Highlights

  • Destiny 2 still offers excellent gunplay with diverse weapons and satisfying mechanics, making it worth playing in 2024.
  • The highly anticipated expansion, The Final Shape, expected to be the biggest and most important yet, makes Destiny 2 worth playing this year.
  • New players may want to wait for the Into the Light update, which will provide context and revive base game content, before jumping into Destiny 2.

Since its release in 2017, Bungie's Destiny 2 has stood the test of time as one of the best looter shooters ever made, with immensely satisfying gunplay, engaging role-playing mechanics, and plenty of content to boot. Despite all of its admirable qualities, however, including its lifespan, many gamers might be wondering whether it is still worth playing in 2024.

Destiny 2 has been shrouded in controversy for some time now, as players seem to be consistently unhappy with almost anything Bungie adds to or takes away from the game. Still, that doesn't mean Destiny 2 is worth ignoring in 2024, as it still has plenty to offer that many other games do not.

destiny 2 dawning key art
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Destiny 2's Gunplay Is Still Unmatched

Destiny 2 players may not be able to agree on much, but one thing they can agree on is that Destiny 2 has some of the best gunplay in gaming history, and it continues to prove at least that much is true with every passing update. From its beginning, Destiny 2 has stood as a prime example of fluid and satisfying gunplay, with a diverse arsenal of weapons and abilities at the disposal of its players.

Fans have often praised Destiny 2's gun mechanics for their responsiveness and precision, which ultimately adds to the satisfaction players feel when they score a headshot or otherwise noteworthy kill. In addition to this satisfying gunplay, players can mix up their gameplay with a wide variety of abilities unique to their class. All of this makes Bungie's ongoing MMO still worth playing any year, and that includes 2024.

The Final Shape Expansion Arrives in 2024

Destiny 2 The Final Shape Collector's Edition

One of the main reasons Destiny 2 is worth playing in 2024 is because of the highly anticipated release of The Final Shape expansion this June. Cited as "the culmination of the first ten years of Destiny storytelling," The Final Shape is expected to be the game's biggest and most important expansion thus far.

While arguably no expansions have been able to top Forsaken since its release in 2018, it seems Bungie expects The Final Shape to outperform every expansion to date. This alone makes Destiny 2 worth playing in 2024, especially in the months leading up to the expansion's release.

New Players May Be Better Off Waiting for Into the Light

One major criticism Bungie has been facing for several years now is Destiny 2's poor experience for new players. Much of the game's foundational narrative, like the Red War, has been vaulted, so new players are typically thrown into Destiny 2 with very little context to explain the goings-on of the game. Additionally, the amount of content in Destiny 2 is so vast that many new players feel overwhelmed within their first few hours with the game, and they end up leaving altogether.

Thankfully, Bungie plans to release an update called "Into the Light" sometime in 2024, before the release of The Final Shape. It's currently unclear what all will be introduced with Into the Light, but the game's director, Joe Blackburn, emphasized that it would be a way for longtime veterans and new players alike to prepare for The Final Shape. Blackburn's description of Into the Light seems to indicate that it will revive Destiny 2's base game content, especially as players have been requesting that it return for some time. In light of this, it might be best for new players to wait for Into the Light before jumping into the game.

Despite the persistent controversy it has faced, Destiny 2 remains worth playing, even in 2024. It excels in its gunplay, and with the upcoming release of The Final Shape expansion, fans of the first-person looter-shooter genre should dive into the game sooner rather than later. At the same time, it may still be best for new players to wait to play Destiny 2 until the release of the Into the Light update in the coming months.