Destiny 2’s Biggest Problems Don’t Include a Lack of Loot

Loot boxes make money. This is still the unfortunately reality of things despite the absolutely massive backlash that hit the likes of EA and Activision six months ago. Despite everything; despite the massive outcry and governmental investigations into this slimey practice, gamers are still buying loot boxes frequently enough to make them worth all the trouble they cause. They’re still in Overwatch, PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds is still developing theirs and now Bungie has unveiled yet another type of loot box to Destiny 2 as their response to the massive outcry against their baffling insistence on walling-off much of the game’s gear behind RNG loot boxes. The developer has even gone on-record to acknowledge fans’ dislike of the loot boxes and promised to explore ways to improve Eververse for players. Yet here they are with another loot box; they either don’t have any idea what the issue is or they think they’re going to make a lot of money from it. With Destiny 2 in such a sorry state, they’ll need to make that money fast.

It’s been nearly three years since Bungie and Activision first brought us into the world of Destiny . The 2014 first-person loot shooter with MMO-lite mechanics strived to be the next big thing, but was ultimately disappointing. A lack of content, a thrown together campaign and repetitive missions marred what was supposed to be the next big Activision IP. Though Bungie got their act together and released the stellar Taken King and OK Rise of Iron expansions, neither felt like the proper leap forward the franchise needed. Well, now we have Destiny 2, a new chance for Bungie to hit the reset button.

The strike displayed just how big of a leap the sequel is over its predecessor. The Inverted Spire is an exciting mission from beginning to end, showing off the design philosophy that will hopefully permeate the entire game. The maps were far more open, allowing us to approach the battles in certain ways. At one point, we had to cross a huge battlefield with Vex and Cabal battling in the craters. While there will be a lot of returning enemies, there will also be plenty of new ones. For example, the Cabal have War Beasts, doglike creatures that aren’t afraid to get in close and maul unsuspecting Guardians. Even the returning enemies have some neat new abilities. The Cabal Phalanx now has the ability to put down a bigger shield for a small amount of time, meaning you’ll have to jump over and walk around if you want to get them.

Placing all the powerful weapons in the same category has good potential for PvP, but it’s also a functional misstep in terms of PvE. Power weapon ammo drops more often in Destiny 2 than heavy weapon ammo in Destiny 1, but still not nearly as often as kinetic or energy weapon ammo. So right away there’s less incentive to use that ammo for any weapon other than a rocket or grenade launcher. Why waste that relatively rare and precious ammo on a sniper rifle when it could instead be spent on something much more powerful? It’s the same issue with abilities in that they’re all restricted by ridiculously-slow cooldowns. Instead of enjoying the ability to toss a grenade into a group of minor enemies, dodge around the battlefield at one’s leisure or even pop a super to take on a mid-boss, the game encourages players to bank them instead. To use one’s abilities in any situation other than the most desperate is to see them go to waste. Nobody wants to be caught staring at a cool-down meter when they’re stuck in a tight spot. These can at least be adjusted a bit with mods, but who wants to waste their mods on anything other than top-tier armor? The net result is gameplay that’s gone from fast-paced, fluid and fun, to something slow, limited and dull with no incentive whatsoever to make use of the game’s most enjoyable weapons and powers. If the developers truly felt that these changes were necessary to achieve a more fun and balanced Crucible, then perhaps it would have been better to just separate the Crucible from the rest of the game.

Destiny 2 money guide 2 did manage to fix a couple of small issues from the first game, but it’s otherwise taken several steps back. Its consumable cosmetics and loot box-style method of awarding gear encourages hoarding and disengagement from the end-game grind. Its failure to offer at least as many features as the original Destiny has unsurprisingly led to rapid onset of player boredom. Worst of all, its neutering of the PvE’s moment-to-moment gameplay has resulted in a sequel that just isn’t as much fun to play. Destiny 2 may indeed have a loot problem as so many are loudly pointing out, but that’s small potatoes compared to these major fundamental flaws.

With Destiny 2 though, it feels like the opposite is true. They’ve been caught lying multiple times, have made little effort to improve their communications with fans and what improvements they do deliver are hampered by the likes of the Prismatic Matrix. Destiny 2 is in deep trouble right now, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Bungie so long as they can keep the remaining players just happy enough to keep buying loot those boxes.