Regardless of the narrative gravity of Future 2’s The Ultimate Form growth, and the optimistic reception it obtained, it’s secure to say that the next 12 months of episodic content material is one thing of a transitional interval for the MMOFPS. From subsequent summer season onwards, it’s going to enter a brand new period referred to as Frontiers, which reshapes the way in which it delivers expansions and begins a complete new saga. As this 12 months attracts to a detailed, Bungie has given gamers an replace on its progress with Codename Apollo, the primary growth of the Frontiers period, and has revealed some extra small particulars about its subsequent Episode, Heresy.
As somebody who’s been taking part in Destiny 2 for a number of years now, I’ve to confess that the previous couple of months have been moderately unusual. Regardless of Bungie’s finest efforts to ship some shorter, snappier, post-Witness storylines, I’ve probably not felt as gripped by the space game’s narrative as I’ve previously. Conversely, we’ve seen Bungie ship some actually satisfying, experimental recreation modes that show transferring away from the previous method is the appropriate factor to do. That makes me optimistic for Destiny 2’s new era, and it feels like Bungie is making good progress on getting its first growth prepared.
“The Future 2 Workforce is tough at work, paving the way in which for Codename Frontiers,” says assistant recreation director Robbie Stevens. “The brand new vacation spot in Codename Apollo is Content material Full, which suggests we’re targeted on sprucing the non-linear marketing campaign, Metroidvania gameplay expertise, creating the finer particulars of the world and fleshing out the quite a few quests that you simply’ll uncover through the journey by means of new frontiers.”
Stevens additionally says that Bungie is “going darkish on Codename Frontiers communications for a short time” because it ramps up playtesting and hires community-sourced “gameplay specialists.”
what’s nonetheless to come back earlier than Frontiers and Apollo hit, there are some attention-grabbing modifications coming for the tip of the present Episode, Revenant, and its successor, Heresy.
It’s secure to say that Revenant’s major new mechanic, Tonics, have been underwhelming, and Stevens acknowledges that. Nevertheless, enhancements are coming. “We’re within the strategy of creating modifications to make Tonics last more and provides higher payouts on high of a collection of bug fixes deliberate for December 17 (keep tuned for future patch notes!). Additionally, we see how these modifications are placing stress in your vault, so we’re within the early phases of planning long-term modifications to alleviate vault stress that can begin [to] manifest later within the 12 months of Codename Frontiers.”
Bungie can also be trying to make new seasonal weapons sing a little bit louder and really feel extra fascinating, so Stevens teases a brand new tier of loot for the following Episode referred to as the Heretic Arsenal. He doesn’t share any concrete particulars on what the Heretic Arsenal will entail, apart from an assurance that “will probably be clear after they hit your stock that they’re price inspecting.”
Bungie additionally appears to have reached a compromise in relation to the rollout of content material for Heresy. In its first Episode, it drip-fed content material weekly within the conventional Future 2 seasonal vogue. In Revenant, it went to the opposite excessive and launched all of the actions, quests, and narrative beats at first of every act, which led to some content material voids.
“We’ve made modifications to Heresy that strike a greater stability between the whole lot dropping on day one in all an Act vs. significant causes to return all through the Episode. We’re taking an method the place the overwhelming majority of the exercise content material will probably be obtainable on the primary day of an Act and subsequent weeks will add or evolve the content material based mostly on the story. Additionally, we’re adjusting the Act rollout schedule so that there’s much less downtime within the gameplay calendar later within the Episode.”
Stevens additionally talks about how the narrative of Heresy gained’t be about tying up previous unfastened ends from the Mild and Darkish saga and can as an alternative “shut the door” on it. “[Heresy will] act as prologue to Codename Apollo the place the Guardian’s function within the subsequent saga begins to take focus.”
Future 2’s subsequent Episode, Heresy, will launch on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, whereas the Codename Apollo growth will arrive in the summertime of 2025.
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