Summary
Destiny 2’s upcoming Into the Light update has been hotly anticipated since its announcement, with players looking to it as a final ray of hope for the game before its next expansion,The Final Shape, launches in June. Currently, it appearsInto the Lightwill be adding new content to the game, with the most recent bit of content revealed being its new Onslaught mode — a 50-wave horde mode similar toCall of Duty’s Zombies activity. However, Into the Light might be better to forego adding new content and instead focus on improving one commonDestiny 2criticism, as it might be vital to keeping the MMO alive.
Destiny 2’s new player experience has long been criticized on account of the game throwing too much at its newcomers at once. Overall, the game’s lore is easy to get lost in due to the fact that most of its earlier content is no longer available, and its countless number of activities, mechanics, and map icons quickly become too overwhelming to bear. Now, as game director Joe Blackburn describesDestiny 2’s Into the Light update as an excellent way for newcomers and veterans to prepare themselves forThe Final Shape, the update can’t miss its chance to improve the game’s new player experience once and for all.
Into the Light Should Prioritize Improving Destiny 2’s New Player Experience
Into the Light Should Bring Back Vaulted Content
One of the most significant issues withDestiny 2’s new player experience is its current lack of foundational narratives due to the game’s oldest content being locked away in the content vault. When new players begin the game, they can no longer experience old campaigns like The Red War that started it all or the entirety of theForsakencampaign, which is largely considered the bestDestiny 2expansion to date. It is possible for players to play specific missions from old campaigns viathe “Timeline Reflection” quest, but those missions lack the context necessary to understandDestiny 2’s overarching narrative.
Unfortunately, without the old campaigns available in Destiny 2, new players can easily get confused by what is going on in the game, as they have no historical context. If the Into the Light update really will be an opportunity for new players to prepare forThe Final Shape, it would make sense for it to involve makingevery campaign fromDestiny 2’s past available for play at any time. This would simultaneously please veteran players as well, as many have long requested that the MMO’s old campaigns be playable again.
Into the Light Should Ease New Players Into the Game
Another glaring issue withDestiny 2’s new player experienceis that newcomers are generally easily overwhelmed by the amount of content available to them from the moment they begin the game. If all Into the Light does is add more content, this problem will only get worse, as new players will have even more content to navigate. As such, perhaps Into the Light should be part of a restructuring of sorts forDestiny 2to ease new players into the game.
This might seem contradictory to the argument to bring all ofDestiny 2’s old campaigns back into the game, but it would still be possible to streamline everything to make it less overwhelming and more accessible to anyone picking it up for the first time.
The bottom line is that Into the Light can’t afford to pass up this golden opportunity to fix one ofDestiny 2’s biggest problems— its new player experience. This is especially relevant if Bungie wishes for its MMO to continue growing and become even more successful. Nevertheless, at the very least, the hope is that Into the Light will appeal to veterans enough to renew their faith in the game.
