The Curse of Osiris is The Curse of Destiny

Upon release, one of the main criticisms hounding Destiny 2 was its conversion of shaders from permanent unlocks to single-use consumable items . In response, many were quick to point out that shaders in general were easy to come by and that players wouldn’t actually be hurting for them all that much. In general, this is true. Shaders as an item are indeed relatively easy to come by. However, most of the best shaders are only gained through opening «Bright Engrams», items which are loot boxes in all but name. They’re obtainable through in-game means but only at a snail’s pace unless one decides to fork over some real cash. Players also have absolutely zero control over what they get out of them. So while those cool shaders are technically obtainable, there’s no guarantee that a player will ever get the one they want, much less more of it. So instead of encouraging players to enjoy Destiny 2’s new system that allows every piece of gear to be individually customized, the game instead pushes players to do the opposite and hoard what shaders they do get until they manage to obtain a piece of endgame gear that won’t be immediately scrapped. Armor and weapon mods suffer from a similar drawback too, though they can at least be bought with in-game currency. This problem isn’t just limited to consumables either. Thanks to Destiny 2’s deplorable token system, there’s been wholesale reduction of player control over the gear they earn. The system is probably meant to promote grind, but instead it does the opposite. Why should the game’s players bother with the grind loop if they can’t grind for the things they actually want?

With Destiny 2 though, it feels like the opposite is true. They’ve been caught lying multiple times, have made little effort to improve their communications with fans and what improvements they do deliver are hampered by the likes of the Prismatic Matrix. Destiny 2 is in deep trouble right now, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Bungie so long as they can keep the remaining players just happy enough to keep buying loot those boxes.

While including a loot box that doesn’t award duplicates is better than only having completely random loot boxes, doing so doesn’t take away from the fact that Bungie’s game is still highly encouraging its players to engage with loot boxes instead of actually earning loot. It also doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re still pushing random microtransactions in a game with a sixty dollars price tag and paid DLC. What’s more, they don’t appear to see anything wrong with this.

Which brings this full circle back to the Strike. With only one Strike to tackle, any Guardian checking out the beta will probably play this a few times. It was with my second group that more problems started to crop up. The beta is a stress test on Destiny 2’s system, so having such sparse…everything…became more noticeable. There is a limited arsenal in Destiny 2 at the moment, and when the party hit the boss, we started to wipe. After the third wipe I began switching out weapons in every combination imaginable, but we just couldn’t land it. Having played Destiny since vanilla, I’d say the skills are there. But here is Destiny 2 presenting itself as challenging, but there is always that inkling that it’s a façade. Again, every Destiny expansion has done this. New encounters, new mechanics, new gear. It makes it all seem like the game has changed, but level up enough, equip the right stuff and that boss that was causing so much grief becomes laughable. One can only hope that this beta is not tricking players into a false experience, but that won’t be revealed until September. So, for now it’s the waiting game.

«Outside of the Prismatic Matrix, players may continue to earn Bright Engrams each time they level up, and they can still purchase these engrams if they want a chance to get everything from the Season 3 catalog. Additionally, we’re increasing the number of items available from Tess each week with Bright Dust, from 14 to 18 items.

Where does Queenbreaker Destiny 2 2 go from here? Curse of Osiris, much like previous Destiny DLCs before it, is more of the same. It can barely hold a spotlight on Osiris, who’s supposed to be one of the most important Guardians and it leaves more questions than it answers. Destiny 2 might be in more of a state of flux than Destiny. It wants to appeal to everyone. Casting such a wide net means knots, holes and all sorts of other problems.

We want to continue experimenting and evolving Eververse to improve player experience, and give more paths to earn Eververse rewards. Please give us your feedback once Season 3 begins, as we’re dedicated to improving these systems moving forward.»

Jumping in, the beta opens with a great start, showcasing the opening mission which immediately wraps up a story arc for old players and wipes the slate clean for new players. It’s a guaranteed win-win. Unless you’re a guardian, that is, then it’s a significant loss. For a mission showcase, this is an excellent example; this story mission had more feeling in it than all of my time spent with my guardian. Characters are interacting with you. Mysteries as to where other characters went are easy to spot in the environment and it all around creates a sense of awe. Where is Eris Morn? Her glowing green jar half buried in ruble where she once stood. Or the cleaning bot that maintains its programming, casually sweeping up the blood of dead Cabal while the Tower is literally on fire in every other regard. Seeing some of the most famous guardians in action, working with you. Entering a hallway and seeing the very people Guardians are supposedly protecting, scared, huddling together as their home is taken away. Destiny 2 wants to hit with impact, and it does.