Destiny 2: Forsaken

Over the last month and a half, Bungie has shown that they're committed to preventing the content drought of previous releases - this year's Halloween "Festival of the Lost" event included a new game mode available to all players, and the roadmap that they've laid out for the next year has me convinced that there'll be enough reasons for me to return to the game every month or so for the foreseeable future.

At its heart, Destiny 2 is still of course a loot-based game, with all the inherent drawbacks of a genre that functions largely like a capsule machine. You might play it compulsively, or stay up late trying to grind out weekly activities before you lose them. You might spend an evening grinding out Crucible kills only to get three equivalent sets of the same boots.

For those who may have wandered away from Destiny 2, the choice on Forsaken may come down to whether or not friends are jumping in. For newcomers, the Destiny 2 Legendary Collection is $60 and includes the base game and all expansions to this point, which is a ton of content for an enjoyable if flawed shooter.

While it took longer than it ever should to fix its mistakes, Bungie’s new expansion for Destiny 2, Forsaken, is a massive leap forward. Guardians can finally experience a story that packs an emotional punch and several reworked features that make general gameplay epic. However, it also divides players with its endgame progression, forcing them to choose between becoming a dedicated daily player or someone that can only enjoy a small portion of what it has to offer.

There is a lot to do in Forsaken, so much so that it can be difficult to see it all. That also means that, for the average player, this expansion has a much longer tail than previous iterations of Destiny 2. The variety and flexibility of activities established in the base game still work to make grinding a good time, and Gambit adds a consistently entertaining mode to the roster. The endgame, while difficult to reach, is also where the most satisfaction can be found.

Not only that, but the weekly updates that continue to keep The Dreaming City interesting suggests Guardians will, at the very least, have plenty to be getting on with while Bungie works out the finer details of its updated systems. Cayde-6 may be dead, but Destiny 2’s heart beats on stronger than ever.