies, the entrance will open and you can travel to another section of the map until the last portal were a yellow Bar Vex will be waiting for you. When completing the portal and destroy the Vex is, a chest appears. Mercury has only one public event, now again Titan is small, but it is large enough that it has three Public Event.
The Flashpoint for this week is Mercury, now how often are you roaming around looking for something to do while waiting to complete the flashpoint. The public event does not come very often and you don’t have too many things to do on Mercury that will entertain you. This would be the first week I have not completed the flashpoint on the first day. That is because I leave Mercury to find other things to do while I wait for the public event.
Conclusion:
At the end of it, I am just disappointed in the Curse of Osiris DLC. I usually do not pre-purchase season passes for this reason. The funny thing is that Bungie has realized the DLC has frustrated some people and made changes to help make things better. An example is providing everyone with Prometheus Lens by having Xur sell it. I am not sure about you but this only made Crucible worse. After that, I entered the Crucible, and it was like laser tag. All I saw were beams of light everywhere. I was shocked when the following week I noticed everyone stopped using the weapon and I felt pretty dumb having it equipped.
I wish Bungie would have given more thought to the Mercury social space and gave us more things to do in it than they did. I do like what they have in place just wished they had more. The social space would be so much if we had another lost sector and another Public Event or even allow the Public Event to come more often than it currently does. I know these little issues are not issues to other people, but it’s the trivial things at times that can make or break a game.
