So I read through a few articles and watched the new trailer. I know what I think about this new info dump, but what did you think?

My biggest takeaway was from the new gameplay trailer. The game looks very satisfying to blast its way through.

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It can at least be said that the media's general consensus is:

"Pretty cool...but I still don't know what this is."

Which is actually kind of scary. I do agree that Bungie needs to loosen their lips a little more. The secrecy is starting to make me paranoid that they don't have their act together on the other aspects.

So I read through a few articles and watched the new trailer. I know what I think about this new info dump, but what did you think?

My biggest takeaway was from the new gameplay trailer. The game looks very satisfying to blast its way through.

I have trepidation regarding FPS vs. AI game play, and it has nothing to do with Bungie's implementation. The game play looked fine, the graphics were wonderful, and it all looked really well done.

It also looked like business as usual. Meaning, it looked like all the fighting against AI I've done in the last 10 years. The kind that got less satisfying with every new Halo game. This is all personal opinion, of course, but I saw nothing awe-inspiring, or unique, or...something? What? I don't know. For example, I die and another guardian can revive me, but if they don't...I just revive in 30 seconds anyway? Why does that bother me?

It looked like Reach to me, or what Reach 2 would have looked like. I'm having some trouble being articulate here...

Just a snippet of game play video, and all pretty safe stuff for show - I'll wait patiently for the beta before I make my conclusions. That being said...I want to be excited, but am having a hard time.

The feeling I have after reading Xenos' fantastic link coverage is the same feeling you get when you interview for a job you really, really want and now have to wait for HR to call you back with their decision. I'm excited for the opportunity, but since I largely don't know what I'm getting myself into or how their decision will go, I'm also very nervous.

It seems like (to simplify it) Borderlands and Halo had a beautiful, beautiful baby. I like both of those titles very much, so I'm sure I'll enjoy Destiny. For me, what keeps me interested in games long after the mechanics or gameplay are familiar are PvP and story. I didn't get to see either of those today; so, I'm looking forward to E3. Destiny looks great, based on the media it seems to feel like Halo, and act, albeit somewhat, like Borderlands/Diablo (loot drops, customization, all classes being 'hybrid DPS,' etc.). All of those sound great to get me through the game one time, but I really want to see what will keep me playing for ten years.

Borderlands and Diablo lost me after about 80 to 90 hours. I had beat the games, beat the DLCs, leveled up through several Paragon levels, and collected a ton of loot. Their stories were kind of shallow and the PvP was non-existent in either (but when I was knee deep in the games, I would binge for weekends upon weekends, playing deep into the night and early into the mornings fueled by coffee, pizza, and energy drinks - a glorious time!). Halo kept me interested through a great story and a very fun multiplayer experience for hundreds of hours. If Destiny can combine those successfully, I'll be incredibly satisfied.

I want it to be amazing, I'm just trying to contain my own hype until I know more.

Reach.

Which in my book is a good thing. The gameplay is never gonna wow in these demos because the player is trying to show off features and encounters. But, this latest gameplay seemed more finished somehow - I can tell it's going to be fun, at least for a bit. I can sort of see better how the powers, enemies and weapons are going to work together to keep you shooting and moving. Which I like.

It's pretty obvious they were on 'Easy' or whatever the equivalent is - I can tell Legendary is going to require a lot more pop-shooting and epic strafing.

I'm in kind of the same place right now. I'm still very excited every time new Destiny info comes out, but on viewing the gameplay Footage I came away feeling like... Is this it? Is this all you can conjure, Bungie? I hope they prove me wrong and drop a big bomb at E3.

I'll almost certainly buy the game and even a special edition console if I don't have a console by then, but I'm finding I have the opposite problem that I had with Halo:Reach. I'm having a hard time keeping my excitement up, instead of having to keep it in check.

Maybe it's just down to me being a few years older and more cynical. I don't know.

I do think Bungie is doing themselves no favors by showing tiny chunks of what's supposed to be a massive, immersive game. Even if one mission isn't groundbreaking, if it's got solid, fun gameplay (as it looks to), and the world and transition between those missions is good (this remains to be seen), the game stands a good chance of being great.

But from what they've shown, I hate to say it, but I'm just not that excited.

I think I've been in the same camp since I felt like I had a grasp upon what it is and isn't.

It looks like a stunning Bungie Shooter mixed with an always connected Borderlands esc encounter rate, psuedo-mmo quests, levelling system and rpg mechanics.

Which is to say I am really looking forward to playing it. Talented folks I admire and respect have been cracking away on this for years, so I have a significant amount of trust that there will be some very good things about the game I'll get in September. On PS4. Retailing at stores near you for $399.

And it's great to be reminded of just how stunning the game is. Those vistas, that lighting, unf [although I did see a few slightly lower quality (imo) Guardian models in some of the promo material today].

I have certain concerns, which I've voiced many a time before (getting to voice these to Dan Miller last year was a highlight, and a bit of an honour, great guy), about the combat and the pacing of the progression.
I'm afraid there'll be a loss in the puzzle tension that I feel Halo excels at, that it'll be lost in the mayhem and number of encounters needed to not have a mission / ultimate game time be too short.

I've summed it before as this : "I'm afraid the game and it's combat will feel like two little butter spread over too much bread".
That the amount of content combined with the loot and progression systems needed to sustain a psuedo-mmo shooter will weaken the individual pieces.

I'm a bit tired after work [hitting reply-all and accidently e-mailing 300+ colleagues your embarrassment tends to take it out of you], so forgive me if this post has meandered a bit..
P.S. Forgot to mention this too :
It struck me as a mistake to have the re-reveal (which in a sense this is) focus on the Fallen again, the same enemy the only other (E3 2013) large piece of Destiny gameplay content we have.
I assume Bungie have big plans for E3 trailers and demos, but still, this seemed at least to be a semi-important day for the game. There's been kind of growing restlessness with the game in certain enthusiast camps, so seeing a strong difference in combat, assuming such a difference exists (and I'm choosing to believe it does with different enemies and their pedigree) would have benefited in my opinion.

I feel like there was little information released today that wasn't already presented at the original gameplay reveal at E3 last year. At some point, the concept of Old Russia and casually shooting low level Fallen enemies is no longer interesting.

I watched some Titanfall live streams when that beta came out. I found them boring, honestly, but when I actually got to play the beta myself.. well, I bought the game, which I wasn't planning to do.

I would just like to play Destiny. Enough talk.

I was pretty excited watching the Strike trailer this morning (don't tell my boss that's what I was doing instead of tackling a pile of email from the weekend).

I took the trailer and the 12+ articles that I have breezed through and made up two overarching opinions:

1) Everyone online (as in everyone in the media) is using the HALO-Borderlands analogy to describe what the trailer shows. That's fine. I think it is a fair analogy for what the trailer showed us. However, there are a lot of elements that we know nothing about--the MMO-side of the game--that we don't see in either HALO or Borderlands. So I am realistically optimistic than even though the trailer didn't show us anything revolutionary, that there is still plenty more to come.

2) My second opinion is that there is a lot of pessimism and cynicism in the gaming journalist community (as well as all journalism). Man! It seems like 65% of the articles I read were beating up Bungie for not giving away all their secrets. Bungie has it coming for not giving people the information we want. However, I think finding out all this stuff through gameplay will make the experience worth it.

And now back to work...

I loved the strike video Bungie posted. The pacing, the weapons, and the powers all felt very Halo to me which is good. I don't want a Medal of Duty or Call of Honor or even Titanfall. Bungie's earlier comments about getting kills a bit quicker in multiplayer had me worried, but this video seemed to show a nice pace that I'll be able to enjoy. So on a moment to moment gameplay front I'm completely sold

As others have said though, Bungie keeps telling us that Destiny is bigger and more interconnected but beyond 3 player coop being much more standard than coop was in Halo... I'm not seeing anything overly special... on the connected front. It may not matter much. If all Destiny amounts to is amazing, easily accessible coop missions spread over huge areas then I'll be very happy. If it is something more than I'll be even more happy.

Finally, I'm still waiting for the Bungie Twist. Something on the level of the Flood in Halo 1, the Arbiter in Halo 2, the unexpected Ark location in Halo 3, the Engineers in ODST, and helping the Autumn launch in Reach. With a whole new property in Destiny I am predicting that there is something big and plot related that we haven't even gotten a hint yet. We may not get a hint even. But I can't wait for the twist.

Haven't looked much into it myself but the Darkness is supposed to be a concept in the storyline of the game right? I wonder if it will play the role of the Flood or some beyond-sentient enemy that humanity must face. At the very least we know that it is the enemy of the Traveler.

Finally, I'm still waiting for the Bungie Twist. Something on the level of the Flood in Halo 1, the Arbiter in Halo 2, the unexpected Ark location in Halo 3, the Engineers in ODST, and helping the Autumn launch in Reach. With a whole new property in Destiny I am predicting that there is something big and plot related that we haven't even gotten a hint yet. We may not get a hint even. But I can't wait for the twist.

E3. Sepkis Prime. We have seen easy(?) prey. Lets see what they fear.

If not that - there is a fifth race.

Could be.

My current guess is some sort of... anti-Traveler... I believe it is said that Hive Wizards draw their power from the Darkness. Perhaps in the same way Guardians draw power from the Traveler? The Darkness seems to have been the thing that was really out to get humanity during the Golden Age, but was the Darkness a thing itself or just the various enemy races that descended on us?

The Darkness is probably the closest thing we have to an unknown right now... but other things are ripe for twists:

- The motivations of The Traveler
- The goodness of Humanity's actions during the Golden Age (For instance we had vast war intelligences on Mars... For what? Were we perhaps at war with anyone other than ourselves?)
- The Vex time traveling. Time travel can open up a whole can of plot worms.
- Etc...

Finally, I'm still waiting for the Bungie Twist. Something on the level of the Flood in Halo 1, the Arbiter in Halo 2, the unexpected Ark location in Halo 3, the Engineers in ODST, and helping the Autumn launch in Reach. With a whole new property in Destiny I am predicting that there is something big and plot related that we haven't even gotten a hint yet. We may not get a hint even. But I can't wait for the twist.

E3. Sepkis Prime. We have seen easy(?) prey. Lets see what they fear.

If not that - there is a fifth race.

There's totally a fifth race:

But who is it?!

These are some good points. I didn't know that about the Hive wizards. I also read last week that Bungie released some information about the possibility of the Vex being mass-produced beings from a different home-world. Who is responsible for creating the Vex? That's another unknown right there.

I do hope the Darkness has a sentient identity and it isn't just a mystical force or metaphysical concept. Call me simple, but I like my enemies (in real life and in games) to have at least some personality. Ha.

After watching The Devil's Lair vid, I am in a solid meh stage. Very ambivalent feelings towards the game right now. Not caring to even be in the Beta.

When I first saw TITANFALL, I became very excited to play it. A year later, that excitement is still in me a month and a half after launch. I don't have that same excitement for Destiny.

Destiny looks gorgeous and I'm 95% (down from 100%) sure I'll buy it, but I'm far less sure it'll hold my attention for very long. Maybe it'll be like poorly fitted clothing that has to be worn-in before you can really enjoy it.

Patricia Hernandez on Kotaku wrote almost exactly how I feel about Destiny.

After watching The Devil's Lair vid, I am in a solid meh stage. Very ambivalent feelings towards the game right now. Not caring to even be in the Beta.

When I first saw TITANFALL, I became very excited to play it. A year later, that excitement is still in me a month and a half after launch. I don't have that same excitement for Destiny.

Destiny looks gorgeous and I'm 95% (down from 100%) sure I'll buy it, but I'm far less sure it'll hold my attention for very long. Maybe it'll be like poorly fitted clothing that has to be worn-in before you can really enjoy it.

Patricia Hernandez on Kotaku wrote almost exactly how I feel about Destiny.

It's interesting, I figured the overwhelming response would be positive in this venue but there's a good mixture of opinions here.

I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm very surprised that they didn't include more new stuff with this reveal. Almost everything that we saw today has been seen (or known about) already. I'm not sure how this is supposed to sustain peoples excitement unless you are already 100% all in on the game.

Reading through the articles it seems obvious this was not lost on the journalists who were playing the game too. Most of the articles seemed to be 'well this is nice, but... where's the payoff?'

I have a lot more thoughts on the subject that I'm keeping to myself, but overall I can't see today as a win for Destiny PR.

Titanfall's vids never managed to grasp my attention. The beta swept me away, though, which is why I bought week one.

This Devil's Lair vid? I'm totally satisfied by the gunplay now and am salivating over the beta right now.

The new content didn't WOW me like I was hoping. Same locations, enemies, ect. Not much new.

However I after reading most of the articles and watching the videos, the world of Destiny is very much a place I will want to spend my time.

I don't want a game that run 1000 mph like Titanfall (which is a great game but I'm already tiring of it).

I've seen a couple comments from people (who claim) to have access to some sort of Alpha build and they all seem to pity (not in a condescending way) those of us who don't yet see the scope and ambition of the game.

I think E3 will be a big hit, but I think a MP reveal before-hand would be great to prep players.

I sat down to type something and realized that I hadn't seen any gameplay trailers Be right back.

OK, done. I guess that's a side-effect of growing up on dial-up internet. I just don't watch stuff on the computer.

So far, I guess I'm underwhelmed. Bungie is going to make a nice shooter and the universe they craft is going to be fun to explore, but I'm not sure that I'm looking for a shooter.

Powers look great, but I'm bored to tears by the weapons. They all look like archetypes we've seen before, and the lack of alien weapons doesn't bode well for a diverse sandbox.

I mean, if you're going to give us a pump-action shotgun, at least make it a Moe Special.

Another bonus for me is going to be vehicles. I want there to be a Warthog, something that accommodates the whole fireteam. And maps to use them in, something on the scale of Mass Effect's planet missions.

Bungie keeps saying "Wait and see", so I guess I shall.

After watching The Devil's Lair vid, I am in a solid meh stage. Very ambivalent feelings towards the game right now. Not caring to even be in the Beta.

When I first saw TITANFALL, I became very excited to play it. A year later, that excitement is still in me a month and a half after launch. I don't have that same excitement for Destiny.

Destiny looks gorgeous and I'm 95% (down from 100%) sure I'll buy it, but I'm far less sure it'll hold my attention for very long. Maybe it'll be like poorly fitted clothing that has to be worn-in before you can really enjoy it.

Patricia Hernandez on Kotaku wrote almost exactly how I feel about Destiny.

I hear you, but I'd rate my excitement as what about it was before today (meaning Bungie's got a new IP--AWESOME! They always offer new things that are better than anyone's offered before.)

The main thing that I'm gobsmacked by is how beautiful the game is. Amazing eye candy. The other stuff I really care about can't be shown, though--the story, how the game feels when you play it, how I feel when I put the controller down.

Fortunately, a test drive is on the horizon. How lucky for us that there is a test drive, huh? After that, most of this prejudging won't matter.

About graphics--I've been thinking about this, and part of what has me thinking about it is the remastered edition of The Last of Us, which I will probably buy because (1) I can afford to and (2) I adore that game. It's an amazing game in lots of ways, but it's amazing graphically ... on the PS3. How much more amazing can it be graphically? It can be better, but when will we get to the point where there are no additional pixels that our eyes can detect? Will the generation of consoles after this one be able to entice us with better graphics?

We've all seen games (cough, Halo 4, cough) where graphical fidelity was their strong suit. I want something else. I think game developers are going to have to get creative to entice us. I have hopes that Bungie (and others) can meet the challenge.

My bet is that there WILL BE alien weapons we can use and they just aren't showing them off yet.

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If anything, it strikes me more akin to the Armies of the Dark/the Leveler from Bungie's 'Myth' series. Both employ an army of myriad hostile creatures, both end a golden age (in the case of the Leveler, repeatedly), both have a hostile, linked relationship with a foe (Traveler/hero that defeats the Leveler is fated to become the Leveler 1000 years later, etc.)

That, and both are laying siege to a last city at the start of their respective games (Last City/Madrigal).

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The art- characters, settings, etc.- looks very, very good, but the gameplay video was pretty underwhelming. Didn't have many "wow" moments. There was a lot of what you'd expect from a shooter; gunplay, abilities, reviving, hacking mission. Really not sure why they chose to show off this footage since it's pretty similar to the E3 gameplay video they released last year. Would have loved to see Venus or Mars this time.

Destiny is absolutely still a buy for me just for the art direction alone.

The gameplay video was underwhelming though. I know they make guns feel satisfying to fire and that you'll have double jumps and focus abilities. I'm looking forward to playing around with my character build and trying out different fireteam arrangements while running a strike, but that wasn't what they were showing.

They showed the bread and butter run and shoot they're offering and that was the thing I was least curious about. I'm confident that it'll be feel amazingly smooth and satisfying when I pick up the controller, so what I got out of this was, WOW it looks amazing, and all the assorted little details about enemies, their abilities, the UI, and guardian abilities (that Titan charge...).

So I'm basically as excited as I have been, but I feel for the journalists that are flying out to Bungie every now and then to get a spoonful of awesome with a heaping of "can't talk about that".

I was somewhat disappointed by the latest "news". Just not enough meat to sink my teeth into, which many of the games journalists seemed to agree.

One thing I heard that was interesting to me was Deej say this:

"PvP, competitive multiplayer, whatever you call it when guardians come together in a very separate activity and decide who is the toughest guy in The Tower is something that we are going to invite you to experience and to play at E3 -- that’s what I can tell you today.

In terms of how many people that experience involves, or how many people you have on your team, or how many people that you have to battle, these are all questions that we will answer at E3."

Seems like they're really holding things back for E3. Can't wait!

I was somewhat disappointed by the latest "news". Just not enough meat to sink my teeth into, which many of the games journalists seemed to agree.

One thing I heard that was interesting to me was Deej say this:

"PvP, competitive multiplayer, whatever you call it when guardians come together in a very separate activity and decide who is the toughest guy in The Tower is something that we are going to invite you to experience and to play at E3 -- that’s what I can tell you today.

In terms of how many people that experience involves, or how many people you have on your team, or how many people that you have to battle, these are all questions that we will answer at E3."

Seems like they're really holding things back for E3. Can't wait!

Agreed. Not as excited to hear about multiplayer combat because I already know Bungie rocks at all of that, but I definitely want to see it and hear about the finer details. 32 player battles, maybe? Or would that be too nuts, even for Destiny? lol

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I also had a thought the other night that it may be something like the Reapers from Mass Effect--a pseudo-elemental force that ends civilization every so often.

However, the fact that Bungie has used similar elements before makes your theory more credible. Thanks for sharing!

If anything, it strikes me more akin to the Armies of the Dark/the Leveler from Bungie's 'Myth' series. Both employ an army of myriad hostile creatures, both end a golden age (in the case of the Leveler, repeatedly), both have a hostile, linked relationship with a foe (Traveler/hero that defeats the Leveler is fated to become the Leveler 1000 years later, etc.)

That, and both are laying siege to a last city at the start of their respective games (Last City/Madrigal).

Destiny was conceptualized as a fantasy game, so it makes sense that they would borrow from Myth.

Agreed. Not as excited to hear about multiplayer combat because I already know Bungie rocks at all of that, but I definitely want to see it and hear about the finer details. 32 player battles, maybe? Or would that be too nuts, even for Destiny? lol

It seems they're keeping numbers down for the public event side of things (around 7-9ish from what I gather), and though this doesn't necessarily correlate directly into competitive multiplier, I wonder if similar philosophies will be applied.

Less can be a tighter experience. Less mess and outright chaos. More immersion.

I'm guessing around 16-20 myself, maybe less. Though a busier competitive multiplier based somewhere within the city would put interesting narrative emphasis on the guardian presence there.

Went back and watched some of the older videos in light of the new stuff, and it's really hard to be cynical about this game. Feels good! I'm excited to play it in September.

After watching The Devil's Lair vid, I am in a solid meh stage. Very ambivalent feelings towards the game right now. Not caring to even be in the Beta.

When I first saw TITANFALL, I became very excited to play it. A year later, that excitement is still in me a month and a half after launch. I don't have that same excitement for Destiny.

Destiny looks gorgeous and I'm 95% (down from 100%) sure I'll buy it, but I'm far less sure it'll hold my attention for very long. Maybe it'll be like poorly fitted clothing that has to be worn-in before you can really enjoy it.

Patricia Hernandez on Kotaku wrote almost exactly how I feel about Destiny.

I know the topic is old but I thought I'd better comment.

I'm no longer ambivalent towards Destiny. I am looking forward to getting it and playing with my buddies.

I'm still waiting for a Digital Pre-order option and have no plans to buy DLC ahead of time.

The game is growing on me.

...more apathetic (although not any more)? Meanwhile, I'm definitely ambivalent; I see lots of positives, but also lots of stuff I'm hoping they'll eventually fix.

I was more ambivalent than apathetic. Apathy never really came into play for me.

I cared about Destiny, but what I was seeing up to that point was causing me to be unsure whether to dive right in and accept it, or not.

I think I'm comfortable with my choices right now. Each piece of Destiny will have to earn the price I have to pay for it.