Have you ever had those games where you realize they’re uninstalled but you haven’t visited them in a while, wondered why it was you wiped them from your drive, reinstalled and played, and then slowly started to realize just why they were gone in the first place? Well, it’s still early doors (and a couple of weeks left to go), but I think I might be nearing that point with Destiny 2.
Per the poll’s suggestion, I picked up my adventure by following the legacy quests, aka the old expansion quest lines. And, considering I was doing a reset, I elected to go in chronological order starting off with Shadowkeep. And while I don’t know that I’ve made a mistake, I’m slowly beginning to appreciate why this game slid off my back.
I pretty vividly remember this expansion, which is kind of funny to me because it’s kind of average. The Moon as a destination is fine, the Hive are always an entertaining bunch to shoot at, and the activities out in the open map aren’t any different from what I’ve experienced previously. I guess my biggest issue remains the storyline here. Namely, Eris Morn, the most droll of characters in the Vanguard. And that’s saying something considering Ikora Rey is among the cast.
I might be needling Eris a bit too hard. I mean, she’s fine. I just was getting exhausted of her droning cadence about understanding the Hive, the darkness, and the pyramid ship that’s central to the expansion’s plot line. It probably doesn’t help me that the ship’s purpose and what it heralds is already known to me, but then I guess I should be happy that I still recalled as much of the game’s story as I did.
Another problem that’s slowly creeping up is the rather agonizingly slow climb upwards in power level. I am keenly aware of the soft cap problem and how it’s always funneled you in to very specific activities if you truly want to raise that up, but I was sort of hoping that this was eased somewhat with Monument of Triumph a bit. This was less about my being surprised and more about my being disappointed.
I’m also going to admit that my buildcraft with the Void Titan is hitting a bit of a cliff face as well. I’m still trying to build it all out myself, mostly because I feel as though I’m a bit better able to understand the interplay among abilities, aspects, gear, and mods. Still, it doesn’t seem quite as put together as others — a feeling that isn’t helped by the fact that the times I’ve played with others it felt as though my contributions were kind of meager to middling.
Perhaps the line of thinking, then, is less about trying to make big number go up so much as wrestle my way through the buildcraft myself. I do feel as though I’ve made a couple of good decisions here. For instance, I swapped out to the vortex grenade that draws enemies together, which has helped make my shield tossing better. I’ve also slowly started to find a combination of weapons that feel good to use with the Titan I’m building. The hand cannon I just got is basically an off switch for nearly every face, even at hip fire.
I will also point out that the things that I am doing by myself and with others are still pretty fun. The dungeon that’s linked to this expansion is one I’ve done before but was still a fun delve. I’ve had a couple of moments where using the shield super instead of the big purple dome of safety gave me moments to shine with my team as I blocked enemy shots. And during one of the ritual events, my fellow players and I made it to Tier V before time ran out.
I don’t know. I guess I’m overthinking this just a bit. Or I’m letting the disappointment of years of prior bad design steer my thoughts. Or I’m standing there feeling a bit blase and wondering why I’m not playing my preferred looter shooter instead. Maybe I just need to turn my brain off and just blap faces with my pistol, punch mouths, and eat crayons while doing it.
It’s that mental hurdle that kind of steers this week’s poll choice. I’m not going to ask for what to focus on next in terms of activity, as I still think that going in chronological order makes the most sense, but I am going to ask which line of thinking I should apply to the problem here. Should I follow someone’s guide or suggestion, shut my brain off, and go dummy punch boy mode, risking the malaise of a never-rising power level? Or should I try to puzzle my way through buildcraft, giving me a different goal to reach but also making me potentially more useless in combat?
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Polling will wrap at 1:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 24th. For the time being, I’ll probably clear through some more of these quest steps that apparently give me some new gear. If nothing else, my Titan will look a bit more spooky in so doing.
Welcome to Choose My Adventure, the column in which you join Chris each week as he journeys through mystical lands on fantastic adventures – and you get to decide his fate. Which is good because he can often be a pretty indecisive person unless he’s ordering a burger.
