Overall (Destiny)

by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Saturday, July 22, 2017, 12:30 (2488 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by Korny, Saturday, July 22, 2017, 12:33

At some point, Destiny is “just” a FPS. In the same way I don’t look back at the opening mission of Halo 2 and complain that I never set foot on Earth in Halo, so I don’t have any motivation to defend it, it’s pretty silly to claim a lack of motivation or concern, as some have. It would take at least another good five minute cutscene to even begin to explore the full significance of the City and at that point we’d be at 10 minutes before even giving control to the player.

It doesn't have to be a cutscene. You can place the player in the city and let them wander around as you come back from a mission. Your 'quest giver' could be in the city, and you could get and receive a few before the Cabal show up. Look at the Market in Uncharted 4. Not only are there hundreds of people that are each doing their own thing and don't appear to be on a repeating pattern, but they can react to you if you pass by or bump them.

Put us in the city and let us look around a bit.

Small touches are everything (to me, anyway).
Like that market that you mention: it's essentially just something between point A and point B in the game, but the way you can interact with things really makes it memorable. You can do little things like haggle with a vendor for an old relic, get and slowly eat an apple as you walk around, and interact with a man and his pet lemur... And if you're holding the apple when you interact with the lemur, he'll run up to you a few seconds later and steal the apple.

Another similar moment is in Wolfenstein: TNO. Between missions, you are free to walk around and get to know the people around you inside the base (sometimes by poking around at objects). They often have interesting things to say about the world, themselves, or your missions. It's optional, but it helps flesh out the world and people, and you start to feel invested in them, so when things go south, you know what and who you're fighting for.