My favorite sequence (BIG SPOILERS) (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Thursday, September 07, 2017, 09:37 (2874 days ago) @ INSANEdrive

As I said in my earlier post, I loved the campaign. Lots of great moments. But there was 1 sequence in particular that clicked for me in a way that few games ever do. I'm talking about those rare moments when the story, gameplay, the virtual world around you all merge together into something that makes you forget you're holding a controller. Mass Effect 2 did it, The Last of Us, Journey... maybe 1 or 2 others.

In Destiny 2, that moment for me was:

towards the end of the campaign, when you are fighting your way through The Last City. I was never particularly invested in the story of Destiny 2, nor did I care much about the characters. But despite my ambivalence towards those things, this mission got under my skin and made me feel like I was fighting for my home. But there was more to it than that. The layout of the mission, the geometry... something about it fell so perfectly in sync with the way movement works in Destiny. I was gliding from ledge to street level to rooftop, never staying still, never going backwards. I hit some kind of "zen" level with the movement and combat where I wasn't even thinking about it anymore, yet I was unstoppable. I felt like I was a mix between Wash flying through the space battle at the end of Serenity ("I'm a leaf on the wind") and River destroying every Reaver in front of her (also at the end of Serenity, lol).

But the BEST part, the part that really solidified this mission as my favorite moment of the campaign, is the fact that Bungie populates the missions with other players. For the first half of the mission, I was fighting to defend my home along side other players. This is what Destiny can deliver that other games can't. This is what has been missing until now.

One rando in particular clicked well with me, and he and I moved through the city streets together, cutting through Cabal like we'd been fighting side by side for years. There were other players in the area too. Bungie's level design hits a point of genius here, because the layout of the city streets branches out just enough to avoid the feeling of a bunch of players running down a hallway together, while still being driven towards a common goal and direction. My rando buddy and I passed by many other players as our paths cris-crossed forward. The impression of being immersed in a chaotic and moving battle was incredible. I don't even recall when my rando buddy and I parted ways. It happened quickly and suddenly, in the heat of battle. I felt disoriented and a little sad by our sudden separation, but compelled to move forward without hesitation.

Brilliant stuff, that mission.