The Destiny 2 Beta was released today (July 18th) for Playstation owners. I also got to try out my first livestream (here). Things didn't go as well as planned but hey... It was my first try. Staying connected to the Bungie servers turned out to be difficult. At first I thought that this was caused by my stream but even after I turned off the streaming, the connection remained very unstable. But without much further ado, I present to you my first impressions of Destiny 2.
The Beta
The Beta gives you the choice to play with either a female Hunter, Titan or Warlock. There are 2 subclasses per character available. Armor and weapons are fixed, the same goes for emotes and ships. You start of with the Homecoming mission, after this you can play crucible (PVP) and a strike called Inverted Spire. Because this is a Beta, connection with the servers can be unstable, but I assume that this will improve in the future.
You character is "maxed" (I assume that 200 light will be the max level), so killing of the enemies was not too hard. All perks (abilities) are available from the start. But this will change because Spoiler Alert the Cabal find a way to sever the link between the Traveler and the guardians, effectively stripping you of your powers.
Homecoming
Because I had trouble maintaining a stable connection with the Bungie servers I mostly played the homecoming mission. I got constantly booted when I tried to play the Crucible and the Strike, so my first impressions will be focused on the Homecoming mission.
And boy.... Destiny 2 is off to a spectacular start. Homecoming is an action packed, rollercoaster ride of fun. The graphics are of a much higher quality now that the last generation consoles aren't holding the developers back.
I feel that this mission alone has more story, more character, more emotion that the entire vanilla (original) Destiny release.
Even the gameplay feels smoother somehow. I know that it's not 60 FPS (Only the PC Master race gets to enjoy those ultra smooth frames), maybe its my PS pro that has a better handle on things but the game plays as smooth as butter.
One of the great things was the interaction with the Vanguard leaders. Cayde, Zavala and Ikora aiding you on your mission was a nice touch.
The mission ends with a brutal scene where you are stripped of your powers by Ghaul, who first has an impressive monologue and then proceeds to kick you off the tower, leaving you despaired and wondering what will happen next.
The screen turns black, the Destiny 2 logo slowly becomes visible.....End of scene.
Conclusion
If this is just a taste of what Destiny 2 has to offer than we are in for great things. It is apparent that Bungie has put a lot of effort into correcting the mistakes made with Destiny 1.
As I said before Destiny 2 is off to a great start, Homecoming is a perfect prelude to show off what Bungie is capable of.
I still have to get a taste of the Strike and PvP (my favorite mode) but from what I have seen so far makes me a very happy gamer. Expect more updates on the Strike and PvP when Bungie has sorted out their connection issues (the issues could also be on my end but I doubt it).
I leave you with the footage of my Homecoming mission stream.
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