Things an Amateur Guardian likes about Destiny 2

So I'm honestly still considering myself an amateur to the Destiny franchise because I didn't spend more than maybe 60 hours in the first game before writing it off. I had initially not planned to even pick up Destiny 2, but my fellow Blerdy Boy, Derrpi, hyped the game to no ends, and made me ever curious about what would made Destiny 2 better than Destiny 1 when both games looked the same. Skeptical I bought the game and went in with a very keen eye to pick up on all the things that I wouldn't like about the game and could only find 3 things, but found way more positives so I figured I'd do an article on the good things and just ignore the bad being that they're overall minor annoyances than anything else. So let's begin:

1. Environments

I just have to start off with saying, this game is beautiful. Like if Destiny was a cute girl, Destiny 2 is a beautiful who I'd love to take out to dinner and hope to get her number. I was immediately captivated by the color palette, the openness of the world (Destiny had large circular maps), and the variety of changes you'd see as you went in specific directions and that area was dominated by a specific faction. The Fallen pretty much left everything as is, being that they're scavengers, that didn't disturb the area. The Hive made things look gross and something from your worst nightmares. The Cabal (the main faction in the story) had made things more militant like, some areas were conformed, while other areas were untouched. The Taken, were mostly just in the area to kill things or be killed, nothing was changed due to their presence. Lastly, the Vex, the areas in which they populated was very mechanized heavy. I really enjoyed just exploring the map and looking at the world that Bungie crafted.

2. Story

This is second only because the first thing I did was mainly rush to get to the social area, The Farm, so I could meet up with my friends and run the story with Derrpi and his friend, who are Destiny vets amongst my friends. The story is gripping and feels very cinematic from beginning to end. The first mission honestly set the tone for the whole story and it kept the action, intensity, and drama to the very end. Not much else to say than this story is damn well written, and leaves less plot holes than Destiny did.

3. Lost Sectors

These are new activities added to the game that play out like mini dungeons for players. You have to find them, as they're hidden, and you know you're going the right way when you go deeper underground, you're then given a notification in the bottom left of your screen to let you know you entered into the area. Here you will fight a specific faction, and work your way to the boss, defeat them, and claim your loot. The loot here for your first time is pretty good, as you get some gear pieces, World specific trading coins, and currency, you also get an emblem upon first time completing the Lost Sector. Every subsequent time afterwards, just nets you loot from the loot table and most of the time it will be blue that's close to or sometimes even better than your current equipped gear. I would recommend doing them if you happen to be in the area, you won't be disappointed.

4. Public Events

Now these were in Destiny, but they were so random that you never knew when they would trigger, you kind of had to just happen to be in the area and wait for the sky to darken and it for it to trigger. The randomness was cool, but after a while it was just annoying to have to grind in an area for X minutes hoping to get it to spawn. However, in Destiny 2, they have a great system in place as you will always see where the Public Events are going to be located along with a timer to let you know when it will start. This is a great addition to the system being that there are Dailies and Weeklies attached to completing Public Events. The other unique property of the Public Events is that if you happen to do an extra task you can change the event into a Heroic Public Event and be able to garner even better loot! I have to say I love running these as they're fun to do in a group and an easy way to get some EXP and gear.

5. Adventure Quests

I believe these were in Destiny, but I didn't do them much if they were. However in Destiny 2, these quests are a good way to gain some extra gear when you're a bit too under-powered for the main quest. I say this because each mission has a "Light" (your initial power) level requirement and sometimes if you're not strong enough you'll be DESTROYED, so running this missions are helpful as you earn gear from completion. Also if you enjoyed the mission(s) you can speak to the Planetary Liaison and repeat the mission(s) again.

6. Daily Challenges

One thing that Destiny severely lacked was a good way to keep players playing the game after they finished the story. They did have patrols, which returned in Destiny 2, but other than that, it was really boring doing anything PvE related unless it was the Nightfall, Strikes, or you attempted the Raid. However in Destiny 2, challenges are given to you on each planet to complete and upon completion earn you Experience, Glimmer, and Trading Coins. Though you've most likely already done all of the activities before, it's still nice to get something to do and be rewarded for them as well.

7. Clans

This was something that I guess was in Destiny, I mean I saw people with 3 letters under their name, but never saw a tab for clans. I guess it was something that was managed outside the game. However, in Destiny 2, Clans are a real part of the game and are also beneficial to all members as the clan levels up. Leveling up the clan you simply just play the game and completion of activities garner Clan XP.

So these are the things that I have to say as a new player, who has made it to end game, does enjoy a lot about the game. It's definitely a game I shall be playing for a while. So if you haven't given Destiny 2 a chance because Destiny jaded you, I would definitely say to still give it a second chance.

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