Recent reviews by ShutterFinch

TL:DR - Renegades just isn't Destiny. As a long-term fan, this hurts.

A majority of sentiment will be "well if you aren't a Star Wars fan, this was never going to be for you" but that's a hollow argument. The core game of Destiny has always been praised for its art, sound design, weapon & sandbox feel, and story - and a majority of that is still true in Renegades.
But I, as a consumer, didn't actively decide to do a deal with Star Wars for this tie-in (an IP that I don't have interest in). Ultimately, it has negatively impacted the state of the game far more than anything in the post Final Shape-era, or even Edge of Fate and the Portal system, ever could.

The most jarring thing about Renegades is just how far this "collaboration" has diluted Destiny's identity - an on-going issue whose decline started with Destiny 2 Vanilla (Red War), despite spikes and dips across the lifetime of the game when compared to Destiny 1.
The strongest example of this is the 3 cosmetic armor sets (9 total across each class) in the cash shop that rip directly from Star Wars characters. These sets have been introduced slowly in waves: Stormtroopers as a teaser, "iconic" villains when Renegades was revealed, and Bounty Hunters with launch. Players are being nickled and dimed, and yet worse is not that its 3 times over - its the lack of attempt for these sets to fit into Destiny's art style/theme like other collaborations - Sony franchises (Ghosts/HZD/GoW) & Mass Effect for example.

Story-wise, new poster characters of the story lose their edge by halfway through and makes a genuine threat feel so flat and pathetic that you wonder why the Equalibrium Dungeon is continuing with this thread. Some revelations and continued discussion about Old Chicago does keep the Destiny thread barely in tact.

Tharsis is a nice social hub. I enjoy being in Freehold on Mars again, giving me some D1 vibes, but it still feels artifical in some way. The characterisation of each Syndicate faction is clear, each has an aesthetic focus (punk bikers, cyberpunk corpos, or gambling robots) that I would have liked to have been expanded. The shaders are a nice starter offering, but themed armor & weapon ornaments, and earn-able emblems for each faction would have been a great cherry on top to move away from Eververse (the cash shop). We all know they'll appear there (eventually). I would have liked a more dynamic system between earning reputation between the factions (negative consequences) and more social options when talking with NPCs - e.g. multiple tone-based options even in text aren't here, when the narrative team stated that the system would be expanded from their introduction with Kepler NPCs (Edge of Fate).

So far the "blaster" weapons feel like a nice novelty but I don't see how future releases will make them into a core part of the weapons sandbox. The less said about the direct rip of the Lightsaber... sorry "Praxic Blade" the better due to the other issue - use of direct sounds & motifs from Star Wars. Everytime I hear the new Cabal vehicle, or the Lightsaber in my menu I'm reminded that this item of "homage" will be in the game forever more and I have to roll my eyes. On top of this while direct quotes weren't used, a number of hints and references are made in dialogue - especially about being turned to sand.

Ultimately, if you're a Star Wars fan, that's great for you. But don't expect Destiny to ALWAYS be like this. We (and many other games and IP) may be inspired by Star Wars, but Destiny should (and did) have space to be its own thing - and that's what us fans liked even during dark and troubled times.
Recently, Destiny has felt like a ship without a captain, lacking a clear vision of what it wants to be, and what it is that it's crew and passengers want. As I said at the top, Renegades isn't Destiny. I truly wonder what it could have been if Star Wars were not so involved. I hate to say that as my hours show I've been through Destiny's worst, and its best, and never have I felt less hopeful about the series' continuation - let alone the seeing a satisfying end of the Fate Saga - than now.

This isn't directly on the devs. This is on upper management to chart the course back to what Destiny is in identity and story - before it becomes another failed live service at Sony's hands, or a Fortnite clone devoid of any meaning except corporate greed.

Played the series since its console release, and D2 on PC from Forsaken. If you are a fan of sci-fi, deep lore and loot based games this is one of the best in the industry especially in regards to weapon feel and variety. Pick it up.

While Bungie has previously made some mistakes, it acts in the community's best interests and listens to issues with the game frequently, also praising the community widely through charity efforts, art in all forms, and its best players with Raid events. Its been a long road and I have never seen a more dedicated team of developers support a game series for this long-term.