“You were always my favourite. Never forget that…”
After nearly a decade in the making, the final chapter of the Light and Darkness saga is finally here, bringing with it the closing chapter of one of gaming’s most divisive franchises: Destiny. After arguably what was one of the worst years for Destiny 2 following the subpar Lightfall expansion, the decision to delay TFS until mid-2024 was ultimately a smart one, allowing Bungie the time to cook the expansion to perfection, following the excellent Into the Light update that bridged the gap following the news of the delay. Despite following the longest season on record and having a bit of a rough start over the first couple of days, The Final Shape has launched to near enough universal acclaim from the player base, leaving many reeling for more following the conclusion of the campaign and our final stand against the Witness, leaving many wondering what comes next for the franchise. After releasing on the 4th June 2024 for all major platforms, I’m going to be covering the time I’ve spent with the PS5 version of the game; detailing the good and deconstructing the bad, whilst ultimately giving you my impressions as to whether the game is worth your time and money at the £41.99 asking price (UK PSN Store).
WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS FOR THE FINAL SHAPE, CARRY ON AT YOUR OWN PERIL.
When the Destiny Beta dropped on PlayStation 4 in July 2014, I was instantly drawn into the world and its atmosphere from minute zero. There was nothing quite like the experience I had with the beta at the time, the game’s environment design and world building struck a chord like nothing before; here was our universe, albeit filled with mystery and secrets that were just begging to be uncovered. Whilst the narrative in the final game was somewhat sub-par, it was Bungie’s environmental storytelling of a much bigger narrative (as well as the controversial Grimoire cards) that solidified my interest in the franchise as a whole; mysteries and stories that would be uncovered over the course of Bungie’s ’10-year plan’ for the franchise. In addition to the narrative, the multiplayer aspect was a standout feature for the game as well; even though online multiplayer was well established by this point (all beef was settled in the map Rust on Modern Warfare 2 back a day) Destiny just hit different, feeling more MMO-like in scale, whilst retaining its looter-shooter identity at its core. My fondest memory of OG Destiny was the first time I ever completed the Vault of Glass raid, meeting people from around the world (LFG was a lot friendlier in those times) and working together through communication and challenges was an exhilarating experience, that solidified my already strong fondness for the franchise as whole, to the point that I’m still here nearly a decade later (through most of the franchises warts and moles to boot).
Destiny 2 was more of a mixed bag upon release, with many holding the state of D1 at it’s end in high regard and dismissing the core changes made to Destiny 2 at launch, leading Bungie down a path of reverting a number of changes (the removal of random rolls was just silly) that would not bring the game back into a favourable state until the release of Forsaken (Destiny 2’s equivalent of The Taken King). The expansions that followed (Shadowkeep and Beyond Light) were both fairly well received, with The Witch Queen being a particular high note for many players, and last year’s expansion: Lightfall falling short somewhat (you can check out my full review here) leading to one of the worst years for Destiny 2 player retention (although the Into The Light update was excellent). With tensions at an all time high between Bungie and the player base, there was a lot riding on The Final Shape to deliver a powerful ending to the saga that delivers on multiple fronts, tying off long-standing lore and story strands that have been brewing since those initial moments in OG Destiny, whilst also holding down content that will keep the player base engaged beyond the narrative conclusion. I’m happy to report that the extra time that Bungie spent cooking paid off, delivering an expansion that is arguably up there with the best of the franchise.
Don’t break my heart, my achy, pale heart: The Final Shape takes our Guardian inside the heart of the Traveller to face down the Witness, after arguably one long year of staring at the prismatic triangle.
Straight out of the gate The Final Shape throws down its hands right into mixing up the nostalgia, giving those who haven’t played the game in a while (or those simply wanting a refresher) a recap of the major story beats that have taken place over the last 10 years, as well as the story’s culmination point; the being known as the Witness, who seeks to create the final shape of the universe, calcified into eternity in the name of so called “Salvation”. Following Crow at the end of Season on the Wish, the campaign finds us diving head first into the opening created by the spirit of Riven, right into the pale heart of the traveller, to be greeted by a long-lost ally in the form of Cayde-6 (voiced one again by the excellent Nathan Fillion). The reunion between our Guardian and Cayde-6 is easily one of my favourite moments of the franchise; the fact that he’s also playing the theme to Forsaken (the expansion where Uldren Sov killed him) on a harmonica makes the scene all the more poignant. The narrative this time around is far more linear in scope, with the Pale Heart destination acting as a side-to-side destination that you fight your way across over the course of the campaign, learning more about the traveller, the Darkness as well as the Witness, ultimately discovering the means of defeating the entity, once and for all. The mission structure is more personal also, focusing on rebuilding the vanguard in the pale heart rendition of the old tower from D1, helping them through their own doubts and struggles as a result. One key moment that finally showcased Big Blue’s tragic backstory to a significant degree was the mission Exegesis, voiced now by Keith David following the passing of Lance Riddick in 2023. The loss of his wife Safia and son Hakim are the driving force behind Zavala as a character, which are even more poignant in The Final Shape, showcasing his ambivalence of being a Lightbearer, and his admission that they should look to the darkness for answers in response to The Witness’ salvation.
Following in the Witch Queen and Lightfall’s footsteps, The Final Shape once again offers both a legendary campaign that increases the difficulty for a greater challenge, and when considering the weight of the battles ahead, it feels only fitting to play the campaign the way it was meant to be played, rewarding you with a complete set of gear right in the middle of the power grind at 1960. The narrative is comprised of around 7 main missions (8 if you include the new Strike) and works at setting up the different areas of the Pale Heart for the guardian to later explore (the patrol zone is completely solo this time around). Upon reaching the campaigns final moments, it becomes clear that the narrative isn’t quite yet over, and whilst the means of destroying have been discovered (those creepy blanket statues discovered during Shadowkeep now show their true purpose) it will take a world’ s first completion of the new raid ‘Salvation’s Edge’ during the 48h contest mode where a fireteam can finally undo the Witness’ chokehold on the traveller for good, leaving them vulnerable to the finishing blow. With only one clear within the first 24 hours, Salvation’s Edge is being dubbed as the hardest raid that Bungie has ever released, to the point where me and my own clan are still yet to get a completion down; mechanically, this is Destiny raiding at it’s best. Following the completion of the world’s first, a new 12-man activity (recalling the Garden of Salvation raid glitch was brilliant here) was unlocked called Excision, and I have to say that this activity (complete with its cutscenes) was one of the best experiences I’ve had in gaming, period. Excision acts as Destiny’s equivalent to the Battle of Helm’s Deep; nearly every character we’ve had dealings with over the last 10 years makes an appearance for the final battle (from the Drifter to Savathûn) all lending aid in the form of various buffs over the course of the 40 minute long battle against the Witness’ forces (including the new enemy type called the Dread) ultimately leading to the 12 guardians channelling the light (think the Care Bear Stare) and ultimately destroying the Witness for good, but not without our Ghost taking a battering as a result. Ghost shows signs of wear and tear over the course of the campaign, but what transpires at the end of Excision is enough to bring the toughest SOB on the planet to tears, acting as a perfect conclusion to such a momentous battle.
Guardian Excision-hands: The final activity of the campaign: Excision, is the Destiny 2 equivalent of the Battle for Helm’s Deep, acting as the perfect conclusion to the Light and Darkness Saga.
So, we’ve established that the narrative for TFS is excellent, but what about the gameplay? Large and part Destiny 2 plays how it always has, its looter/shooter core has remained largely the same, with additions being made on top for more emergent gameplay. The biggest addition is the inclusion of the prismatic subclass, which takes the best fragments, aspects and supers from all of the 3.0 loadouts from recent years and combines them into a singular subclass, allowing you to synergise your favourite builds into one. As a Hunter main, the combination of Winter’s Shroud, Combination Blow, Stylish Executioner and the exotic Liar’s Handshake is downright one of the most broken, fun builds I’ve ever used, acting as a perfect synergy between top-tier arc and void subclasses. The primary new mechanic is the new transcendence skill which situates itself beneath the super meter; as you deal damage with light and dark abilities/weapons, this meter builds which is then activated with a press of L3 and R3, increasing damage resistance, weapon damage, as well as your grenade and melee abilities recharge much faster, but the cream of the crop is the new prismatic grenades that each class has access to during this state.
Other gameplay additions worth mentioning are the new UI which sees the buffs and debuffs remain on the left-hand side of the screen, weapon perks are now above the super bar, and mission critical information (like DPS windows for raids) are now at the top of the screen in a larger font. Small changes like this make the game that much more fluid and easier to track, showcasing Destiny 2’s stellar combat better than ever before. In addition is the new pathfinder system, which replaces weekly vendor bounties in the form of branching challenges that connect to one another, allowing you to choose a path to your powerful/pinnacle rewards through challenges based around the Pale Heart destination and playlist activities. All in all, it’s hard to fault anything that Bungie has managed to achieve with The Final Shape, the extra time in the oven has proved beyond a measure of a doubt that Bungie wanted to close off their flagship franchises’ main story arc with a bang. Whilst this isn’t the end of Destiny 2 with episodic content following for the year (the Dreadnought is returning, wooo) those that do decide to call it quits here cannot say that it didn’t have a superb ending, that made all of the years of weathering through the game’s high and lows worth every second.
A PlayStation 5 review code was provided by Premier Comms.
