Season of the Witch remains a triumph in difficult times for Destiny 2

After a sudden wave of layoffs and vague plans for the game’s future, Bungie and the Destiny 2 community were hit with extreme doom and depression. Unfolding the final shape may be delayed.

What’s always talked about about this situation is that it actually has nothing to do with the current season of the game. Usually when things are “bad” in Destiny, it’s because of the off-season or a subpar expansion (*cough* Lightfall). now? That’s not happening. A) Give Bungie credit where it’s due, but B) Even so, it’s hard to assess what exactly Season of the Witch got right in order to bring this up as a bit of a cause for concern. I think it’s important. This season, which I consider to be probably one of the top three in Destiny history, exists in the midst of such a massive downturn and is unable to reverse the downward trend. Oops, I was trying to be positive, but yes, I think that’s a problem.

At the end of the day, Season of the Witch has a lot of elements that I think really stand out in terms of making the season great. More so than virtually any previous season. Even a season of “glorious days” like Opulence may be great in some categories (good activity!) but completely lacking in others (was there ever a story in the first place? Or?).

The spire of Sabathun – Destiny is often criticized for not bringing enough strikes with new content, and that’s very much the case these days. Instead, they’re reusing old areas to infiltrate the enemy-dense zones of Battlegrounds, which tend to get clogged with enemies. I don’t care about them, but it’s not the same thing. Enter Savathun’s Spire. We think this is the most interesting version of the Modular Strike we’ve seen so far. Each phase has different encounters, culminating in different final bosses. It’s like he has three attacks rolled into one, and it feels like the concept has evolved in a way that Battlegrounds didn’t.

altar of summoning – Again, I like the move away from the 6-player action most of the time, as the new enemy density and reduced player count makes combat more engaging. The “Summoning Altar” here acts as a mix between “Court of Oryx,” “Sundial,” and “Zoo,” some of Destiny 2’s best activities of all time, or at least I think it has been vastly undervalued as a seasonal activity based on nostalgic criteria. The only problem I can say is that the player randomly selects the difficulty level. That said, there may be some bad instances due to lack of communication, but overall it’s a great activity.

aesthetic – The art direction here is spot on in every way. Savathun’s return to the vast halls of the Throne World, infused with the magic of Hive-infected Eris, is a welcome one. From exotic weapons to exotic armor to the tree-based armor set available in the Battle Pass, this is the best overall aesthetic we’ve seen yet.

Eververse Concession – This is a small thing, but at least they did it. They’ve taken armor sets from Eververse and dropped them into playlists this season.Probably not the best thing to polish forever, but it is something, superficial pursuits meant playing the game’s core playlist can feel rewarding. Because otherwise you’d be paying $45 across three classes for this set. It’s a small but important action and I hope things like this happen more often.

story – Immaru may be the most purely entertaining character in Destiny history. When Cayde-6 was comic relief, looking back on it now, I think he was a bit like Joss Whedon for my tastes. He’s a particularly “funny guy,” whereas Imar just seems funny with his brutal honesty and constant takedowns. But on the more serious side, this was the culmination of a 10-year storyline where Eris literally becomes a hive god in revenge for everything he did to her, and it was great. The only issue here was the final, somewhat interrupted cutscene and the one shoved into the lore page rather than realized on screen. But it was more a matter of budget than anything, and the story itself was still spot on (read the “Saint-14 Kills Savathun” lore page, for example).

festival of the dead – Well, it’s a good event this year. why? That’s because I started pursuing what I really wanted. I wasn’t sure how to feel about the pursuit of “Super Black” festival memorabilia, as it felt a bit like the old days of consumable shaders. Still, after growing it, acquiring it, and applying it, this feels like a truly meaningful cosmetic pursuit, and I can say this is something we haven’t seen in a long time. It’s fun for me to get memorabilia and choose which of my favorite craft guns is “deserving.” I think it was a good new impetus for the seasonal event, even if the activity itself is a repeat of years past, and I would say no to having similar memorabilia for future events. is.

We have others, too. There’s a lot to like, including tarot cards, some great new weapons, and more. Although it’s lacking in a few areas, I fully believe this is one of his best seasons of Destiny. But…when the state of the game is this deep underground and has no connection to current quality, that’s a problem. I’ll explain more later, but I just wanted to get out of my blues for a little while.

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