@themanwithnoplan said:
@notnert427 said:
@boozak said:
I havent played Destiny 2 but it sounds like an over course correction for how drab and lifeless the first game was
Well put. It seems like Destiny 2's tone is the way it is purely out of spite for the backlash the first game received (deservedly). The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle with some occasional levity to break the monotony, and it looks like both games have failed to get there for opposite reasons.
I find myself agreeing with the OP here. Many games have leaned hard into the "hero" aesthetic of late, and it falls really flat for me. The flashiness, incessant quips, neon colors and whatnot just all feels so....forced. It's this elaborate presentation that desperately wants to convince you that everything is cool instead of making things that are actually cool. The game shouldn't have to try to shove it in your face constantly, and that it does perhaps says something.
There's zero nuance to it, so I bounce pretty hard off the whole thing. When every bit of dialogue features a lame "zinger", none of it works. Being bombarded with unfunny banter is a cringefest for me. I generally like Nathan Fillion, but not even he can be irreverent enough to salvage the cheesy lines, and it's worse because you always know exactly what you're going to get from the "comic relief" character they have him playing here.
I'm not saying the game is inherently bad or anything (although it sure looks like OG Destiny + weak attempts at humor and a brighter color palette), nor am I saying I'm "too mature" for the game as if I'm above it or some shit. Personally, this just isn't my style, and it's probably just me getting out of touch, because it certainly seems like a lot of games are headed in this Overwatch-y direction. That's cool, and I genuinely hope people are into it (and this).
However, this isn't what I was hoping Destiny 2 would be. There's an awesome game that could be made around the top-notch controls of Destiny somewhere in there, but the progression/periphery is still kinda bullshit, and they've missed the mark twice in tone, IMO. Maybe Destiny 3?
I'm a good little ways into the game and other than that 2 or 3 super inoffensive lines by cayde in the beginning, I don't know where all these constant zingers and catchphrases are. It seems like a pretty standard shooter narrative to me with kinda all right characters. They can even at times be endearing. I guess if you're talking about the ads, then I can see how obnoxious the game might seem, but doesn't really transfer over to the end product Imo.
The progression feels a lot better than it was in vanilla destiny. They really fixed that stuff with the taken king and that's carried over thankfully. You level up, get points to put into your class. And when you fight dudes they drop better pieces of armor that in turn raises a number called power. Is that the progression you mean is bad? I mean, it's a pretty standard Rpg system. Am I missing something? I also don't get the feeling that the game is trying it's hardest to shove its coolness in my face. Different strokes I guess. I hope none of this comes across as mean, cause I definitely don't mean it that way. I just feel like I'm playing a different game than the one a lot of people here are (or aren't in some cases)
Virtually all of the dialogue seems contrived entirely at the player, like it's more riffing on what's happening than a conversation anyone would actually have with anything. It just makes it feel so much more video game-y, in that someone out loud states the reaction the player is apparently supposed to have, or the characters overtly proclaim the actions/motivations of others (or worse, third-person about themselves). I find it mildly insulting that the game doesn't seem to respect the player's capacity to figure this shit out on their own, and rather than fleshing the characters out meaningfully over the course of the story, the game pretty much force-feeds the player straight-up bios on each one and directly or indirectly tells the player how to feel about them. That's...not great.
Examples from the QL:
"I can help you, but I'm gonna be super unpleasant about it."
"He's, like, not that smart."
"This is NOT going well."
"Only my captain can access those memories, and he's super dead."
"I'm guessing this is why they don't like him leaving the tower."
And that was all within the first 20 minutes. I'm reminded of that awful Rob Schneider FMV game they played on UPF a while back.
As for the progression, yeah, it's not much different than a lot of RPG/MMO systems these days, but intentionally gating progression heavily via multiple currencies/randomized loot to try and force people into a timesink is a pet peeve of mine that extends way beyond Destiny, so I won't go on a rant there. Suffice it to say that I groaned loudly when Jeff's shader turned out to be a one-time consumable on one portion of his armor. While only a cosmetic example in that case, it's an example of how ridiculous this shit has gotten in terms of inventing more hoops to jump through via grinding, and when that is required for stuff like weapons that actually affect the game, it's a real bummer. Then again, I guess I should expect a loot game to be a loot game.
I'll stop complaining about Destiny 2 now, because I'm watching myself crap on a game I'm not going to be buying that others seem to like, and that's not really something I want to keep doing. I just wanted to clarify my issues with it, but that it's not for me doesn't mean it's bad or shouldn't be enjoyed. I still think some kind of Destiny/No Man's Sky hybrid that trimmed some of the bullshit could be fucking incredible, and I honestly kinda wish I could ignore/compartmentalize/tolerate some of my issues with the game as it is, because it does play really well (at least the first one did, and I'm assuming that hasn't changed). As an aside, it's awesome that this is a place where people can productively disagree. Cheers, duders.
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