I Hated Destiny: Revisiting My 10-year-old Review

It wasn’t love at first sight with vanilla Destiny, so for the franchise’s 10th anniversary, I wanted to revisit the review I wrote as a games journalist. After a decade, I wanted to see if it holds up.

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Destiny turns 10 and when it launched back in 2014 I did not like it. In that review I gave it a 6 out of 10. It had potential but just wasn't that impressive. To be fair I wasn't alone.

Well, eventually I did become and am still a huge Destiny fan. Did all the D1 raids, got all the loot that I wanted, got t-shirts, caps, stationery sets and whatever this thing is. I was even at the Destiny 2 launch event in Los Angeles playing alongside other content creators. So yes I am a fan.

But in 2014, the gaming industry had way different business models and practices and Destiny was a very very different game. For those who want to dive deeper into the history of the Destiny franchise I've left essential links in this video description.

But today I wanted to revisit my original Destiny 1 review. I'm going to read it out and share what I think along the way. Will my opinions still hold up 10 years later? Well, let's find out.

Your mission is vital Guardian. If you succeed, you will become legend. If you fail this city will fall, and the last Light of civilization will go out.

Okay here we go. Dear Bungie your promotional materials promised I would "Become Legend" in Destiny. Sadly even after besting thousands of evil alien enemies I didn't feel quite legendary. Okay so let's back it up here "Become Legend" was Destiny's launch campaign tagline. It was peak Bungie marketing circa early-2000s and 2010s. Short. Punchy. Epic. Kind of like what they did with Halo 3's launch tagline "Finish The Fight."

And right off the bat, this is a key insight into where my head was at during this review window. As a massive fan of the Halo series I spent most of my time as a super soldier tearing through space absolutely shredding enemies. And as a massive Destiny fan I spent most of my time as a super soldier tearing through space absolutely shredding enemies, but alongside other players doing the exact same thing most of the time better than me the point is: if everyone is legendary, nobody is legendary.

That was a mismatch in expectations and I just didn't get it at the time. In my defence Destiny launched with an identity crisis. Both Bungie and us the players were figuring out what kind of game it was going to be, so coming from the Halo franchise, I guess I just didn't get it yet. If you are looking for an engaging Space Opera in which you have the center of the universe you are better off playing Mass Effect. Yes, I still agree. I mean in terms of sci-fi space operas that give you that Chosen One feeling, few do it better than the original Mass Effect trilogy.

Story mode in Destiny is weak and feels more like tutorials for your character to reach level 20. Then you replay the same maps and levels with more powers in the hope of finding better equipment to expand to 21 and beyond.

The more things change, the more they stay the same right? I mean this is Destiny. That was Destiny and that's Destiny now.

Grinding up that steep progression ladder to get better weapons and pieces of armour seems gameplay du jour for massively multiplayer online games such as World of Warcraft but they only work when the world is vast.

When anyone asked what Destiny was I'd almost always say it's part Halo meets World of Warcraft. And while some may find this an oversimplification it's kind of accurate.

There are only a few maps on rotation to grind Vanguard marks, the virtual currency to help your character get more powerful. It is time consuming repetitive and not fun.

I might have to disagree with myself on this. So eventually I did come around right, it was the gunplay, gun-feel, class abilities, looting and shooting, and doing that in different biomes. It was just mindless flow-state fun. But talking about the few maps I guess I just didn't know what I had then until I didn't have it anymore. By today's standards vanilla D1 was stacked with content. I may be wrong but it more or less shipped with 20 story missions, seven strikes with one PlayStation exclusive, one raid; Vault of Glass, 11 PVP maps, four patrol zones; Earth, Moon, Venus, Mars, and one social space; the tower. No Destiny release since then has shipped with that much content. And since The Witch Queen, Destiny has been doubling the story mission count by offering a Legendary mode. Games cost way more now for less content, so it's just sad to think we've all been taken for a ride by today's modern gaming practices.

You know what else isn't fun? Paying $74.90 for essentially an unfinished game for which I would have to pay more to have it finished via future expansion packs.

I mean this aged like fine wine and I will stand by this. Destiny was a trail-blazing game and unfortunately it also set some bad practices for other publishers to ape and profit. We've seen it countless of times since. From Anthem to Suicide Squad, games today are either launching with a promise of content that sometimes never comes, expansions come with recycled assets, or there's a pay-to-win or pay-to-unlock-early features type thing. I mean the list goes on. If there's a way to monetise your time and effort, they will.

Games should be fun. Bungie seems to have forgotten what it is all about.

I mean, am I wrong? You got to remember that this was vanilla Destiny. Exotics were super rare, we only had two sub-classes per class. There were no timed secret missions within missions. Does the statement still stand? I mean why don't you let me know let's talk about it in the comment section.

Taking out wave after wave of enemies cooperatively with two other players can be loads of fun. The idea however is not original. Back in 2009, Bungie introduced Firefight mode with Halo 3 ODST.

I mean, that's true, Firefight was the beginning, the guts, the DNA, the testing ground for what eventually would become Destiny. And they did it. With that said, I don't fully agree with this statement. Destiny took it a step further taking the gunplay and enemy AI and injecting it into a multiplayer online universe and it essentially worked.

Carrying up to 30 weapons in my inventory sounds nice but it's pointless because I can equip only three of them at a time. Running away in the middle of a battle to switch guns is anti-climatic.

Oka,y so this is just me being a nitpicky Halo fanboy not getting what Destiny was trying to do at the time.

Bungie captured lightning in a bottle with Halo and set the standard for shooters and Sci-fi action in video games.

They absolutely did! And say what you want about Bungie but they did the same thing again with Destiny.

I bought the game because of Bungie's Legacy in Halo. I had expected Bungie to push the envelope and bring sci-fi Shooters to another out-of-this-world experience. Sadly it has not.

Well, it's pretty clear at the time Destiny just wasn't clicking with me. There wasn't much of a story at all, but I do remember besides the tight gameplay loop what initially pulled me in was its setting. It was post-apocalyptic. it was science-fiction. It was space fantasy. It was medieval and modern, where tech meets magic. Bungie called the genre Mythic Science-fiction. And when I first looked at it there was just potential here, right? Maybe the lack of in-game lore offered this veil of mystery and mystique but coupled with the aesthetics, I was captivated and left me wanting to know more. What were the Guardians? Who was the Traveler? Why are there wizards on the moon? You know, it just kept me coming back.

But there is still hope. As Destiny is a game that will continually change and evolve, Bungie needs to rethink its strategy. Let's hope Destiny knows exactly where it is going.

And you know what? 10 years on, I'm still holding out hope because Destiny is a game that should continually change and evolve. But Bungie does need to rethink its strategy. And although it doesn't seem like it right now let us all hope Destiny knows exactly where it is going. And as the Light and Sark saga ends and Bungie looks to new Frontiers let's hope from the ashes Destiny rises.

So what's the takeaway? Well, it's that reviews are snapshots in time. Among other things, our opinions draw from collective experience, the zeitgeist of the moment, and the view of the future at that time. Should reviews change? Maybe not. Should opinions change? As we grow, sure. If given reason, our opinions may change. And in this case, as Destiny evolved my opinion sure did. And it has been one hell of a ride.

Thanks again and till the next one, stay hopeful.