Beyond Light feels like a turning point. In a long-running game with lots of expansions and seasons, Destiny 2 is constantly changing, but this episode feels different. The franchise’s past and future revolve around this release, which removes much of the old and sets the stage for new story and gameplay beats. Like a tree that needs to be pruned back for healthy growth, it also means that the release of Beyond Light makes the game look particularly barren. Even when I’m excited to discover new powers and activities, the breadth of the overall experience has narrowed.
Several separate storylines come together to get things going, sending players to the cold moon of Europe to meet a few long-missing allies and battle a growing army of ice-cold fallen aliens. In a conspiracy that doesn’t feel particularly deserving after years of battling its assaults, your guardian is forced to take over the forces of darkness himself to hold back the tide. The campaign features several fun missions, but I was surprised at how well balanced it is, and called for either substantial grinding or multiple battles that frustrate the endurance work of fighting alone.
The darkness-pervaded stasis powers are mostly used against you by enemy bosses in the early hours of the morning, and it’s just not much fun to be frozen in a game about speed and freedom of movement. Once the stasis powers open up for regular use, the new subclasses provide an interesting strategic tool to explore, and offer some beautiful visual and acoustic effects reminiscent of crystalline ice formations and breaking snow showers. The Hunter and Warlock powers are exciting and different, although I was disappointed with the Titan’s resemblance to its own existing Arc powerset. No matter what class, I’ve enjoyed using stasis in PvE activities, but I’ve tried hard to warm to its presence in PvP, where it feels like barriers and freezes are slowing the pace of the game. I was also frustrated with how difficult it was to unlock the subclasses for multiple characters. For the significant percentage of players who want to try all three, it’s pretty boring.
Beyond Light has swept away huge amounts of ancient activities and objectives, and a design decision to “sink” the majority of ancient weapons and armor has resulted in many popular play styles being withdrawn. Simply put, the absence is strongly felt. Europe is a beautiful new place to explore, filled with vast plains of snow and mysterious underground facilities, but in a game over ever wider horizons, it’s strange to suddenly have fewer places to play missions. Europe is forced to carry too much weight as a gameplay and mission target without the relief of alternative locations. And until now, there are too few new weapons to warrant obsolescence of so many of the players’ existing collections.
I was excited to see the original Destiny’s Cosmodrome destination return. The site is largely unchanged, but noteworthy as it now offers the best new player onboarding the franchise has ever seen. The New Light mission thread mirrors the first steps players took back in 2014, but with some new twists that take on the challenging task of introducing the many interlocking systems that make up the game.
Bungie continues the admirable trend of introducing seasonal content that gradually evolves the state of the world’s history and activity. Those first few weeks in Beyond Light prove that the effort is still ongoing. The arrival of the Crow character is a clever act that reintroduces an old enemy in a fascinating new role, and his hunting missions are a good time, with a few simple touches that will make you feel like you are chasing a dangerous wounded animal. Meanwhile, the new Deep Stone Crypt heist once again proves Bungie’s flexibility and eye for the balance between complex encounter design. Equally important, the first completion of the raid triggered an entirely new loop of missions and stories for all players in the game. That kind of reactivity makes the universe dynamic and unpredictable, and I love it.
I respect the difficult decisions involved in downsizing Destiny 2 and consolidating its game focus, and the similar steps involved in realigning it to purchasing gear instead of letting players continue to endlessly reuse old favorites . But it doesn’t change the reality that Destiny 2 is feeling deeply withdrawn right now, even with several new projects added in these early weeks of Beyond Light. As an expansion, Beyond Light introduces some compelling narrative beats and missions, but it’s not enough just to carry the burden of the Destiny universe on its own. I’m ambivalent, with a lot of excitement for the new content and excitement about what’s next, but also the feeling that my long-standing hobby game feels less for the first time than before.
