Highlights
- Destiny 2's Season of the Witch has impressed players with its unique gameplay features and engaging narrative, but some are disappointed by its abrupt ending and off-screen storytelling techniques.
- Players have noticed that important story moments are revealed through lore tabs or off-screen, leaving many feeling unsatisfied with the overall seasonal narrative.
- Speculation has arisen about the reasons behind this storytelling approach, including the rarity of Guardian speaking in cutscenes and potential model changes for Eris Morn.
Just as Destiny 2 hits a pivotal moment within the Season of the Witch story, players note that Bungie has once again reverted to one of its more controversial storytelling techniques. To this point, the latest Destiny 2 season seems to have hit a chord with most players thanks in large part to its unique gameplay features like being able to utilize cards to add modifiers to gameplay through a deckbuilding component as well as activities like the Altars of Summoning which presents players with a variety of enemies and objectives to overcome.
Destiny 2's Season of the Witch also taps into a storyline that sees Eris Morn utilize her Hive abilities to essentially become a God of Vengeance. Players assist Eris in gaining power in a last ditch effort to go up against Xivu Arath, the current Hive God of War, by taking on rituals and tithing enemies. As each week goes by, Eris gains more and more power, though the added risk teases that if she goes too far, she could be trapped in her Hive-like state forever, essentially losing her humanity in the process. Week 7 continues this narrative, though players have noticed that not only does the story end abruptly, but Bungie has seemingly brought back one of its infamous storytelling techniques as well.
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New threads on the Destiny subReddit have started to pop up by players who felt that this week's storyline for Season of the Witch ended abruptly. One user named DaLawrence even felt like they had accidentally pressed a button, skipping a potentially important scene entirely, before realizing that not only did the weekly quest complete, but the latest lore page for Rites of Passage was handed out and essentially gives important details for the season that most feel should have been addressed within a cutscene at the very least. Comments tended to agree with this assessment, leading many to speculate as to why Bungie decided to go this route in a more unfulfilling way.
Warning, spoilers ahead for the Season of the Witch storyline.
Some speculated that the reason the story was pushed offscreen is that it featured the Guardian speaking, which has been rare to hear within cutscenes throughout Destiny 2's lifecycle. Others theorized a budget related constraint including a change to Eris Morn's model as the lore book indicated she had her eyes uncovered and likely would have required a different look entirely to make work in game.
Regardless, it seems the majority of the fan base isn't satisfied with this week's ending, as many have taken to social media to give their thoughts on Bungie continuing to reveal new and important story moments off-screen. This isn't something new to Bungie or the Destiny 2 franchise as the storytelling has had plenty of previously big moments undercut by being revealed through the lore or off-screen entirely. One of the biggest Destiny 2 moments involved the death of Sagira, the ghost of Osiris, which ultimately led to a number of key moments related to the rise of Savathun ahead and her eventual actions inside the Witch Queen expansion.
Destiny 2 is currently available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
