Fair Game | 'Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals' Initial Thoughts

A week has passed since Bungie released their latest season, ‘Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals,’ and we’ve had a chance to play it and determine our professional gaming feedback. As many gamers know about ‘Destiny’, this season has a lot riding on it. Not only does it set up the next era of Destiny 2, but it’s coming off one of the weakest seasons the game has ever had.

This has to be a win. Luckily, things are starting to look up. That being said, it’s only been a week and there’s still plenty of unknowns in the coming months.

Let’s take a look at what Bungie seems to have gotten right this season with ‘Destiny 2: Season of Arrival.’

A New quest and event

On the activity side, ‘Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals’ is looking like an improvement from ‘Season of the Worthy.’ The main activity is once again another public event for players to farm. Contact, the event’s title, involves our first contact with the mysterious pyramid ships. Though it’s unclear what exactly we are doing. The best way to describe it is “PvE Gambit.”

Essentially: You kill enemies, pick up motes, and bank them.

It’s a big improvement over last season’s Seraph Tower event in terms of overall fun; however, it doesn’t fix the problem these public event-centric seasons have. You are completely at the mercy of random people. If they’re bad or can’t find a populated lobby, you’re screwed.

Depending on how this event evolves over time–if at all–I can see people getting bored of this, just like they did last season. There’s also a weekly quest involving Eris and the Cradle, the silver tree in the opening mission. As of now, it seems like we’ll just be playing alternate versions of that opening quest once a week.

It’s unsure if this is leading to an exotic weapon or if it is simply just the ‘story missions’ of the season. Hopefully we won’t end up replaying a similar mission week after week. The new dungeon, Prophecy, is one of the most visually stunning activities in the game. Just watching that trailer made my jaw drop.

You can play it here:

I’ll be honest, my team barely made it past the first encounter, so I don’t have much to say about it. The mechanics are interesting, and from what I’ve seen from guides it looks like a fun time. This dungeon is free for all players, so go hop in and give it a try.

Amazing New Weapons

Look at that awesome sword’s design — just one of many.

‘Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals’ has definitely given us some of the coolest looking weapons the game has ever seen., but it doesn’t stop there. Each one is unique in both its design and play style. For example, the two swords introduced this season have changed the PvE meta and have been extremely fun to use.

While we’re on the topic of fun, how could I not mention the new exotic, the Witherhoard?

This weapon can do crazy damage to bosses and wipe out trash mobs easily. When this weapon hits an enemy, it will eradicate competition over time. When it hits the ground, it will “blight” the area, doing consistent destruction to anything inside.

It’s so satisfying to bombard the battle field with these “blights” and just see all the enemies disappear. Plus, it’s glitched at the moment, making raids more fun than ever. You can literally kill entire raid bosses in a matter of seconds (literally). I’m sure this will be fixed in the future, but it is so fun to use right now.

‘Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals’ also introduced the catalyst to the boring, old Trinity Ghoul, making it one of the best weapons in the game. Who saw that coming? If nothing else, this season has some of the best gun-play in a long time.

Season of Redemption?

It’s too early to tell whether ‘Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals’ will be the saving grace of Destiny 2’s season pass model.

From what we’ve seen from this week, this is looking like one of the better seasons. Only time will tell.

While the activities aren’t amazing, the weapons are and that’s what this season has going for it. Destiny 2’s sandbox has never been more fun to play. I’m hoping Bungie can continue with this great weapon design moving forward.

So, should you buy it?

If you’re on the fence, I’d say wait. There isn’t a ton of stuff here yet and we don’t know how the rest of the season will play out. If you hated Season of the Worthy and are looking for an improvement, this is definitely an improvement, however, I think you’ll find a lot of the same grievances here.

But if you enjoy Destiny and want more things to do and chase, this is definitely worth your money.

For the first time in months, I am excited to log in and play each week.