As happy as we were playing the Destiny beta for the past few days, we are now equally sad that it is over. That sorrow should be balanced with anticipation for the game’s full release though.
It seems that too many people took issue with the problems the beta had, especially in its later hours. Flaws are easy to point out and human nature sometimes makes us look at them more than we should. I won’t say that the beta was without its faults but I prefer to look forward to the potential. Take an objective look at most of the issues and you might see where things may be different in the final release.
Many complained about the lack of content in the beta, particularly the fact that the world was so limited. The fact that the available area was as large as it was surprised me so apparently I’m on the opposite side of this complaint. When the full game comes in September, look for the universe to be much larger since we already know that there are areas that were not included in the beta.
One thing that did get to me as I played on was the lack of diversity in the missions available in the exploration mode. It was pretty much of three varieties: 1. kill enemies to collect items, 2. kill a designated ‘boss’ enemy, or 3. scan something. What was worse was the backtracking when you get sent back to the area you just left. I digress since there is plenty of time to work out how the missions are handed out and add different types of missions.
There was fun to be had in the game at many points and those that didn’t want to stick with the provided content found themselves their own places to explore. When finding caves with invincible foes was not enough, others found ways to glitch themselves into unreleased and unannounced portions of the map space.
All in all, I am still excited about this game. Some questions linger about the story line or gameplay structures, but from my perspective I see a game that has barely given us glimpse of what is to come. To write off what Destiny may have to offer would be like saying you’ve seen the world but have never left your hometown.
My countdown to September 9th has begun and I hope to see many of you there. As a last look back at my time in the beta, I went mugging for the camera. Enjoy.
Paul Novak is a self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing in the west side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet. Found here at What’s Your Tag? and on the Twitter @dudewantshisrug. Game on with Team XBRO!
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I’m still excited. I thought there was actually a lot to do considering it was a beta. I’m looking forward to the full game, but I’d like some more variety in enemy types
They only showed two of the four enemy species during the beta so there is definitely more to come. Granted there were some similarities between the enemy types when you compared the classes in the two species they did show. I’m sure a lot go held back and didn’t get shown in the beta.
Such emotion in these screenshots. Our hero pouts in various locations of space.
He must sit and rest for the battle ahead.
I unfortunately didn’t get to spend a lot of time in the beta, but I enjoyed the experience while I did. I came into it still without much of a clue what Destiny is going to be all about, so this gave me a little bit better of an understanding. I still don’t feel like I really know much about the story, or the who/what/why, but I imagine it will be fleshed out much better with the full release.
The beta didn’t get into much of the story and didn’t answer many questions about the overall plot. The story could still be different in the final release anyway. I think they wanted to get a little bit about the universe of Destiny out to the people to help get those on the fence to pick a side and come over.
I’d only heard very basic info on Destiny before the Beta and I was excited from that, after playing it I’m counting down the days! Mission diversity will be key to the exploration – I really don’t want that kind of repetition from another game.
There are limits in what type of missions they can offer but I hope the final version will hand them out better and not have the player repeating back to back. I think the beta did well to give players a better grasp of what Destiny is but still not give too much of it away.