Destiny - Review Thread

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Alienous said:
News flash, if most of the reviews are playing it on normal then most of the players are doing the same. Thus the reviews are valid, more valid than if they played it your way.

Also it's a design problem if the AI becomes poor at a normal difficulty. That makes it Bungie's problem, not the reviewer's.
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It's incredible to me that the notion that FPS AI behavior itself scales in accordance with difficulty settings still survives.
 
Quentyn said:
Polygon - 6/10

Let's wipe away Bungie's legacy with Halo, which put them on top of the world and in a position to make a game they've said they always wanted to make for ages. We'll step back from the whispers of giant budgets, of corporate politics. For now, Destiny is just another game.

As just another game, Destiny is a confusing combination of often at-odds elements — it presents itself as ambitious, almost boastful, while seeming strangely safe and reserved. It wants to eat its cake as a shooter, and have the longevity of an MMO — but it lacks the combat sophistication of the former, and the deep well of content native to the latter.
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I have to say, I totally agree!

As someone who is only interested in the competitive side of most FPS' I'm so disappointed in Destiny/Bungie. Bungie had the chance to do something speical again (dream project, extremely high budget..) but the result feels really safe and...boring (basically Halo meets CoD). Was hoping for a great new console FPS MP that could do for this generation of consoles what Halo 2 did for the original Xbox. Really disappointing!
 
spacemonkeynation said:
It's clear to me that these reviewers, and most others, are playing this game's missions on the default "normal (i.e. EASY these days) difficulty" and then lambasting the game with complaints of poor AI. As an MMO-lite and the entry point of a new series it's clear that the normal difficulty has been crafted to ease new blood into the play space. As such it is extremely underwhelming for veteran shooter fans. So to review a game based on that setting is completely disingenuous.
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The A.I. is very hit or miss regardless of the difficulty. I'm having pretty good luck so far, but there are some stretches of time where I'm wondering if I was imagining what they were doing before that point.

But then again the A.I. has to conform to some of the restrictions on place given the nature of the game, and it might make them seem dumber than they actually are.

Regardless though, that seems like a loaded conclusion to come to.
 
Seanspeed said:
Its really not. Normal difficulty should be the expected difficulty level for most people to play on, so it would probably be more disingenuous to review based on any other difficulty.

And what does turning up the difficulty do? Does it really make the enemies drastically smarter? Or does it simply mean a jump in health and damage for them?
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It spawns additional enemies in some places, and elite versions of some normal ones. Playing on hard actually improves the progression of the game a bit since elites enemies drop money and other goodies when normal ones don't.
 
Moofers said:
Your nuts, dude. Dark Souls 2 is easily the top dog if we're not counting remasters. Otherwise, TLOU and Tomb Raider have great claim to the honor as well.

This is a pretty polarizing game. My buddy just texted me last night and told me it finally clicked and he considers it a must-have. Before that, he had been telling me how bullshit the game was and how he was so disappointed with it. I've been asking him what changed or what specifically turned his opinion around, but I've yet to hear back. His reversal isn't the first one I've seen on this game though.
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This was my experience in the Alpha
 
James Sawyer Ford said:
Yeah, I don't know why, but Titanfall had some huge media hype machine going for it. Maybe it was because it was an exclusive and the first big new IP. Funny how it seems to have fizzled out though.
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It released, that's why. Hype usually always dissipates with time afterward unless you're a small game that builds up over time from having little to none prior to release.


I never really saw the huge media hype for Destiny. Most of it came from the fans of the beta.
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Really? Not all of the magazine covers, the bold-faced type shouting platitudes that seemed to create something on the horizon that was bigger than anything that has come before or how about that unprecedented and much-touted half-billion dollar marketing/production spend? What about Sony co-marketing it and later proudly claiming it as being treated as a first party release with system bundle?

I do think it's a bit ridiculous that Bungie is held to a much higher standard. For everything they've done wrong with story, there's so much more to be said for what they got right with co-operative gameplay with true longevity.
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Is it really so ridiculous to hold them to a standard which includes one of the most critically and commercially successful franchises in the history of console gaming? One that more than most before it emphasized narrative, lore, and strong replayable content with friends and rivals alike?

What is bare bones about Destiny's PvP compared to Titanfall?
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Titanfall is nothing but multiplayer that goes a step above its forebears and it never once made bold claims to be anything else. IMO, Destiny Crucible is a tacked-on feeling, barely filled-out extra mode in a game that was mainly sold on its social features, co-op play, loot, and exploration wrapped up in a Halo-class presentation.
 
10 point drop on Metacritic in 24 hours.

Well done, Bungie.

I used to love these guys, but everything about Destiny has made me feel ambivalent.
 
If they had allowed reviews before the game was launched, the game would have set the record for most pre-orders cancelled.
 
I'm still enjoying the game but how did no one at Bungie sit down and play the game and not go "You know what? this is kind of repetitive"

The gunplay is great and it has nice visuals and music but the mission design and structure is abysmal
 
Timmay said:
One less GOTY contender. I get the feeling the majority of games in the running for GOTY this year are going to be remasters (Halo, TLOU, GTA).
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Dark Souls 2 reviewed extremely well, but has seen a lot of backlash. Interesting to see how that one pans out.
 
James Sawyer Ford said:
It is?

The co-op is MASSIVELY expanded in Destiny, and the MP seems just as fleshed out.

The character progression/class system has more bells and whistles in it than any Bungie game released.
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And yet the multiplayer is still worse than any other game Bungie has released... funny how that works. I can't believe that people still think that character progression and customization automatically make multiplayer games better haha.
 
James Sawyer Ford said:
It is?

The co-op is MASSIVELY expanded in Destiny, and the MP seems just as fleshed out.

The character progression/class system has more bells and whistles in it than any Bungie game released.
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Uh... no.

They axed story mission matchmaking from Reach, and they dropped the number of players, so that's two drops right there.

And the MP is laughably shallow compared to Reach. Fewer maps, smaller fights, less complexity, and wildly uninspired game types.
 
Sotha_Sil said:
GAF likes to give review sites crap about favoring large AAA IPs, but let's look at how the new and highly hyped AAA franchises have started out:

Titanfall - 86
Watch Dogs - 80
Destiny - 77

Seems like a pretty fair situation to me.
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Titanfall is still way too high. It was content-starved and lacked a remotely good stoey like Destiny, but at least Destiny is technically polished.
 
nib95 said:
You review the game for what it is and the content it has (in this case Destiny has a tonne more going for it beyond the competent PvP), not what the developer made in the past. Respawn is made up of mainly ex IW guys, but Titanfall is no where near as content rich as Call of Duty, and that is fine. Does seem to me like there is a big double standard in the industry in picking and choosing when certain things matter and when they don't, or who can be let off for a lack of this, that or the other, and who can't.

Saying that, it's nothing new. Inconsistencies in journalism, even among the same journalists, are old as gold.
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No, it isn't fair at all to compare Respawn to Bungie in this situation. If Destiny was made by 50-70 people that branched off from Bungie, it would. Titanfall was not made by IW, it was made by a much smaller team. Destiny had full access to Bungie's hundreds of employees. No double standard.
 
Nirolak said:
I understood their argument circa 2008-2009, but in 2012-2014 game critics have been waaaay harsher on AAA.
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Honestly I think this is just because on average the quality of AAA has been lower the last few years, with a few notable exceptions obviously. That side of the industry has become so stagnent and risk adverse. Hopefully this will change soon, I think there's quite a few intersting looking titles on the horizon.
 
MightyHedgehog said:
Titanfall is nothing but multiplayer that goes a step above its forebears and it never once made bold claims to be anything else. IMO, Destiny Crucible is a tacked-on feeling, barely filled-out extra mode in a game that was mainly sold on its social features, co-op play, loot, and exploration wrapped up in a Halo-class presentation.
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How is PvP tacked on? That's like half the reason why I go Destiny. I love the MP.
 
jacksepticeye said:
I'm still enjoying the game but how did no one at Bungie sit down and play the game and not go "You know what? this is kind of repetitive"

The gunplay is great and it has nice visuals and music but the mission design and structure is abysmal
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Couldn't agree more. The mission design is terrible, hardly any variety to speak of.
 
Ah first post on gaf. Finally got accepted! :D

I've played around 15 hours now and I think it's pretty clear what happened with this game - Bungie forgot to plan again. I've followed the aftermath of every Halo game and there have been some severe production planing screw ups over the course of a decade.

In some cases, it went by unnoticed (Halo CE), but at other times it would be clear as day (Halo 2). The management team at Bungie has always been overindulgent on its concepts but for some reason has never had the ability to plan its projects according to its ambitions. It wasn't until after making 4 games of the same franchise that Bungie sorted out its woeful production cycle with its fifth Halo game (Reach).

Or at least I'd like to think this is what happened. I love the Halo games so Bungie obviously means the world to me. By the cynic in me is saying that the end result is exactly how Bungie wanted the game - generic enough to slip into everyone's purchase list, and short enough to force multiple dlc packages down the customer's throat. This is Activision afterall, and Activision would never invest $500 million if Bungie were going to hold the traditional integrity of a $60 purchase.

Whatever the case, it's left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm usually pretty smart about my game purchases, so this is like first time I've felt properly swindled. I'm not interested in the universe at all, so I'm not going to be pursuing the franchise.

I really hope Bungie gets a chance to make a new franchise this generation, because thinking about Destiny and its expansion packs as Bungie's sole output over the next 10 years is seriously depressing the fuck out of me.
 
Imagine what the attitude must be at Bungie right now....you work on a project for 6 years and it gets hammered by reviews. That must suck royally.

That being said, I know that they are comfortable ($$$$$) in their grief at the moment.
 
Seanspeed said:
Its really not. Normal difficulty should be the expected difficulty level for most people to play on, so it would probably be more disingenuous to review based on any other difficulty.

And what does turning up the difficulty do? Does it really make the enemies drastically smarter? Or does it simply mean a jump in health and damage for them?
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They literally behave differently. It's akin to Halo on Heroic.
 
Duxxy3 said:
If they had allowed reviews before the game was launched, the game would have set the record for most pre-orders cancelled.
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Perhaps, but only because it would have been a small fraction of so many.The hype train stops for nothing.

The good news is that Bungie has to try much harder on their next project. That "don't worry, we at Bungie know how to make these kinds of games" thing can be retired, and a more humble, hard-working ethic can take its place.
 
OddMorsel said:
The Destiny story isn't great but saying the writing and story in Borderlands 2 was good pretty much invalidates your point entirely.
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Saying Destiny story 'isn't great' is underselling it a hell of a lot. There's not much of it, and what there is either tedious exposition or straight up cliches. Sure, Borderlands 2 story is awful, but at least it's having fun with it. Destiny's story is what a depressed preteen thinks is cool, with the majority cribbed from his favorite movies. There's no life, no character, no energy... it's truly terrible in every way.
 
James Sawyer Ford said:
Yeah, I don't know why, but Titanfall had some huge media hype machine going for it. Maybe it was because it was an exclusive and the first big new IP. Funny how it seems to have fizzled out though.

I never really saw the huge media hype for Destiny. Most of it came from the fans of the beta.
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You saw the media hype for Titanfall but not Destiny?! What rock were you under? This game doesn't have a grass roots beta marketing campaign. The only difference between the media hype between Destiny and Titanfall is that media were actually playing Titanfall since the E3 it debuted at.

I do think it's a bit ridiculous that Bungie is held to a much higher standard. For everything they've done wrong with story, there's so much more to be said for what they got right with co-operative gameplay with true longevity.
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Going to just have to extremely disagree with this with a link to my previous post in this thread. I like the game a lot so far, but the way they're handling the social and co-op experience is extremely disappointing and completely antithetical to the type of experience they've said they're trying to make.
 
nib95 said:
You review the game for what it is and the content it has, not what the developer made in the past. Respawn is made up of mainly ex IW guys, but Titanfall is no where near as content rich as Call of Duty, and that is fine. Does seem to me like there is a big double standard in the industry in picking and choosing when certain things matter and when they don't, or who can be let off for a lack of this, that or the other, and who can't.

Saying that, it's nothing new. Inconsistencies in journalism, even among the same journalists, are old as gold.
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Well if a game's elements are weaker than what the developer has done before, I see no reason to omit saying it. Its just providing a basis of comparison to draw on, which is how any criticism ever works. Its how expectations work, as well.

Dark Souls 2 was judged on the shoulders of Dark Souls 1, and Bloodborne will be judged on the shoulders of all the previous Souls games combined. This is just how it works and there's no way of getting around it. Respawn is *not* Infinity Ward and is a much smaller team with a smaller budget. That's why they were given some slack by many. If TitanFall had come straight from Infinity Ward, you'd bet it would have been seen as far more disappointing.
 
Surface of Me said:
No, it isn't fair at all to compare Respawn to Bungie in this situation. If Destiny was made by 50-70 people that branched off from Bungie, it would. Titanfall was not made by IW, it was made by a much smaller team. Destiny had full access to Bungie's hundreds of employees. No double standard.
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Since when do journalists make concessions in reviews for games based on the number of developers working on the title? Lol. If it's a $60, you review it as a $60 game. If it's a cheaper $20 indie title or whatever, you review it as such too. End of the day you're paying the same amount of money for the content, what matters is what that content is, how much of it there is, and how fun it is (among other variables).
 
Polygon - 6/10

Let's wipe away Bungie's legacy with Halo, which put them on top of the world and in a position to make a game they've said they always wanted to make for ages. We'll step back from the whispers of giant budgets, of corporate politics. For now, Destiny is just another game.

As just another game, Destiny is a confusing combination of often at-odds elements — it presents itself as ambitious, almost boastful, while seeming strangely safe and reserved. It wants to eat its cake as a shooter, and have the longevity of an MMO — but it lacks the combat sophistication of the former, and the deep well of content native to the latter.

For all the wonder of its presentation, the swelling potential suggested by its (excellent) score and the basic foundational strength of its controls, Destiny often feels like a collection of its influences' biggest problems.
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so they complain about content and wrote the review before this other stuff comes out?

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antitrop said:
Dark Souls 2 reviewed extremely well, but has seen a lot of backlash. Interesting to see how that one pans out.
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The only backlash was when it was compared to another GOTY game, Dark Souls 1. Yeah most think 2 is not as good as 1, but 1 was fucking brilliant so it's not like it's true "backlash" to say that DS2 doesn't quite measure up to "fucking brilliant".
 
James Sawyer Ford said:
It is?

The co-op is MASSIVELY expanded in Destiny, and the MP seems just as fleshed out.

The character progression/class system has more bells and whistles in it than any Bungie game released.
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Why do you keep saying this. Crucible is not remotely as fleshed out as a game like Halo Reach. No ranking system, no theater mode, not nearly as many playlists, no custom game modes, no forge-like feature, etc.
 
If this game wasn't made by Bungie and wasn't cracked up to be a PS4 advantage in the console wars, I can't help but feel like a lot of people defending this game would be. I mean people are excusing flaws like, "Wait for the DLC", "Who cares about the story", "Good. I didn't want too many social features either", "Every game is repetitive." And with those objective issues still declare it GOTY when there's many better games released. I just feel like people are forcing themselves to like it more than they do. I mean...this can't really be your goty. Watch Dogs was less flawed than this.
 
antitrop said:
Dark Souls 2 reviewed extremely well, but has seen a lot of backlash. Interesting to see how that one pans out.
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I think it's a case of Destiny showing the same kind of disappointment and divisiveness in both the press and the community, whereas Dark Souls II was largely lauded by the press and the stuff that polarized the community was largely glossed over in reviews. It's kind of a perception thing, since many of the controversial elements of DkS2 were "under the surface" and not as easily noticed if you weren't a series veteran.
 
Alexanders Ghost said:
Ah first post on gaf. Finally got accepted! :D

I've played around 15 hours now and I think it's pretty clear what happened with this game - Bungie forgot to plan again. I've followed the aftermath of every Halo game and there have been some severe production planing screw ups over the course of a decade.

In some cases, it went by unnoticed (Halo CE), but at other times it would be clear as day (Halo 2). The management team at Bungie has always been overindulgent on its concepts but for some reason has never had the ability to plan its projects according to its ambitions. It wasn't until after making 4 games of the same franchise that Bungie sorted out its woeful production cycle with its fifth Halo game (Reach).

Or at least I'd like to think this is what happened. I love the Halo games so Bungie obviously means the world to me. By the cynic in me is saying that the end result is exactly how Bungie wanted the game - generic enough to slip into everyone's purchase list, and short enough to force multiple dlc packages down the customer's throat. This is Activision afterall, and Activision would never invest $500 million if Bungie were going to hold the traditional integrity of a $60 purchase.

Whatever the case, it's left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm usually pretty smart about my game purchases, so this is like first time I've felt properly swindled. I'm not interested in the universe at all, so I'm not going to be pursuing the franchise.

I really hope Bungie gets a chance to make a new franchise this generation, because thinking about Destiny and its expansion packs as Bungie's sole output over the next 10 years is seriously depressing the fuck out of me.
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This seems pretty on point. Their concepts ran away from them, and they couldn't quite catch up and deliver on the ambition. I am sure they will, at some point.
 
Goodacre0081 said:
so they complain about content and wrote the review before this other stuff comes out?

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Content kept from the initial game release in order to trickle it out in a set schedule to attempt to chum the waters to keep gamers interested. Not sure how that negates the issues the retail product has.
 
Aaron said:
Saying Destiny story 'isn't great' is underselling it a hell of a lot. There's not much of it, and what there is either tedious exposition or straight up cliches. Sure, Borderlands 2 story is awful, but at least it's having fun with it. Destiny's story is what a depressed preteen thinks is cool, with the majority cribbed from his favorite movies. There's no life, no character, no energy... it's truly terrible in every way.
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Yes... Borderlands 2 told a simple story with a TON of personality and flair. All the cutscenes I've watched from Destiny could be cut-and-pasted from any number of sci-fi/futuristic games/movies/books.
 
Metacritic for Destiny is down to a 75. This game has got to be the biggest letdown of the year. In fact, this whole year has pretty much been a letdown for gaming. Arguably the 2 best games of the year are remastered games. (TLOU:R and Halo MCC)
 
MightyHedgehog said:
It released, that's why. Hype usually always dissipates with time afterward unless you're a small game that builds up over time from having little to none prior to release.
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I know you said *usually* but the truth is that great games, no matter how hyped, do not have its hype fizzle out after release. Look at Dark Souls, The Last of Us, Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy 2, etc.
 
Orayn said:
It spawns additional enemies in some places, and elite versions of some normal ones. Playing on hard actually improves the progression of the game a bit since elites enemies drop money and other goodies when normal ones don't.
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That sounds pretty good.

I still disagree that it *needs* or *should* be reviewed at that difficulty, but maybe it's worth mentioning a bit more as I don't see many people talking about that. Could help some people out not having a great time with the game.
 
For once, I actually agree with Polygon's review.

Given, I am enjoying the game quite a bit, but it is apparent that the game absolutely failed to deliver on what it led gamers to believe it was. As an MMO, the content and social features are severely lacking. As an FPS title, the areas are too repetitive and the enemies are recycled over and over. The multiplayer doesn't do anything unique enough to elevate it above the competition. Bungie dropped the ball here.

That being said, I have a feeling after reactions from gamers reach Bungie's ears, patches and content will attempt to fix a lot of the complaints. I think we need to give the game and Bungie some time to really mold this into something that resembles what we all had in our minds when we thought of Destiny. If they don't, then they better prove themselves on a sequel.
 
rogue_nine82 said:
Imagine what the attitude must be at Bungie right now....you work on a project for 6 years and it gets hammered by reviews. That must suck royally.

That being said, I know that they are comfortable ($$$$$) in their grief at the moment.
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I hope it spurs them to make improvements and expand the game
FOR FREE
 
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