Destiny 2: everything you need to know about Bungie’s new sci-fi epic – The Verge

Bungie unveils big Destiny 2 shift with Shadowkeep expansion and free-to-play version

2019-06-06T13:20:00-04:00

Game studio Bungie has decided to get ahead of the E3 news cycle with the announcement of the second major Destiny 2 expansion, and its first ever without publishing partner Activision. The expansion is called Shadowkeep, in line with a data mined leak revealed on Tuesday, and will bring players back to the Moon, a popular and narratively important destination from the original Destiny. The character, Eris Morn, is also heavily hinted as a major force in the new expansion, with Bungie referring to her as an "old ally" you'll reunite with to "confront new nightmares."

Yet in a surprise turn of events, Bungie is also outlining a drastic shift …

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Destiny 2’s Gambit mode is the kind of innovative, intense fun the game needs right now

2018-06-12T12:00:03-04:00

Developer Bungie has a lot riding on Destiny 2's Forsaken expansion. It launches in September, and it promises to bring with it a number of minor and major changes to how the game looks and feels and what players will spend their time doing in the studio's supernatural universe. Bungie's main goal is to try and court back disheartened players who feel like the game lost the magic of the original. But unlike most game developers, Bungie typically chooses not to spill a lot of the details here at E3 in Los Angeles, where most of the game industry's biggest players are trying to drum up hype for new releases.

Instead, Bungie brought Gambit, on …

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Destiny 2’s huge Forsaken expansion tries to recapture the magic of the original

2018-06-05T13:25:44-04:00

Game developer Bungie revealed new details today about its upcoming Forsaken expansion for Destiny 2, which will be the largest expansion since the game's initial launch in September 2017. In a polished video put together by the studio and a live interview session after that, Twitch live stream viewers were given a broad overview of what the expansion would content. The theme seems clear: after months and months of turmoil and controversy, Bungie is trying to find common ground with its fans by bringing back the most asked-for elements of the first game.

In that sense, Forsaken seems like it will act as large reset, reintroducing core conce …

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Bungie announces plans to remedy Destiny 2’s loot box system

2018-01-11T20:27:32-05:00

Bungie today released the first substantial Destiny 2 update roadmap for the new year, after pledging in late November to communicate more with the game's community and fix longstanding issues that have riled fans since the title's launch in September. Contained in the blog post are a far-reaching series of planned changes, additions, and tweaks. But perhaps none are quite as important as the planned alterations to the game's loot box system, called Eververse, which lets players pay money for slot machine-style "engrams" that randomly contain coveted cosmetic items.

"We recognize that the scales are tipped too far towards Tess at the moment …

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Bungie responds to Destiny 2 backlash by handing out overpowered, game-breaking gun

2017-12-08T13:42:02-05:00

The Destiny 2 community has been up in arms this week, even more so than usual, over the release of the new expansion, Curse of Osiris, and longstanding complaints with the way developer Bungie has handled its online-only shooter. The developer has a long list of changes it's making, many coming next week in a post-update patch. But the community, which gathers mostly on the Destiny subreddit, isn't having any of it. They feel that the sequel is irredeemably inferior to the original, and many have expressed how fed up they are with the state of the series.

Bungie's response: let's sell Prometheus Lens. The gun, a laser beam-like solar-power …

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Curse of Osiris won’t save Destiny 2 from players’ unrealistic expectations

2017-12-07T10:00:04-05:00

This week, Bungie released the first expansion to its online-only shooter Destiny 2, called Curse of Osiris. The new content comes at a challenging time for the game, as its vocal and divided player base has hit a fever pitch over the state of the series and whether it can be redeemed. A few months after launch, Destiny 2 is a game that finds itself being pulled in every direction by the many contingents of its community, resulting in diametrically opposed opinions on the game and the direction it should take. It's an environment that taints every discussion about the future of Destiny 2.

Amid all of this turmoil, Curse of Osiris is a solid …

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Bungie announces Destiny 2 changes to address players’ biggest criticisms

2017-11-29T18:35:51-05:00

Bungie today announced a large-scale series of changes to the world of Destiny 2 to address fierce criticism from players, many of whom have been voicing concern since the game's September launch that the developer was either ignoring community feedback or uninterested in changing what fans saw as fundamental flaws to the sci-fi shooter sequel. Some of the changes will go live with the upcoming Curse of the Osiris expansion launching on December 5th, with more to come in a patch the following week. The company also detailed longer-term updates slated for 2018.

Now, certain weapons will once again have "rolls," or a randomly assigned set of …

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Destiny 2’s biggest achievement is that it fits into your life

2017-10-09T10:00:05-04:00

I remember it like it was yesterday. My Guardian, hobbled by his low power level and horrendously subpar weapons, felt at first so weak and incapable. He was struggling to reclaim the light that would restore him to glory, and by extension let me once again feel the rush of superpowers and the thrill of endless firefights.

Now, one month into Destiny 2, my Hunter is an all-powerful, emperor-slaying, magic-wielding warrior who fears nothing. In fact, I'm in control of two of those resolute superheroes; I've created my second character in the game, a Titan, and leveled up that Guardian to nearly as high as she can go. I still have a third cha …

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Bungie snuck a clever iPhone keynote reference into Destiny 2

2017-09-12T12:58:13-04:00

We're just a few moments away from this year's annual iPhone reveal - and it's going to be a big one. But now it's a great time to take a look back on some storied Apple history with a very clever Easter egg in Destiny 2 that appears to have been snuck into the game prior to release.

Bungie's new shooter, which takes a far more hands-on approach to narrative storytelling and world-building this time around, now includes lengthy written backstories to each of its rare "exotic" weapons, which represent the pinnacle of players' feverish collectathon impulses. One such weapon, an updated version of an original Destiny gun called Hard Light, has …

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Destiny 2’s multiplayer is far more balanced and fair, but less fun for solo players

2017-09-10T13:00:01-04:00

Bungie's Destiny 2 has been out now for a few days, and players and critics alike are lauding it for a much improved narrative, a more respectful and thoughtful progression system, and an all-around superior game world with more activities to perform, neat gear to collect, and secrets to unearth. One aspect of the game that has been left largely unexplored is the Crucible multiplayer experience, which pits human players against others in a variety of strategic game modes.

In my original impressions piece detailing the first 20 hours of Destiny 2, in which I played the game at a Bungie-hosted event in Bellevue, Washington last month, I didn' …

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