Destiny 2’s Forsaken Expansion Looks Great – But is it Too Little Too Late?

Bungie has now revealed their major 2018 expansion for Destiny 2, Forsaken, as well as detailing what lies beyond that. Destiny 2 was a massive success upon release and I personally hit it with a high score. Sadly, the DLC (I refuse to call them expansions despite popular opinion) that followed, not so much. You see, while Destiny 2 relayed an interesting story of power and absolution, both Curse of Osiris and Warmind offered very little in terms of innovation and depth. According to Bungie, they’re about to shake things up, big time.

I don’t know about you, but I’m growing sick and tired of Bungie leading most of their reveals with “this is what the community has been asking for” and other similar tidbits. Bungie’s problem has always been their arrogance and ignorance. They have a massively interesting IP yet fail time and time again to meet its potential. Their strength clearly sits with their larger expansions, while their smaller “filler” content drops do very little other than chase people away and give the core game a very bad name. This, simply needs to change, quickly.

The Dark Below, House of Wolves, Curse of Osiris and Warmind, pale in comparison to the likes of The Taken King and Rise of Iron. Sure, the latter drops are costlier and have had much more time investment than the smaller drops, however, when the smaller drops are not only failing to meet expectations, but are dragging the core game through the mud, it doesn’t bode well. I constantly see Bungie playing a game of damage control rather than that of consistent evolution, which again, falls to their arrogance and their ignorance.

Destiny followed a very similar path with its first two small DLCs before winning fans back with The Taken King, Destiny’s best expansion to date. Though, is it too little to late? Or will Forsaken meet that same quality found in The Taken King? I certainly hope so. This, by and large, is Bungie’s final chance to win over players that have since strayed from the formula. This expansion alone seems wildly interesting and has certainly piqued my interest; someone that gave the previous two DLCs scathing reviews. Deserving, I might add.

It’s worth pointing out that Bungie plans to show more of Destiny 2’s Forsaken at E3 2018, so details regarding its story remains relatively thin. That’s not to say that we didn’t get some interesting intel, on the contrary. Forsaken is a Cayde-themed expansion that sees one of Cayde’s prisons being breached, a place where Cayde has imprisoned some of the nastiest enemies known to guardians. It appears to largely take place on The Reef (or at least a sizable portion of it) and comes with a western-esque vibe to give it extra appeal.

As a huge fan of Cayde, I cant say that I’m at all disappointed with this direction. This does, however, open up dialogue regarding the enemies within Forsaken. Unfortunately, we’re not seeing those mysterious ships from the end of Destiny 2’s campaign – that’s likely being reserved for Destiny 3. Instead, we’re getting a mixture of something between a new enemy type and a reskin. The antagonists in Forsaken are from the Fallen race; a tribe of pirate Fallen led by a number of “Barons” that players will need to hunt down and then take out.

We’re not sure whether this will happen in the story, in the strikes or in the new raid. Bungie did say that the new raid (more on that in a moment) will house the largest boss count seen in any raid to date, so it’s quite likely we’ll at least be seeing some of these Barons thrown in. Much like The Taken King, this new enemy type – despite being a reskin – seemingly arrive with new behavioral patterns and attacks, more so for the bosses. Until we learn more about them, I’ll remain skeptical. Still, they look interesting enough nevertheless.

The raid takes place in a brand new location, an area that’s specific to end-game content, which is a first for the series on the whole. This area is said to house content that’s jam-packed with secrets and encounters as well as the raid, which may well tie into Bungie’s recently announced annual pass (again, more on that shortly). It’s a decent design choice if you ask me and will certainly go down well with the crowd, given how tiresome the last raid has been alongside its two raid lairs. The area is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.

End-game content is what truly drives Destiny and Destiny 2. Having a fantasy-like area that’s exclusive to end-game content is enticing, but Bungie needs to ensure that this area alone is well maintained. The Dreaming City has a sort of Lord of the Rings-vibe going for it, and is home to the Awoken faction of humans – if there was ever an opportunity to see the Queen of the Reef again, it’s now. In any case and much like any other location that Bungie whips up, it looks absolutely stunning. Take a peek in the trailer above to see it first hand.

So, we have the content and the setting, but what else did we learn about Destiny 2’s second year? Well, we’re not getting a new guardian class which is a shame, but we are getting some new subclasses. As it stands, the two paths for each subclass both lead to the same super, but according to new info, that’s all about to change. New Warlock arc and void supers were shown off, Titans will wield a huge Rise of Iron-like hammer and Hunters will enjoy new solar knives and void blades. No doubt we’ll see more in due course or at E3.

The inclusion of a new weapon type was showcased in the form of bows, arriving in short, mid and long ranged. We’re not entirely sure if more weapon types will be thrown in, but I’m personally more than happy with the bow alone. On the subject of weaponry we have learned that random rolls are returning as well as a change to how you can adjust your loadout. I have to admit, this confused me a little bit, but from what I could gather, we will be able to place any weapon in any slot; Bungie needs to be more specific about this.

Tying progression up in a neat package is the implementation of new tracking systems. These systems will keep track of everything you have earned or unlocked so far, allowing you (much like the panels from Destiny’s tower) to purchase anything you have earned but have broken down for scrap. We’ll also be able to keep track of kills and other useful insights, as well as lore, something fans have been screaming to see added into the game since vanilla Destiny. That leads us to the reveal of a majorly interesting new game mode.

Gambit. Gambit is a PvE/PvP mashup that throws two teams into two isolated arenas. Here, each team will need to kill enemies to bank tokens, which will prevent the other team from doing the same. Those that can summon and nuke the boss first will win, but the kicker is, teams can send one member through a temporary gateway to hinder progression of the opposing team. The concept sounds very cool and one that I thoroughly welcome with open arms. It’s nice to see that Bungie are getting their heads out their ass once and for all.

Now, as for the Annual Pass, this is where we’re going to stand in controversial water. This pass doesn’t seem to grant you access to the DLCs but it does give you a substantial portion of content. Well, end-game content, that is. The Annual Pass will allow players to receive new weapons, gear and lore, among other challenges and such. The cost of the pass will sit at $35 (or region equivalent) for the entire year, which isn’t too bad considering. Though, Bungie will really need to relay what this pass entails before I throw my money at them.

Overall, the reveal of Forsaken went down well and I’ll admit, I’m looking forward to learning more. It’s a shame we wont be seeing those mysterious pyramid ships but who knows, maybe we’ll get some bits of story from this expansion. Bungie states that Forsaken is a compilation of fan-feedback over the last year, so there’s a lot of expectations already riding on it. Will it be enough to win fans back over? Only time will tell. What do you think? Are you impressed or have you grown tired of Destiny 2? Sound off in the comments below.

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