What a journey. 10 years I spent playing Destiny, from reading some rumor in a GameTrailers forum to Bungie’s reveal back in 2013 – my journey started when I got my hands on a PS3 alpha code from a Subway promotion during my college years, with a buddy I still play with to this day. I booted up my jet engine of a PS3 and downloaded the alpha; I was ready to experience the work Bungie was offering to us. Playing through it, the very idea blew me away. I was pulled in with its execution and I couldn’t help but wonder how the future would unfold. It was immediately apparent that Bungie was crafting a world by people who loved the sense of wonder, who wanted to challenge what it means to explore an ever-evolving space. It wasn’t entirely a new concept, but for a studio to provide some level of MMORPG mechanics into a Halo-style sci-fi fantasy looter shooter was something I needed to dive into.
And so, I was risen as a Guardian.
Upon reaching The Last City of humanity, I stood in awe of a spherical structure hovering over the city – a sentient being that granted me unimaginable power of Light. I immersed, journeying through desolated lands of the Cosmodrome to the dusty recesses of the Reef, I was taken back by the level of intricate details and beautiful scope – Lore tabs opened up to expand my understanding, it gave a sense of tangible history through gameplay I have never experienced before. I actually felt as though I was risen into a world that was lived in. I blasted my way through countless alien combatants, faced gods and toppled legions – and soon, a whisper of the collapse loomed; it was then that I found my purpose as a Guardian. I must prepare to prevent next collapse and stop the Darkness from destroying us all.
This was the foundation of my drive to continue pressing through Bungie’s vision – the promise of giving us a world worth playing through, worth saving. Eventually I faced unprecedented challenges through raids, a level of content I once again never experienced before. The cooperation, knowledge, the will to push through was something I yearned for. After spending hours upon hours of failure, we stood up and tried again. My first raid clear happened after 8 straight hours of playing – ending at around 4am with a battle cry after I felled a great machine god, Atheon. It was phenomenal.
It’s been years since, and I continue this journey on a powerful gaming handheld, a console or a laptop – seamlessly progressing inbetween.
The Final Shape is here and it’s time to face the one who caused the great collapse. I couldn’t tell whether Bungie was going to stick by their usual formula with their past expansions, or if we’ll fail against The Witness, ushering a new age of Darkness. I was ready though, and it’s safe to say, The Final Shape is by far and wide the best work Bungie has ever created since their founding.
The Work of the Disciple
By now, we are all aware of the reception The Final Shape is getting – overwhelming positive through critics and community. I won’t break down the game in a fashion that’s already been done – instead I will be talking in a way that showcases my feeling on this project. It’s damn near a perfect ending to a long-standing saga, and one that was delivered in a deserving away. The main campaign was a major step up to Lightfall, and beyond The Witch Queen – everything from structure to the missions, and how Prismatic was introduced, alongside the post-campaign path, all done with genius-level thought process. It was seamless in a way that made the grind feel incredibly fun rather than tedious. Pretty much all lore questions were answered and even if you were a New Light coming in, you got the sense of the threat The Witness was imposing.
Of course, after the campaign was completed, came the race for worlds first with Salvation’s Edge. Lasting 20hrs to complete, this raid is currently the longest standing raid to date – and from what was shown, it is looking to be the toughest and most beautiful raid yet. After completion, the final missions unlocked for all players. For the first time in Destiny’s history (aside from the Beyond Light glitch that allowed for this) there is a 12-man activity available – we were given a speech by Zavala that led to a charge into The Darkness’ keep. Objective based progression, mechanics, all of which designed in such a way that made sense – it was incredible to play and with the final stand against The Witness’ final form – we the Guardian’s topple the god that brought us the collapse.
Every element of the story through the Final Shape was done with justice. Cayde’s return made sense, Zavala’s actions were understood, our Ghost….everything was a perfect closing to the Light and Dark saga, and even with the engine’s limitation, I couldn’t be happier with where we ended up. And there’s more beyond.
We Must Overthrow The Dread
The Final Shape’s content is designed in a way I always wanted but was never realized up until now because of the limitations of their current engine – well, mostly. I always desired a zone where you would go from a social space straight into an open world. We got something like that with Neomuna, but it has evolved tremendously in The Pale Heart. Even with the destination being a private instance, where you don’t see Guardian’s roaming about, it’s excellent overall. You go from an overgrown version of the original Tower, straight to the open world where the new Overthrow activity spans across the entire map. Overthrow has several objectives to complete per region that gradually exceeds each other. I don’t know exactly how many unique encounters there are, but I easy tackled a dozen or more per section. Overthrow progresses on a point-based system with 4 levels, eventually leading to 1 of 3 boss encounters each. You get chest that has a chance of obtaining a farmable exotic and some unique materials for secret ones. It’s extremely fun, rewarding and organic. You’re not forced into it with a timer or anything, it’s basically when you would normally do in a destination but far enhanced. Additionally, The Pale Heart has the best Lost Sectors design to date, and I can’t wait to see how it would be when it rotates to a Legendary version of it.
Plenty of secrets to uncover that reveals the nature of the Ghost, Traveler and the Witness. Prismatic subclsass is also part of the unexplored secrets that eventually leads to these other farmable dungeons called Cyst. The Pale Heart is dense, layered and gorgeous and I can’t get enough of it. Speaking on its beauty, the level of work put into crafting this world is nothing short of pure raw talent. The scope is unnervingly gorgeous – unique ideas cascading on itself in a way that’s eerie and uneasy. Terrains are spliced and broken apart like dispositioned Lego blocks while gargantuan structures of face and hands sprawl across the landscape – spliced in calcification. It’s hard to describe it – familiar in a world that’s unfamiliar. It’s a concoction of beauty and surrealism. I love it.
Guns, I Need Lots of Guns
And amongst all of this, there’s great loot to chase and farm. For the first time ever – for me at least – I am in total love with The Pale Heart destination weapons. I really enjoyed The Witch Queen and Neomuna weapons, but nothing to the caliber here. The Origin Trait benefits any subclass by helping with recharging your super meter, but even better with Prismatic. The new Support Frame auto rifle, No Hesitation, is by far the best in class – allowing you to be devastating while stealing from Lumina’s shine. The frame allows you to build on a meter that can heal allies during battle – and if you craft it, you can heal both you and your fireteam while also bumping your damage in the process. The Strand rocket-frame pistol, The Call, is an absolute beaut’ alongside the rest of the arsenal. Thematically, it’s a sound design as it’s meant to be part of the Ace of Spade’s family – at first, I was meh about it, but it grew on me once I held it in-game.
There’s a lot of Exotics to chase, and I won’t break down their uniqueness – but I will say that Bungie cooked with them. Microcosm is really fun to obtain, that lead to new variants of the campaign mission with co-op mechanics. It was brilliant and surprising. Microcosm also hits like a celestial truck, and I’ve been stuck to it ever since I earned it. There’s a new SPECIAL WEAPON SWORD to earn that’s farmable, like what the heck? And of course, the Exotic Class item that’s farmable with random rolls which just became available to chase this week.
I’m telling you, Bungie COOKED here.
REVIEW SCORE: 9/10
The only reason it’s not a perfect score is because we still don’t have a definitive answer about The Traveler. I hope that the weeks that follows changes that – we deserve it. The Witness isn’t the only major threat in the universe, and I am EAGER to know more about the world of Destiny. Bungie has laid a foundational peak for the franchise, and I would be very disappointed and shocked if they fumbled this moving forward.
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