Was Destiny Destined to Be a Disappointment?

It is an understatement to say that Destiny's reception by gamers and some parts of the gaming journalism scene has been lukewarm at best with debate after debate about why another one of the biggest releases of the year turned out to be such a financial success but only a moderate critical success. Destiny is the first multiplatform game from former Halo game studio Bungie and was hyped up to be 2014's biggest game of the year. With Bungie at the helm with the promise of a huge immersive story driven world and open environments to explore, it seemed like the first true next generation title was on its way to the consoles of millions. Sadly Destiny simply did not live up to its skyscraper hype and fell at terminal velocity to a vicious onslaught of 6, 7 and 8 scores on Metacritic and an abhorrent overall score of 77 for the PS4 version and a 66 for the user score of the same version. Truly gamers and journalists alike have risen their voices against what they felt was a poor product. But what of Destiny's success and the millions of players who continue to play the game despite the reception?

I would like to go into my own opinion on the game and start by saying that Destiny was purchased not out of hype but because I was encouraged by friends to get it due to it being a new online coop experience. I was also very much itching to get a PS4. So with a $100 gift from said friends I placed the pre-order for the white PS4 Destiny bundle from my local Gamestop. The PS4 is a truly amazing device and I am loving it so far but Destiny is not quite in the same ballpark in terms of quality. I have been playing cooperative Destiny for about a couple of weeks and the experience has been fun. Not amazing or innovative or revolutionary, but just fun. I have been enjoying the game by playing it and making fun of it at the same time. We love the game but we also like to roast it for its flaws as we play. The joke "Look at this big open world that we can't explore" has become common between us, especially whenever we discover the dreaded invisible walls in the game. Do not even get me started on the dimwitted enemy AI. Despite this I feel it is an adequate coop shooter with nice environments and some solid shooting mechanics, but everything else left a lot to be desired. The story is not very fleshed out all since you can beat every story mission within the span of a day or two and the Crucible is horribly imbalanced due to matchmaking pairing us up with opponents whose levels were at times double our own. Destiny was and still is by and large a flawed but fun experience for us.

So now we have people analyzing the game and its success, or lack thereof in some regard. Some have gone as far to say that the game is terrible and unfinished, worthy of the criticism it gets and more. But is a game like Destiny truly a bad one? Objectively, the game is functional. But a lot of this can be interpreted differently. The different planets do not offer much in the way of gravity differences and that can be seen as an oversight. The story is incredibly cryptic and Bungie does very little to help us understand the universe and give it the context and complexity that was given to each Halo game. Most of all, the restrictive nature of the game be it customization or the sheer closed up feel of the maps is borderline unacceptable in today's market. Creating these vast landscapes, promising that the gamers can go there, then creating an arbitrary countdown that kills you for trying to go there is just hugely disappointing. It's no wonder the gaming community has responded with such animosity. This is a game that should have been incredible and at best it was just adequate, with Bungie claiming the game is different after the player hits level 20. I have made it to level 23 now and it is not very different at all. There's just less story than what little was there before.

The question plaguing my mind and I'm sure the minds of many people like yourselves is "what happened?" How did Bungie's first game without a bias for any one console turn out so uninspired? And for that matter why was it so successful in sales?

The answer lies in the consumer. Look at the history of incredible sales for the past two generations and you will see yet another Activision published game always topping charts. Call of Duty is largely considered a poster child for gaming stagnation and bane on the existence of the gaming market due to its yearly releases featuring often moderate changes. So it's no strange or new feat that games that are seen as bland, generic and samey can become multi million dollar sales toppers. The hype was enough to sell the game and that's all Activision needed to make their dough, not to mention possibly eliminating some bonuses from Bungie's cut due to the game's low Metacritic rating.

If I had to take a guess, I believe Bungie was not given a very large budget or even time to make the game. They did not need to make something huge or even unique. Just something that Activison could market and just pretty enough to justify its existence on next generation consoles. And some gamers are okay with this and enjoy it regardless. Others do not. As always however I feel like I am somewhere in between. I play the game each day as of now but I continue to see the game for what I believe it is, a disappointing but fun online multiplayer shooter. Maybe they will get it right with Destiny 2. Or maybe they won't. Who knows?

All that can be said is if you like Destiny and want to play it then you should go on playing it without fear of what others say. There are millions more just like you who are finding some kind of enjoyment from the game each day, but do not pretend the game is above its criticism because it certainly is worthy of it. On that note, if you do not like Destiny then your criticisms are just as valid as the praise and you should go on voting with your wallet and avoid future installments if necessary improvements are not made to the gameplay. Because frankly neither side is wrong in what they are feeling.