I’ve not been kind to Destiny 2 or its developer, Bungie, for a good portion of this year. As I’ve said in several of my posts, I’ve been a Destiny fan for a long time, and I was particularly disappointed with Destiny 2 at launch. It was enough to get me to stop playing the game, and all the subsequent controversies and disappointments surrounding it had me seriously considering whether or not I’d ever be able to come back to the game. However, I sit here today having completely changed my mind. Destiny 2: Forsaken is actually quite good, and I’ve managed to find time for it again.

In the months leading up to its release, I was carefully watching everything surrounding Destiny 2’s “big fall expansion.” At the time, Bungie was calling it a game changer and promising that it would both fix all the issues fans were having with the game as well as adding a healthy chunk of new content. It sounded too goo to be true, but I continued to keep my eye on it anyway just in case. As the months went on, we learned more about it: weapon systems were getting fixed, there was going to be a point to grinding, difficult activities were going to be worthwhile again, new multiplayer modes were getting added. Again it sounded great, everything sounded great, and I was thinking of at least checking it out. But still, I didn’t think I’d ever really come back. I’d thought I’d moved on to other things along with my friends, and I didn’t think I’d be able to build time into my schedule anymore. That was only until the game launched though.

Once I actually had a chance to play this “game changing” expansion, I found myself genuinely surprised. Much of what Bungie had been claiming was true; I was actually having a lot of fun. I even convinced one of my former Destiny friends to come back, and they found themselves feeling the same thing: Destiny was back…is back. I’m not playing it as much as I was of course, but I am playing it, and I’m eating some of my words in the process I suppose. I’m not sure if this entirely because Destiny 2: Forsaken is actually that good, or if it’s just a combination of wanting to play Destiny and having a game to share with friends again. I suppose it doesn’t matter too much, it’s fun either way.

With games like Destiny 2 and now No Man’s Sky getting turned around years after their release dates, I find myself wondering if this new state of game development is a good thing. On one hand, we have developers sticking with their games for years after their game launches and continually improving them. On the other hand though, we have month or even year long periods of games not living up to their promises and getting accompanied by all manner of trouble, controversy and harsh criticism. I suppose it can all lead to a better game, but I still don’t think it’s completely worth it in the end. Perhaps the solution will be to starting waiting a year while the launch state gets fixed, but who wants to always have to do that? I certainly don’t.

What do you think of Destiny 2: Forsaken? What about this trend of disappointing launches and good fixes months or years later?

Lede image is official Destiny 2: Forsaken promotional artwork.