After three years and thousands of hours of playtime, the author hit a limit with Destiny 2, an MMO trapped inside a phenomenal FPS, and uninstalled it. However, the author still adores parts of it, including its sci-fi landscapes. When the latest season of Destiny 2, Season Of The Deep, was announced, the author was tempted to return to the alien ocean moon of Titan, one of their favorite spots. However, the author found that the return of Titan was not enough.
Season Of The Deep sees the return of the Saturnian moon of Titan, a place that vanished in November 2020 due to the Darkness moving in. In reality, Titan was removed and locked in the Destiny Content Vault as Bungie attempted to manage the development challenges of a game that had grown too large for them to handle. Now, Titan has reappeared, and Deputy Commander Sloane needs help salvaging tech from its methane oceans and communing with a mysterious giant worm to gain intel for the fight against The Witness. There is also a new activity where players can dive down through alien waters that teem with lurid life.
Not Enough
The author has previously expressed their admiration for the sea, and adored Titan in Destiny 2. It was a scattering of rigs and gleaming Golden Age arcologies standing above crackling waves, now overrun with Hive dens and Eliksni scavengers, a sign of how far humanity fell in The Collapse. Several missions descended deep into an arcology, through lush parks and stunning residential spaces, leading to a glimpse at something vast swimming past. Now, the author thinks they know who that is: Ahsa, Sloane’s new pal.
However, despite the attractive features of the game, the author found that it was not enough to get them past the endless grind of Destiny 2 the MMO. It was not just the need to grind to get great guns or play the best parts of the game, but every single system is wrapped in live service MMO clutter of bounties, quests, timegates, resources, and crafting systems. Even if players refuse to engage with all that, and they don’t care about getting ‘god rolls,’ the clutter is still everywhere and will not let players forget about it. Even the new fishing minigame requires bait that drops as a reward from other activities.
None of the MMO systems are ever interesting or rewarding. They do not help players, they do not challenge them in a meaningful way, they do not require them to make difficult decisions, and they do not feel respectful of their time. All of this exists simply to occupy players. It is a huge shame that one of the best first-person shooters is trapped inside such a bad free-to-play MMO, especially one that still charges £80 for the annual expansion and its season passes.
Despite the attractive features of Season Of The Deep, the author found that it was not enough to get them past the endless grind of Destiny 2 the MMO. Although the author would have liked to revisit the arcology, dive underwater and admire alien anemones, and meet the worm, the clutter of the MMO was too much to bear. It is a shame that Destiny 2, one of the best first-person shooters, is trapped inside such a bad free-to-play MMO.
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