Destiny 2 is in a great spot after the release of The Witch Queen expansion, which broadened the universe built by Bungie through an intimidating new villain while exploring the moral ambiguity of killing Savathun's Hive Lightbearers. The story of The Witch Queen is not the only focus of the expansion, but overall reception of the campaign has contributed to Destiny 2 being the third-highest rated game of the year so far, as did the challenging and rewarding Legendary mode. The appeal of a much harder story campaign is that players have to delve deeper into mechanics to get to the next step, and having good rewards at the end of every mission is a big driving factor.
The Legendary version of The Witch Queen's campaign is far from being the hardest content in the game, that title goes to some of Destiny 2's Raids, Dungeons, and Grandmaster Nightfalls, but it doesn't mean it's a cakewalk. The Witch Queen managed to bridge the gap between Destiny 2's various activities by providing a valid alternative in the difficulty spectrum, while also breaking a trend of unsatisfactory campaigns. In a recent roundtable interview session, Game ZXC spoke to Bungie about what it meant to craft The Witch Queen's campaign this way, and what it may lead to in the future.
How The Witch Queen's Campaign Differs From Regular Destiny 2 Content
To understand why The Witch Queen expansion was so successful in the way it handled its campaign, it's worth going back to past releases. Vanilla Destiny 2 was a fine experience that didn't justify being a sequel on its own, but it was clear early on that the Red War saga was not going to be the end of the story. However, the game's first two expansions didn't quite capture the essence of Destiny releases after players came to expect content on par with The Taken King, or other expansion passes from similar looter-shooters.
Destiny 2 really started to shine once Bungie adopted the seasonal model, and particularly soon after the release of the Shadowkeep expansion. Shadowkeep itself was not well-received because of its rather short and anti-climatic campaign mainly composed of side missions and farming, but the way Bungie handled subsequent seasonal releases showed fans that the game was on the right track. This became even more apparent with the Beyond Light era and its four Seasons, three of which are considered among the best Destiny 2 has ever produced.
As such, having a fantastic campaign in The Witch Queen cemented the idea that Destiny 2 releases can be as good as seasonal content, maybe even on-par with the experience of playing through Dungeons and Raids. Yet the success of the campaign also posed some questions regarding how Bungie is going to deal with future releases and the current activities that are much lighter in content and payoff. Destiny 2 Project Lead Blake Battle tried to respond without giving away too much about what is coming in the game's future.
"It's been really awesome to see the reception of the campaign missions and appreciation for Raid and Dungeon elements in them. I think there's a chance we will look at integrating some of those things into Strikes or Battlegrounds in the future, but we don't have specific plans to do it, and they're very different content."
The Witch Queen's campaign and playlist activities are not on the same level from all perspectives, be it design-wise or in terms of gameplay. This may be apparent to any Destiny 2 fan who has played the game for some time, but it does provide an insight on what it means to build a story-driven experience for a yearly campaign compared to more basic regular releases. Still, there is plenty to learn from what made The Witch Queen so popular among players, and that's what Bungie will likely use as a springboard, according to Battle.
"The campaign missions you can play through linearly, Strikes content tend to be more ritual, and you may want to have a Grandmaster experience with other folks. We're definitely looking at what are the pieces of activity content that tend to resonate with people, what are the common elements, and how we can make those shine better."
Why Destiny 2's Core Playlist Can't Be More Like The Witch Queen's Campaign
In terms of gameplay, The Witch Queen's campaign is similarly powerful in terms of delivery because players are thrown against high-leveled foes without adding lots of Champions into the mix. One of the Master Vault of Glass' main issues is a degree of artificial difficulty spikes via multiple powerful enemies while the activity itself remains pretty much identical with no new mechanics. This was never the case for The Witch Queen, which is still quite hard to complete on Legendary mode, but not as much as a Raid or Dungeon where players need coordination and communication.
It also goes above and beyond what the experience of playing through the story missions from Curse of Osiris or Warmind was, because knowing what to do or how to deal with specific enemies doesn't mean players will prevail. There is a certain degree of danger and excitement in playing through The Witch Queen's missions, as campaigns were often used as a tool to forward the story and introduce new themes, rather than for difficuly gameplay itself. Destiny 2 Narrative Director Adam Grantham explained what The Witch Queen is for Bungie, and why it's an important milestone for the franchise as a whole.
"What we discovered in The Witch Queen is that there is this classic content that we wanted and didn't quite have. We have stuff for the hardcore players with the Dungeons and the Raids, and we have Strikes. That's like the popcorn of Destiny, they're easy to consume, and you can just go play a couple of Strikes a night and that's it, without having to get lost in the story or the mechanics too much. What we didn't have was this medium thing that was accessible to the casual players, but still rich and challenging like Dungeons and Raids."
What this means is that while The Witch Queen's campaign poses interesting questions about what Bungie can do with Destiny 2's future, the fact that it is more challenging than basic content is not the best way to measure change. Regular Strikes may be a chore for veteran players who only need their weekly Pinnacle Gear to drop, but they also serve the purpose of introducing newcomers to a complex game's story and mechanics. However dull playlist activities may be for some players, they are a cornerstone of what Destiny 2 is and was, and they are not going anywhere.
Destiny 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
