http://kotaku.com/destinys-atheon-is-still-a-big-dumb-idiot-1652800539
You know, there was a time when Bungie created really thrilling, challenging shooters full of emergent gameplay and memorable moments.
There wasn't really any great trick to it. They just gave the player a ton of fun mechanics and tools to use, dropped them into scenarios with plenty of opportunity to use them, and put them up against combinations of enemies that had access to most of the same tools (or equivalents) and were smart enough to use them effectively.
You want to win? Use your own tools intelligently and skillfully.
That's it. That was all it took.
Now where are we. 'Challenge' is defined by random bullshit. A final boss isn't difficult by virtue of the tools at his disposal or his ability to use them effectively to counter your own, he's difficult by way of big bullet sponge, being surrounded by enemies that show no AI beyond 'march straight toward players and overwhelm with numbers or explode on contact' or - and this is even better - do NOTHING but merely exist and wait for a timer to kill everybody regardless of line-of-sight. And just in case you thought teamwork was a satisfying element, nope, we added another random element to rob that from you too.
Instead of obsessing over fixing all the ways players find around fighting against this boss Bungie, why don't you focus on making a boss that's actually fun and thrilling to fight against and defeat 'properly'? Why don't you try getting back to making battles that feature smart enemies that flank and retreat, and support each other, and complement each other, vs waves of faceless cannon fodder that only serve to distract from the large, barely mobile, personality-devoid boss characters.
/rant
Ok, one thing I will say, I do appreciate what Bungie tried to do conceptually with some of these boss fights. They basically tried to add a bit of Zelda-style 'puzzle-boss' elements around the core shooting. Conceptually, that's a great idea, and more over, the specific 'puzzles' they created aren't bad either. But the bosses aren't fun to play against and neither are the adds, and that's BEFORE you factor in glitches and rampant connection problems, so it's no wonder people are by-passing all of Bungie's creative design in effort just to get through it for the gratification of the loot drop.
