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Destiny 2: Rise, Relapse, and Decline

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Destiny 2: Rise, Relapse, and Decline

The other day, I had a Destiny 2 relapse. I hadn’t played much Destiny 2 (D2) since 2019, back when it first became free-to-play. For some reason, I decided to redownload it. Why? Well, it was partly the streamers—Destiny players jumping into Warframe (WF) got me curious. I’ve been playing WF, so seeing streamers pivot to it made me wonder what’s going on with Destiny. Bungie’s two recent rounds of layoffs also raised questions. What are the player numbers like now? What’s been added? What’s changed? Why are streamers leaving? That last question is what made me hit download.

First Impressions

First, I was struck by just how high the production value of Destiny 2 is. The environments feature stunning skyboxes that make everything feel bigger than it is—an illusion most games rely on. However, the levels themselves are linear, open-world-style maps with one or two starting points. They feel empty—like a desert: sparse and lifeless. There are only a few activities or encounters scattered about, and they lack the vibrancy to make the world feel alive. There aren’t even animals or small details to bring the environment to life. The characters you do encounter are static, with no voice lines outside of quests. It feels like an older game limited by hardware. Even more frustrating, content from 2017 feels remarkably similar to content from 2024. The formula hasn’t evolved.

Frustration

This staleness feeds into an overall frustrating experience. It’s not clear what you’re supposed to be doing. The game doesn’t guide you well. I tried to search for answers, but the flood of information online is either unhelpful or outdated. Warframe suffers from a similar issue, but its codex system makes things easier to figure out. It shows which quests need doing and explains mechanics better. It’s not perfect, but compared to Destiny 2, it’s a godsend. For example, Destiny asked me to “visit the Drifter.” Who is that? Where is that? In Warframe, the codex would at least give you a bit more information.

The result is an experience that feels alienating. For a game with such high production values, it’s oddly unwelcoming.

Free to Play… or Locked Fun?

Destiny’s free-to-play (F2P) model also rubs me the wrong way. While the base game is technically free, much of the content is locked behind paywalls. Worse, some of that content eventually gets removed from the game entirely. This makes it feel less like a true F2P game and more like a demo. You can play one mission before you have to pay.

Most F2P games make their money through cosmetic microtransactions, but Destiny combines that with paid expansions. On console, certain content even requires a subscription due to platform rules. It’s a business model more akin to an MMO than a F2P game, but even then, it falls short. Other F2P games at least offer consistent access to their content; Destiny seems to thrive on locking fun away.

Less MMO, More Looter Shooter

Destiny’s gameplay loop revolves around loot. You can choose between three classes, and the goal is to gather gear. While this is similar to MMOs, Destiny lacks key MMO features. There’s no crafting, no trading, and no player housing. Instead, you’re tasked with farming bounties to get randomly generated loot. The idea is to grind until you get a good roll. The system allows you to merge gear to improve it, but this process isn’t well-explained. The lack of guidance makes it hard to know if you’re making progress.

It also wants to be a hero shooter, but the classes feel too similar to differentiate them meaningfully. While the weapons feel good to use, the rest of the experience feels shallow—like it’s torn between genres and unable to commit to any one identity.

Shadow of Halo

Destiny feels like a Halo clone, which is ironic given that Bungie created Halo. It’s as if Bungie has stuck to one game style and refused to try anything different. The result is a game that feels like it’s in a constant identity crisis.

Destiny’s core design lacks direction. It feels like it was originally meant to be a single-player game that was awkwardly morphed into an MMO-lite. Yet, it’s missing essential MMO features like trading or clan headquarters. Combine this with an epic, serious story mixed with an unserious tone, and you get a game that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be.

Warframe vs Destiny

On the surface, Destiny and Warframe seem similar—sci-fi looter shooters competing for the same audience. But a closer look shows stark differences. Bungie has 1,300 employees (not all working on Destiny), while Digital Extremes (DE) has around 500 employees (again, not all working on Warframe). Yet DE has consistently outpaced Bungie in terms of content delivery.

Here’s a quick breakdown of major Destiny content since 2019:

  • Shadowkeep (Oct 2019)

  • Beyond Light (Nov 2020)

  • Witch Queen (Feb 2022)

  • Lightfall (Feb 2023)

  • Final Shape (June 2024)

Meanwhile, Warframe delivered:

  • 15 major updates (U24 to U38), including multiple new open worlds, quests, modes, and remasters.

  • Examples include The New War, The Duviri Paradox, and Warframe: 1999.

Warframe’s updates are free and remain accessible. The game has evolved significantly, adding new characters, reworking old content, and introducing systems like spaceship combat, racing, and even fishing. Warframe embraces creativity and risk-taking. Destiny, by comparison, feels small—even its grand skyboxes can’t hide its lack of scope.

Zero Advertising, Maximum Respect

There’s a joke in the gaming community that Warframe’s advertising budget is Destiny’s development budget. Warframe’s success has come from respecting its players’ time and wallets. Weekly development updates and livestreams keep the community informed, creating a sense of connection. By contrast, Bungie’s communication has been sparse—a single blog post in 2024 is hardly enough.

Warframe is one of the longest-running and most popular F2P games, consistently delivering more with less. Destiny may have had greater mainstream success, but Warframe has quietly built a loyal community by doing right by its players.

Do I Keep Playing?

That’s a hard question to answer. I’m finding little reason to stick around. I’m curious about certain systems—how to get better armour, what the Light system does, and how to get stronger—but the lack of guidance makes it a struggle. I’m playing solo and don’t want to spend money, so I’m muddling through. Destiny feels like it’s in a lull, and I can’t take it too seriously.

What puzzles me most is why Destiny was so successful in the first place. Everything I disliked about the beta remains, yet it’s managed to maintain a large audience. Maybe that’s the real mystery—how a game with so many flaws became one of gaming’s biggest names.