Worth It For A Sporadic Player?

As a late comer to this new shiny generation of consoles, I'm still getting myself all caught up on most of last years games. Naturally, this includes a stop to everyone's most disappointing addiction, Destiny.

I'm playing the trial version of the game and really like the combat and style of the game so far (hell, even Mr Dinklage isn't annoying me too much) but having heard all the things wrong with the game, I have a query to answer before I pick this up in the sales.

Recently, my game playing time has been limited to smaller pockets, mainly due to both work and relationship requirements. So while before I was able to play for a couple of hours a night, now it's more like a couple of hours every other night with maybe a longer stint on a weekend day. Also, at the moment I also have a completely empty friends list, although that is mostly down to me creating an entire new account for my PS4, so will probably become a little bit more populated shortly.

So, with all these caveats, is Destiny worth my affection, or should I spurn it and concentrate on other games?

So one issue you'll possible have is that as the game goes on, unless you pick up the season pass or dlc you'll get left behind even as a sporadic player as some of the pvp and weekly events require you to own that dlc.

If you're looking for something to pick up and play for short bursts, I suggest Diablo 3 Ultimate Edition. You get all of the content and I believe they just rolled in or are rolling Seasons (ladders) into that version for free.

I play sporadically, pretty close to your scenario. An hour here or an hour there with larger chunks of time once or twice a week. Once I finished the story I have only really touched the daily mission, public events and weekly strike (all PvE). I have been happy with my time overall with Destiny, it's systems can be frustrating at times, but I always keep coming back for that great moment to moment combat. I don't disagree with @jesus_phish there might be other games that would service, but it's the FPS part of Destiny that I like and Diablo just doesn't provide that same kind of action.

Also, I 100% agree that you might be able to play the base game for awhile, but once you reach the upper 20's you will almost have to get the expansion content. It's a poor move by Bungie IMO but I have enjoyed the majority of content that was added. Look me up on PSN ka_tet19 if you want to add a casual Destiny player to the list!

@otakugamer: I put a lot of time into Destiny since New Years, did my first raid last night with random people from DestinyLFG and had a really good experience. If you're up front about not knowing what you're doing, there are people who will help. I know its only one example, though.

But on topic, I'd say if you're enjoying the gameplay at all, you'll keep enjoying it. You absolutely have to grind, that isn't just something getting tossed around in gaming communities for no reason. I've hit a wall at level 26 where now I need to just do all of the daily stuff so I can start getting higher level equipment. Is that a grind? Yes. Is it a grind I'm willing to do? Yes. I even really like crucible. I like the smaller matches and even though I have crap gear, I still hold my own against high level players. The balancing works for the most part.

I recently picked up Diablo 3 for the PS4. Haven't even finished Act 1 yet and it already dropped 3 Legendary Items that I got really excited about. This is like maybe three hours of gameplay.

I got up to level 18 in Destiny and saw nothing but green drops, or an occasional blue that was only slightly better than a green.

If Destiny had a contiguous world like WoW or Dark Souls with a huge amount of content, or perhaps a better story, I'd be invested. Don't get me wrong, Diablo 3's story is hot trash, but at least it has a bunch of content.

Eh, I can't recommend Destiny. It gets dry real fast, and the story hates you as a player.

"I don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain." Thanks game. Eff off.

@gatehouse: in small doses the main "story" will be entertaining I suppose and take you a while to experience. Beyond that, without a large time commitment and more importantly friends to play with, the endgame is quite literally impossible to partake in.

@otakugamer: You should've added giant bomb members to your friends list. Playing with random people sounds like a pain. If you're alright at the game you don't need gjallahorn or ice breaker. They help a bunch and are fun to shoot but if you have 2 or 3 in your team of 6 you're good for any situation.

I personally play the game because I like the challenge and coordination you need in the raids. I basically have all the exotics I want + like 5-8 other ones. Not really chasing loot anymore, just preparing for the hard mode Crota's end. Hard mode raids are a great ultimate challenge to take on with a good group.

Bungie.net? It's called DestinyLFG and it is amazing. You get a group within 60 seconds. And yeah, Hard Raids obviously have requirements. Why else would you be attempting the Hard version of the Raid unless you are on top of your game? Running the Hard version of the Raid with people who don't know what they're doing is maddening. Go play the regular Raid first, then make sure you are high enough level to contribute to doing the Hard Raid and then make sure they know you're doing the Hard Raid for the first time so they can help you out.

I've had mostly great experiences doing the Raid on high levels, even with random people. But that is very much because of the 'job application' nature of the external matchmaking. You get grouped with people who know what they are doing instead of guys who haven't figured it out and refuse to use a mic or what have you.

@otakugamer: I had a dedicated group of 5 other friends to play the raid with so dealing with asshole players was never a problem.

That aside, even with great friends everything else is absolutely correct. In order to actually get anywhere Destiny does become like a second job after you get home. Having three fully leveled up characters and grinding Nightfall, daily, weekly and the raid on each and every one is sadly almost the status quo. Even sadder are the people who have 3 Titans fully leveled up instead of 1 of each class. I had one character and it became a struggle to keep up for me after a while because I just couldn't farm materials fast enough - mostly because the materials you need to farm for purples can only be gotten through so many ways and so many times a week.

But yah not to get into all that again - everything is correct and describes Destiny endgame quite well. Some people are more suited to it than others. You have those who absolutely love the grind loop and can't get enough of it. You have those who absolutely will not grind and quickly fall off from the game. And then you have people like me somewhere in between where the grind is appealing but I cannot commit myself to the same extreme as the die hard fans and eventually my interest wanes.

Know this, this game consists of literally ONE mission type for 30+ hours. Make of that what you will.

Base game, yes. Endgame, no.

@otakugamer: To this day I do not have that happen more than 5-10% of the time. Still using DestinyLFG. Since you are one of the only peeple who had this happen, your experience can't be projected on any other players.

Destiny is a scummy piece of shit that controls well and looks pretty. If that sounds appealing then yes it is worth it. Don't expect it to value your time whatsoever.

This game is what it looks like when Bungie (one of the best developers on the planet) shits the bed.

@otakugamer: Oh no, I think you misunderstand. I'm not recommending this game to a 'sporadic' player at all. That's not a good idea, since Destiny requires a rather significant time investment in other to get really fun in the first place.

But it's not as impenetrable as you make it out to be. I'm not denying a bad experience with external matchmaking can happen, but I'm saying it really isn't the only experience you can have with it. Not even most. Most experiences are fun and result in ending up adding more friends to your list. Additionally, the 'job application' as you put it, really only happens at Hard versions of the Raid. They are called Hard for a reason, it's because they are hard. And it gets extremely frustrating if people aren't on their game. So yeah, you search specifically for people who know what they are doing. You can still join any Normal version of the Raid though. I can practically solo the entire Crota's End raid, when I am looking for a group I take newcomers just as easily. It really doesn't matter that much and I am not yelling at them at any point.

I've been wondering the same thing really. I don't get too much time to play video games and when i do i want it to be non stop adventure. Destiny strikes me as a bit too grindy (says somebody who's never played it). That being said though Im currently going through Far Cry 4 (and AW) that's a treat to just jump in and do the odd side mission.

I guess it depends on if you're got friends who have the same dodgy schedule as you as it seems like a game that's better shared.

I've been a sporadic destiny player for the past 4 months and I think that's why I have enjoyed it so much. It seems less repetitive when you don't have to do the same strikes 3 times in a row and the game lasts longer this way.

However, pvp is very difficult to play sporadically. The way bungie tries to balance it is still not effective for newcomers.

I've been having the same thoughts lately. Should I just give up Destiny and sell it? I don't have time to grind out everything and be hardcore. I've mostly been playing PvP since it's a good short-burst experience and doing some bounties that way. I'd really like to see some of the heroics in play and the first raid but when I check DestinyLFG it's all lvl 31 peeps. I'm currently at 25. I have no clue how to find someone to be a noob with me :D

How is PvP difficult to play sporadically? I don't really understand. Unless you mean the Iron Banner event specifically, or the fact that maybe you lose your edge a bit if you only play rarely.

I'm curious as well. Crucible has been fairly balanced for me, but I've only been playing this game for the past 3 weeks. Now Iron Banner is a different story, my lower level gear is definitely holding me back, but that's the point and I'm ok with it.

@nickhead & @anund : you know, maybe I was just thinking of the Iron Banner events. I had just remembered jumping in to a multiplayer event and totally getting my ass handed to me. But after just played some pvp last week with a level 14 warlock, everything was totally fine.