In 2019, Destiny 2 underwent one of its most radical evolutions the franchise has ever seen. It began with Activision agreeing to walk away from Bungie, leaving behind the IP for the development studio to chart its own path with the popular online shooter. As the year progressed, Bungie not only announced a new expansion called Shadowkeep, but the studio also revealed it's new seasonal plans, cross save functionality, as well as a free to play version called New Light.
While the changes have generally been viewed as positive by the community, things have begun to start to turn a bit as the game now enters the midway point in the tenth season. Longtime fans have started to raise concerns about the longevity of Destiny 2 and if the current model is even sustainable at this rate. While Bungie isn't quite ready to start talking Destiny 3 yet, things will need to change if the developer intends to retain its most hardcore of players.
Difficulty and Challenge
The minor issues that came with Shadowkeep continued to snowball through the months following release and now have become a much bigger problem for Destiny 2. One of the biggest talking points between some of the higher profile members of the Destiny community revolves around the games difficulty, or lack there of. The issue was highlighted by the popular streamer Gladd, who took to Twitter to voice his thoughts on the matter.
His chief concern highlights the fact that the current state of the game feels as though it has lost its challenging and difficult content. Quests are easier to complete, with many of the same daily ones repeating day after day. Pinnacle weapons were replaced by ritual weapons which have become easier to obtain and no longer have unique perks like the older ones such as Recluse.
Content
Along with difficulty, the other major point that most veteran Destiny 2 players have begun to bring up is that there's no longer a long term goal to shoot for. While this season didn't have a major piece of content such as a Raid, the big draw from Season of Dawn was to grind Obelisks and take part in the Menagerie-light activity Sundial. All in all, these activities don't take very long to complete. Once Saint-14 has been saved, obelisks leveled, and all weapons earned, there's not much else for players to accomplish this season.
That lack of true endgame content for fans to grind their gear up for is also impacted by the slow drip feed of content which many feel is being drawn out too long. In addition, fans are starting to miss the occasional surprises that Bungie shadow dropped in the game such as the Zero Hour or Whisper of the Worm missions as well as the Niobe Labs puzzle room.
The Legendary difficulty for the Sundial, which many assumed would be potential end game content, launched at 950 power which was essentially the soft level cap of last season. Most players have likely already hit that with most going way above at this point.
Bounty farming has also seen a major rise this season, thanks in large part to the Double XP offered by the Dawning bounties. While this makes leveling through the Battle Pass much easier, it also makes the game feel more like a chore as the tasks required to finish them at typically simple through defeating enemies with certain weapons, getting headshots, or other tasks. Considering that these bounties are the best and fastest way to level, they remove some of the the incentive to play other in-game modes.
Power Climb
Part of the appeal from past seasons was to earn better gear and acquire higher power levels. This in turn would allow players to take part in new and more difficult activities for a chance at even better loot at the end. However, with Season of Dawn, the power cap only went up by 10 points to 960, though players can climb beyond that through the artifact. So far, this really doesn't impact much outside of 980 Nightfalls.
An additional 10 levels generally doesn't add or change much to the game. The cap can be earned in a few days for most veteran players and ultimately it won't change much in the way of content. For example, Season of the Undying took the power level from 750 to 950, ensuring that players could earn their way to all sorts of new content and activities.
Bugs and Glitches
Another recurring theme this season is with new bugs or glitches that have been uncovered. This season seems particularly rough with weapons like Telesto and exotic armor like Wormgod Caress once again causing unexpected behavior. The Gambit pinnacle weapon quest for the Python shotgun can also get bugged and prevent progress if a player joins a match in progress. Worse yet, the Obelisk located inside of the EDZ is bugged, preventing players from interacting with it without reloading the zone multiple times. As most players have already discovered, Destiny 2 is having its buggiest seasons yet, arguably at the worst time.
Limited Time Content
With many Season of Dawn content going away at the end of season 10 and a new collection of gear to acquire, many players are finding it hard to put in the effort. Many of these weapons and gear will simply be added to player storage at the end of the season considering that the seasonal mods are getting replaced and will no longer function. Unfortunately, the gear and weapon pool was significantly large this season, making it harder not only for new players to catch up should they enter the season halfway through, but potentially cause burnout for players who feel like they don't want to miss out by taking a break.
Popular Destiny content creator Datto breaks it down in his latest video, essentially saying that he feels like none of the content matters all that much this season. As he details, the experience feels a bit underwhelming due to a lack of goals, an increased focus on chasing god roll weapons, and character building. Considering that most weapons and character builds can already decimate most PvE content, trying to min/max character builds just isn't incredibly appealing for veteran players at the moment.
The Future
Understandably, Bungie lost a good amount of resources when it split from Activision, which is likely why the studio has decided to move in this direction. There's only so much it can do with the people it has without burning them out or becoming a toxic environment due to overwork. This was a problem the studio almost ran into last year making content through the Annual Pass.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a quick fix for this situation or at the very least, not one that can be added before Season 11. While Bungie hasn't detailed anything beyond Season of Dawn, a new raid is expected and many are hoping to see the return of Trials, a Crucible mode geared for the more hardcore players.
Thankfully, this season still has content coming including a Sundial battle against this season's ultimate villain as well as the mysterious Empyrean Foundation activity. Perhaps one of those could be the spark the fan base is looking for. It's also entirely possible that Bungie has a few things planned for next season and beyond, but as it stands now, experienced players are running out of patience.
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.