So, the Destiny Beta is decidedly light on Story. Whether that's due to it's Beta nature, or flaws in Bungie's storytelling, (probably a mixture of the two), the game mostly just plops you in and asks you to care instead of showing why you should care. It's not great at this point honestly, but I want to highlight something it does well, that Bungie hasn't necessarily always done well; representing the story of the game through it's mechanics. Speficially the respawning system in Destiny

Destiny sets up respawning with a little explanation, but it tells us a tremendous amount about this world. Here's how the respawning system works, When you Die, your ghost appears, as an exploded circle, and you have to wait some period of time to respawn, or someone has to come respawn you. Destiny contextualizes this in the first minute of the game, when your ghost finds you, and revives you. You are informed that you already dead, and the ghost takes that exploded form as it resurrects you.

It's quite brilliant really, because now this purely formal thing that exists to allow the action to move forward (When you die, your allowed to respawn not far, or have a team-mate respawn you) suddenly shines this light on the world; and gives context for your actions. It's not just a piece of "Oh videogame logic" like the Halo respawning system, instead it's a rule built down into the core of the game.

In the second mission it deepens that meaning. As you near the final encounter, Ghostian lanister warns you that you can't respawn here due to the encroaching darkness. Limited respawning is a mechanic designed to make the game harder at points, but by putting it in a narrative context, it makes the world feel more sinister, and lets you know that something dangerous is coming. It's smart storytelling for games, as it brings interesting info into the world just through it's rules. IT's also far more effective than some dude standing in front of a big machine telling you about space magics.

Dear Bungie, more of this, less masked dudes talking at you.

In crucible, are the guardians actually dying, and being continually revived?

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It actually says that its live fire and ghosts are standing by to resurrect in the grimoire crucible card

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... dying I mean. If your guardian already dies repeatedly during combat with enemies only to be revived, then I would think that your character would eventually get used to dying. Maybe Guardians don't even feel pain like normal people since they already died? Or perhaps the Traveller's light does something to lessen/remove the pain? Dying in the crucible wouldn't be that big of a deal to your character.

Yes! Somewhere, perhaps a Grimorie card it says just that! Ouch.

Ehhhhh . . . I think the PoPs and AC do the fake-death better.

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Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed, I'm guessing. I don't know about the former,* but in the latter you don't actually die when you "die", instead merely having failed your simulation.

*Do you rewind time upon death in Prince of Persia?

In the original PoP trilogy you're misremembering what happened because it's all one story you're telling to Farah. ("Wait, that's not what happened"). In Assassin's Creed, you're also misremembering, just inside a simulation. And in the new aborted PoP trilogy the power of light saves you each time. You never die, and it's incorporated into all three stories in much more detail than Destiny's.