Destiny 2: Lightfall Reviews
Lightfall needs Strand to be good, and the new raid coming March 10 had better be a banger.
With Lightfall, and everything else happening in the game right now, Destiny 2 is reaching the scope of Bungie's ambition. I had a blast with Lightfall, I am continuing to have a blast with Lightfall, and I truly cannot wait to see where this story goes next.
Considering that Lightfall’s story ends with many open-ended questions and is just the beginning of a year’s worth of narrative and gameplay content, which demands a level of time investment that many new players might balk at, it’s difficult to know whether the gameplay and the artwork — polished as they are — will be enough to draw in the uninitiated. Are they willing, once the campaign wraps up, to begin grinding, to devote themselves to this world that mostly ignores them, choosing to commemorate its “Veterans” (the title awarded to players who started playing six years ago) instead? There’s certainly something impressive about a game like Destiny 2, which has a history of its own, but also one that dates back to past franchises. But it leaves one wondering if there’s space at all for those who have no relationship with that history — who approach the game as visitors, witnessing just a sliver of what must feel like a lifetime of memories.
Destiny 2 Lightfall successfully expands upon and upgrades an already fantastic game. With Neomuna, Strand, and the numerous quality of life additions, the only big area Lightfall falters is the story. And while Lightfall's missions are really fun and well-designed, writing excluded, the overall story's biggest problems are its lack of exposition and the fact that it's just the wrong story.
Perhaps part of the issue with this is in the expectations. The marketing materials surrounding Lightfall built it up to tell the story that would lead us to the space game’s final chapter. But Bungie should know one thing: if it wants to keep its players happy, it should never make a promise it can’t keep.
“Lightfall” certainly doesn’t stand up to the fantastic story of “The Witch Queen,” and Strand doesn’t quite meet expectations. But, Neomuna and its inhabitants are fascinating, and the way “Lightfall” handles some of its characters adds a lot of lore and depth to their stories.
Lightfall does less with Destiny 2 in a narrative sense than previous expansions, but improves the quality of life considerably.
Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.
Even when you have the game with the best gunplay on the market, it does not always hit the target: Eclipse is one of the weakest expansions of Destiny 2, especially when it comes to campaign. But, like the Guardians, Bungie has a chance here to stand up and prove that they are capable of getting it right again. Like so many other times.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Destiny 2: Lightfall is my favorite entry into Destiny. This is a tall order with how amazing expansions like The Taken King, Forsaken, and The Witch Queen have been. Nevertheless, Lightfall has surpassed my expectations in almost every way. The gameplay is even more fun and fluid, the location is fresh and new, and while the story has holes, I'm excited to learn how Bunge fills them over the following year and on. Lightfall is as fantastic as it is mysterious, and I love every minute.
There is so much we could still cover with this latest expansion, like Buildcrafting 2.0 and the new Guardian Ranks system, both of which aim to streamline the Destiny experience. However, at its core Lightfall is all about its story, setting, and gameplay changes. The campaign and setting largely let us down, with the whole thing feeling like the middle child of the Witch Queen, Ligthtfall, and Final Shape trilogy. However, the vigorous excitement that Destiny 2's brilliant gameplay elicits greatly elevates the overall Lightfall experience, with some stellar enhancements thanks to Strand subclasses and grapples. It's irritating to be left in narrative limbo for yet another year, but you'll still struggle to find a space shooter that is this much fun.
Destiny 2: Lightfall stumbles momentarily as a self-contained campaign but simultaneously sets a thrilling stage for the current story’s conclusion.
Destiny 2: Lightfall is not as immersive in terms of narrative compared to the previous expansion, but in return it brings more frantic action, significant changes in gameplay and a refinement in quality of life that certainly make the package worthwhile.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Lightfall's new gameplay mechanics and evolved systems position it as a turning point for Destiny 2, but the expansion is let down by the poor narrative of its campaign.
Destiny 2: Lightfall does a lot to advance the Destiny 2 experience, adding a stellar new subclass and destination alongside a much needed difficulty increase. Conversely, it features a story so bland, derivative, and dissatisfying that I am honestly worried Bungie may never be able to right the narrative course.
Destiny 2: Lightfall hits a lot of great notes. The new subclass, Strand, is very cool to use and gives you a lot of new movement options. Neomuna is a true sight to behold and invites players to explore. The most important part of the expansion however is the campaign and even though it has a lot of amazing and cool moments, the story falls short. Lightfall offers up more questions while we should have been getting some answers.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Destiny 2: Lightfall offers an action-packed campaign that feels more like a filler story than an essential narrative. It also presents extremely well-designed levels, enemies, and combat loops, as well as several overhauls and improvements to the game's core systems. DualShockers was provided with a copy of the game for review purposes.
It turns out, light was not the only thing that has fallen in this new expansion. With disappointing story, the campaigns even feel like they were created for the fun of developers, rather than players. While these letdowns still interfere with overall immersion of the game, at least the new ability and revamped system are holding the expansion precariously.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Lightfall is a step down in quality from the excellent Witch Queen, even though it is still a very entertaining expansion. The Strand system is one of the most interesting gameplay mechanics Bungie have added to the game with incredibly satisfying grappling and explosive power moves, but they overcomplicate things just slightly in later missions and lather it with a wafer-thin story that’s definitely holding back its big moments for the next year.
Destiny 2: Lightfall picks up a year after the events of The Witch Queen and seasons in between. It is an action-packed expansion that does not reach the epic story of The Witch Queen. It has some positive changes that the community has been begging for for years almost. Still, some of those changes are time consuming and don't quite show up. But the biggest flaw is and remains a well-developed story that leaves you with more questions than answers. Hopefully this will change in the coming seasons.
Review in Dutch | Read full review