"Destiny" is a franchise we all secretly hope lives up to the hype. Bungie is a developer with a proven track record, mostly due to the "Halo" series, so they have the quality to release a truly groundbreaking FPS. "Destiny 2" may be one of the most hyped up releases of the year, but few games have so much to live up to.
It not only needs to be better than the original, "Destiny 2" has to be better than what the original promised to be. It needs to set things right, to pull off what the first game failed to do. In other words, Bungie has to knock it out of the park.
There is no such thing as a perfect game, especially one which depends heavily on multiplayer, but so far so good.
Reviews
Reviews are starting to pour in, although most do not actually include a rating. "Destiny 2" is an online experience, so reviewers have only been able to access the content for a few hours. Going from the early impressions, which is the best way to describe these early reviews, "Destiny 2" seems like a solid step forward.
Most describe Bungie's sequel as not necessarily feeling like a brand new experience, instead just tweaking what did not work with the original to allow for a better overall experience. The story, or more specifically the way it is told, is greatly improved upon.
The original suffered from a scattershot storytelling, where players were left to fend for themselves in order to understand what was going on.
The sequel removes the cryptic lingo from its predecessor, instead opting for a more cinematic and straight forward experience. The concept of 'the darkness', which served as the antagonist in the first "Destiny," is replaced with a typical militant villain.
It is a welcome change, as he is at least well defined.
There is a whole lot of cut scenes as well, with characters being given time to develop and showcase some degree of personality.
End game
"Destiny" became a bit of a slog towards the end, so we are yet to see how much grinding is required for the sequel's end game. We hope the pacing of "Destiny 2" is maintained until the end, as the first twenty odd hours have a constant sense of progression.
The new introduced worlds are big and stuffed with areas to explore and side missions. It never feels like there isn't something to do.
Like its predecessor, "Destiny 2" is designed to last for a few years. Once the single player campaign is beaten, we can expect quite a few DLC stories to be released.