PlayStation 5 review code provided by Bungie.
Destiny 2 has achieved what most games could only dream of: cultural relevance nearly a decade after its initial release. A steady stream of seasonal content and yearly expansions has done a lot to keep the game in the mindset of gamers, but the quality of this content has also improved during this time, leading the game to record player counts in the past few months.
The latest of these expansions is Lightfall, a storyline that was ostensibly to be the culmination of years of storytelling. The name itself was meant to suggest that we’d lose the Light, the cosmic power that grants all players their fantastic abilities. What we got, however, was an uneven prologue that, while still fun, didn’t quite live up to the expectations Bungie had set.
Story
Lightfall opens with a climactic mission that sets the stage for the upcoming adventure: the Witness, the mysterious enemy who’s been lurking in the shadows for years, is finally here. He’s also brought his latest minion along for the ride: Calus, erstwhile emperor of the Cabal. The Guardians take the fight to Calus’ forces before crash landing on the planet of Neptune.
And that’s where things start to fall off the rails a bit. Neptune, it turns out, is home to the futuristic city of Neomuna which was built by the descendants of an ancient science collective. What follows is a meandering plot that folds in an ever-growing list of proper nouns, often with little to no explanation about their origin or importance.
There are the Cloudstriders, cybernetic heroes who sacrifice a normal lifespan in exchange for superhuman power. There’s Neomuna itself, whose denizens are referred to as “Neomuni.” Calus and his Shadow Legion then use a McGuffin called the Radial Mast to try and recover yet another McGuffin called the Veil. Neither of these objects is given any sort of history or explanation, leaving them odd mysteries that nevertheless dominate entire missions of the campaign.
The rest of Lightfall’s campaign is taken up by tutorial missions for the new subclass introduced with this expansion, Strand. Strand is the first new subclass since 2020’s Beyond Light, but this time around Bungie decided to incorporate mastering the subclass into the game’s core story. You’ll spend a great deal of time with the grumpy Warlock Osiris learning about how to wield Strand, but the actual incorporation and prevalence of Strand on Neomuna is given only cursory attention.
Lightfall’s story is never so bad as to be offensive, but it ends up being largely forgettable outside of a few key moments. Caiatl, the current Empress of the Cabal, has been a consistently great presence in the game for some time now, and her appearances here are always fun and bombastic. And despite their rushed introduction, the Cloudstriders are a fascinating and enjoyable addition to Destiny lore. Nimbus in particular stands out for their energetic personality and personal growth over the course of the campaign.
Gameplay
While the story of Lightfall might not rank as one of Destiny 2’s better experiences, the gameplay improvements might be some of the most sweeping and exciting Bungie has ever made. There are quite a few new additions here, from load-outs to commendations to new mod systems. And, of course, the shining jewel in the middle of it all: Strand.
Destiny 2 has always had great gunplay, and it’s only gotten better as they add in new weapons, abilities, and tools to tweak your Guardian. As the role-playing side of the game has expanded, players have been clamoring for easier ways to modify character builds on the fly, and Bungie has finally catered to this request. Loadouts (a staple of most modern shooters) are finally part of the game, and they make swapping between archetypes as simple as clicking a single button.
Modifications have also seen a change, with easier systems for swapping between them and improvements made to the seasonal artifact. Gone are the days of having to socket specific seasonal mods into your weapons and armor; instead, your artifact simply activates perks that apply to your character no matter what gear they have equipped. This is especially useful for streamlining Champion combat.
But these are more quality-of-life improvements that apply to the game regardless of if you own Lightfall or not. What Lightfall has to offer, however, is arguably the best addition to the game since its inception. Strand is easily the most inventive and purely fun subclass Destiny 2 has ever had. Every facet of its construction is designed for fast-paced, strategic ability play, and Bungie has incorporated a bevy of Strand weapons to complement the subclass in some wild ways.
While Strand can be a bit difficult to utilize when you first unlock it, the mods, fragments, and aspects you can unlock transform it into a power fantasy unlike anything we’ve seen before. There’s something extremely satisfying about activating the new Grapple ability and bashing into a group of enemies, only to follow it up with a massive Strand explosion by shooting the Tangle generated on ability kill.
Whether you want to focus on Unraveling enemies, Suspending them, or generating Threadlings, each class has the ability to spec into different aspects of Strand in some wild ways. New Strand weapons and Strand-specific perks also add a new level of complexity and intrigue to every combat encounter. It’s a testament to how much fun Strand is that I never want to take it off, even when other classes might be more useful.
Lightfall also boasts a bevy of new activities to pursue, some more fun than others. The post-game exotic quests are interesting but don’t stick around long enough to leave much of an impression. A series of action figure collectibles seem, at first, to be simple scavenger hunts until you find that certain ones require you to complete charming mini-missions with some rigorous requirements.
Partition might be the best of these post-campaign activities, as it brings us back into the Vex network for some neat missions that provide a bit more backstory to Neomuna. Each mission features a unique mechanic that shakes up the core gameplay loop, whether that’s a mad rush to disarm bombs before they explode or a virus-riddled program that launches anything near it into the air.
Audio and Visual
Destiny 2 has always been at the forefront of artistic design within its genre, and Lightfall is no exception to this. Neomuna is one of the most striking locales Bungie has ever produced, inviting players into its neon-soaked environments with glee. The Lost Sectors in particular are stunning, evoking drastically different tones from one another and even from the rest of Neomuna as a whole.
The audio design meets similar benchmarks, at least in terms of diegetic sound. The world of Neomuna is full of life and sound, and Bungie has always given their foley artists all the resources and fun goals they need to produce some incredible soundscapes. The music never really stood out to me in any meaningful way, but that may just be a result of Destiny 2’s consistently excellent scoring.
What Could Be Better
As sad as it is to say, the biggest improvement Lightfall needed was simply a more cohesive story. This is the penultimate chapter of the Light & Dark Saga within the Destiny universe, and it ends up feeling more like a prologue to next year’s expansion. By introducing Calus and the Witness together, Calus ends up feeling like nothing more than a henchman, a peon whose defeat lacks any sense of finality.
The Witness wins in the end, claiming the Veil and opening a portal within the Traveler that whisks it off to some mysterious destination. The seasonal stories will take over from here, building up to The Final Shape next year, but Lightfall itself suffered as a result of this model. Prior expansions told sweeping, dramatic stories that had compelling conclusions, but Lightfall ends without any sense of finality or catharsis. For some stories, this can be a good thing, but here it just saps the campaign of its importance.
Verdict
Destiny 2 Lightfall seeks to bring the overarching story of the game into its final sprint as we barrel toward The Final Shape. While the core game has seen some major improvements and is still a blast to play, Lightfall’s insistence on mystery and story set-up leaves the campaign itself feeling hollow and unfulfilling.
Destiny 2 Lightfall is available now for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.
