As many of you know, a big media embargo for Destiny was lifted at 10am Pacific on Monday, and several media outlets released preview videos and write-ups, and Bungie themselves released a new gameplay trailer. What you might not know, however, is that
there's been a ton more info made public since Monday. Some of the outlets that released previews on Monday were withholding information to release later in the week, and some of that info has been really juicy. There's also been some great fan-made analysis videos, as well as some explanations / clarifications straight from Bungie staff (namely: Urk).
The information released since Monday has been enormously helpful in getting a feel for how Destiny works. My hype train is back on the rails and chugging along full force.
This thread already exists, and I don't want to create a redundant thread, but the OP isn't being updated and these details are too good to be buried!
Okay, let's dig in.
- Official Destiny Strike Gameplay: The Devils' Lair (7:16). This is the new trailer from Bungie. A lot of people (including me) found it underwhelming, but you can judge it for yourself.
- This analysis video (15:00) makes the official trailer ten times more interesting. If you only have enough time to watch one of these videos, make it this one. Datto does a great job of scouring the trailer for details and offers some great information / speculation. Bungie tweeted about this video on Wednesday, saying "[Datto has a] sharp eye for detail. Time will tell if he's 100% correct."
- Update: Datto has released a second video. This one is focused on summarizing all of the week's news rather than analysis and speculation. It's a good way to quickly catch up on all the info if you haven't watched / read the other coverage.
- Playstation Access has released a new video each day since Monday. The first one (12:29) is the best, in my opinion.
- This Rooster Teeth video (6:05) released on Tuesday does a decent job of explaining Destiny's different game modes.
On Wednesday, Urk came into the most recent Destiny info thread to offer some really fantastic clarifications:
Raids are activities that you can do with six of your friends, where all six people are participating as a single group. These may be limited to being late-game activities.
I summarized that bit of info -- you can follow the full quote trail
here.
Can you comment on the openness of Patrol Mode for those that criticized how linear the gameplay looked in the video? Can't wait for the game.
Sure. I actually ran around an empty Patrol in our theater just to demonstrate the size and variation of our spaces. Patrols are a singular embodiment of the "activities for every mood" mantra we keep talking about. You can pick up objectives offered by City Factions on the fly, ignore them altogether and hunt for treasure and enemies, go in alone or with a Fireteam, jump into public events, hop on a Sparrow and whip around doing sweet jumps off of airplane wings, or just fight enemies to level up your abilities, weapons, and gear.
Campaign gives you a more bright line through the world, with cinematic bookends and private encounters. Patrols beg you to wander and make your own fun.
That being said, say if you're on earth and you jump into lets say Moth yard, then can you traverse the entirety of the surrounding areas? Could you make it all the way up to King's Watch and beyond?
It's continuous and connected, yup. In fact, the opening of the Strike is also connected and accessible in the same way. Rooster Teeth reported in running into a random boss before entering the strike proper. That's a public event, and you could tackle it with a mixed group comprised of players in the strike, playing campaign, and on Patrols.
Once you head into the Strike proper, it becomes private automagically.
Thanks for the answers Urk. That really sounds great.
BTW, can you comment anything on alternate control schemes? More specifically, I'd love to know if Bumper Jumper will make a return (or a close equivalent, at least)
Lars is a human freak and plays a controller mapping so radical the government put him on the no fly list. I don't know if BJ is in by name, but there are a healthy amount of options and tweaks.
Sounds like we might finally get the controller customization options that Halo fans have been asking for for the past decade, lol.
UPDATE:
Bungie just tweeted this
Gamereactor.eu summary article. There's no exclusive info or anything, but it touches on a lot of the new information in a single three page article, which is convenient if you don't want to watch a ton of videos.
Some select quotes:
THE MODES: You can play Destiny multiple ways, entering each location giving you a series of options on how to explore. Patrol is the most free-roaming of all, letting you wander each area as you see fit, picking up jobs through audio beacons, salvaging loot and tackling enemies. There is a story-driven Campaign that can be played solo (though you still need to be online), which will be more directed. Focused combat missions come in thirty-minute Strikes, which direct you to multiple objectives in specific areas of the map and culminate in a boss encounter. Raids are later, larger versions of these, pulling in multiple fireteams. There's also the PvP Skirmish mode, though you need to play through a couple of hours of the game before you unlock it.
There'll be multiple locations to travel to around Earth, and the stars beyond. Each offers a sprawling sandbox to explore - the E3 demo of Old Russia is but a tiny corner of that particular locale - and you choose exactly how you explore through The Director, a menu-driven guide to the worlds that gives you a list of modes to choose from, which define your time on the ground.
XP increases, gaining gear and earning upgrades are divided across a few systems. By killing enemies you earn XP. But the game's main drive isn't hitting the level cap; you'll reach that in a few days of solid playing. Instead, Bungie want you focused on weapon upgrades and pimping your character - the "horizontal growth" according to Investment Lead Tyson Green.
"The point where [the levelling] stops, [players have] already moved on to gear function and collection...," he explains during a roundtable Q&A on the subject during a post-play break. "It works similar to Diablo, in the sense that it really is about going on to the horizontal growth, trying new abilities and new builds, new weapons. With that same element that ‘I'm growing more powerful as a character, so I can do the harder activities'."
Unlike Halo, you can't steal weapons off dead bodies on the battlefield. Downed enemies will drop ammo, colour-coded to represent bullets for your primary, secondary, or heavy weapon.
[snip]
But enemies do occasionally drop loot, and loot can also be found hidden around locations or in chests. Loot's colour-coded as well; green's common, blue rare and gold for exotics. Not all will be specific to your Class, nor be available to use until you've XPed to a certain level. Some will come as encrypted data that needs unlocking back at The Tower.
While you're locked to a three-weapon loadout on the field, you carry multiple guns and gear with you at all times - each customisation category box opens up to a larger grid to offer more choices.
The exact limit of this is yet to be decided, but each player will have a personalised Vault back at The Tower to store excess equipment. The idea is to allow you to change up your load-out to match the situation. However, there's no shortcut to have customised load-outs available at a button press, and switching weapons means your new choice materialises with no ammo. "The idea is that you don't switch between them endlessly," explains Lead Designer Lars Bakken of the decision. "It doesn't mean you won't have ammo for them. Within the next kill [downed enemies] drop ammo for that weapon."
"What we're showing now - Strike, Patrol, The Tower - is a sampling of what we'll bring to bear in the beta," says Osborne. "We want to make sure people are getting their hands on pretty much all the core activity lines... we want to make sure there's a healthy amount of content that they can have those experiences; get into a fireteam, check out a public event. All the things that are important and native to the experience, without spoiling the entirety of the game."
Beta tease!
So yeah, I hope you all find this thread helpful! And I hope the mods don't lock it for being redundant! I'll keep the OP updated as more info surfaces.
