This feature is part of Dot’s New Year Resolutions series, where we’re looking ahead to the gaming goals we have for 2024. You can check out the entire series here.
Destiny 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, so this is the one resolution I wish I didn’t have to tackle in 2024. But considering recent events at Bungie, I should probably be prepared to look for a new gaming home.
At the end of October, Bungie laid off eight percent of its staff and delayed The Final Shape expansion by six months. Bungie’s CEO reportedly claimed they kept the right people, but as Tom Christie said in his hilarious Skeletor parody: “Who the f*ck says that and then fires Michael f*cking Salvatori.” For context, Salvatori was a beloved composer who created multiple memorable tracks for the game.
Although the Game Director, Joe Blackburn, stepped up and talked about the team’s plans for content leading up to the expansion, you can probably tell why players, including myself, are not confident in Destiny 2’s future.
What made Destiny 2 so great?
Looking for a worthy replacement means understanding what made Destiny 2 fun and how I ended up spending over 1,300 hours in it. For some, this is a rookie number, but I play other games, you know, and have somewhat of a life.
There are three things I love most about Destiny 2: Its loot, story, and music. There are tons of weapons with random perks, different armor sets, and exotic gear, all of which can be mashed together with your abilities to create fun new builds and explore different playstyles. The story, or rather, the universe, takes place in our Solar system. The ability to travel to Earth or Mars and fight bad guys there makes the game more immersive for me. This overall experience is elevated by Destiny 2’s supreme soundtrack, which is why I’m so upset that they laid off Michael Salvatori.
Yet all that is something I might walk away from in 2024. From everything that happened at Bungie to the content model that has remained unchanged for years, it feels like Destiny 2 will not have much to offer after the release of The Final Shape expansion. Yes, we are getting a new model with Episodes and Acts, but we don’t even know if we’ll ever get another major expansion. The Final Shape will end the core storyline of Destiny (aka the Light and Dark saga), and that could be a fitting moment to call it quits on this adventure.
Time for a change of pace
FPS games like Destiny 2 are fun because they let me fully immerse myself in the hero fantasy. Despite that, I believe other game genres can provide a similar experience, even if that means looking at my character from another perspective. This brought me to top-down Action RPGs, namely Lost Ark, which I feel could be a contender as a Destiny 2 replacement.
The world is beautiful, the music is surprisingly good, and it has a variety of classes and ways to customize your playstyle. I haven’t had chance to get to grips with Lost Ark’s loot-driven endgame just yet, but considering tens of thousands of players are online every day, it seems there are plenty of ways to keep yourself busy.
Another game that came to mind was Diablo 4, which had a resurgence with season two and has a new DLC confirmed for late 2024. I did play Diablo Immortal when it came out in 2022. It isn’t the best example, I know, but the gameplay loop was fun enough for me to casually play through one season.
Diablo Immortal’s monetization is what ruined it, but Diablo 4 seems to have a bright future ahead despite its issues. So, if nothing else pops up, my next stop may be eradicating demons and monsters again.
The familiar feel of the trigger
I’m afraid the sudden change of genre might affect me, like suddenly stopping drinking coffee, which is why there are still a few shooters I keep up my sleeve. One game I’m looking forward to in 2024 is The First Descendant, Nexon’s character-based third-person looter shooter.
I played the latest open beta in September and had mixed thoughts about it. Gameplay-wise, it was fun, with a variety of weapons and characters to choose from that can be upgraded with modules and combined to make unique combos.
Content-wise, though, it was very lackluster. The missions were repetitive and the only good distraction was the co-op boss fights required to earn certain materials. My hope is the game will have enough content at launch to keep me engaged, and then I’ll be all in on the grind. If it doesn’t, there’s always Warframe–a more established third-person shooter that’s been around for years and has proven to be engaging for its audience.
Every end is a new beginning
At the end of the day, everything depends on Destiny 2’s The Final Shape expansion and what happens afterward. I know the dev wants it to be better than any of the expansions we’ve had to date, and maybe the game will see a resurgence as a result—maybe it won’t—but there’s only one way to find out.
I can always end up tackling my Steam library instead while keeping an eye out for what’s going on in Destiny 2. I recently started playing Red Dead Redemption 2 and realized I had completely forgotten what games felt like outside of the constant grind for better loot.
