Lodi
Future 2 has taken a leap of religion into the subsequent period of the sport, overhauling its format, launching into a completely new story and making an attempt to retain gamers whereas attracting new ones.
That first step is The Edge of Destiny, the Future 2 growth that launched yesterday. I simply wrote a bit about how numbers are…fairly poor, lower than half the gamers of the earlier least-played expansions, however I’ll use this piece to speak in regards to the growth itself. Remember, these are simply day one first impressions, and this isn’t a full overview of your complete growth, which I’ll do in a while.
It is not nice!
To this point, I dislike most of what I’m enjoying right here apart from a single side: The narrative, and I would as properly begin there.
This is among the solely occasions I can bear in mind the place Future has created a genuinely attention-grabbing collection of mysteries the place I actually don’t know what’s happening and have smacked immediately into plot twists I’ve by no means seen coming.
The lynchpin of all this can be a new character named Lodi, who first appeared in trailers and drew the response of “what is that this exceedingly normal-looking man in glasses doing in Future?” Effectively, that’s a part of the thriller! Lodi additionally excels due to his wonderful writing and particularly his voicework, which is the very best I’ve seen in Future in an extended whereas. Once more, if there’s a single side the place this growth shines, it’s this, and whereas I’m not executed with the marketing campaign but, it’s wonderful, and has me genuinely excited for this new period.
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Narratively, at the least.
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The playable growth itself? Woof. Kepler might be the worst zone I’ve ever seen in Future. The artwork path right here is simply non-existent, the place a hodgepodge of rocky outcroppings, structure stolen from Titan and limitless collection of pustule-filled tunnels that each one mix collectively. The Closing Form, The Witch Queen, Past Gentle, even Lightfall all had clear, fairly good aesthetics, and that’s one space Bungie has all the time shined. It’s an enormous miss right here.
Bungie has additionally made this zone non-traversable by sparrow to artificially enhance its measurement. Relatively, you’re meant to get round by a collection of destination-only powers that contain teleporting weapons, Strand matter shifting and a Samus Aran ball of electrical energy which is likely to be the dumbest mechanic I’ve seen on this collection. These really feel like gimmicks for their very own sake, and whereas there are perhaps one or two puzzles the place these programs mix to be form of neat, overwhelmingly I discover myself groaning every time I’m informed to make use of any of those, particularly the electrical ball (which, enjoyable reality, can be making individuals movement sick).
I’ve engaged with the brand new loot programs on a cursory stage. One factor that feels bizarre to me is that there’s going to be such a restricted pool of “new gear” to get season bonuses and hunt via the brand new Tier 1-5 system. Sure, you should use your outdated stuff, however I can’t simply attempt to go get a Tier 5 model of my Bygones now. For the millionth time, all this outdated gear should be reissued beneath the brand new Tier system, which already seems like an exhausting idea. What number of occasions can we do that?
Future 2
I can’t fairly make heads or tails of the brand new armor system but. That is the primary time we’ve needed to regrind armor since Artifice armor was launched. Some didn’t even try this. There are very awkward features to the brand new system, like how exotics don’t slot in in any respect, however initially it’s laborious to get your head round which new stats to speculate into and when to switch your outdated devoted gear. I can’t say if that is all good or dangerous but, albeit I’ll admit that we wanted some vital armor modifications and motive to pursue it once more.
I’ve not engaged with The Portal but. I’ve been fully on Kepler. I stay skeptical of this method, with Solo Ops being fully relegated to Misplaced Sectors, and Fireteam Ops requiring a premade workforce to get essentially the most out of the brand new modifier-picker system. In any other case you’re simply doing a playlist with preset ones, which is not any completely different than earlier than. And by some means Pinnacle Ops doesn’t have a single dungeon or raid in it. All outdated content material exterior the Portal now feels ineffective as you can’t get new gear from it.
I’m not feeling good about this growth. As soon as I get via the (superb) narrative of the marketing campaign, I’m undecided if the remainder of that is going to be partaking from right here, significantly if we’re executed doing week-to-week beats to return for. There’s promise within the new period’s story. I’m undecided if there’s promise in Future 2 general from right here. However once more, it’s day one, and extra to come back later.
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Decide up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy