Destiny 2: Beyond Light is the latest annual expansion in massively popular looter shooter series by Bungie. The studio had a lot to prove this year since it was now developing the game entirely split from Activision, the former publisher of Destiny. Furthermore, fans were becoming jaded by the stagnating and underwhelming nature of some of the game’s core elements. With the release now behind fans, here’s what Beyond Light got right.
Beyond Light was preceded by Shadowkeep, which really laid down the groundwork for what is to come. It was released at a time when Destiny 2 was in need of a refresh, and Bungie had to devise a plan that would methodically expand the universe without feeling convoluted or diluted. For many fans, Shadowkeep was a prelude to Beyond Light, and not a full expansion. Regardless, it started the rebranding process of the game and acted as a buffer between the old era of Destiny and the new.
The main plot points of an expansion happen mostly in the campaign. And after experiencing it, many fans were relieved to discover that Bungie still had it when it comes to story. Beyond Light had a campaign of good length and satisfying pace. Players weren’t thrown around the main destination haphazardly or artificially busied with menial tasks, and there were multiple high quality cutscenes to take in, while focus was kept by frequently referring to the main antagonist.
A surprising aspect of this experience was the difficulty. Beyond Light featured some challenging story encounters, a rarity in Destiny, as Bungie usually keeps the game’s campaigns easy since Destiny doesn’t have difficulty settings for story. The varied boss fights kept the combat fresh and acted as a way to slowly familiarize players with Stasis.
While major story beats happen during the campaign, the majority of the story can sometimes take place in the lore that binds Destiny‘s every element together. Beyond Light definitely delivered on this front, continuing threads left open years ago, tying together seemingly unrelated characters and events, as well as providing long-awaited details about some fan favorite lore pieces.
Enthusiasts of the franchise had been dying to learn more about the Darkness and the Deep Stone Crypt, so for example, Bungie not only married these concepts but also lets players experience them in the form of a Raid. Exos have been a point of fascination for many and this expansion gave them the treatment that Forsaken had given to the Awoken. A pleasant surprise came in the form of a redesigned lore tab which makes collecting and reading lore easier and more enjoyable.
Bungie gave lots of Destiny 2 characters a moment in the spotlight this time around. Beyond Light brought together long forgotten figures such as the Exo Stranger, controversial ones such as Variks, and continued giving attention to last season’s show stealers like Eris and the Drifter. The game is also making efforts to get characters to be more interactive and lively during gameplay, and give them more agency instead of having little to no say in story developments.
Every single character in Beyond Light is there because of Europa. The location acts as a unifying threat and opportunity, and Destiny greatly benefits when the location has this big of a role in the entire experience. Gameplay wise, Europa is expertly made, featuring novel set pieces, an immense total area, and so many secrets to discover. The fact that this zone was teased many years ago through concept art and journal entries is just icing on the cake.
Forsaken was a hard bar to cross simply because it featured two brand new zones, not one. That being said, Beyond Light is not a disappointment due to how ambitious Europa is. Not only does it feel bigger than any other zone, especially when counting the explorable areas that are outside the map boundaries, it is packed with challenges, pursuits, mini-games, mini-activities, weekly missions, destination-specific events, and more. It is also home to some of the game’s few Master and Legend Lost Sectors, a solo challenge on top of being a dedicated way of earning specific exotics.
It should be no surprise that Europa also features the Deep Stone Crypt, a much anticipated location and Raid. Whatever the reaction may be to the twists and turns the Raid’s story and encounters took, the execution was well done. The Raid Race was exciting to watch as participants explored and solved this excursion. For example, one of the game’s longest standing villains, Clovis Bray, also made his first in-game appearance in Deep Stone Crypt. From the awe inspiring space scenes to the bombastic finale, Deep Stone Crypt will likely be one of the more memorable Raids in Destiny.
Depending on the player, Stasis might be the most noteworthy feature of the expansion or potentially the most hated, but it remains as possibly the most critical addition to Destiny of the expansion. This is the first new element to be ever added to the game, and it came with brand new and customizable subclasses alongside being featured on weapons and enemy types. This is a momentous departure from the game’s classic three element, three subclass formula and opens the way for a far richer and more ambitious RPG experience. It also goes without saying that Bungie did a really great job making Stasis feel fun, fresh, and unique. Fans had been dreaming about “Dark Guardians” for many years, and Stasis finally delivered on that fantasy.
As stated earlier, Stasis also came with new subclasses, but more importantly, customizable ones. Bungie tried to move back to the D1 system and let players feel more connected to their way of play by offering methods of personalizing how their Dark Guardian plays. There are game changing perks to choose from, and all of them are earned through gameplay challenges on Europa. Stasis subclasses are very potent and emphasize concepts like crowd-control which seldom appear in Destiny. They also leave an exciting precedent for future subclasses or reworks for existing ones.
Weapon sunsetting surely upset many fans and it will perhaps leave a sour taste for a while. Even though the loot pool got hit particularly hard, the new weapons added have quite interesting perks. Bungie seems to be moving away from simple damage and reload related perks that blatantly increase efficiency. Instead, the focus is more towards nuanced and creative perks. This season’s weapons feature multiple loadout inspiring perks that may help create more dynamic weapon metas as time goes on. This may feel like a downgrade for those who don’t want to think about buildcrafting, but it is a good step to take if Bungie wants to introduce newer and different guns season after season.
The armor mod system got changed in a few surgical ways. Firstly, elemental affinity from weapon related mods have been lifted, giving players many more build choices. To counteract the bloat this would cause, lesser mods have had their potency increased to that of enhanced mods, and enhanced mods have thus been deprecated. This has elevated the average power of mods and freed up space in mod inventories.
Moreover, raid mods have been moved to their own slot, giving raid armor an edge over other pieces. Seasonal mod slots on armor obtained before Beyond Light now has a legacy mod slot accepting mods from the entirety of the previous year. Meanwhile, all Beyond Light armor, including exotics, have a new combat style mod slot that accepts some crucial build defining mods such as Warmind Cell and Charged with Light mods.
Last, but certainly not least, Champion mods go on armor now instead of weapons, freeing up weapons’ only mod slot and allowing exotic weapons to benefit from Champions effects. Previously, exotic weapons were almost a liability in certain scenarios since they couldn’t accept Champion mods, but this change has opened up many more loadout possibilities.
Similar to armor, Ghosts are also fully customizable now, fitted with their own mod system. Players can choose any Ghost based on how it looks, since every Ghost has the same mod slots and capabilities as of November 10. The majority of Ghost mods have already been given to players, and newly added ones drop from simply playing the game. This allows for some on the fly customization and eliminates needless debates on which Ghost to use based on functionality and form. It also means that the player technically needs only one Ghost to keep around.
Beyond Light may not feature the biggest roster of gear, but its exotics are definitely meaningful. The exotic armor pieces have been fitted with perks that radically alter existing class traits or open up completely new gameplay possibilities. Exotic armor is quite specialized now and it’s clear that Bungie is making an effort to have exotic armor that is impactful in more creative ways. Regarding weapons, they all feature a well-defined flavor and will surely find a place in player arsenals. Some standouts include The Lament for its anti-Champion capabilities on top of contesting a highly competitive category of weapons. And Salvation’s Grip is the first a Stasis weapon and one that synergizes with the player’s subclass on a very fundamental level.
Loot acquisition can sometimes make or break a game like Destiny and it is clear Bungie wanted to provide many different ways in which the loot is dispersed. The aforementioned exotic pieces either come from one of a kind quests, or drop from specific challenges and solo missions. This lets the player look at a loot table and easily identify what they can get and when. Putting an emphasis on solo play is also somewhat of a novelty for Destiny and it will be interesting to see how far the studio pushes this concept.
Regarding the legendary gear, every vendor armor is systematically earned from their respective vendors. Meanwhile, the core playlist weapons drop from match completions of their specified gamemode. The ritual weapon can be earned via a playlist quest of the player’s choosing. Europan weapons can be earned from specific weapon bounties from Variks. All of these methods are different from one another and gives players freedom, agency, alongside keeping the grind as varied as possible. Collectors can also “craft” legacy loot, in a way, by bringing the necessary materials to the new Tower vendor and obtaining their gun of choice.
New tools would ideally require new targets. While Beyond Light doesn’t introduce a new race, it has some additions and tweaks that are quite welcome. For the first time ever, enemies now feature a new element, Stasis, and use it with abilities that mimic that of the player. The new Fallen Captains, for instance, pose a genuine threat as they wield Guardian-level powers. There are also two new roaming enemy units, Brigs and Wyverns.
The Brig is a Fallen tank walking upright, and has no weakpoints until the player enrages the Brig by critically wounding it. It has a variety of attacks and changes pattern when wounded. High-value target Brigs can also be found wandering alone, and they can be tough to take down alone, reminiscent of world bosses from other MMOs. Wyverns are a similarly sized unit that also feature no crit spot until damaged heavily. They belong to the Vex and fire a splitting volley of bolts. They have a highly effective movement ability to catch players off guard, and can passively protect allied Vex with their left and right wings, which are immune to damage.
Bungie placed a big emphasis on its strive towards a more advanced lighting and weather system before launch. It is very pleasing to see that Europa truly becomes immersive with this new system in place. The blizzards that kick in transform encounters, disorient players, muddle sightlines, swallow landmarks in the distance, and push against sparrows with force. Dynamic weather is genuinely fun and it would be exciting to see it expanded, or as a random modifier on certain activities in the future. Based on how well it has been received, the studio may impress players yet again with a similar feature next year.
For three years fans have been asking for the return of the dark title and character select screen. Bungie went back to its roots and created a very similar dark main menu, but also overhauled the entire in-game menus with a darker finish. Triumphs and Lore have been reorganized, while character and inspection screens have been relit. The new UI is easier on the eyes and highlights content better. This is one of those features that may not feel necessary, but tremendously helps the user experience in the long run. If anything, it provides some fresh screens to look at and marks a change in Destiny‘s visual identity.
Beyond Light‘s “campaign” has a very long tail as players deal with the aftermath of the main story, and leads smoothly into what can be considered the endgame. The post campaign content doesn’t force players to take on the traditional endgame challenges like Nightfalls or Raids, but it extends the questing journey dramatically. The game smoothly nudges the player into the major repeatable activities of Europa like Empire Hunts and Exo Challenges. After providing a taste, weekly rewards for completing said activities open up for those chasing the grind.
Around the same time, Variks also starts to offer one-time mini-quests that provide valuable and permanent bonuses for the players adventuring on Europa. Fans can complete these at their own leisure and choose which bonuses they want to prioritize. As fans test their mettle against the villains of Beyond Light, they accumulate trophies to display in the private encampment on Europa, acting as a small Tribute Hall, a personalized space that was vaulted recently.
Much of the campaign’s aftermath also involves learning more about Stasis and the Exo Stranger. These quests also allow players to enhance their subclasses. Since this experience takes place exclusively on Europa, the connection between the icy moon and Stasis becomes tightened. It also provides additional meaning to Guardians’ continued efforts on culling the Fallen forces of Europa.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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