Destiny 2: Beyond Light
Destiny 2: Beyond Light | |
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Cover art featuring a Guardian sitting on Europa with a Darkness Pyramid ship in the background | |
Developer(s) | Bungie |
Publisher(s) | Bungie |
Director(s) | Luke Smith |
Composer(s) |
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Platform(s) | |
Release | November 10, 2020 |
Genre(s) | Action role-playing, first-person shooter |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is a major expansion for Destiny 2, a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was released on November 10, 2020, as the fifth expansion of Destiny 2. Players travel to Jupiter's icy moon Europa to confront the Fallen Kell Eramis, who plans to use the power of the Darkness to save her people and take revenge on the Traveler back on Earth, as she and many Fallen believe that the Traveler had abandoned them before the Golden Age of humanity. The player's Guardian also obtains this new Darkness-based power as a subclass called Stasis, which features new ice-based abilities that can freeze enemies. The expansion sees the return of the Exo Stranger from the original Destiny's campaign, as well as Variks from the original game's House of Wolves expansion, both of which guides the Guardian on Europa.[1] Furthermore, Beyond Light adds other content across the game, including missions, player versus environment locations, player gear, weaponry, and a raid. Beyond Light is the first expansion of Destiny 2 to be released on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S platforms. Bungie described this expansion as the beginning of a new era for the Destiny franchise.
In addition to the expansion, some of the less played locations and activities from the first three years of Destiny 2 were cycled out of the game into what Bungie calls the Destiny Content Vault (DCV), which also includes all areas from the original Destiny. This was done to cut down on the install size of the game, but Bungie plans to cycle areas in and out of the DCV, updating older destinations to fit the current state of the game. Earth's Cosmodrome from the original game returned alongside Beyond Light. This location mainly serves as the introductory and tutorial destination for first-time players of the New Light free-to-play base game with a full questline, but seasonal content has also been featured here. The original game's "Vault of Glass" raid will also return during Season 14, updated with Destiny 2 mechanics. Beyond Light has four planned seasonal content offerings for Year 4 of the game: Season of the Hunt, which was available alongside Beyond Light, Season of the Chosen in February 2021, Season of the Splicer, which will begin on May 11 and run through August 24, and then the fourth yet to be named season to begin thereafter.
Gameplay
Beyond Light maintains the basic gameplay of Destiny 2; the player, as a Guardian using a power called Light that gives them superhuman abilities and the ability to be regenerated, fights in a mix of first-person and third-person shooter gameplay in both player versus environment and player versus player activities in a massively multiplayer online game world. Cooperative activities include various bounties, story-related missions, "strikes," dungeons, raids, open-world public events, and special seasonal events, while competitive matches include matches with other Guardians in the Crucible or a team versus team mode in the Gambit arena. Players are rewarded with both new weapons and armor as well as various materials that are used as a form of in-game currency to gain or upgrade other equipment. Players can have up to three active characters, one from each of the game's main classes: Titan, Hunter, and Warlock, each that has several subclasses based on the type of elemental damage they select prior to missions. Players seek to improve their character's overall Power level—a rough average measuring the quality of weapons and gear they have collected—that allows them to take on more challenging activities in the game.
Prior to Beyond Light, there were three main elemental damage types, Arc, Solar, and Void, which are rooted in a power called Light. Beyond Light introduces a fourth elemental damage type called Stasis, which creates ice and cold-based damage, and is rooted in the power of the Darkness. This new Darkness subclass has a fully customizable skill options compared to the existing Light subclasses. Each class gets a new subclass for Stasis abilities: the Warlock's Shadebinder has them using an icy staff that shoots projectiles and unleashes an explosion to freeze and shatter enemies through their "Winter's Wrath" super, the Hunter's Revenant utilizes dual ice kamas that they can throw and create icy storms to trap and freeze enemies through their super "Silence and Squall", while the Titan's Behemoth uses frozen gauntlets to allow for melee destruction and unleash icy shockwaves on the ground that freezes enemies through their super "Glacial Quake".[2][3] Game director Luke Smith said that these new customization options for the Stasis subclasses are an "experiment...to see how this goes" and that they may later add these options to the existing Light subclasses.[2]
Other major gameplay changes include:
- Five of the game's destinations that were available during the first three years of Destiny 2—Titan, Io, Mars, Mercury, and the Leviathan ship and their associated campaigns and other activities—as well as activities and content from Year 2's Annual Pass, were removed from the game and placed in the Destiny Content Vault (DCV). A wholly new destination, Jupiter's moon Europa, was added to the game as well as a subset of Earth's Cosmodrome, previously featured in the first Destiny, along with some of the Destiny Cosmodrome activities reworked for Destiny 2, as well as the addition of two Lost Sectors in areas not previously accessible in the original game. While Bungie had planned to expand out the Cosmodrome to its parity of the original Destiny over the course of Year 4, they later stated during Season 13 that they had shelved these plans in favor of focusing on future new content.[4]
- The shell for the player's Ghost, which in-game provides an A.I. companion for the Guardian and aids in respawning the character if they die, can now be customized with modifications, similar to other armor pieces introduced with the Armor 2.0 system. Prior to Beyond Light, while the player could obtain Ghost shells with various properties, these were typically fixed or had some random generated perks given to them. Bungie stated this was intended to give even further customization options to the character.[5]
- The hybrid PvE/PvP Gambit mode that was added with Forsaken (2018) dropped the original three-round mode in favor of the single-round Gambit Prime mode (renamed as Gambit) that was introduced during Year 2's Season of the Drifter (Season 6), tweaking some of the enemies that spawn in the mode and other timing factors. Impacts of armor from the Reckoning (a PvE arena activity that was also introduced in Season of the Drifter), which could boost certain Gambit gameplay factors, such as being able to summon more powerful blockers to the opponent's side of the map, were reworked into armor mods.[6]
- With the launch of Beyond Light, all non-exotic weapons and gear had a Power infusion cap, meaning older weapons and gear introduced in previous seasons had a maximum Power infusion limit and would eventually be less viable in activities that required a high Power level. For example, gear from the first two years of Destiny 2 had a max Power cap of 1050, which was the starting Power level for Beyond Light, making them more ineffective as the player advanced further into the campaign. Going forward, new non-exotic armor and weapons introduced in a season would typically have a Power level cap that would make them viable for the current and the subsequent three seasons.[7] However, after two seasons, Bungie recognized this approach was not ideal, and starting with Season 14, will no longer include infusion caps on equipment, although gear that had already been sunset will remain sunsetted. Bungie does plan to revisit how to sunset gear after they release the game's next major expansion, The Witch Queen, which was delayed to early 2022.[8][9]
- Players can now re-obtain any abandoned quests through a quest archive kiosk in the Tower; this kiosk also grants veteran players access to the new player questline, which reworked the original Destiny's opening missions as a new questline for first-time players. Players also have access to an exotic archive in the Tower as well, where they can purchase exotic, pinnacle, and pursuit weapons from associated areas, activities, and seasons that were placed into the DCV. In keeping it fair to players who obtained the weapons by their original means, the weapons cost a substantial amount of various in-game currencies, as well as hard to obtain items.[10] The majority of vaulted catalysts for exotic weapons from previous seasons returned during Season 13, with new means to acquire and upgrade them.[11]
- Beginning with Season of the Chosen (Season 13), the weekly bounty system for the core activities, through which players were able to obtain more substantial rewards and Bright Dust, was dropped in favor of a seasonal triumph-based system, designed to address the "fear of missing out" (FOMO) when players are unable to log in for a week or more. Each week of the season introduces new triumphs that when completed can be turned in for similar rewards as the prior weekly bounties. These triumphs will stack up through the first ten weeks of a season and only require completion once on any character in one's account, but after the season, it will then be impossible to earn these triumphs or associated rewards that are not tied to a seasonal activity; seasonal triumphs that are tied to a seasonal activity will remain for as long as the seasonal activity is in the game. Daily bounties were unchanged and remain available.[12]
- Starting with Season of the Splicer (Season 14), the Power level increases for each non-expansion season will only be by 10 (previously 50), meaning that players who have maxed out their gear in the prior season will only have to level up through pinnacle gear activities. This change was in response to player complaints about the grind required at the start of each season.[9]
A new raid mission, "Deep Stone Crypt", was released on November 21, 2020, and takes place in the Clovis Bray facility located on Europa, which is the birthplace of the Exos. Subsequently, a number of new activities on Europa were unlocked for all players once the raid was completed.[13]
Seasonal changes
As with past yearly expansions, in addition to the major story and content added with Beyond Light, Bungie also divided the year into four seasons. With each season, Power Level minimums and caps are raised. Each season offers a free-tier and paid-tier season pass to acquire new gear, game currency, and cosmetics, as well as new activities and triumphs associated with those activities, some which may require purchase of the season pass to access. Unlike the previous year (Year 3), in which seasonal content became unavailable at the conclusion of each season, the seasonal activities and story missions can still be accessed in subsequent seasons for the duration of Year 4 (some triumphs, however, can only be completed during the active season).
Season of the Hunt (Season 12) began with the launch of Beyond Light on November 10, 2020, though the actual seasonal narrative did not begin until November 17. New and existing players' Power levels were increased to the new minimum Power level of 1050, a soft cap of 1200, with the hard Power level cap set to 1250, and the pinnacle reward cap at 1260. The season added "Wrathborn Hunts" to the Tangled Shore and Dreaming City destinations, in which the player charges a lure with select mods to draw out one of four chosen bosses (a fifth later became available but via a special mission that can only be done once a week). Completing the hunts earns seasonal weapons or gear with the help of new seasonal vendor Crow. The season also introduced a questline to recover Hawkmoon, an exotic hand cannon from the original game; a reprised version of the mission was later added, which drops random perks on Hawkmoon, making Hawkmoon the first exotic in the franchise to have random perks as the perks on all other prior exotics were preset. The seasonal artifact featured during this season was the Fang of Xivu Arath (featuring mods focusing on mid-range weapons and Solar and Void abilities).
Season of the Chosen (Season 13) began on February 9, 2021, bringing the hard Power level cap to 1300 and pinnacle reward cap to 1310. A new match-made three-player PvE activity called "Battlegrounds" was also introduced and featured on Nessus, Europa, and Earth's Cosmodrome. Players challenge Cabal commanders and their forces that are seeking Empress Caiatl's favor across the different destinations for powerful rewards after powering up a special Cabal artifact called the Hammer of Proving. A new area in the Tower was added called the Hub for Emergency Logistics and Maneuvers (H.E.L.M.) and is the central location for this season's content, as well as the location of the Prismatic Recaster, which returned from Season of Arrivals (Season 11) along with Umbral Engrams, using charges from the Hammer as part of the Umbral refining process. The seasonal artifact featured during this season is the Bell of Conquests (featuring mods focusing on long-range weapons and Arc, Solar, and Stasis abilities).[11] When Beyond Light released, "The Will of Crota" strike was added with the Cosmodrome and reworked for the New Light questline for new players, being renamed to "The Disgraced". The other two prior Destiny strikes in the Cosmodrome, "The Devil's Lair" and "Fallen S.A.B.E.R.", were brought back this season, but did not receive a narrative update, as they feature the same dialogue and bosses from the original game. A brand new strike called "Proving Grounds" was added midseason, with season pass holders gaining early access to the strike a week before its full release on March 30, 2021.[11]
Season of the Splicer (Season 14) began on May 11, 2021, with the hard Power level raised to 1310 and the pinnacle reward cap to 1320. A new six-player matchmade activity called "Override" was introduced and available on Europa, Earth's Moon, and the Tangled Shore; in this activity, a fireteam must defeat Vex to hack into a access point into a Vex simulation and defeat its boss to steal its secrets. The H.E.L.M. was expanded to support this additional activity, and made as its own destination selection node outside of the tower. A weekly pinnacle mission called "Expunge" will also be introduced later in the season.[14] The seasonal artifact featured during this season is the Paradrome Cube (featuring mods focusing on close-range weapons and Void, Arc and Stasis abilities). Armor transmogrification or transmog for short, which allows players to convert previously-acquired armor in their collections into decorations that can be applied to other armor pieces freely, was added this season. Ada-1, a returning NPC from Year 2's Season of the Forge (Season 5), offers quests and bounties to support transmog currencies from most activities, or alternatively, players can use microtransactions to obtain these directly. As part of this system, a new appearance customization screen is available to the player to easily switch decorations and shaders, which no longer are kept as inventory items but simply unlocked once per account once acquired.[15][16][17][9] The "Vault of Glass" raid, which was the very first raid of the original Destiny, will be added on May 22. It will feature the same story as the original, but account for differences in Destiny 2, such as a new starting instance to replace the absent Venus zone that had been present in the first Destiny. Challenges and difficulty options for the raids and dungeons will also be added later in the season, offering better rewards similar to adept weapons and weapon modifications that are offered for Trials and Grandmaster Nightfall completions.[18][9][19]
Plot
Beyond Light focuses on Eramis, the Shipstealer, a former Baroness of the House of Devils, now known as the Kell of Darkness, who plans to use the power of the Darkness to save her people and take revenge on the Traveler back on Earth, as she and many Fallen believe that the Traveler had abandoned them before the Golden Age of humanity. At the end of Season of Arrivals, the Traveler reawakened to heal itself of its wounds incurred during The Red War three years ago to defend Earth from the encroaching Darkness—its Dark Fleet of Pyramid ships had just consumed Io, Mars, Mercury, and Titan. Beyond Light begins in the immediate aftermath in which the Guardian is sent out across the Solar System to patrol for further evidence of the spreading Darkness. While on Jupiter's icy moon Europa, where the Darkness had invited the Guardian to discover an ancient power, the player's Ghost detects a distress call from Variks, the Loyal, who was partly responsible for the Prison of Elders revolt that resulted in Cayde-6's death during Forsaken two years ago. Despite their wariness to his loyalty, the Guardian rescues Variks from a Fallen patrol. Variks warns them of Eramis, who has been named the new Kell of Kells; she has brought the Houses of the Fallen together as House Salvation to fight against those that are protected by the Traveler by using Stasis, a power of the Darkness that she has learned to wield and passed on to her lieutenants—Phylaks, the Warrior; Praksis, the Technocrat; Kridis, the Dark Priestess; and Atraks, the Wildcard—through Splinters of Darkness obtained from a Pyramid ship silently hovering over Europa's surface.
The Guardian finds themself quickly outmatched against Eramis' Stasis powers and retreats to safety. The Darkness then contacts the Guardian through Ghost, drawing them via a Crux of Darkness to a remote location on Europa overlooking the Pyramid ship where they find a Ziggurat facing it, as well as the Exo Stranger, last seen at the end of the original Destiny's campaign, alongside Eris Morn and the Drifter fighting off Fallen troops. The Exo Stranger explains that she comes from a different timeline where the Darkness won. Just as she had provided aid to the Guardian against the Vex six years ago, she has returned to the present time to help prevent the Darkness from claiming victory and causing a second Collapse. She helps guide the Guardian to defeat Eramis' lieutenants, collect their Splinters, and commune with the Darkness through its Cruxes and the Ziggurat to be able to harness Stasis for themselves as to be able to defeat Eramis herself, methods that both Ghost and Commander Zavala do not trust but recognize as the only solution. Along this route, the Guardian learns that part of Eramis' plan is to reactivate a Vex portal that was built by Clovis Bray I as part of his inhumane research into Exo development.
Ultimately, the Guardian is able to defeat Eramis and three of her lieutenants and comes to have full control over Stasis after embracing their own inner Darkness inside the Pyramid. While the immediate threat to humanity is ended, Zavala cautions the Guardian to make sure the Darkness they possess does not spread. Afterwards, the Stranger assists the Guardian in further controlling their Stasis powers so that they can use it to protect humanity. The Stranger also reveals that she is actually Elisabeth "Elsie" Bray, the granddaughter of Clovis Bray I and sister of Ana Bray, revived as an Exo due to a fatal illness; she also despises her grandfather for his experiments. The Guardian also continues to assist Variks to take down any remaining Fallen threats attempting to claim Eramis' vacant throne, as well as aid Fallen refugees in escaping Europa and return to Earth to join a good faction of Fallen called the House of Light, led by Fallen ally Mithrax, Kell of Light. In the course of the Guardian's efforts to decrypt Clovis I's research on Stasis, the Stranger comes face-to-face with Ana, who is appalled at Elsie and the Guardian's use of Darkness, as well as her sister's confession that she was forced to kill Ana in her dark future.
The Guardian is later contacted by the Exo Stranger, who has discovered that the remnants of House Salvation have located the fabled Deep Stone Crypt, a Clovis Bray facility that served as the birthplace of the Exos. Fearing that Eramis' followers are using the Crypt's Exo technology and secrets for their own nefarious ends, a fireteam of Guardians assembled by the Stranger make their way through the frozen Europan wasteland in the midst of a harsh blizzard to locate the facility ("Deep Stone Crypt" raid). The Guardians make their way through the Crypt after disabling its security systems, wherein they discover "Clarity Control", a Darkness statue similar to the one found in the Pyramid, which Clovis Bray I used to commune with the Darkness and utilize it alongside Vex technology to aid in the development of Exos. It is revealed that Clovis I combined Vex radiolarian fluid with concentrated Darkness to perfect the Exo program, cementing the link between mind and body, and achieving immortality for humanity. They find Atraks, the last of Eramis' lieutenants, who has been converted into an Exo herself called Atraks-1, Fallen Exo, using the Crypt's Exo technology and the Darkness from Clarity Control to rebuild Taniks, the Scarred. The fireteam defeats Atraks-1 while Taniks confronts the fireteam as they board a space station orbiting Europa called the Morning Star, where Taniks activates its nuclear descent protocol to send the space station crashing down on the Jovian moon and decimate it upon impact; the Guardians manage to disarm the descent protocol as the station breaks apart and enters Europa's atmosphere. The fireteam manages to survive the crash and they emerge from the wreckage afterwards, finding themselves back at the entrance to the Deep Stone Crypt. As they investigate the Morning Star's wreckage, they discover that Taniks had also survived, who re-emerges as a grotesque mechanical being called Taniks, the Abomination. The Guardians defeat Taniks once and for all, securing the Deep Stone Crypt from further threats from House Salvation.
In the aftermath of Taniks' defeat, the Guardian continues to work with Variks and the Exo Stranger as remnants of the Morning Star perpetually rain down onto the surface of Europa, hoping to stop any Fallen from salvaging the debris for their own ends. As well, the Guardian is contacted by the artificial intelligence of Clovis Bray I, discovered to be a giant Exo head located deep within the Bray Exoscience facility. Further investigation reveals that Banshee-44, who fell unconscious at the same time the Morning Star was destroyed, is in fact the Exo form of the real Clovis Bray. Clovis-43 asked the Stranger to modify his memories so that upon his next reset, he would have no memory of the name Clovis Bray I or what the man had done. Banshee is disturbed by the revelation, but accepts it begrudgingly. Banshee assists the Guardian in finding and repairing the Lament, an exotic sword with a chainsaw blade used by Clovis during his war with the Vex on Europa. Banshee vows to never become his former, tyrannical self. Shortly after, Elsie and Ana reconcile to confront the giant Clovis AI together. Ana comes to understand Elsie's actions in killing her in that dark future while Elsie apologizes from withholding the truth, stating she was trying to protect Ana. The two sisters agree to work together and then confront Clovis and proclaim that they will use the Darkness to protect humanity from evil like him, instead of what Clovis had intended, which was to use it for research purposes only to continue the legacy of the Bray name.
Season of the Hunt
Shortly after Eramis' defeat and in the midst of the Guardian's continued efforts to drive back remaining Fallen threats on Europa, Commander Zavala informs the Guardian that the former Warlock Vanguard Osiris has been trying to assess the damage done by the Darkness' return. Osiris was investigating the Scarlet Keep on Earth's Moon in his belief that Xivu Arath—the Hive God of War and youngest sister to Oryx, the Taken King and Savathûn, the Witch Queen—would take advantage of the chaos. Osiris' Ghost, Sagira, was slain by the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath, leaving him Lightless. Sent to the Moon to save Osiris, the Guardian finds him on the hunt for the High Celebrant to avenge Sagira. Osiris is nearly killed by a Hive Knight in the Shrine of Oryx before he is rescued by a resurrected Uldren Sov, now a Guardian calling himself the Crow—upon resurrection, Guardians have no memory of their past lives. Crow tells them that his boss, the Spider, wants to see them. At his safehouse on the Tangled Shore, Spider reveals that the High Celebrant is using artifacts of Darkness called cryptoliths to corrupt Cabal, Fallen, and other Hive into a mindless, enraged army called Wrathborn, and proposes a partnership with the Guardian, offering his resources to help end the threat. Spider confides to the Guardian that he found the newly-reborn Uldren wandering the Reef and employed him, knowing the murderer of Cayde-6 would likely be killed again for his crime if he had been sent to the Last City. However, Spider secretly rigged Crow's Ghost, Glint (formerly Pulled Pork), with a bomb in case he were to go rogue, and warns the Guardian not to inform Crow of his former self. Meanwhile, the Awoken Queen, Mara Sov, informs the system of her intent to return to reality, confront Savathûn, and end the Dreaming City's curse.
Over the next few weeks, the Guardian assists Crow in hunting various Fallen and Hive Wrathborn, namely Savek and HKD-1 on the Tangled Shore and Dul Arath and Xillox in the Dreaming City. Crow begins experiencing dreams of a hawk and several places he had traveled to in his previous life as Uldren Sov. Fearing these may be signs of a larger catastrophe approaching, the Guardian investigates these locations but instead discovers that Crow's dreams are paracausal remnants left by the Traveler, a message that leads them to discover and reforge Hawkmoon, a weapon of Light reborn by the Traveler to fight the Darkness. Through this, the Guardian grows to finally see that Crow is not the same person who killed Cayde-6, and the pair develop a strong relationship.
Crow and Osiris eventually uncover the location of the High Celebrant in the Dreaming City, and Crow joins the Guardian in assassinating the Ascendant Hive Knight. As a reward, Spider promises the Guardian any prize from his lair, to which the Guardian responds by liberating Crow from his bondage under his boss. Spider reluctantly honors the deal, ordering the two to leave his lair. A grateful Crow questions why the Guardian freed him, to which the Guardian proclaims that Crow is also a Guardian. Shortly after, Spider has his engineers to remove the bomb from Glint, while Crow says he will remain on the Tangled Shore for a little while longer to help hunt down any remaining Wrathborn. In the final week of the season, Crow decides that he will leave the Reef. He said he thought about going off and exploring remote locations, like the planet Venus, but Osiris convinced him that he should come to the Tower, despite what others may think of him based on his previous life, and Crow proudly accepts himself as a Guardian.
Season of the Chosen
Following the defeat of Dominus Ghaul at the end of the Red War over three years ago, Caiatl, who helped Ghaul rise to power and is the daughter of the exiled Emperor Calus—who himself vanished without a trace following the events of Season of Arrivals—declared herself the Empress of the Cabal. She has since been piecing the fractured Cabal back together with her army of chosen warriors. In her attempts to bring the remnants of the Red Legion under her command, she finds that several lingering outposts were corrupted by the Hive cryptoliths that created the Wrathborn. Her plans to locate and capture her estranged father were also halted due to the invading Pyramid fleet of the Darkness. With Xivu Arath pushed back as a result of the Guardian's efforts in defeating the Wrathborn, Caiatl comes to Earth to seek a possible truce with the Vanguard by inviting Commander Zavala to her War Council to team up against the Hive and the Darkness, but demands Zavala and Osiris bow to her alongside the offer. Zavala refuses, and Caiatl instead marks the Guardians as enemies alongside the Hive, proclaiming that she will see them on the battlegrounds.[20]
Afterwards, Zavala explains to the Guardians that Caiatl is mounting an army to fight against humanity. As disgraced Cabal factions join Caiatl's forces, Zavala establishes a task force out of the H.E.L.M. (Hub for Emergency Logistics and Maneuvers) in the Tower, consisting of himself, Lord Saladin, Osiris, Crow (who wears a mask to hide his face), Amanda Holliday (providing air support and intel), and the Guardians to challenge various Cabal commanders—namely, Commander Dracus and Ixel, the Far-Reaching on Nessus, Basilius the Golem on Europa, and Val Ma'rag on Earth's Cosmodrome—and weaken Caiatl's forces to prevent her from gaining too much power. From data collected on Nessus, Crow discovers the Cabal are using Vex prediction engines to study futures where Zavala has been killed, and with the player's Guardian's help, suspects that Caiatl is plotting to assassinate Zavala by temporarily disabling his Ghost using a Light-disruptor created from stolen City tech. After a failed assassination attempt on Zavala by a Cabal Psion, during which Zavala almost sees Crow without his mask, Osiris assigns Crow to be Zavala's bodyguard, though acting from a distance and never to show his face to him due to his past life.
Amid this offensive, a Vanguard communication is received from a Cabal ship, the Glykon, lingering out in the Reef, which had left Earth along with Emperor Calus' fleet when the Darkness arrived in the system, but had since gone off course. Zavala tells the player's Guardian that it appears to be from another Guardian that was investigating the ship, and asks the player's Guardian to follow up. Aboard the drifting craft, the Guardian finds it has been taken over by the Scorn, led by the Locus of Communion, with the Cabal crew long dead. After battling the Scorn and the Locus, the Guardian finds the remains of a Hunter named Katabasis (later revealed to be one of Calus' Shadows), and recovers his prized exotic scout rifle, the Dead Man's Tale, which they bring back to Zavala as part of their report. The Guardian further investigates the Glykon each week, receiving communication from Osiris and Caiatl, who believed that Calus was on the ship or at least information there could lead her to him. It is revealed that Calus had visited the ship while his Loyalists aboard had captured Scorn from the Tangled Shore and experimented on them using the Crown of Sorrow in an attempt for Calus to commune with the Darkness. The Guardian eventually finds the Crown of Sorrow itself hidden in a room below the remains of Katabasis, where Osiris makes arrangements for the Vanguard to extract the Hive artifact from the Glykon for containment, despite Caiatl's concerns about keeping it intact.
After weeks of battling Caiatl's commanders and after the assassination attempt, Zavala decides to challenge Caiatl to the ceremonial Rite of Proving to settle their dispute, with each side sending their best champions to fight. A team of three Guardians successfully best Caiatl's chosen warriors, led by Ignovun, Chosen of Caiatl, aboard her land tank on Nessus, the Halphas Electus, and Caiatl agrees to a truce and withdraw the Cabal from Earth. Caiatl and Zavala meet to agree to terms on a blood oath, but a rogue Psion attempts to assassinate Zavala again. Caiatl orders the Psion captured, asserting she had no knowledge of the plot, while in defending Zavala, Crow's mask is accidentally removed, revealing himself. Although surprised at first, Zavala lends a hand in gratitude. Back in the H.E.L.M., Crow says he felt that Zavala understood who he was and that it was relieving to not have to hide behind his mask, but he was ordered to lay low for the time being. Zavala also ordered Crow to go on a reconnaissance mission to continue to scout the Cabal. In a debriefing with Zavala, he is troubled that the truth of Crow had been kept from him and wonders if there are other secrets, while he also has unease over Caiatl's truce. Also as part of the agreement, any Cabal that elect to remain on Earth are no longer under Caiatl and are left to the Guardians to do as they see fit.
Season of the Splicer
Following the armistice between Empress Caiatl and the Vanguard, the Vex find a way to plunge the Last City into an endless night, and neither Ikora Rey or Osiris can determine the means to stop it. Ikora suggests the Guardian seek Mithrax, the Kell of the Fallen House of Light, who has been aiding Variks to evacuate Fallen survivors from Europa from the remains of Eramis' forces and the Vex, as Mithrax is revealed to be a Fallen Sacred Splicer, who has extensive knowledge on the Vex beyond that of the Vanguard. On Europa, after finding the remains of a skiff brought down by Vex forces in the area, the Guardian finds Mithrax protecting a small group of Fallen survivors. Still uncertain of his trust in humanity and the Vanguard, Mithrax offers to show the Guardian how to enter a Vex simulation as to distract them and steal key data, giving himself enough time to continue the Fallen evacuation. After the Guardian successfully hacks the Vex network, Ikora offers Mithrax and the House of Light refuge in the Last City, with the support of Osiris and Lakshmi-2, the leader of the Future War Cult. While most of the Fallen take up shelter in the abandoned Botza District (as previously featured in the "Scourge of the Past" raid),[21] a number remain in the Tower as a new wing of the H.E.L.M. is opened to oversee operations related to the new Vex offensive. Mithrax continues his Fallen evacuation on Europa but instructs the Vanguard remotely through a scavenged House Salvation Servitor at the H.E.L.M. on means to improve their infiltration and hacking of the Vex simulations. Meanwhile, Lakshmi secretly contacts the Guardian through a secure channel, informing them of a vision she had of the Fallen invading the Last City; citing the Vanguard's refusal to heed her warning about the Red War years prior, she is determined to drive out the House of Light from the Last City.
Release
Unveiled on June 9, 2020, Beyond Light was originally scheduled for release on September 22, 2020; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its launch was delayed to November 10.[22] In addition to beginning Year 4 of Destiny 2's life cycle, Bungie described this release as the start of a new era for the franchise, as Beyond Light begins a narrative where players "will explore the true nature of Light and Dark"—Beyond Light will be followed up by The Witch Queen, which itself was delayed to early 2022, and then Lightfall (working title) presumably in early 2023.[23] The expansion is available as paid downloadable content (DLC) and there was also a physical collector's edition and a digital deluxe edition, both of which, among other things, included the season passes for all four seasons of Year 4.[24] Seasonal content for Year 4 also changed. During Year 3, seasonal content was only accessible during the season it was active. While season passes are still available à la carte as they were during Year 3, the content of previous seasons in Year 4 can be experienced all year, regardless of when a player begins playing, much like the seasons during Year 2 of Forsaken's Annual Pass, though the player must still purchase each season's seasonal pass to access the content. Some seasonal triumphs, however, can only be completed during their respective season. Bungie also stated that the narrative across each season would be more interconnected instead of being cut into individual seasonal arcs.[25] The expansion's first seasonal content, Season of the Hunt, began on November 10 alongside Beyond Light's release and concluded on February 9, 2021. Season of the Chosen then began and will conclude on May 11.[11] Season of the Splicer will then commence and run through August 24.[14]
Core client changes
Destiny 2's size over its first three years had grown too large for Bungie to efficiently update and maintain, creating several software bugs when they introduced new content. The total content had reached about 115 GB and often required large patches with some updates. Rather than focus on developing a Destiny 3, Bungie decided to work on refreshing the current Destiny 2 content and address the state of the game with Beyond Light.[26] Alongside Beyond Light, Bungie introduced the "Destiny Content Vault" (DCV) as part of this major reworking of the game. Five of the game's previous main worlds (Titan, Io, Mars, Mercury, and the Leviathan area) were removed from the game and placed in the DCV along with certain activities, including the campaigns, raids, weapons, armor, and items associated with those worlds. The DCV also includes all of the content from the original Destiny game. After Beyond Light, Bungie plans to go back to areas in the DCV and remaster them over time so that they can be better incorporated into the game at a later time (as seen with Earth's Moon location in the previous Shadowkeep expansion).[23] Because of this change, the install size of the game dropped by about 30 to 40% on all platforms, but did require players to effectively reinstall the full game upon Beyond Light's release.[27] The vaulting of content also aided Bungie to release updates for content and patches much faster, as their development process is more manageable and the size of the updates much smaller to distribute.[28]
Bungie announced in February 2021 that the planned November 2021 release of the next major expansion, The Witch Queen, was pushed back to early 2022, with Lightfall presumably pushed back to early 2023, as Bungie said they wanted to shift to doing big releases in the spring instead of the fall. In addition to ongoing issues with the COVID-19 pandemic, Bungie felt it was necessary to spend the time on the core client to both conclude the Light and Darkness Saga that will conclude with Lightfall, as well as to integrate cross-platform play into the core client prior to the release of The Witch Queen. Cross-play is expected to arrive by Season 15, the last season of Beyond Light. It was also announced that the Light and Darkness Saga is only the first saga in the Destiny franchise, with a new saga to begin after one final chapter that will be released after Lightfall.[8] To prepare for cross-play, some changes were made to weapons on the PC version of the game as a means of handicapping the intrinsic advantage of keyboard-and-mouse over console controllers, notably increasing the amount of recoil in many gun types.[29] In updates to Season of the Splicer (Season 14) in May 2021, Bungie inadvertently enabled cross-platform play between PC and Stadia players, a measure they removed a few days later but considered this a preview of the cross-play functionality.[30]
References
- ^ Thier, Dave (September 22, 2020). "Destiny 2's Beyond Light Europa Trailer Brings A Beloved Character Back To The Game". Forbes. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
- ^ a b Gilliam, Ryan (June 15, 2020). "Everything we know about Destiny 2: Beyond Light's new Stasis power". Polygon. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Gilliam, Ryan (August 27, 2020). "Breaking down Destiny 2: Beyond Light's Revenant, Behemoth, and Shadebinder subclasses". Polygon. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
- ^ Gillam, Ryan (February 12, 2021). "Bungie cancels plans to expand Destiny 2's Cosmodrome this season". Polygon. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ Hornshaw, Phil (September 17, 2020). "Destiny 2 Beyond Light Will Make Ghosts More Customizable And Useful". GameSpot. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ Hornshaw, Phil (September 11, 2020). "Here's How Gambit Is Changing In Destiny 2 Beyond Light". GameSpot. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ Gillam, Ryan (June 10, 2020). "Destiny 2's expiring weapons system is about fixing the sins of the past". Polygon. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- ^ a b Gach, Ethan (February 25, 2021). "Destiny 2's Next Big Expansion The Witch Queen Delayed To 2022". Kotaku. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Gach, Ethan (February 25, 2021). "Destiny 2 Is Ditching Sunsetting". Kotaku. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ Gillam, Ryan (November 5, 2020). "Here's how players can get old Exotics in Destiny 2: Beyond Light". Polygon. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Phillips, Tom (February 2, 2021). "Destiny 2's Season of the Chosen adds new activity, old Strikes". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ Hornshaw, Phil (January 28, 2021). "Bungie Changes Destiny 2 Weekly Bounties, Cancels Crimson Days Next Season". Gamespot. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
- ^ Makuch, Eddie (November 22, 2020). "Destiny 2's New Deep Stone Crypt Raid Beaten, Unlocking Quests For All Players". GameSpot. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ^ a b Fahey, Mike (May 4, 2021). "Destiny 2's Season Of The Splicer Dawns On May 11". Kotaku. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ Bailey, Dustin (December 8, 2020). "Transmog comes to Destiny 2 in Season 14 – here's what to expect". PCGamesN. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
- ^ Gillam, Ryan (May 11, 2020). "Bungie promises more loot from playing, less from microtransactions, in Destiny 2". Polygon. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ Hornshaw, Phil (October 29, 2020). "Destiny 2 Transmogrification Won't Force You To Keep Old Armor". GameSpot. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ Hornshaw, Phil (June 9, 2020). "Destiny 2: Vault Of Glass Is Returning, But Old Content Is Going Away". GameSpot. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ Bailey, Dustin (April 29, 2021). "Bungie confirms the Destiny 2 Vault of Glass release time". PCGamesN. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
- ^ Hornshaw, Phil (February 5, 2021). "Who Is Caiatl, Destiny 2's New Villain In Season Of The Chosen?". GameSpot. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ^ Gilliam, Ryan (May 14, 2021). "Bungie turned an old Destiny 2 raid arena into a Fallen (baby) sanctuary". Polygon. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
- ^ Tassi, Paul (July 16, 2020). "'Destiny 2' Has Delayed Its Beyond Light Expansion In Part Due To COVID Lockdown". Forbes. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
- ^ a b DeeJ (June 9, 2020). "BUILDING A VIABLE FUTURE IN DESTINY 2". Bungie. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Sitzes, Jenae (July 14, 2020). "Destiny 2: Beyond Light Pre-Order Guide: Every Edition, Collectible And Bonus (PC, PS4, And Xbox One)". GameSpot. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Wood, Austin (May 1, 2020). "Destiny 2 Year 4 will have "Seasons that can be experienced all year"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ McGlynn, Anthony (August 29, 2020). "The Destiny Content Vault is for remaking old content as an alternative to Destiny 3". PCGamesN. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ^ LeBlanc, Wesley (September 25, 2020). "Destiny 2: Beyond Light Update Will Reduce the Size of the Game, But Will Need a Full Reinstall". IGN. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ McGlynn, Anthony (November 21, 2020). "Destiny 2 updates are now faster thanks to the Content Vault". PCGamesN. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
- ^ Park, Morgan (February 9, 2021). "Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen buffs rocket launchers and raises mouse recoil". PC Gamer. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
- ^ Watts, Steve (May 12, 2021). "Destiny 2 Cross-Play Mistakenly Goes Live Early, Will Be Disabled". GameSpot. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- 2020 video games
- Action role-playing video games
- Bungie games
- Destiny (series)
- Fiction set on centaurs (small Solar System bodies)
- Fiction set on Europa (moon)
- First-person shooters
- Loot shooters
- Multiplayer video games
- PlayStation 4 games
- PlayStation 4 Pro enhanced games
- PlayStation 5 games
- Post-apocalyptic video games
- Role-playing video games
- Science fiction video games
- Stadia games
- Video game expansion packs
- Video games containing battle passes
- Video games developed in the United States
- Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender
- Video games set in Europe
- Video games using Havok
- Windows games
- Xbox One games
- Xbox Series X and Series S games