TL:DR? dont read my essay then.

I've played Destiny 2 on and off since it went F2P back in 2019, and since buying the legendary edition on sale a few months ago have been playing through the various campaigns and latest season with my best bud. We're really in to the artstyle and vast lore that definitely helps us enjoy the experience more than if we were just looking to shoot at stuff.

Despite the gameplay being excellent, everything from the variety of weapons to the seamless menu and loadscreen system, not to mention really good performance and optimisation (I have a mid-range PC and it still runs smooth as butter while looking genuinely fantastic, I have no idea what kind of magic Bungie does to make this game look as good as it is and run so well on lower end setups), Destiny 2 is in a really weird state right now.

It needs to be clarified that Destiny 2 is a pay for service product, and no matter what you say Bungie has every right at any moment to delete the content you've paid for previously. I dont see anyone complaining about Netflix removing mass-favourite shows from the website despite people paying for their content, so people need to change their mindset on Destiny and understand that the game provides a constantly evolving world and experience. You dont legally own Destiny 2 if you pay for Destiny 2, you're essentially subscribing to a premium entertainment platform. The fact that its free to play gives you more than enough opportunity to try out the game and get a good handle of all its systems before buying in to it.

Also, Destiny 2 was just straight up getting too big of a game to manage and bug fix before launching new updates. "Just make it optional download!!" is invalid, and im sure they thought of literally everything before deleting Mars, Titan, etc, which were some of my favourite locations. But, again, not only can they do whatever the hell they want with their game, they need to protect just how fantastically this game performs. People would've complained more about performance issues than the fact some old planets a bulk of the playerbase never really visited anymore. I have spent more time than I like to think about playing and loving Warframe, but I also love the fact Destiny 2 just straight up refuses to turn in to a game like Warframe that could really do with a content vault. Old content in online games breaks and rots away.

I genuinely think Bungie sneakily avoids branding Destiny 2 as a subscription product, probably to protect their sales. I don't understand video game marketing really enough to comment on it but I doubt it'd hurt them that bad if they at least made the effort of clarifying my points above.

So then, is Bungie providing a premium product for its premium prices?

Eh.. imo, not right now, and with the vaulting of even more story/location content even after JUST vaulting (deleting) 50% of their game with the release of upcoming stuff in February, it makes me extremely worried about the appeal of the game to newer players especially. A lot is riding on whether or not the upcoming Witch Queen DLC blows Beyond Light out of the water, which to me was a really, really boring campaign and zone with little to do except blast ice at stuff and look at snow.

Want my advice if you're looking to buy? Buy as much as you can on SALE ONLY. Because I cannot recommend the various instalments at the prices they are at. Get yourself some friends, a clan, even, play some raids and REALLY immerse yourself in the Destiny 2 community because only then will you really understand what the heck is going on and will actually enjoy yourself after hitting gear cap and playing the campaigns etc. There really isnt much to offer if you're a solo player or just wanna shoot at stuff, go play Deep Rock Galactic or something really really fun for that.