PlayStation Plus: Destiny 2: Lightfall dragged me back to the game

It had been years since I last approached Destiny 2, but when Lightfall came out I told myself I’d get back into it. I’d tried every once in a while to return to the tower but was met with a messy UI, quests everywhere, and a sense that I’d missed out on too much.

Lightfall felt like a good place to jump back in, with a new planet, plenty of new items, and most importantly, a new subclass in the green neon Strand powers, I was right.

Now, I’m going to get this out of the way - the campaign in Lightfall is a bit of a mess. The story, which follows yet another of the Witness’ minions isn’t as strong as expansions like Witch Queen. Plus the actual missions vary wildly, with some feeling like a walk in the park while piloting tank, and others putting you up against hordes of enemies for over 30 minutes.

However, there’s no doubting the fun to be had with Strand powers which turn you into an acrobatic ninja, grappling through levels and launching grenades that string up enemies ready to be pulverised.

Then there’s the astonishingly gorgeous new planet, Neptune, which has a cyberpunk vibe and feels like the far future that was described by authors in the 1960s. Everything is chrome and shiny, even the NPCs look like they stumbled off the set of Star Trek: The Motion Picture or Barbarella.

Lightfall felt like Bungie giving in to the idea that sci-fi could be lighthearted and over-the-top, it didn’t fix any of Destiny 2’s questline issues - there are still quest markers everywhere and the in-game menu feels overly cluttered, but if you focus on just the Lightfall content, it’s easy to push through and experience the core story.

Lightfall

The most fun is to be had through crafting Strand builds and nothing beats soaring through the cities of Neptune via grappling hooks before landing in front of an enemy with a slam. Strand is an interesting subclass given it’s not based on an element like ice, or fire. Essentially it ties enemies up or acts like a rope, which allows for some very flashy skills and abilities.

If this is going to be your first interaction with Destiny 2 as Lightfall makes its way onto PlayStation Plus it’s probably worth reading into some of the lore and previous events via a wiki, because Lightfall is deep into the story - the next expansion, The Final Shape, will actually close out the main story that has been told since Destiny 2 launched back in 2017, as players can finally take on The Witness.

One thing that can be said for the Lightfall storyline is that it makes everything easy to follow and it can work as a nice springboard into the universe. Because essentially it’s us guardians against one ‘big bad’ and the missions follow a linear thread from crash landing on a planet right through to annihilating the enemy.

As my jumping on point, I ended up blitzing through the Lightfall stuff and couldn’t stop playing. I quickly decimated every other expansion and bought all the DLC, and now I’m gagging to finish the story.