Guardians are used to tough fights. Whether facing down overwhelming odds in a Battleground or carefully strategizing with fireteam members to take on a Grandmaster Nightfall, Destiny 2 players need a precisely orchestrated mix of skill and experience, topped off by just the right loadout, to ensure victory. With the upcoming expansion for Destiny 2 – The Witch Queen – the team at Bungie have been hard at work on creating an unforgettable experience for players. That means new abilities and gear for Guardians (like an overhaul of the Void subclass) to bring into battle. It also means a brand-new campaign, one unlike any Destiny campaign that’s come before it.
After spending the last year untangling the webs of Savathûn’s lies, Guardians will now take the fight directly to The Witch Queen on her home turf – her enigmatic Throne World, a brand-new destination in Destiny 2. There, they will encounter a twisted maze of challenges as they uncover the mysteries of Savathûn and her Lucent Brood – Hive enemies now powered by the same Light that protects Guardians.
Today we’re going to dive into the campaign for The Witch Queen and give you a look at why this adventure is the most “definitively Destiny” campaign Bungie’s ever made. Don’t worry, lore lovers, we won’t be spoiling the storyline here. Instead, we’ll be focusing on the challenge and excitement that lies ahead and how the Bungie team dove deep to make this campaign one you won’t soon forget.
More is more
“One of the things that I think we did really well in this campaign is making every mission feel uniquely memorable,” said Destiny designer Andrew Hopps. “That was one of our tenets. We wanted each mission to feel like individual TV episodes from a season of ‘Star Trek’ or ‘The Mandalorian’ rather than a sliced-up movie. Each mission should be immediately memorable for its distinct themes, player journey, and unforgettable moments while still delivering the major campaign narrative arc.”
When speaking with the team about what direction they took for campaign missions, the same adjectives popped up over and over. Terms like “epic” and “unforgettable” and even “bombastic.” As development took shape, the team also looked to the non-campaign aspects of Destiny to gain inspiration, specifically dungeons.
For those who don’t know, Destiny dungeons are longer adventures that feature unique and often complex gameplay mechanics, storylines, as well as challenging opponents. They also offer greater rewards upon completion.
“We wanted to make the campaign missions feel a little bit more like a dungeon,” said Destiny designer Alex Pfeiffer. “Dungeons and Exotic missions like Presage are very aspirational and are very sophisticated, but not everybody gets to experience them. They’re very difficult, they require you to put a team together, and so we wanted to extract what makes those things special and bring it to a wider audience.”
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