Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate Review

The Final Shape is a tough act to follow. Last year’s big expansion to Destiny 2 provided an epic and satisfying conclusion to a decade of storytelling and gameplay. As Bungie’s shooter charts a path to content that moves in a fresh direction, it was always going to be a challenge to hit the mark. But even setting aside the potentially unfair comparison, The Edge of Fate is a letdown. For the first time since the original Destiny launched, I finished exploring the ins and outs of this new expansion and simply had no desire to keep playing. 

In the wake of the recent saga’s conclusion, this new expansion rockets the Guardian out to a distant planetoid called Kepler, and the threat of an encroaching singularity. In a welcome plot advancement, the narrative begins to unfold the secrets behind the enigmatic entities known as the Nine. A new and compelling character takes center stage in the form of a time-displaced man named Lodi, and we get some new insights into long-standing personalities like Ikora Rey and The Drifter. But the thrust of the storytelling is blunted by an excess of weird terminology and an overall lack of direction to the storytelling. Who is the actual villain? Why are we fighting? How are these disparate plot threads connected? While those threads eventually settled into some level of cohesion, I spent most of the expansion doing activities without a fundamental understanding of what was happening, confused and disoriented.

I actively disliked many of the campaign missions, which rely heavily on several gimmicky movement and transportation powers that loosely allude to titles like Metroid, including a “Matterspark” ability that lets you zip through tiny circular holes as a rolling ball. Unfortunately, the accompanying puzzles never really gel. While not overly complicated, they repeatedly halt the pacing and momentum of the one thing I usually most enjoy in an evening of Destiny – the great combat and action. Instead, many encounters and bosses move in fits and starts, as you must pause to look for a generator to charge or a tiny hole to zip through. I was never able to reach that satisfying sense of flow, and it made me dread having to repeat missions. At the same time, in the moments that new movement powers don’t distract, Destiny 2 has lost none of the thrill of its satisfying action and shooting, which remain a highlight.

Kepler is a lackluster destination that often feels weirdly claustrophobic, dominated by tight tunnels and frequent reuse of familiar assets and enemies. I was intrigued by the occasional injection of “timelost” artifacts, like the modern-day train that frequently shows up. But it’s a visual motif that never fully pans out and feels like a missed opportunity. Even so, when the game occasionally opens up, several of the larger battlefield spaces are enjoyable to navigate and explore, and the core navigation and traversal remain fun. 

Post-campaign, I applaud the effort to add several quests that expand on the lore and characters in interesting ways, even if many feel like significant retreads of spaces and battlefields already well-worn by the core campaign. The new Desert Perpetual raid does what Destiny 2 raids have always done successfully, offering a compelling and challenging endgame effort for groups who are ready to put in the time to learn, this time with some fun flexibility in when to tackle each encounter. But it’s a painful climb to prepare for it. 

The Edge of Fate features a significant rework of the interface and tools to get into the action; as a longtime player, I’ve struggled to adjust to the changes, which confuse me more, not less. Nonetheless, I do think they do a good job of letting any given player quickly get to activities that are appropriate for their skill and progression, which is good. The new armor set bonuses are a welcome addition, but the overall new approach to gear and leveling left me quite cold. In a game that has often presented a frustrating grind and repetitive content, the new tier-based weapons and slow advancement pace hold little interest.

Destiny is a fiction and gameplay I deeply love, and I’d be delighted to continue to invest time in its characters and adventures. But the bloat of currencies and systems on display at this point is a major turn-off, and The Edge of Fate’s new additions and changes don’t make me feel compelled to play more. I’ll continue to cheer for the game to grow and expand, and I believe there’s some strong potential to this new saga focused on issues of freedom and pre-determinism. But the current thrust of this expansion just isn’t working.