I played Destiny last year, but I resented it.
The multiplayer online shooter from Bungie had good mechanics, but so many other of its aspects were weak. The story sucked, the world felt underdeveloped, finding loot and upgrading items was a chore, and … well, Peter Dinklage.
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Well, the release of The Taken King, a new expansion for the game available on all its platforms (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360) brought me back to the Xbox One version. And you know what? Destiny is actually good now.
It’s really good.
Above: Oryx is the new villain.
What you’ll like
A better story
The story, or rather the lack of one, was one of my biggest gripes with the original Destiny. I had no idea what was going on, what I was doing, or who anyone was. I don’t think I could have named a single character when playing Destiny last year. I knew I had to go to a guy called the Cryptarch to get my Engrams turned into items, but he also had an actual name that I never learned. Actually, I did know Xur’s name, but he wasn’t a character as much as he was a merchant. In the original Destiny, the vendors were more important than your commanders.
The Taken King not only offers a coherent story of its own, but it incorporates Destiny’s original characters and actually makes them memorable. Someone at Bungie must have remembered that they had cast Nathan Fillion, because he’s suddenly everywhere in The Taken King. And I have no problem with it. While so many people in Destiny talk like they’re in a spiritual retreat, Fillion’s Cayde-6 (I actually know his name now) is humorous, sarcastic, and an act-before-you-think type. In other words, he’s now actually a character. Sure, it’s a character that’s right in Fillion’s wheelhouse, but it helps make the whole game more likable.
The recasting of your Ghost companion also works wonders. Nolan North replaces Peter Dinklage’s directionless, passionless performance. North’s take on the character gives the robotic buddy a child-like quality, especially with his eagerness to please. He works much better as the game’s comedic relief now, which is an important element considering how bleak the environments get.
Above: My favorite Exotic.
Easier loot
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Getting loot in Destiny once felt like a chore. You’d rarely got the item drops you wanted, and even then, your Engrams often became useless. The only dependable way of getting Exotic weapons was from doing the Raid (difficult for people without the time or friends) or to farm Strange Coins for Xur, who only showed up on the weekend but offered great loot. Getting Strange Coins was a pain, since you could only get so many a week from events. Otherwise, you had to hope to randomly get them from chests, which took a lot of farming. And even when you got a great weapon, you had to level it up, which cost even more hard-to-get resources.
The Taken King solves a lot of these problems. First off, loot drops more often. That’s good. Secondly, Strange Coins, while no longer a reward for weekly events, are now often given for doing anything from turning in Bounties to completing Crucible matches (I managed to earn 90 Strange Coins in one week without specifically farming them). Leveling up weapons is now easier, with the hard-to-earn items like Ascendant Shards and Energy no longer required.
On top of all that, Xur now sells an item called Three of Coins. Using one increases the odds that the next boss you fight will drop an Exotic Engram. If they don’t, you can use another one, and the odds of an Engram dropping increase until you finally get one. All of these changes and addition make earning loot feel easier and more satisfying.New subclasses
Each of the three classes in the original Destiny could access two different subclasses, which granted them different abilities, specifically for grenades, melee attacks, and special attacks. For instance, as a Hunter, I could be a Gunslinger that could occasionally take out a special pistol that dealt massive damage or a Bladedancer that specialized in melee attacks.
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All of the classes can access a new subclass in The Taken King. This opens up a new way to play each specialization, and it helps to further differentiate the classes while adding more flexibility. As a Hunter, I could now become a Nightstalker, which focuses on area-of-effect abilities like smoke bombs, grenades that create a wall of fire, and a bow that shoots an elemental arrow that tethers all enemies in the area.
Discovering your new subclass and leveling it up adds an extra level of satisfaction to playing through The Taken King’s new content.
Above: Fighting in Rift.
Rift multiplayer
Destiny’s multiplayer gets a new mode in The Taken King, and it’s now my new favorite. It’s called Rift, and it’s a variation on capture-the-flag. In this, however, the flag is the Spark, and it spawns in the middle of the map. Both teams have to fight to claim it, and whoever does has to run the Spark to the other team’s base, which causes it to detonate. This mode is fast and frantic, and it still leaves plenty of room for strategy.
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I also enjoy how the scoring works. While detonating a Spark nets your team the most points, you also earn some just by getting close. You earn more points the nearer you get to the enemy base before dying. So, even if neither team actually manages to detonate the Spark, capturing it and making progress still matters.
The Taken King also adds a bunch of new maps (eight, to be precise) playable in Rift and all the old modes. I enjoyed all of them (and with no noticeable lag), and they feature a nice variety of locations across the Solar System, from a ruined England to Mercury.
Above: The Dreadnaught it fun to explore.
More content
Really, it’s impressive just how much content The Taken King has. Even once you beat the main story, you earn new quests that feature their own narratives and voice-overs. The new Strikes are also a big improvement over the originals, focusing less on locking you in a room and subjecting you to wave after wave of enemies. The bosses are also less bullet-spongy and feature interesting mechanics, including a fight that takes place mostly in the dark. Destiny’s new zone, the Dreadnaught, also has a lot of secrets that players can discover just by roaming around.
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What you won’t like
Lots of repeated content
Even with all that new material, playing Destiny regularly means that you’ll eventually have to repeat missions and Strikes a lot to earn more gear. I’m not overly upset about this. That’s how most massively multiplayer online games work, like World of Warcraft.
But if Bungie keeps up with its current model or releasing a few expansions a year, I do worry that I’ll get a little tired of everything before the next wave of content hits. Then again, taking a break between expansions is fine and healthy. However, if you’re looking for something that you can play regularly, just be warned that you might feel the drag of repeated content after a month or so.
Above: Chilling in the tower.
Conclusion
After a year of bitching about and mocking Destiny, I now genuinely like it. Heck, I’ve played it at least a bit every day since The Taken King launched. And while I’m unsure if I can keep this pace up for long, even if I stop soon, I’ll definitely feel like The Taken King offered plenty of content. Most important, it was quality content.
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Destiny finally feels like the big deal that Bungie wanted us to think it was last year.
Score: 90/100
Destiny: The Taken King is out now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 the publisher provided us with a copy of the Xbox One version for this review.