Review of Destiny: The Taken King (DLC)

This review is based on my experience with the PS4 version of The Taken King.

Note: This review  and its score are based on the content of The Taken King. I will speak about changes made to Destiny for "Year 2," but they do not factor into the score. This is because even people who have not purchased any of the DLC will see these changes as well.

Score: 3/5

Destiny has been able to spread its wings for just over a year now, which means that as of the release of The Taken King we are officially in year two of the game's supposed ten year plan. With the release of the Taken King a whopping 17GB patch was released to change all kinds of things about the game. Quest lines were added, the voice actor of the Ghost was changed to Nolan North, the leveling system was changed entirely, item drops have become more frequent, storage was doubled, you can hold more bounties, and a myriad of other changes have now graced the game. To someone who hasn't played Destiny since a month after launch they might think that these changes are a part of The Taken King, which is certainly not the case. In fact, just like the previous two DLC expansions it adds new story missions, new strikes, and a raid. However, unlike the previous two expansions it tells a cohesive story that's actually interesting, while adding a brand new area to explore.

The Taken King keeps the core of the game the same. It's still a first person shooter fused with a pseudo-MMO. Even a year later I still enjoy the gameplay of Destiny, so I had no problem getting right back into the game. Bungie knows how to make a solid first person shooter. While the gameplay stays the same the story changes it up a bit, because it's actually interesting. Destiny and its previous two expansions showed a cool world, but didn't really explore it at all. All you had to go on were random voices giving you loose context for a mission. It seemed to be an empty world filled with lifeless characters who only existed for you to get weapons from. Year two has helped that issue out a bit with quest information, but The Taken King actually gives some characters a personality by inserting them into cutscenes and actually having them introduce themselves to you.

The Taken King is still all about dumping on your enemies.

The story follows up an event from the first expansion The Dark Below. During the raid, which most players never even get to do, you find yourself defeating the Hive Prince Crota. The Taken King picks up with his father Oryx coming for revenge. He pilots a huge ship called the drednaught, which is the new area to explore. You don't get to go to it right away though, because going in blind would be suicide. First you have to spend some time learning about Oryx and the threat he has brought with him. He introduces a new enemy type called the Taken. Oryx essentially asserts his control over the Fallen, and the Cabal in order to make them work for him. So you see familiar enemy types that have turned into a funky mix of white and black. If they were just another pallet swap I would have been disappointed, but each one has brand new animations and abilities. This means they add some much needed variety to the enemy encounters.

The crux of the story revolves around you finding a way onto the Drednaught so that you can take down Oryx and restore order to the galaxy. In order to do so you need to interact with the three class trainers in the tower. The one who gets the most prominent role is the hunter Cayde-6. He's a sarcastic robot man, who doesn't really respect the authority of the other council members. It's odd, because he's actually pretty funny while everyone else is super dry and serious. In the original your Ghost would make quips to lighten the mood, but those moments were few and far between. Now that Nolan North has replaced Peter Dinlage as the Ghost, your little robot friend speaks a lot more as well. The Ghost and Cade play off of each other quite well, which is good to see. Having these characters guide you through missions makes it feel less like a linear killfest than it did before.

This is Cade-6. It's only taken a year for him to get a personality!

While the missions still almost always involve shooting everyone to death, the objectives in this expansion are occasionally different. In  the original game almost every mission saw you holding off waves of enemies while your Ghost scanned an object or tried to unlock something. Even if I didn't like all of the newly introduced mechanics, it was still nice to see something new. In one of the missions there is a wide gap that's far too big to jump across. If you pull up your ghost he outlines invisible platforms for you to jump on. In another mission you're invisible while infiltrating a hive burial ground. The game forces you into third person, and you have to avoid the red vision cones of enemies like a proper stealth game.

Outside of the story there are a few more additions as well. The competitive multiplayer mode Crucible has gotten three new multiplayer modes and eight new maps. The new multiplayer modes are actually very fun, especially Mayhem. All you're really supposed to do is use your super since it's constantly recharging. This mode is perfect for the three new subclasses added to the game. Warlocks can become Stormcallers to shoot lighting from their hands, Titans can become Sunbreakers and beat everyone down with fire hammers, and Hunters can become Nightstalkers to trap enemies in place with their void bow. These three new classes are cool, and once again add more diversity to a game with very few class options.

The three new subclasses are all interesting.

The Taken King puts Destiny on the precipice of being an amazing game, but it falls just short of that goal. Yes, there was excellent story content and a new area, but is that enough? Sure there's a new area to explore, but just like everything else in the game once you get through the story content you're going to be running the same missions for all of eternity trying to grind rep and get the rare item drops you so desperately crave. It took me just over two hours to run through the main story missions, which feels far too short. Yes, I could do all kinds of stuff to grind for better gear, but then there is nothing new to tackle after beating the new raid. Sadly, I probably won't even get that far, because I'll never be able to complete a raid without in game matchmaking.

People who love Destiny will love what they find here, but if you didn't like it before there isn't a whole lot that's going to change your mind. The Taken King shows that Bungie is trying to take steps towards making the game as good as it can be and that they're willing to make changes based on fan feedback. I think that the problem with Destiny for me starts at its core, so I hope that throughout the next few years they can continue to tweak the game in order to make it realize its true potential. However, if they keep adding expansions on top of what they already have as opposed to making a full fledged Destiny 2, we may never see this franchise blossom into the amazing game I feel it could be.

Episode 2 of the Podcast is Here!

I have finally recorded the second episode of the podcast. In it, I discuss what Destiny actually is and why I found it to be profoundly disappointing. It's just me this time, because I wanted to see if I had the ability to hold a conversation on my own. I think I did a pretty good job. If you want to listen I'll embed the SoundCloud player in this post. However, the podcast is now on Itunes for easier access. So if you get a chance please review and subscribe. You can find it here. Episode 2 isn't showing up yet, but if you subscribe it will download. Enjoy!

Game Time - September 2014

I played three very different games this month. The first was a sweet sweet rhythm game, the second was a Dynasty Warriors game, and the third was a loot based first person shooter. These games couldn't be more different than each other and I had a lot of fun playing all of them. Those are just the ones I'm going to talk about here though.

In case you missed it I put up a Game Time ID of the first Danganronpa. I'm currently playing the 2nd game and it's pretty damn good. I also decided to buy Shovel Knight on the Wii-U, because I got a craving for some retro platforming action. I won't be talking about either of those this month, but I figured they were worth mentioning.

I have a lot to say, so it's probably best if I get right into it. It's game time!

Theatrhythm: Curtain Call

The original Theatrhythm, Final Fantasy Theatrhythm came out in 2012 and I was absolutely in love with it. It was only natural that I would purchase the sequel and love it more than the first one. In an unsurprising turn of events Curtain Call is basically the same game as the original. It adds a few new modes and a whole metric shit ton of content. The gameplay remains essentially unchanged though.

Theatrhythm is a Final Fantasy rhythm game in which you slide and tap the stylus in line with the beat of a song. Curtain Call added the ability to use the buttons and the circle pad on the 3DS as an alternative control style. I tried it for a bit, but didn't like it very much. I've seen a ton of people saying that they have an easier time getting good scores using the buttons, but I already don't have a very hard time using the stylus.

The gameplay remains the same in Curtain Call.

Just like the original game you create a party of four Final Fantasy characters. As you play the game they level up and gain stats. The stats don't really matter to the gameplay unless you're challenging a particularly hard song. You lose health each time you miss a prompt, so the higher level you are the longer you can stay alive. There are a ton more characters to choose from this time around. Not only are there characters from the 14 main Final Fantasy games, but there are some from the spin-off games as well. Characters from Crystal Chronicles, Mystic Quest, Type-0, and more now make an appearance.

On top of the new characters there are a ridiculous amount of new songs as well. All of the ones featured in the first game return, as well as every single DLC song from the first game. When you add in all the songs from spin-off games the total quickly jumps past 200 playable songs. If you're a Final Fantasy fan you'll recognize a vast majority of them. What's cool is that there is a such a wide array of songs to choose from, so if you're not a fan of a game there's plenty more songs to choose from.

Quest mode is a fun addition

There are also two brand new modes in the game. The game now has a versus mode where you can challenge other players to your favorite battle songs. You can battle the AI, local players, or players on the internet. I can't seem to get the online battles to work. Every time I try to join someones game I get a 3DS system error. I've seen other people complaining about it, and it seems to be fairly common. Hopefully it's something that gets fixed soon, because the battles are quite fun. You play the songs like normal, but after hitting so many notes you get an EX power-up and something bad happens to your opponent. Most of the effects make it harder for your opponent to hit notes, but some of them are totally worth it. If you just want to test your skills you can play on the hardest difficulty without power-ups as well.

The other new mode is a quest mode. Randomly generated overworld maps are created and each node on the map is a song. You choose which node you want to go to, and some of them will have boss characters. If you reach the end you have to fight a final boss, and if you kill it you'll be victorious. This is similar to the Chaos mode from the previous game, but it has a little bit more depth. It's trying to make you feel like you're on a Final Fantasy-like adventure even though it's just a rhythm game. This mode is how you unlock most of the characters, because it's the most likely to give you the shards necessary to do so.

You can hang out with fat chocobos now too.

Theathrhythm Curtain Call is an amazing game. I've played it for far too many hours already and I'll probably continue to do so. This time around each DLC song is only $0.99 as opposed to the $1.99 in the previous game. That means I'll be able to convince myself I need to buy way more songs. If you don't like Final Fantasy this game is absolutely not for you. It's essentially a nostalgia factory for fans of the series. If these games keep selling well hopefully Square will realize they need to make a similar game for all of their classic RPGs.


Hyrule Warriors

I don't know what there is to really say about Hyrule Warriors. It's a Dynasty Warriors game with Zelda characters. As you have heard me say many times in the past I love me some Dynasty Warriors action. Yes, I realize that the gameplay is super repetitive and not very complex. I also don't care. It's fun to slash through hundreds of enemies with little no no resistance while sweet guitar riffs happen all around me. The difference this time is that I get to to it as Zelda characters.

I don't really know why Nintendo let this collaboration happen, but I'm perfectly okay with it. I just don't really know how people who don't like Dynasty Warriors are going to take it. There is a buttload of Zelda references in the game, which are amazing. I just don't know if that's enough to get people to enjoy a Dynasty Warriors game if they don't already. It's the same formula, but now you can be Link.

Dynasty Warriors: Link Edition

There are actually some cool new additions to the game that I hope Tecmo Koei takes back to their other Dynasty Warriors games. Hyrule Warriors has a lot of giant monsters in it, as do a lot of other games in this series. The difference here is that all the monsters are weak to specific items. The Gohma Queen shoots her laser eye and then it's weak to an arrow show. Once the monster is knocked down they're left open to attacks, If you hurt them enough you'll do a crazy powerful move on them that takes away a ton of health.

I think that the addition of collectibles on the map is great as well. Zelda games often have you searching for Golden Skulltullas or things of that nature. They appear in this game as well. A web appears on the map and then you have to search the area. They're often obscured by a rock or something. When you attack them they give you some lame concept art, but the idea behind having collectibles in each map is cool.

Defeating large monsters is actually pretty fun.

There's only so much I can say about the game. You push the same button over and over to kill hundreds of enemies as Zelda characters. I think it's amazing, but a lot of people don't.

Destiny

Bungie is almost exclusively known for creating the Halo franchise. So when the news that that would no longer be making Halo hit it was a pretty huge deal. That was years ago, when the world found out they were making Destiny. There's been a huge amount of marketing about the game and I feel like people have been talking about it ever, It's Bungie's first non Halo game in a super long time, so it's only natural that people would be excited. In fact this is the first PlayStation 4 game that almost everyone on my friends list has. So the real question is it a good game? Yes and no.

I want to like Destiny, and I do to a certain extent. However, in the games current state I think that it's repetitive and boring. For those who don't know it's a first person shooter with MMO trappings. It also has some elements of Borderlands and Phantasy Star Online as well. It has shooting that feels very good and is easy to control, and you get guns that vary in terms of how they shoot and how much damage they do. One of the problems the game has is that the guns aren't varied enough. Sure they get better in terms of damage, but all the auto rifles are still basically the same exact thing. It's a shame, because the game is all about collecting weapons and armor in order to get better.

Get ready to shoot lots of aliens!

Playing Destiny with friends is great. It's super easy to get into a group and do whatever. There are always missions and things to do. That's where Destiny is kind of not doing it for me. The part where I have to grind the same levels and missions over and over is not exactly what I would call fun. The games story is an absolute joke to boot. Every single mission involves you putting out your little robot buddy to scan something. Immediately following that enemies attack and you fend off a few waves. That's literally the central crux of every single mission in the game. To make it even worse all of the lore isn't even accessible in the game itself. You have to go to Bungie's website to read cards you've unlocked by playing the game...

The level cap at the moment is 20, but you can advance to level 30 by grinding for loot that has light on it. When I say grind I mean it. I've done the same story missions dozens of times with friends just to try for a chance to get better armor. These missions aren't really that fun either. The act of shooting enemies is satisfying, but I find all of the bosses to be super tedious. Most of them are nothing more than bullet sponges. Shooting the same enemy for twenty minutes until it dies and maybe drops something that's worth a shit is not appealing to me. What's even less appealing is fighting those same bosses over and over to try and get faction reputation so that I can buy better armor and guns.

This is my hot Destiny character.

Destiny frustrates me, because it has flashes of brilliance in it. It's also extremely flawed, especially the loot system. When your players would rather find exploits to get loot to drop rather than play the actual game then you have a serious problem on your hands. If I didn't have friends playing the game still I think I would have given up on Destiny by now. When playing with people I'm still having quite a bit of fun, but that tends to be because I'm normally not focusing on the game. I think that Bungie can turn my feelings around with the expansion packs they're going to release. More varied missions, and a tweak to the loot system could do a lot for the game. In fact this Tuesday they're changing the drop system quite a bit. The game has so much potential and I hope that eventually it can be fully realized.

SUUUUPER SMASH BROTHERRRRRSSS

This coming Friday Super Smash Bros. for 3DS will finally be released. I tried not to get excited about it, but I ended up getting psyched anyways. Yes, I hate the way the circle-pad feels on the 3DS for playing Smash, but it will still be a fun time anyways. The new characters are all pretty cool and the game itself is pretty fun. I've played the demo a few times to get a feel for it and I definitely like playing it a lot more than Brawl. It's not quite as fast as Melee was, but it still feels pretty good. It's just a damn fun game to play. When the Wii-U version comes out I'll be 1,000,000 times more hype, but until then I'll be content playing as Peach on the 3DS.

Before Friday I'll be receiving Shadow of Mordor, which is also super exciting. It's been getting crazy good reviews, so hopefully that will be awesome as well. There are a bunch of other games I'll be getting in October as well, but for some reason they're all coming out on the 24th or later. So I'll have a huge gap between when Smash comes out and other games I want to play. I'll try to fit something in there, but it's entirely possible Shadows of Mordor will be long enough to fill that void.

These next few months are going to be hot. I need to go prep myself mentally, so I'll see you guys next time.

     -Manny