Destiny 2: The Final Shape Reviews
Bungie sticks the landing as it finally brings together the threads of its epic first saga.
It's simply the best Destiny 2 expansion-both a satisfying conclusion to the series' first saga, and a compelling shooter packed full of stuff to do.
As the universe celebrates the prevention of its extinction, there is much debate about what awaits the future of Destiny and our Guardians. After all, the universe is a big place, and threats unknown or unresolved are bound to rear their heads sooner or later. There might be uncertainty in where the Guardians go from here, but there is also comfort in the certainty that this is not the end, but a new beginning – one where each Guardian makes their own fate.
Destiny 2: The Final Shape delivers on much of what this series has promised, bringing exciting new challenges and a satisfying ending to its decade-long story.
I’ve been emotionally preparing myself to hang up my Arbalest and ride off into the sunset after The Final Shape. Destiny 2 is a game that means a lot to me, so much that I’m not prepared to watch it slowly turn into a shadow of what it once was. But this expansion restored my faith in Destiny and made me eager to see what the frontiers the future has in store. There’s been ups and downs over the years, but this proves the trajectory of Destiny 2 is onward and upward. It proves we can expect Bungie will learn from mistakes and that there are bigger and better things in Destiny’s future. I worried this would be the end, but now The Final Shape just feels like the end of the beginning.
With a confident and satisfying campaign, a fascinatingly well-designed destination, and several standout endgame pursuits, Destiny 2: The Final Shape is an excellent offering for veteran and returning players of the FPS. Even with some classic endgame grinding repetitiveness, it's an incredibly well-executed expansion that nicely rounds off a decade-long journey, making it Destiny 2's best.
Over the years, Destiny 2 has ballooned into a massive and unwieldy beast, filled with cooperative and competitive experiences, hundreds of named characters and organizations, and an often-unapproachable vernacular that can take a long time to learn to speak and play. With The Final Shape, Bungie makes no apologies for the complexity but does finally offer purposeful punctuation to mark an endpoint. Largely unencumbered by what has come before, the frontiers ahead are now open to be revealed.
With a character-driven story and a focus on enhancing its gameplay on nearly every level, The Final Shape feels like what Destiny 2 has been trying to be all along.
It’s hard to keep something going for ten years, especially a Live Service game. The industry is littered with failed attempts at building ten-year plans. Despite Destiny’s many ups and downs and lack of consistent quality through the years, Destiny 2: The Final Shape completes Bungie’s ambitious ten-year plan and mostly sticks the landing. Its story is the most focused a Destiny tale has ever gotten, opting to focus on character interactions, linear level design and heartfelt payoffs. While this route meant a complete neglect of the series’ big bad, it did culminate in an epic finale to the Light and Darkness saga.
Bungie absolutely needed to stick the landing with The Final Shape, and by all accounts they've done just that.
The Final Shape is Destiny 2 firing on all cylinders, balancing a story of overwhelming odds with expertly paced combat and puzzles, all set in stunning environments. Much of the earlier complaints about the barrier to entry have been addressed, making for a seamless entry into the latest campaign.
"The Final Form" offers us an epic narrative that resolves the plot that has been simmering for 10 years in Destiny. The new prismatic underclass and detailed environments offer a fun and challenging experience that you won't want to miss.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
This is as close to perfect as a Destiny expansion can get. If my biggest complaint is “I don’t love the new shader icons” and “the Ritual Pathfinder system should be tweaked,” I think we’re doing well. Instead, The Final Shape represents a stunning finale for a plot arc a decade long that’s not just a huge event for Destiny itself, but the entire industry, as I simply do not think that has another comparison point in the history of gaming, provided you’ve been on this ride for this long. Bungie left everything on the field and delivered on all fronts.
The Final Shape is Destiny 2 back to its best for its grand narrative finale. It's the ultimate space wizards with a machine gun fantasy combined with emotional story beats and characters you truly care for. Despite all the odds, Bungie has crafted the perfect endgame.
A ton of new features, very interesting gameplay mechanics, content to bore and, above all, a bullet of nostalgia that hits the mark: The Final Form is the perfect closure to 10 years of history and one of the best expansions of Destiny 2.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
What Bungie has accomplished with The Final Shape in the face of tremendous hurdles and unreasonable expectations is nothing short of remarkable. It’s a powerful and satisfying story, with the mechanics, art, design, and polish to back it up. This is Bungie’s best work in the Destiny era, and sets a lofty new bar for live service expansions. In a challenging market, Bungie have proven they’re still among the best in the business. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
The Final Shape is one of Destiny 2's best expansions and a worthy conclusion to the Light and Darkness saga. Lots of content, all beautifully crafted, including an outstanding campaign and exciting endgame activities, are matched by a new subclass and the introduction of some brand new enemies. The latter are not very inspired, to be honest, but in some specific situations they require changing approaches to confrontations to get the upper hand. All in all, a big yes for The Final Shape and for Bungie, which can thus redeem itself after the débâcle of Lightfall.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Final Shape is a sentimental love letter of the social and community aspects of gaming. The power of creating a group of friends and playing something together. The stories you experience in-game and out of it. It’s not just the culmination of memories of the expansions and seasons of the last 10 years, but also the people we met along the way. It’s so rare for games to get to this moment – a climax of a decade of storytelling – and it’s practically unheard of to have it end so satisfyingly. Bungie did what seemed impossible with The Final Shape – they nailed it.
Destiny 2: The Final Shape is a poignant tribute to the franchise's journey since its debut in 2014. It breathes new life into the existing classes with the versatile Prismatic subclass, introduces fresh enemies and locations, and weaves a narrative that'll likely tug at the heartstrings of even the most casual players. With more seasonal and story content on the horizon, Destiny 2: The Final Shape propels the series to new heights, solidifying its position as one of the top PVE multiplayer shooters in the gaming world.
I liked to tell myself that I didn't believe in perfect 10/10 games. To me a perfect game is something everyone, unanimously, can say has no issues. No shortcomings. However, Destiny 2: The Final Shape is perfect. Everything that Bungie has done these past nine years has come together in a video game version of Avengers: Endgame. The stakes, the action, the quality of storytelling, and of course the emotion has all merged into the best expansion, no, game I have ever played. If you have ever in the last decade been interested in or cared about Destiny, The Final Shape is a must play. Period.