Review – Destiny 2: 2025

As a preface, this review covers the game and its player onboarding/content enjoyment from a modern perspective. Destiny 2 was originally released in 2017 as a paid game. Since then, it has gone through a multitude of changes and ownership changes. Additionally, it has since become a very different game since launch.

Content Guide

Spiritual Content: Destiny 2 does reference things being occult in the context of the game; however, it’s implied to the player that any magic or occultism is just advanced technology and not truly magic. Additionally, the society in the game seems to worship the light which could be a stand-in for God, but its mostly just enforcing that light is good and darkness is bad.

Violence: Destiny 2’s main focus is on protecting the light of the world, and in doing so, the guardians, aka player characters, kill a multitude of enemies from insectoid-looking enemies to robots and even more human-esque enemies. There is gore but not blood; enemies will explode into parts occasionally and litter the battlefield, but without any of the associated blood and guts, and just miscellaneous armor parts and shell covers. Overall, the violence is more tame than other 1st person shooters such as Call of Duty or Battlefield, as Destiny 2 is T-rated, meaning that the starting age for intended access is 13, so the game can’t be as violent as what is permissible in the 17-up M rating.

Language: There is light swearing in Destiny 2, such as d**n and b***h, and b*****d. The text and voice chat, however, are not regulated, meaning anything is fair game, which can be a concern for people who don’t want to hear swearing or other upsetting language. There is a profanity filter for text chat, and voice chat can be muted and turned off.

Sexual Content: There is no overt sexual content; however, some of the outfits can be form-fitting on both male and female guardians. Some aliens also appear to be wearing rudimentary coverings, but it could also just be part of their design.

Alcohol and Drugs: There is none.

Negative Content: The biggest concerns for parents would be the online connectivity, as Destiny 2 has a lot of player interaction in the gameplay, such as Vanguard missions and raids; however, these can again be accomplished without using interaction through voice and text. Another negative element of the game, which is noticeably a major pain point for long-time players, is the monetization of the game with various expensive cosmetics, expansions, and battle passes.

Positive Content: The guardians are protectors of the light and vulnerable and are normally altruistically good in nature. There is also encouragement to work together to overcome challenges.

Destiny 2 has an ESRB rating of T for Teens and a PEGI rating of 16.

Review

Destiny 2 has not stayed the same throughout its life and has, for better or worse, become a new entity. The most drastic change is from a standard looter shooter to implementing a live service model that has made the game more grindy, and going free to play has definitely played a role in the pricey expansions and cosmetics. The main interest of re-reviewing Destiny 2 was seeing how it had changed from prior Geeks Under Grace reviews, and the overall experience players, new and old, could have. One of the downsides of the live service model is that some elements of the game have been lost to time, including the prior main campaign of the game before it went free to play. Additionally, items and rewards from past battle passes are no longer earned via activities that might have once been rewarded.

This was most evident when revisiting the Shadowkeep expansion, as a lot of the interactivity was lackluster due to players moving on to the newest content. This brings up the other issue, which is a lack of support for new players. A new character was made to see what the experience was like, and it left a lot to be desired; however, the real offender is the overabundance of currencies and UI pages. The UI is clunky and overly complex, which can lead to intimidation and burnout, as there are so many facets of the game that could be streamlined to be more player-friendly. Many clans in the game are entrenched and well defined, meaning it’s less likely to be open to level 1 players since most clans serve the purpose of fireteams, aka group multiplayer and raids.

Another issue is the lack of free content; while there are some activities for free, a more accurate description of the game would be free to start, as without the expansions, the game is rather bland. Destiny 2 is not a bad game by any stretch, just a flawed game. Throughout the playtime, the combat grew progressively more enjoyable, and getting better gear and fleshing out builds and subclasses was rewarding; however, these were also poorly explained, and the mod system for armor in particular was not very logical, as there was no mention of how mods were acquired. There is no real introduction to why a player should choose a class, as the strengths and weaknesses are not mentioned, just the overall concept of the classes, which can be vague.

Gameplay can be repetitive, but if one enjoys first-person shooters and constantly improving their character and its various elements, there is a large amount of fun to be had. The story of the game is rather confusing for a person who didn’t start from the beginning of the game, which is also problematic for new players, though the main draw of the game is the gameplay over the story. The game’s story is intriguing, but Destiny 2 doesn’t seem to put much stock in it outside of the vague good vs evil classic storyline.

Graphically, the game is impressive. It has gone through various improvements since 2017 and still looks modern despite its age. The weapon texturing is good and has lots of detail. The armor is also top-notch in terms of design and texturing. The world design is well thought out as well, comprising a variety of color palettes and flora.

The audio design is great, with a good soundtrack and amazing audio design for effects and ambient sounds. The soundtrack for the game, while not amazing, does the job and is memorable, especially the music in the tower hub area. Voice acting is professional and never sounds unbelievable or flat. Many of the voice actors are experienced veterans who have been known to deliver quality performances.

Destiny 2, while not a perfect game, does have redeemable qualities, and for a person looking for a game to sink multiple hours into, it can be a perfect experience, with regular content updates, a myriad of game modes to choose from, and Destiny 2 has something for almost anyone looking to play a looter shooter with elements reminiscent of Halo.

Overall, Destiny 2 offers quality entertainment at the starting price of free, though the game price slowly adds up. Due to all the years of content and also the lack of full access to past content, it makes the story muddled, which can be off-putting to many. Though for those looking past the flaws, there is a solid experience which has years of content to choose from, and when it goes on sale, it can be quite a bargain.