The Final Shape” gameplay. (Bungie/Contributed)
Bungie has been struggling to maintain the faith of the “Destiny” community since the lackluster release of last year’s expansion, “Lightfall.” After layoffs, delays and reports of strife within the company, many fans wondered if it was even possible for them to deliver with “The Final Shape.”
Thankfully, Bungie was able to pull off a miracle.
After years of build-up and twists, the story of “Destiny 2” comes to its ultimate climax. The Witness, a godlike being of immense power, threatens to enact its final shape on all life in the solar system. It has managed to carve a way into the Traveler, the primary power source for all player characters.
The journey inside the Traveler’s Pale Heart is one where memories are twisted by the Witness’ evil power. As players fight through the story missions, they will revisit many locations from the series’ past in a kind of “best hits” trip down memory lane. While it does offer some nostalgia, leaning into the past is a crutch that “Destiny 2” has relied on too much for the past few years.
While the missions are mechanically dense and deliver a good story, I also wish that there were more new environments to see. The mystery of what’s inside the Traveler has been a talking point among fans for years, so to see that the answer is just a bunch of old areas is disappointing.
At least Bungie isn’t holding back in terms of gameplay for this campaign, as it uses many mechanics inspired by past raids and dungeons along with dangerous new enemies.
Another major selling is the new Prismatic subclass that combines aspects of all the other subclasses in one package. While Prismatic is fun to use and has loads of potential for great builds, it’s extremely limited when the player first unlocks it. Thankfully, the new weapons can help pick up the slack while players unlock new Prismatic abilities.
As always, the campaign is just the tip of the iceberg. Once the main story is done, a slew of new activities are unlocked across the Pale Heart. The amount of new content is overwhelming at first, but it’s great to see how much there is it do in an expansion this important. Some of the hardest and most interesting challenges in the game’s history, including the new raid, are found post-campaign.
While the campaign has some great moments and the raid is satisfying, the mission that got the community buzzing was Excision. This is the huge battle everyone’s been waiting for, when all the allies that players have been gathering for years clash with The Witness’ forces. It’s the game’s first-ever 12-person activity, and it’s an absolute blast. The combination of unbridled chaos on the battlefield with the payoff of a decade-long saga creates a moment that longtime players will remember for years.
“Destiny 2” has always had fluctuations in its quality. However, the last year felt especially stale, which made this expansion feel even more important.
Thankfully, against all the odds, Bungie has stuck the landing. “The Final Shape” delivers not just a great expansion, but the best one since the legendary “Forsaken” from 2018. While newcomers will struggle to adapt to what this expansion adds to the pile of content in the game, veterans will have plenty to enjoy. “The Final Shape” earns four-and-a-half stars out of five
