Destiny 2: Lightfall Reviews
Bungie's latest expansion elevates Destiny 2's power fantasy to a new high and carves a more clear and concise path to its endgame than ever before. Despite a campaign that lets down fans of a narrative nearly a decade in the making, it still reigns as one of the best looter shooters out there.
Lightfall does less with Destiny 2 in a narrative sense than previous expansions, but improves the quality of life considerably.
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.
Lightfall is more of a bridge that takes us closer to the end than a decisive expansion. Even so, Bungie's mastery is evident in the impressive aesthetics of Neomuna and in a campaign of very high level of quality.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
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
Destiny 2: Lightfall stumbles momentarily as a self-contained campaign but simultaneously sets a thrilling stage for the current story’s conclusion.
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.
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.
Despite the plotholes, I have really enjoyed the expansion and the introduction of Strand. The new dynamic in gameplay means raiding simply won’t be the same. I know I couldn’t now be restricted to simply Arc, Solar and Void. Bungie learnt from their mistakes in introducing Stasis and the rollout of Strand has been far superior.
Lightfall feels like a step back in the grand arch of Destiny after the fantastic The Witch Queen. The content does have some neat ideas and Neomuna looks pretty great but Strand doesn't feel as game changer as it should and the story feels more like preview of what's coming during the year in different seasons but not a fully fledged campaign as the latest expansion.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
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.
The future is still bright for Destiny 2. We just have to get there.
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.
Lightfall needs Strand to be good, and the new raid coming March 10 had better be a banger.
Thanks to its focus on the new powers, rather than progressing the story in any meaningful way, Lightfall ends up being a flat experience that leaves you wanting more. It doesn’t help that the Light vs Dark story, which has been building for the best part of a decade, is in its endgame. It also doesn’t help that the expansion has to live up to the incredible add-on that was released the year prior. There are good points to be found in Lightfall like the setting and the new Strand ability but as far as it being essential to the story, I’m not so sure.
In Destiny's great history of expansions, there are several examples of better deliverables. Lightfall isn't the worst of them, but it's the weakest in years.
Review in Portuguese | 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.