So having reached level 12, I thought I'd share some thoughts on how I'm finding the game now I'm over halfway to level 20:
1) The moment-to-moment combat is very, very fun. Despite the cookie cutter mission design (hold square at point of interest, defend wave of enemies) I'm genuinely surprised how much I'm enjoying it. The weapons I'm using are satisfying (particularly my sniper rifle) and all of the enemies seems to have a decent amount of 'toughness' to them - even when I'm overleveled.
2) I'm not feeling too underleveled in PvP. My first game of Control sucked - I got zero kills and was getting one-shotted by levels 30s all over the place. Coming back at level 12 seems to have made a difference: I'm defeating said levels 30 one-on-one and I don't feel like there's that big of a gap anymore. I'm actually contributing to my team now.
3) Finally, the story is opaque and at times incomprehensible. I think the comparisons to Halo are particularly relevant here: as I've heard others say, at least Halo was grounded with the military outside of the Covenant and the Forerunners and the associated lore. Destiny up to
has been incredibly abstract, not really contextualising enemies or what even important figures like the Traveller are beyond a swift introduction. Outside of defeating The Darkness at some point by
I'm not sure where the story is heading. This, for me, is the most disappointing aspect of the game given Bungie's history.
Overall I'm enjoying the game at this stage. I'm glad I held off from buying around launch and I'm looking forward to House of Wolves apparently reducing the grind and adding more content. In the relatively near future I'm hopeful of joining in one of Hawkians newbie raids too.