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Destiny 2's biggest core change? "Probably the inclusion of a story," says Bungie

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Source
As Destiny 2 approaches, Bungie, and director Luke Smith in particular, have been very open about the development of the first game. Now, after the first game's less than clear narrative Smith is touting "a story" as one of the sequel's biggest changes.

When I met Smith recently, I asked him what, in his mind, was the biggest core change in Destiny 2? "I think broadly speaking it's probably the inclusion of a story," was his reply. "It’s actually focusing on having a followable narrative, and having a big sort of storyline, epic scenario. Layering the story content in a way we haven’t done yet for Destiny."

That layering means that while there's one main story in Destiny 2 - the Red War - it's not the only one. "So that main campaign, that’s what the trailers are about," explains Smith. "Then, below that in the layering, you have adventures that are stories about the worlds, the planets and the particular enemies contained therein - it doesn’t directly relate to the Red War, it tells a different story."
 

Gator86

Member
Hopefully it's good. Just shoving in endless pointless cutscenes or shit dialogue isn't a huge improvement.
 
Stories about how I got my cool gun like in destiny 1?

Don't you remember those amazing stories . Like how I got my gun by buying it off a vendor in the tower . Amazing stories .
 

heybrian

Neo Member
Well good thing I don't care about the story. Seriously though if all they did was tighten the gameplay I'd still be all in.
 

VariantX

Member
They should still keep those just have them in game, There is some great information on the grimore.

Yeah would have been great to have that accessible from a library, talking to the speaker or just in a menu. I spent hours reading lore from some of the later Final Fantasy games and Metroid Primes 1 & 2.
 
Looking forward to an overbloated story filled with cutscenes about nothing. Speculation of course, but based on what I've seen thus far and the pressure Bungie has received from feedback on the 1st game's lack of story, my guess is they jump to the opposing end and try to do too much.

/cynical post

Still very pumped for the game.
 
I love destiny. The lore and gunplay kept me locked in. And improved story that links together sounds great. Not going in with high hopes
 

JWiLL

Banned
Biggest core change is going to be 100+ FPS, ultra graphics settings, and mouse aim.

Story is nice, but not what I'm most looking forward to.
 

kuYuri

Member
A Mass Effect style codex that I can read outside of the main story during downtime would also be pretty dope. It can cover all the little things that you aren't necessarily exposed to over the course of the main story or side activities. Adds some extra flavor to the universe.
 

everyer

Member
I am looking forward to the new public zone.

Can't wait to play the beta! lol

Pre-ordered 3 different editions... Still consider to pre-order Japaness language version...
 
I knew it. That's the sense I was getting from the PC gameplay I saw. They are doing with this game what they should have done with the first. Essentially they are making another Halo, just with support for the shared hub open world setup they have.

This is what will make me interested. I couldn't bother with the first game because I demand an actual narrative and story that I see an effort to make really exciting.
 

Dineren

Banned
A Mass Effect style codex that I can read outside of the main story during downtime would also be pretty dope. It can cover all the little things that you aren't necessarily exposed to over the course of the main story or side activities. Adds some extra flavor to the universe.

This is what I was hoping for, but I'm not too optimistic at this point.

I am curious if they will still include the stat tracking they currently use for grimoire unlocks (enemy types killed, number of kills with various weapon types, activities completed, etc.)
 
I came in expecting it to be Luke Smith. I didn't leave disappointed.

I enjoyed him well enough as a foil to Shane Bettenhausen at 1Up, but for the life of me I have no idea why Bungie continues to use him as a PR guy.
 

EL CUCO

Member
The Destiny 1 we've all been waiting for.
Now we need space battles 👀
Still dissapointed that CoD beat them to it.
 

Killzig

Member
I must be the only one on the planet that doesn't mind this line. Destiny people are as bad with this line as Game of Thrones people are with bad
poosay.

What about ASOIAF people with
fat pink mast
.

On D2, didn't the writer put together the ME:A story? I kind of like that they're giving the characters from the tower a bit more fleshing out it looks like and also putting them out there during story missions with your guardian. I worry there'll be a little too much "Zavala got his groove back" going on given the focus on your relationship w/ the light and getting it back after Ghaul hijacks the traveller.
 

Woetyler

Member
I am looking forward to the new public zone.

Can't wait to play the beta! lol

Pre-ordered 3 different editions... Still consider to pre-order Japaness language version...

Why not just buy the highest edition that will give you all the things the smaller editions offer?
 

JWiLL

Banned
I came in expecting it to be Luke Smith. I didn't leave disappointed.

I enjoyed him well enough as a foil to Shane Bettenhausen at 1Up, but for the life of me I have no idea why Bungie continues to use him as a PR guy.

He's not a PR guy...he's the Director of the game.

Also, if they don't let Luke talk to the media, they end up with situations like that interview from last week where the guy couldn't answer a single question when pressed on community concerns.
 

Lee

Member
"So that main campaign, that's what the trailers are about," explains Smith. "Then, below that in the layering, you have adventures that are stories about the worlds, the planets and the particular enemies contained therein - it doesn't directly relate to the Red War, it tells a different story."

Excited for the Cthulhu sub-plot on Titan

rD4oias.png
 

Ryuuga

Banned
Could have fooled me with the wealth of changes they've shown so far. I was hoping for something like this which is why I'm bummed the original destinations aren't available from go.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
I must be the only one on the planet that doesn't mind this line. Destiny people are as bad with this line as Game of Thrones people are with bad
poosay.

The problem with the line is that it's endemic to all the issues that Destiny 1's storyline had, in that they threw everything out at the 11th hour and ended up making something that's barely comprehensible the first time you go through it.

Like I get why they thought it was fine from their end. Once you know everything, the point of what you're doing at any given moment or what's going on is clear, but it leaves a really bad experience for a game they hyped to the high heavens.

Now, I didn't think Halo had a good plotline and went into Destiny with very low expectations, so I got about what I expected, but I don't think the issue is that there's one time traveling character that is short on time so much as what it represents about the game.

Of course, a lot of those loose threads aren't being followed up on because Bungie dumped their entire writing team for a second time, and the third writing team is interested in a different direction, and doesn't even necessarily know what the first or second writers actually had planned.

It was pretty funny watching Luke Smith admit they had no idea what The Darkness is and then saying that they were going to dump characters like Mara Sov (her storyline was to return as a space pirate in a plotline and expansion that no longer exists), but ended up rethinking that because the huge amount of cosplay.

Of course, what they had to work with wasn't especially great, so I don't think it's weird that they're trying to start over and make something better. However, it's worth noting that most of the lead writing positions on the team are still open, so the story might end up changing drastically for a fourth time.
 
My biggest complaint with what we've seen of D2 so far is that Bungie isn't taking any risks or expanding upon the universe at all. And before I delve into this, let me say that I make this critique as a huge fan and someone that has put thousands of hours into Destiny. I love the game in all aspects.

Bungie has addressed many of the bread and butter criticisms of Destiny. They're adding a more structured story, they're adding Guided Games to help people access end game content, the actual engine has been overhauled and were expecting content to be produced and released at a much steadier pace, the weapon system has been rehauled to stop Crucible from being all about Sniper Rifles and Shotguns...these things are all moves in the right direction. But they haven't taken any major steps forward.

I'm absolutely ok with no fourth class being added. I'm ok with no dedicated servers. I'm ok without 60 frames per second. What I'm disappointed in is that the sandbox of Destiny isn't really expanding. We haven't seen any new major threats or enemies. We haven't seen hints at some of the deeper ends of the mysterious and interesting lore being explored such as the Ahankara or The Nine. Then there's the removal of the darkness as a real force and turned into a catch all term.

We haven't seen the gameplay expanded. I was really expecting a Division dark zone type zone where it would be a free for all where all guardians can fight among themselves and try to extract loot or struggle for control of the territory. I was hoping maybe we'd get ship combat, if only for part of the campaign or during loading screens. Something.

So far we haven't seen any of this. It's entirely possible that Bungie is keeping new features secret for now or working on them to be added later. After all, Destiny is a journey and a service that will be expanded for years to come. I'm just slightly disappointed that were not really seeing an expansion of content, features or topics within the game. It feels like a few steps forward and a few steps back for long time players of Destiny. Will I be there? Absolutely. This is easily my most anticipated game. I'd just like to see Bungie channel more of the passion and talent they have into expanding Destiny.
 

Raven117

Gold Member
I kinda liked the nonsensical story of Destiny. And by like I mean, the communities seizing on how bad it was and hyping ridiculous lines like "No Time to Explain." Hell, even Dinklebot is mixed. There was something so hilariously bad about it that it wrapped around to awesome.
 
I mean, is this something he really want to have said?
The biggest change in the sequel being the inclusion of a story, which in it's essence would mean better written story. This would be as opposed to actual gameplay oriented change, which is what the community have been screaming about for three years now.
 
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