I have been playing Destiny with a group of friends since Destiny 1, and Destiny 2 is overall outstanding. It gets a lot of negativity, some of which you can see in the reviews, because the game tries to offer so much that it sometimes focuses on things that aren't what everyone wants. But in all, I think it is by far one of the best values in video games. You get a lot of the constantly evolving world feel of an MMO without a monthly subscription, and the game offers a lot of different ways to play.

It has hours of main PvE story content, several options for PvP if that's your thing (it's not really mine), with a lot of unique twists due to the different classes as well as powers. There's a ton you can get if grinding out progress is your thing, or you can see all the main points even if you play more casually.

Often (not always, Bungie tries so many things and not all of them are great, so some is deserved) the people you see complaining are those that are incapable of just playing the game how they prefer, and try to be completionists, which means they end up having to play game modes/content that they don't care for. They seem to confuse their own choice to do everything, even the stuff they personally don't like, as a failing on the part of the game, instead of their inability to step away.

Destiny 2 has some of the best FPS gameplay I have ever experienced, especially with the "feel" of the combat itself, which is very smooth and responsive. The story is fantastic, and many of the bonus side quests to get very rare guns (like Whisper of the Worm and Outbreak Perfected) are incredible. The raids are fun, the strikes are varied and short enough that if you have 15 minutes you can feel you accomplished something, and Bungie is always releasing something new.

In all, I have spent maybe $200 on Destiny 2 between the original game, expansions, and season passes. Keep in mind this is paying full price at release, getting into the game now is far less expensive, but I have hundreds of hours of entertainment from that and no monthly fee. The time I have spent on Steam doesn't include the hours spent from when the game was under Blizzard's launcher, or before it came to PC when we played on Xbox. I have two kids, and most of those I play with have kids, and this game is great for being able to play for anywhere from 20 minutes to 4 hours, and being able to do so much and keep improving.

Now for the negatives, as I said Bungie doesn't make great choices all the time. In Destiny 1, if you completed raids or other difficult content, you had the chance to get something like raid specific armor/shaders/sparrows/etc. While SOME of that still exists in D2, Bungie has moved way too much to their cosmetics store (Eververse) and it really sucks. The most recent raid had the sparrow/ghost shell from the raid on Eververse, instead of as drops from the raid. It makes no sense and Bungie normally shows so much care for their players, but this is a huge step away from that.

I am MORE than happy to give Bungie money, they are independent now and do great stuff. But I support them because they made a game that is fun to play, and has something for me to work for. I feel less interest in working for stuff in game if I can just drop $20 and get it, which makes me appreciate the game less. There's also a certain amount of pride that comes from having something many haven't yet done, but absolutely zero in just spending money at a store. It sounds like they have some plans to move away from at least the loot boxes, but I hope they also go back to raid/event specific items being earned and not bought.

I have been playing Destiny with a group of friends since Destiny 1, and Destiny 2 is overall outstanding. It gets a lot of negativity, some of which you can see in the reviews, because the game tries to offer so much that it sometimes focuses on things that aren't what everyone wants. But in all, I think it is by far one of the best values in video games. You get a lot of the constantly evolving world feel of an MMO without a monthly subscription, and the game offers a lot of different ways to play. It has hours of main PvE story content, several options for PvP if that's your thing (it's not really mine), with a lot of unique twists due to the different classes as well as powers. There's a ton you can get if grinding out progress is your thing, or you can see all the main points even if you play more casually. Often (not always, Bungie tries so many things and not all of them are great, so some is deserved) the people you see complaining are those that are incapable of just playing the game how they prefer, and try to be completionists, which means they end up having to play game modes/content that they don't care for. They seem to confuse their own choice to do everything, even the stuff they personally don't like, as a failing on the part of the game, instead of their inability to step away. Destiny 2 has some of the best FPS gameplay I have ever experienced, especially with the "feel" of the combat itself, which is very smooth and responsive. The story is fantastic, and many of the bonus side quests to get very rare guns (like Whisper of the Worm and Outbreak Perfected) are incredible. The raids are fun, the strikes are varied and short enough that if you have 15 minutes you can feel you accomplished something, and Bungie is always releasing something new. In all, I have spent maybe $200 on Destiny 2 between the original game, expansions, and season passes. Keep in mind this is paying full price at release, getting into the game now is far less expensive, but I have hundreds of hours of entertainment from that and no monthly fee. The time I have spent on Steam doesn't include the hours spent from when the game was under Blizzard's launcher, or before it came to PC when we played on Xbox. I have two kids, and most of those I play with have kids, and this game is great for being able to play for anywhere from 20 minutes to 4 hours, and being able to do so much and keep improving. Now for the negatives, as I said Bungie doesn't make great choices all the time. In Destiny 1, if you completed raids or other difficult content, you had the chance to get something like raid specific armor/shaders/sparrows/etc. While SOME of that still exists in D2, Bungie has moved way too much to their cosmetics store (Eververse) and it really sucks. The most recent raid had the sparrow/ghost shell from the raid on Eververse, instead of as drops from the raid. It makes no sense and Bungie normally shows so much care for their players, but this is a huge step away from that. I am MORE than happy to give Bungie money, they are independent now and do great stuff. But I support them because they made a game that is fun to play, and has something for me to work for. I feel less interest in working for stuff in game if I can just drop $20 and get it, which makes me appreciate the game less. There's also a certain amount of pride that comes from having something many haven't yet done, but absolutely zero in just spending money at a store. It sounds like they have some plans to move away from at least the loot boxes, but I hope they also go back to raid/event specific items being earned and not bought.