Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is a major expansion for Destiny 2, a first-person shooter video game by Bungie. Representing the sixth expansion and the fifth year of extended content for Destiny 2, it was originally planned for release in late 2021, but due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the expansion was delayed by three months and was released on February 22, 2022. Prior to release, Bungie reported that The Witch Queen had over 1 million pre-orders, “on track to becoming the most pre-ordered expansion in Destiny 2 history”.
The expansion revolves around Savathûn, The Witch Queen, the sister of Oryx, who was the antagonist of the original Destiny‘s (2014) first major expansion, The Taken King (2015). The expansion adds new content across the game, including new missions, Player versus Environment locations, Player versus Player maps, player gear, weaponry, and a new raid. There are also four planned seasons of content to be released throughout Year 5. The first, Season of the Risen, released simultaneously with the expansion and will run until May.
Gameplay
The Witch Queen introduces a new location, Savathûn’s Throne World, within the Ascendant Realm. In addition to world activities, a new raid, “Vow of the Disciple”, was released on March 5, 2022. Two additional dungeons will also be added over the course of the expansion. New and existing story content is expanded with a new “Legendary” difficulty, designed to be challenging for single players but with improved rewards for completing. At the same time, some content from Forsaken (2018) entered the Destiny Content Vault and was removed from the game; this included the full Forsaken campaign, the Tangled Shore destination and its activities, but not the Dreaming City, the Last Wish raid, the Shattered Throne dungeon, or the strikes. Ahead of this, Forsaken‘s campaign was made free-to-play for all players on December 7, 2021, with a bundle pack available to purchase to access the endgame content for players who did not already own Forsaken. While the other seasonal activities from Beyond Light (2020) are removed with The Witch Queen, the Battlegrounds activity from Season of the Chosen (Season 13) is merged with the existing strikes under one playlist, named Vanguard Operations.
Savathûn’s Lucent Brood, Hive warriors that carry the power of Light, is a new major enemy within The Witch Queen. They have similar Light-focused abilities within the Arc, Solar, and Void classes as the players’ Guardian characters as well as their own Ghosts that can resurrect them unless the Guardians can destroy the Ghost within a limited window.
Beyond Light introduced Stasis as a power of Darkness which, unlike the other three powers of Light which each had three subtrees that could be selected, used customizable Aspects and Fragments to give the player more customization of how Stasis could be used. Over the course of The Witch Queen, Bungie will bring similar Aspects and Fragments to the original Light powers, starting with Void at the launch of The Witch Queen. These changes will maintain the basic abilities but allow players to modify and mix effects atop these powers. Bungie does plan to introduce additional Darkness powers but does not plan on adding these until after they have completed the Light power conversion within The Witch Queen. However, players will access a new Darkness ability called “Deepsight”, allowing players to reveal hidden platforms and secrets in Savathûn’s Throne World.
The Witch Queen introduces a new weapon type, the glaive, which has both melee and short-range attacks as well as defensive capabilities. Unlike most other weapon drops which have randomized perks, glaives have abilities that can be customized by the player. Game director Joe Blackburn stated it will not be similar to weapon crafting in massively multiplayer online games, it will not favor experienced players with numerous existing resources over novice players, and will not have pay to win-style mechanics. Blackburn stated this crafting system will allow players to customize a weapon to their playstyle or to shift a weapon within the game’s changing meta without having to “farm” for a new version of the weapon. The new Deepsight ability also plays a role in the new weapon crafting system. Players craft weapons at a new location called the Enclave, located on Mars (accessible from the new Throne World location). To craft weapons, players need to obtain weapon patterns (blueprints) from the world or through in-game activities or quests, as well as find and use special “Deepsight Resonance” weapons to unlock and extract crafting materials. Crafting materials can also be purchased from Master Rahool and obtained from Banshee-44 upon accumulating specific amounts of “gunsmith reputation” which is gained from dismantling weapons and armor. Once a weapon has been crafted, it can then be further upgraded and modified through use in gameplay, unlocking new and enhanced perks. Players also have the ability to further customize their crafted weapons by obtaining cosmetic “Mementos” from certain activities. A weapon can be crafted and modified indefinitely, so as long as the weapon patterns, crafting materials, weapon perks and other necessary resources are obtained and unlocked for use. Bungie stated that the initial weapons from The Witch Queen and its raid and Season 16 seasonal content, including some exotic weapons, will be the only weapons that can be crafted, but plan to include legacy weapons from previous releases in future seasons.
Other significant gameplay changes include:
- The seasonal artifact, which provides unique mods and bonus power levels across all characters on a player’s account for a season as introduced in Shadowkeep, continues to be used in The Witch Queen, but players are able to gain more than the standard 12 of 25 mods through experience gains, though each mod beyond the 12th has an increasing experience cost to obtain.
- The cost to switch element type on armor is significantly reduced to primarily glimmer (the normal in-game currency) and an upgrade module. This change is intended to reduce the need for players to keep a range of armor in their inventory and vaults to cover the different elements.
- Orbs of power are no longer generated from performing multikills with a masterworked weapons, but instead are generated by a set of helmet mods that will generate orbs when a weapon of the same element or type as the mod is used to create multikills. This is to tie into the new weapon crafting system.
- Once the player reaches the “soft limit” power level with The Witch Queen (1500 at the start of the expansion), rare quality (blue) engrams that drop from playlist activities are automatically converted to in-game currency (glimmer), rather than flooding the player’s inventory. Rare quality engrams still drop before the soft cap is reached to help with leveling.
Seasonal changes
In addition to the major story and content added with The Witch Queen, Bungie will also divide the year into four seasons. With each season, Power Level minimums and caps will be raised. Each season offers a free-tier and paid-tier season pass to acquire new gear, game currency, and cosmetics, as well as new activities and triumphs associated with those activities, some of which requires purchase of the season pass to access. Like the previous year (Year 4), seasonal activities and story missions can still be accessed in subsequent seasons for the duration of Year 5 (some triumphs, however, can only be completed during the active season).
Season of the Risen (Season 16) began with the launch of The Witch Queen on February 22, 2022. New and existing players’ Power levels were increased to the new minimum Power level of 1350, a soft cap of 1500, with the hard Power level cap set to 1550, and the pinnacle reward cap at 1560. The season adds the “PsiOps Battlegrounds” activity, in which the player infiltrates Lucent Brood strongholds throughout the Solar System to locate a Lightbearer Hive lieutenant, then enter its mindscape to capture it with the help of Empress Caiatl’s Psions. Completing the activity rewards seasonal weapons and gear with the help of a revamped War Table in the H.E.L.M. The season also introduces an exotic quest that rewards a new exotic breech-loaded grenade launcher, the Dead Messenger. The seasonal artifact featured during this season is the Synaptic Spear (featuring mods focusing on mid- to long-range weapons and Void abilities).
Plot
The Witch Queen centers on the titular character Savathûn, who along with her siblings Oryx, the Taken King, and Xivu Arath, the Hive God of War, lead the Hive, an undead species that serve the Worm Gods. The Hive follow the Sword Logic, a religious-like belief that living beings can only justify their existence to live through combat, a tenet that is diametrically opposite to that of the Light, the Traveler, and those that have allied with it, including humanity and the Vanguard, and which has been more closely aligned with the behavior of the Darkness and its Pyramids of the Black Fleet.
Unlike her siblings that focus on combat, Savathûn’s methods to serve the Worm Gods has been based on subterfuge and trickery, and had taken steps to prevent the Vanguard from contacting the Darkness as it entered the Solar System (as depicted during Season of Arrivals). Over the previous year, Savathûn had further manipulated the Vanguard. She claimed to have rescued a weakened Osiris from Xivu Arath from within the Ascendant Realm. She then took his form to influence the Vanguard into strategic alliances with factions of the Cabal and Fallen. During Season of the Lost, Savathûn revealed her true form but was held captive by Queen Mara Sov of the Reef. She made a deal with Mara: she helped to recover the lost Techeuns within the Ascendant Realm as well as return Osiris in exchange for Mara’s help to protect her from Xivu Arath and potentially free her of control from the Worm Gods, a deal that the Vanguard were wary of. Mara’s ritual was successful and she was able to capture Savathûn’s worm, but Savathûn herself escaped, though left behind the true body of Osiris, thus keeping her word.
The Witch Queen begins shortly after Mara’s ritual at the end of Season of the Lost. The planet Mars has suddenly reappeared after being taken by the Darkness over a year ago at the end of Season of Arrivals. The Vanguard and Ikora Rey’s special forces called the Hidden explore the planet, and Ikora and Eris Morn discover evidence of more Darkness artifacts sent by the Pyramids. They find nearby Cabal activity looking to destroy Savathûn’s Hive ship, and the player’s Guardian instead uses the Cabal weapon to board the ship and chase down Savathûn. Aboard, they discover that Savathûn is able to wield the power of Light and used that to infuse her Hive warriors, known as the Lucent Brood, with powers similar to that of the Guardians. After defeating a Lightbearer Knight and destroying its Ghost, the Guardian is then lured into Savathûn’s Throne World, where they face more of the Lucent Hive and eventually Savathûn herself, who escapes and expels the Guardian from her Throne World.
The Guardian ends up back on Mars where they communicate with Ikora, bewildered over the fact that Savathûn had stolen the Light for herself and for her Hive warriors, but Ikora explains that it is unlike Savathûn to show her face easily being the Hive god of cunning and lies. Ikora concludes that due to Savathûn and her Hive now being able to wield the Light, the morality between Light and Darkness has increasingly become blurred. Noticing a Darkness artifact that the Guardian had obtained from Savathûn’s ship, Ikora asks them to visit the nearby Pyramid Relic. The Guardian activates the Relic by using the artifact, which gives them a power of the Darkness called Deepsight. The Relic also creates a weapon out of the artifact, a glaive called The Enigma, for the Guardian to use in combat; the Guardian is also granted the ability to shape their own weapons through the Relic. Ikora then explains that the Relic also has the ability to manipulate time, hence temporal distortions were appearing throughout Mars, but wonders why Savathûn would go after it. She then orders the Guardian to return to Savathûn’s Throne World to search for more answers, while giving the Guardian the Synaptic Spear, a Cabal artifact infused with Light-suppression technology, to aid them in the battles to come.
Returning to the Throne World, the Guardian is contacted by Fynch, a Hive Ghost who regrets joining Savathûn’s forces and has refused to revive his Hive Lightbearer. Fynch tells the Guardian to investigate Xivu Arath’s temple in the Throne World, where they manage to find the shell of Sagira, Osiris’ Ghost who sacrificed herself to save his life at the beginning of Season of the Hunt. Upon recovering Sagira’s shell, the Guardian’s Deepsight power triggers a psychic imprint, which reveals an old memory of Savathûn talking about a mysterious being called the Witness. Believing that the Guardian’s new power may uncover more secrets, Ikora asks them to return to the Pyramid on Europa. On Europa, the Guardian battles Cabal forces who have defected from Empress Caiatl’s army to search for trinkets of Darkness, and eventually reaches the Darkness statue and communes with it, enhancing their Deepsight ability. Returning to Mars, Ikora informs the Guardian of a location in the Throne World with high concentration of psychic energy, and instructs them to take Sagira’s shell there. Using Deepsight, the Guardian navigates the caverns in the Throne World until they reach a portal, which takes them to the Altar of Reflection. Here, they use Sagira’s shell to fully uncover Savathûn’s memory, which reveals that the Witness is the entity who controls the Darkness, and that Savathûn had used her time in disguise as Osiris to learn something about the Light.
Afterwards, Fynch contacts the Guardian again, this time tipping them to a possible lead within Oryx’s temple in the Throne World. The Guardian heads to Oryx’s temple, where they battle against one of Savathûn’s warriors, Alak-Hul, the Lightblade. Upon defeating Alak-Hul, the Guardian recovers the Tablets of Ruin, which were used by Oryx to create the Taken. Returning to the Altar of Reflection, the Guardian uncovers a second memory from Savathûn, where she reveals that the Witness has the power to move worlds between different realities, and that she intends to move the Traveler to her Throne World and seal it away. After reporting to Ikora, the Guardian follows up on another lead from Fynch and travels to the temple of Sathona (Savathûn’s previous form prior to her transformation into a Hive god). The Guardian finds Sathona’s statue, holding onto a worm familiar. With no other objects of interest, the Guardian recovers the familiar, which triggers an illusion of an Ahamkara. The Guardian defeats the illusion of the wish-dragon, then escapes the temple with the worm familiar. However, the Altar of Reflection refuses to let the Guardian enter with the worm, forcing them to reconvene with Ikora.
On Mars, Commander Zavala confronts Ikora on keeping the investigation secret from him. Ikora, unable to trust in her judgment, takes a temporary leave. Eris informs the Guardian of a new lead, which she later reveals to be from Mara Sov. The Guardian enters Savathûn’s fortress, where they are instructed to recover a crystal shard which was part of Mara’s spell to imprison Savathûn in the Dreaming City during Season of the Lost. The Guardian recovers the shard, which allows them to enter the Altar this time. They then uncover the memory, which reveals that Savathûn died some time after escaping the Dreaming City, only to be resurrected by the Traveler willingly. Savathûn then appears before the Guardian, thanking them for helping her remember her past life, before attempting to kill them. The Guardian escapes and returns to the Tower, where they attend a meeting with the Vanguard and brief Zavala on the revelation. Ikora resolves to stop Savathûn at all costs, in spite of the Traveler’s action. She later deduces that the worm familiar object recovered from Sathona’s statue may have been the actual familiar of her father, the Osmium King, calcified from age. She then takes the familiar to the Relic on Mars, which reveals a memory of young Sathona prior to the Traveler’s arrival on her homeworld of Fundament. In ancient times, the Worm Gods were sealed in the core of Fundament while the Traveler prepared to grant the proto-Hive a Golden Age, as it would later do for the Fallen and humanity. The memory depicts the Witness coming up with a plan to trick Sathona into freeing the Worm Gods by framing the Traveler for an imminent cataclysm.
Ikora informs the Guardian that Savathûn is already performing a ritual to pull the Traveler into her Throne World and seal it away, and instructs them to use Sathona’s memory to disrupt her ritual. The Guardian arrives in the Throne World and battles the Lucent Hive and the Scorn, before finally facing Savathûn once more. Arriving at the ritual site, the Guardian kills Savathûn’s Threadweavers, severing their web that connects to the Traveler, then unveils Sathona’s memory, which confuses and angers Savathûn. The Guardian engages in one final showdown with Savathûn and successfully kills her. Savathûn’s Ghost, Immaru, manages to escape as the Traveler is returned to Earth. Meanwhile, somewhere in space, the Witness prepares the Black Fleet for one final assault on the Solar System. Following Savathûn’s defeat, the Vanguard recovers her remains, while the Guardian continues to work with Fynch to disrupt the Lucent Hive’s activities. Fynch reveals to Ikora and the Guardian that Savathûn keeps a wellspring of Light energy, which she uses to distribute Light to her Brood. Ikora deploys Guardians regularly to attack Hive forces protecting the Wellspring, as well as defend it from Scorn invaders.
In the wake of Savathûn’s demise, Mara Sov arrives on Mars to meet with the Guardian. She presents them with Savathûn’s dying worm, revealing that the Witch Queen herself was present on behalf of the Witness during the Collapse, and both she and her worm knew of the secret that prevented humanity’s end during that event. Mara proposes reviving the worm and giving it a new host, seemingly volunteering for the task herself. Mara sends the Guardian to find the Dark City, a city with Pyramid-like architecture shrouded in Darkness within the Throne World, where the Guardian can find Hive Cryptoglyphs to revitalize the worm, and incubators to infuse it. The Guardian battles Scorn forces within the Dark City and eventually acquires a set of Cryptoglyphs and reaches an incubator, but only manages to partially revive the worm. The Guardian contacts Fynch, who points them toward more incubators hidden around the Throne World. After finding runes to repair the Cryptoglyphs, the Guardian finds the incubators and revives the worm, who speaks to them. The worm reveals that Mara plans to kill Eris, Crow, and the Guardian, to which she affirms, but only as a contingency should they fall to the Darkness’s control. After fully revitalizing the worm, Savathûn’s curse triggers, causing its energy to quickly deplete. The Guardian takes the worm to Savathûn’s palace and uses Hive wells to heal it. Afterwards, Mara contacts them and instructs them to recover concentrated Hive Light to stabilize the worm, before performing the ritual. After meeting up with Mara in Xivu Arath’s temple, she infuses the worm into a grenade launcher and hands it to the Guardian, who then defends Mara from Scorn forces while she finishes the ritual. Afterwards, the worm reveals that during the Collapse, Savathûn deceived the Witness and sent it away to protect the Traveler, inadvertently preventing humanity’s extinction in the process. Mara asks the Guardian to keep the Parasite grenade launcher, and the worm itself, a secret.
Sometime later, a fireteam of Guardians decide to investigate a sunken Pyramid ship in the outskirts of Savathûn’s Throne World, where they are contacted by Mara, who warns them that unlike the Pyramids they encountered on the Moon and Europa, they are not being beckoned by it, but inside lies the first Disciple; the Disciples are revealed to be extremely powerful Darkness-wielding entities who collectively follow and do the bidding of the Witness. With Savathûn defeated, the Disciple now wishes to take control of the Throne World from within the Pyramid by using the Scorn. Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness, contacts the Guardians as they approach the Pyramid and beckons them into it. Upon entering the Pyramid after escorting a Darkness barge through the swamp guarded by Scorn forces, the Guardians fight their way through, activating obelisks of Darkness and eventually defeating the Caretaker, a Scorn Abomination that was the result of an experiment by Rhulk using Hive worm larvae produced by a catatonic Worm God, Xita, the Nurturing Worm. The Guardians also discover that the Pyramid hosted a collection of artifacts and murals procured by Rhulk himself, including a massive rib bone taken from the Leviathan of Fundament, and that Rhulk also used Xita to produce Hive worm larvae for Savathûn’s Hive. Soon after battling through legions of Scorn and Taken using artifacts of Light and Darkness, the Guardians eventually reach the heart of the Pyramid, atop a massive Darkness monolith called the Upended, where they are greeted by Rhulk himself, revealed to be a mysterious yet bloodthirsty alien entity, who attacks them. After an arduous battle, the Guardians kill Rhulk once and for all, eliminating a major threat of the Witness.
Shortly after Rhulk’s defeat, the Guardian returns to Fynch, who congratulates them on their efforts in defeating the Disciple of the Witness, but warns them that the Scorn may be seeking an opportunity to control the Pyramid. Fynch advises the Guardian to return to the Pyramid and defend it from Scorn forces seeking to plunder the secrets within. The Guardian then returns to the Enclave on Mars and finds a note left by Mara Sov on the Hidden’s evidence board, confirming the situation. The Guardian returns to the Pyramid, where they discover that the Scorn are attempting to empower themselves using Hive magic and worm larvae. After wiping out the Scorn forces, the Guardian takes the opportunity to learn more about the origins of Rhulk, who is revealed to be the last surviving member of a warrior alien species from the planet Lubrae, and was taken in by the Witness as its first Disciple after he violently destroyed his planet of all life. It is also revealed that Rhulk was responsible for the creation of the Hive; upon meeting the Worm Gods in the core of Fundament, Rhulk had created a strain of worm larvae from the imprisoned Xita that would be implanted into the proto-Hive, turning them into undead soldiers that would feed off of death and conquest. The Guardian is then deployed to the Pyramid regularly to protect it from the Scorn.
Season of the Risen
Shortly after the Guardian’s skirmish with the Cabal on Mars, the Guardian returns to the Tower where they witness a tense meeting between Zavala, Lord Saladin, Crow, and Empress Caiatl, in response to the death of her soldiers on Mars. Hoping to put the incident behind them, Zavala explains to Caiatl that the Lucent Brood have begun to invade the Solar System from Savathûn’s Throne World and requests for her help, to which she agrees. The Guardian then meets with Caiatl and Saladin in the H.E.L.M., where they request the Guardian to engage in psychic warfare against the Lucent Hive by using the Synaptic Spear given to them by Ikora. Using the Spear, the Guardian infiltrates one of the Lucent Hive’s strongholds in the European Dead Zone, leading them to a Lucent Hive lieutenant. After weakening the Hive lieutenant, Caiatl’s Psions capture it and they send the Guardian into its mindscape to sever its connection to the Light. After successfully crippling the Hive lieutenant, the Guardian then transports it back to the H.E.L.M., where Saladin contacts the Guardian again and reveals that the Lucent Hive are now going after Guardians to drain them of their Light for unknown purposes. He advises the Guardian to continue to capture more Lucent Hive lieutenants until they can better understand their motives.
After capturing a second Hive lieutenant in the Cosmodrome, the Guardian witnesses Saladin and Crow argue in the H.E.L.M. over the ethics of their actions against the Hive. Crow, who is still recovering after Savathûn invaded his mind, suggests that the Hive lieutenants should be killed out of mercy rather than being probed for information; Saladin, despite disagreeing with the Vanguard and the Cabal’s method, affirms that they should not show kindness toward the Hive. Later, Saladin speaks with the Guardian and expresses his concern over Crow’s mentality. Over the course of the operation, Saladin also begins to understand and empathize with the Cabal, no longer showing aggression toward his former enemies.
Amidst the ongoing operation, Caiatl requests the Guardian to investigate a Cabal Psion faction who is spreading Darkness-inspired propaganda. As she is unable to send her own soldiers, she relies on the Vanguard to deal with the rebel faction. The Guardian returns to Mars and clears out the Psion faction’s stronghold and takes out its leader, Qabix, the Insurgent. Deciphering the propaganda broadcast, Caiatl learns that her father, Emperor Calus, has aligned himself with the Black Fleet, and is funding the Psion faction to recruit Red Legion soldiers, promising them salvation. Over the weeks, the Guardian is asked to return to the rebel stronghold and continue disrupting the Psions’ broadcasts.
Development
Since Forsaken, Bungie had found a pattern of holding a large major expansion each year along with four seasonal segments within that year for Destiny 2. The Witch Queen had been planned to start Destiny 2‘s fifth year of content with a target release of November 2021. However, in February 2021, the company confirmed that a combination of delays from the COVID-19 pandemic and the busyness of the late-2021 release calendar, they had opted to move The Witch Queen to February 2022. The fourth year of content that began with the Beyond Light expansion (November 2020) was in turn extended by three months due to this delay. With the extended time, Bungie announced a special series of events within the game to launch in December 2021 that would celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary, featuring weapons, armor, and other cosmetics inspired by their previous games, including Marathon and Halo.
The setting for The Witch Queen, Savathûn’s Throne World, was designed to provide a setting for the players as Guardians to solve the mystery of how Savathûn came to gain control of the Light for her Lucent Brood. Inspired by the television show True Detective, the Throne World is based on a swamp-like setting to provide a moody landscape, according to Blackburn, who also said that the campaign would be the action game equivalent of a mystery game. While Bungie does not plan to have a large alternative reality game as they had during Season of Dawn (Season 9), Blackburn said that Bungie does want players to work individually and together to solve the season’s mystery.
The Witch Queen was originally announced alongside Beyond Light (2020), with The Witch Queen and the following expansion, Lightfall, announced for a late 2021 and 2022 release, respectively. When it was announced that The Witch Queen had been delayed to February 2022, Lightfall was also delayed to early 2023, and another expansion, The Final Shape, was announced for early 2024. This will conclude the first major arc, the “Light and Darkness Saga”, that Bungie has planned for Destiny 2, and prepare them to introduce a new arc after The Final Shape.
On February 2, 2022, Bungie announced that The Witch Queen had surpassed 1 million pre-orders, putting it “on track to becoming the most pre-ordered expansion in Destiny 2 history”.
Reception
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen received “generally favorable” reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.
GameSpot praised the campaign for incorporating elements from raids and dungeons, writing that, “Levels drip-feed you new mechanics and ideas all along the way so that it all comes together in the boss fight, and coupled with Destiny 2’s already excellent combat foundation, it makes for an intensely fast-paced, hectic experience”. Game Informer liked the new location, the Throne World, “On one side is the towering edifice of Savathûn’s sprawling palace grounds… That aesthetic gives way to a miasmic otherworldly swamp that feels dirty and overgrown. At both ends, there are secrets to uncover and impressive sights to see”. GamesRadar+ enjoyed the balancing of the campaign, “the Witch Queen campaign, particularly its Legendary mode, is a superb balance of challenge and power fantasy. Legendary feels just right. It’s excellent in co-op… missions spit out twice the loot on Legendary, which makes the Power leveling process even easier”.
PCGamesN felt the new raid was the best in series history, “There are important roles for every player in each encounter, a good mix of different forms of challenge, and two excellent bosses which demand more from players than simply sitting in a Well of Radiance every damage phase”. While liking the new activities, GameSpot criticized the new weapon crafting system as being overly convuluted, “The system generally feels a bit too grindy in its earliest iteration–a lot of unlocking weapons and their various upgrades still requires a huge reliance on random drops”. IGN praised the Hive Guardians as adding a unique challenge to Destiny, “Victory against these formidable foes requires smart gunplay, patience, and most importantly, that you remember to quickly run and crush the enemy Ghost before it can revive them. A challenging new enemy type that forces you to think about how you approach an encounter like this is exactly what Destiny has needed to spruce up combat”.
