Destiny 2
Bungie is in a pretty bad place right now between large-scale, poorly handled layoffs, pressure from Sony for live service consultation, and dramatically falling playercounts and revenue from their main and only game, Destiny 2.
The problem, if you can call it a problem, is that Destiny 2, the game itself, is still cranking out really great content, as evidenced both by launch week for Season of the Wish and this weekend, the release of the Warlord’s Ruin dungeon. But it hasn’t moved the needle so far. What has gone right in Season of the Wish so far? Two main things:
Destiny 2
The Coil
I think you can make the case The Coil is the best seasonal activity Destiny 2 has ever had. And yes, that includes Season of Opulence’s Menagerie. It’s three-person and densely packed with enemies that escalate in challenge the further you go. There are puzzle-like traversal sections which can reward you with a bonus chest each and every time you do them. And there’s a long-term goal where after four rotations, you can unlock the “wish room” which is full of six chests and more loot than you can possibly carry. Literally like, your entire postmaster might get full.
For my money, it’s better than Menagerie in the end. More densely packed encounters that can be more fun with three people than overcrowded with six. Probably three times the loot, and a larger range of loot overall (14 guns and an armor set, I believe). Even if it can’t be targeted and chest glitched farmed for seven copies of one gun, it also drowns you in Wish engrams that can be focused for specific drops at Riven, so it’s close to the same thing. Crafting has lessened this chase a bit, but that’s a game problem, not a Coil problem.
It’s a genuinely amazing activity and we’re not even doing seeing the full extent of it as more sections are going to be added over time. Season of the Witch also killed it with its two activities, Spire of Savathun and Altars of Summoning, but man, The Coil is on another level so far.
Warlord’s Ruin
Warlord’s Ruin
It has been a very long time since I’ve seen the Destiny 2 community rave about a dungeon like this. I’m not even sure I have seen anything like it in the dungeon pass era. While I still hate that concept of a separate dungeon pass, which technically makes this not part of the season, if there was ever a dungeon that was worth the price, it’s Warlord’s Ruin, where players climb through a dangerous castle full of Scorn drawing clear influence from other games like Dark Souls.
It has three full boss encounters, which we never really see in dungeons, which are generally more fun to farm than non-boss encounters. A central mechanic that’s easy to understand yet can still produce some challenge. Tricky puzzles including a hilarious prison escape that trapped essentially all of Destiny 2’s best players for half an hour their first run until everyone figured out what was going on.
It’s gorgeously designed, culminating in an epic, vertical, movement-focused final boss fight that can reward a unique hand crossbow sidearm exotic. The rest of the loot in the dungeon is probably its biggest problem outside of a neat rocket sidearm, but the dungeon itself is easily one of the best they’ve ever done, and I don’t think many people are disputing that.
The problem Destiny has now is that great seasonal content has not been enough to offset other declines. And even if it’s a really great season, it’s now one that’s six months long instead of three, so there’s no chance people won’t get burned out no matter how good the activities are, which is unfortunate timing. But all we can say is that Bungie killed both The Coil and Warlord’s Ruin, and that’s about all we can ask for.
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