Destiny – The Taken King Review

A little over a year ago I posted my review of vanilla Destiny, which I offered a fantastic 4 celebrity ranking. That testimonial incorporated the game from launch to 3 weeks after launch with a little over 85 hours invested in it as well as having done whatever but the raid. Now right here we are a month as well as a half got rid of from the release of Fate’& rsquo; s first significant growth, The Taken King, as well as it is time to examine

everything over once more. Since that initial testimonial of vanilla Destiny, A whole lot has actually changed within the video game. The Dark Below launched in December, and after that Residence of Wolves released in May. One brought a new raid, and also the various other brought a new end-game activity for 3 gamer teams.

Each of those DLC’& rsquo; s altered Fate, and I believe each one transformed the ready the better. After that in September, update 2.0 and also The Taken King dropped, as well as everything altered. Fate has morphed from its superb foundation right into a better and more cohesive video game.

Whereas the initial testimonial was based upon 85 hours of gameplay, as well as no raids, this one is based upon all the new adjustments to the game as well as a total amount of 1460 gameplay hrs (spread out over 9 personalities; I’& rsquo; ve deleted 6 overall) played as well as countless conclusions of every raid (with the exception of tough setting King’& rsquo; s Autumn, which I & rsquo; ve only attempted once now)

. In vanilla Fate, a lot was made out of completion video game as well as just how getting to max degree (at the time 20) was really “& ldquo; just the start.” & rdquo; That was never ever really the situation. As soon as you struck level 20 based on XP, you switched to a Light Level that was all about getting much better equipment to get to greater light (the cap was 30). In order to hit 30, you would certainly have needed to finish Safe of Glass as well as been fortunate sufficient to obtain shield to go down.

For all of the adjustments that have actually been made in Fate throughout the previous year, that aspect truly hasn’& rsquo; t transformed a great deal despite Bungie & rsquo; s tries to make it appear like it has. The brand-new max degree is 40, however end game task is still dependent on your light level, which is currently topped at 320. In order to hit 300 Light, you’& rsquo; re going to have to do King & rsquo; s Fall raid as well as wish for decreases of not simply shield, however weapons as well as a Ghost too.

Unlike previous raids and also tasks, the loot from King’& rsquo; s Loss isn & rsquo; t guaranteed to obtain you to the cap. With the regular setting, any kind of loot can drop from 300 to 310 Light. In Hard setting, you can get loot from between 310 to 320. Like the rewards on the tools as well as the armor, the decreases are random.

In this respect, despite cases and also wishes from Bungie to the contrary, this is can feel a lot more punishing to the gamer. It includes RNG on top of RNG. A minimum of with Vault of Glass you knew if you might get the boots or helmet or whatever that when updated you’& rsquo;d have 30 Light. Currently you may run King’& rsquo; s Loss and obtain a 303 chest piece, which is completely ineffective to you due to the fact that you already have a 307 one with much better benefits as well as what you’& rsquo; re truly looking for is 310+ Light gear.

Sure, once you’& rsquo; re over 300 Light, you can have unique engrams decrypt right into 310 equipment that you can make use of to infuse a product of the very same port up. Yet that’& rsquo; s completely RNG also. Bungie has actually “specified that the & ldquo; For life 29 & rdquo; meme from a year ago harmed them, yet they & rsquo; ve actually done it once again in King & rsquo; s Autumn with not only needing to get lucky to have gear decline, yet also obtain fortunate adequate to have equipment drop that is actually useable (either to gear up or utilize to infuse something else up).

My Hunter has actually gotten rid of Oryx four times for declines, and an additional 3 times of Golgoroth, who is the only manager in the raid that can go down shield besides Orxy. Throughout every one of that, I’& rsquo; ve gotten 3 upper body pieces as well as 4 gauntlets. I was able to make use of exotics that dropped from engrams at 310 to infuse my safety helmet, chest, and also onslaughts up to 310. I have a 310 artefact, a 310 Ghost, and also a 310 course item. My boots are still 297. Why? Since in 11 feasible drops, I sanctuary’& rsquo; t obtained the raid boots when and there are no year 2 boots in the game as of yet (and thus no boot engram).

And also yes it’& rsquo; s real that in normal mode Oryx is 300, and also thus moring than 300 actually doesn’& rsquo; t matter much. However that & rsquo; s trivial because of course players are going to go after the highest possible Light regardless of whether there is any kind of requirement to be 310 or 320.

None of that is a problem against the game though. Truthfully, I prefer it this way the randomness, but I do desire that because the benefits and the light can all be arbitrary, that you’& rsquo;d be assured declines from each employer on your first completion of the raid per personality. Nothing is more aggravating than defeating Oryx and just getting two moldering shards. This is the hardest material in the video game presently, the embodiment of end video game web content for Fate, and also the moment gamers invest need to be rewarded with assured drops of something other than wasting away fragments. Obtaining that is a slap in the face. For that matter, shield drops require to be expanded. In this circumstances, I really believe King’& rsquo; s Loss decreases are a go back from exactly how Crota’& rsquo; s Finish managed declines (onslaughts can drop from the very first area, boots or chest from 2nd, and also safety helmet from Crota himself).

Still, on the whole, the mixture system as well as the ability to perhaps obtain 310 exotics (for everything yet boots) permits a cleaner progression towards greater light than needing one particular item to drop. It’& rsquo; s simply amusing that prior to the Taken King’& rsquo; s launch, Luke Smith as well as other spent a lot time talking about “& ldquo; Forever 29 & rdquo; due to the fact that VoG boots wouldn & rsquo; t decrease, as well as now I can’& rsquo; t get 310 since I can & rsquo; t get King & rsquo; s Autumn boots to go down.

Update 2.0 and also The Taken King likewise completely altered the story discussion, development, as well as a lot more notably for several years one gamers, the economic situation of the video game as well.

In vanilla Destiny, there were 19 story goals, five strikes, as well as one raid. The Dark Below added 3 tale objectives, 2 strikes, as well as one raid. Home of Wolves added 5 tale goals, two strikes, and also a brand-new end-game activity of which there were several versions of and also four difficulty levels. So at the end of year one, Destiny had 27 tale goals, 9 strikes, 2 raids, and also the 4 tiers of Jail of Elders. With The Taken King, Fate added 18 added story/quests goals that can be picked for replay at any moment from the directory, 4 strikes plus several random variations of a couple of year one strikes, as well as a brand-new raid. There’& rsquo; s other missions’that can & rsquo; t be replayed, or are time gated ones, and also a brand-new subclass for each and every of the video game & rsquo; s 3 classes. Whatever was repackaged into a wonderful mission based system that defined what the benefit would be and also made it less complicated to keep track of every little thing.

On the economy front, terrific changes were made. Throughout year one, players can earn an optimum of 100 Vanguard Marks and also 100 Crucible Marks a week, with a cap of 200 for every. The Lead marketed legendaries products for Vanguard Marks, while the Crucible vendors as well as the three Intrigues marketed legendaries item for Crucible Marks. If you wanted to buy the fantastic Shadow Cost from the Vanguard throughout Vanilla Destiny, it would certainly have costs 150 Lead Marks & hellip; or a week as well as a half well worth of Marks. The Faction suppliers marketed great stuff, and also regardless of having the ability to make associate with them in PVE, you needed to play PVP to obtain Crucible marks to be able to in fact get things from the suppliers. You likewise had a chance at obtaining a legendary item with a faction package for placing up with them.

In The Taken King, all of that has transformed. Vanguard and Crucible Marks no more exists; they’& rsquo; ve been replaced by Legendary Marks. Famous Marks cap at 200 and also can be spent at any type of vendor, with tools still costing 150 Marks. Nevertheless, there is no limit to the number of Marks you can gain in a week and they are now account based instead of individual character based as they were throughout Year One. Because of this, they are a lot easier to find by now.

You can gain 30 Legendary Marks a day simply by doing the Daily Brave as well as Daily PVP playlist & hellip; that’& rsquo; s 210 a week( which is 10 more than the cap allows, so you must be spending them often currently). You can get 3 to 5 Marks for taking down famous gear based upon just how much XP has actually been put into it (3 for a new item, 5 for one that is maxed or near maxed). You can additionally get 60 a week for finishing 3 Weekly Heroic Strikes as well as getting on the winning team for 3 Weekly Crucible playlist (10 each strike and Crucible win). It’& rsquo; s around a lot easier now to obtain Marks and acquire the supplier gear that you desire, and you likewise utilize Legendary Marks to instill one item of gear right into one more.

Shield products were compressed into one kind conveniently called Armor Materials. Say goodbye to different upgrade materials reliant upon class, which is a godsend for those who intend to begin new characters and also won’& rsquo; t have to cope with the expertise that they have 1,500 Sapphire Cable as well as only 20 Plasteel Plating. The old shield materials can be donated to an intrigue in exchange for online reputation.

Every one of these modifications have assisted make Fate an extra cohesive experience along with one that is more accessible for players that just intend to run one personality. All adjustments for the very best.

Fate was currently a fantastic game, and each development included in it. It definitely had its concerns, and also obviously wasn’& rsquo; t as well as still isn & rsquo; t a game for everyone. As a player given that the alpha, I have actually completely appreciated every min took into the video game and was greater than happy with the vanilla video game, with The Dark Below, and with House of Wolves. The Taken King development, which was $40 for me digitally, or in shops for $60 (an incredible bargain considering it includes the based video game as well as both minor developments), and I’& rsquo; m very delighted with the quantity of web content added with that said as well as the total replayability factor.

The Fate these days is quite a bit different from the Destiny of a year ago; there’& rsquo; s far more material and it’& rsquo; s around more easily accessible, but for the first time it in fact feels even more like a living video game globe and one where there might constantly be a brand-new shock.

There are time gated missions and also tricks that permit players to obtain unique equipment, as well as simply recently (as well as still continuous as of this testimonial) Bungie amazed gamers with an enjoyable “& ldquo; Festival of the Lost” & rdquo; Halloween occasion. It’& rsquo; s always worth logging into to Fate now, also if you only wind up doing the Daily Heroic and/or the Daily Crucible before hopping off.

The Taken King inserted much more humor and personality, not just with the brand-new voice of the Ghost (Nolan North changing Peter Dinklage), yet additionally with the NPC characters throughout the fantastic cutscenes within The Taken King’& rsquo; s project and dialogue within the real goals. It’& rsquo; s a lot more welcoming and also lively, as well as much less robotic. And also naturally, it doesn’& rsquo; t hurt that the body and soul of Destiny, the gunplay, is as solid as ever before (although the addition of swords is a most terrific addition & hellip; now just give me a real bow as well as the capability to play at all times in 3rd individual and the game will swiftly approach near perfection for me directly).

If played Fate at any type of factor during year one and just didn’& rsquo; t like the real gameplay, then nothing presented with 2.0 or The Taken King is mosting likely to transform points for you. However if you liked the gameplay but couldn’& rsquo; t get past the progressing or grindy nature, you might think about returning for the spruced up economic situation and also leveling modifications because it truly has actually made points a lot more available. Naturally, there’& rsquo; s still a work, yet after that there wouldn’& rsquo; t be much reason to find back every day if there wasn’& rsquo; t a work or something to chase. Vanilla Fate was superb in whatever yet story telling. The Destiny that will be experienced if you possess or acquire The Taken King is quite a bit better in every facet including narration (The Taken King actually has a tale, go figure). There’& rsquo; s a factor I & rsquo; ve put practically 1,500 hrs right into this game, and The Taken King has actually done all it can do to aid ensure that I spend one more 1,500 heading right into year three (as well as the launch of Destiny 2).

If The Taken King is any indicator, the future of Fate is an intense one as this advancing platform will only remain to grow and get better.

Fate: The Taken King obtains a five out of 5: EXCELLENT.