One thousand five hundred and seventy-six. These are the hours we have accumulated in Destiny at the dawn of the ninth year of the project Bungie. Sixty-five full days in-game (the number of hours does not count time spent in orbit or at the social center). A life, the real one, that is inevitably closely linked to the one at stake. We never thought, looking back, that we would find ourselves here, almost nine years later, telling you why. The eclipse It is perhaps the biggest white lie that Bungie has told its users and, at the same time, the most balanced and playful expansion since Destiny 2 went on sale. Whether you are a fan or not, a simple spectator of a long and turbulent epic or a participant in this journey, you should know that the final stretch has just begun for the Saga of Light and Darkness and that, whether you like it or not, there you are. It will be a first and an after all that.
Therefore, we are ready to give you our opinion in the review of The Eclipse, the new Destiny 2 expansion.
Destiny 2: The Eclipse Facts and Misdeeds
We thought several times about how to start this review and each time I found something that didn't work as it should. Reflecting carefully on the importance of this article we find the key to the problem. What was supposed to be the beginning of the end, the point of no return, the overcoming of evil over good, was ultimately a slip-up. The stumble of a story that tells a situation that in sports they describe as fear of winning. There nikephobia It's a concrete thing, but if you look at it in detail it's an accurate mirror of Destiny's history over the years.
When Bungie took big decisive steps towards a path based on right decisions, something wrong slowed or even stopped this growth, bringing the situation back to square one. A year ago we praised the narrative power of The Whispering Queen. However, today, The Eclipse is narratively one step behind the Queen of Whispers and the reasons for this weakness have a "first and last name."
We are not talking about a true culprit, but about a specific moment that, reviewed in light of the facts proposed in the latest extension, acquires a new value and a perspective impossible to observe at the time. Let's take a step back: it was June 9, 2020 when Bungie announced the final sprint of the Light and Dark saga. In 2020 we would have had Beyond the Light, in 2021 The Queen of Whispers and in 2022 The Eclipse. Although the title of the project was tentative, the key art of the expansion was very clear. The idea of the triptych of expansions focused on darkness and the possibility of introducing in each one a subclass that would close the circle, in a symmetrical way as Bungie likes, of the possibilities offered to the player seemed clear. But in the era of postponements everything is known, it is very precarious and unstable and that is why a year later we find ourselves seeing the postponement of this project and the lengthening of the times of The Queen of Whispers and consequently also of Lighfall which meanwhile had changed its essence like the last chapter, leaving room for the newly announced The final form for 2024.
However, it comes to us, in light of the facts and what Bungie has proposed, we have two details to take into account: the first concerns the movement of the main graphics originally proposed for The Eclipse towards The Final Shape (the pyramid inside the traveler). ) and the second that refers to the initial and final cinematics of The Eclipse. Without too many spoilers, what is proposed in the cinematics appears as a single sequence interspersed with a series of missions intended to lengthen the story (not much considering that there are 8 missions). What has been done, narratively speaking, is to cut the beginning of what was initially going to be the final expansion and turn it into a prologue, diluted and with little bite.
Il Witness it's the only truly great narrative power on screen. A magnetic antagonist, with a powerful and menacing design that crosses the screen every time he appears but is unfortunately limited by the fact that narratively he appears very rarely. In the only ones where he does it (opening cinematic, dialogue with Calus, and final cinematic) we see all the unexpressed potential of what could have been, but wasn't. Calus, proposed once again as an adversary, is relegated to a character, never capable of instilling fear or bringing out a real and credible threat on stage. Even one of the most dramatic moments related to Rohan turns out to be flat and almost humorous, when instead he should have created suffering in the player due to an empathy that is difficult to put into play.
Telascura and Neomuna
Therefore, if narratively the game does not have consistency and effectively offers an embarrassing experience in terms of content and longevity, the paradox is consumed in the recreational proposal. Everything that Bungie has proposed to improve the game from the point of view of quality of life, optimized content and immediacy of the approach is perhaps the best version since the first Destiny. During our preview we talked to you about how L'Eclissi's idea was to focus on optimizing a whole series of complex mechanics that made the gaming experience cumbersome and unintuitive.
Il build which is divided into two branches: creating presets and managing mods is very well done and speeds up the flow of the game a lot. In fact, you can create presets dedicated to various activities that save and equip with a single click the equipment with the relevant mods that you have dedicated to that activity and/or build. Mod management is now much more intuitive with several changes related to the nature of damage (stasis, void, dark canvas, bow and fire) and, above all, with the seasonal artifact that now makes unlocked mods permanently active . In short, greater depth for those who want to explore the role-playing aspect more and more intuition for those who approach it in a more informal way.
Different speech for neoimmune and Telascura. From the narrative point of view we find the same problems as above: Neomuna and the Telascura seem like a body outside the narrative, it is not clear how and why they were thrown into the cauldron without further investigation. The city is empty, bare, destroyed and offers little to those who finally hoped for a city alive with the desperation of the inhabitants invaded by a mysterious alien force. In terms of art design, Neomuna's character is very likable, although she clashes with the darker, fantasy-laced themes that Destiny and her sci-fi have put forward so far. Telascura, on the other hand, is as fun to use as it is not contextualized (training in Karate Kid It's really one of the worst things about the expansion.) Due to its long cooldowns, it's certainly a step back compared to the Stasi, but you have to appreciate Bungie's bravery in overhauling the movement system with the introduction of the grappling hook.
Activities and equipment
As usual, we leave at the end a whole series of topics more linked to the personal taste of the player. The proposed activities are actually a great cauldron of what has already been seen and what is new, which in the end turns out to be a pleasant mix of missions. Strikes and seasonal activities are still fun to play and tackle, as are exotic quests. The same goes for new weapons and armor. In general, L'Eclissi offers a very cyberpunk, vaporwave style that, between some peaks of creativity and some slip-ups, is at a globally acceptable value even if it has nothing to do with what has been done, for example, with weapons . and armor Dream city. The Tormentors are worthy of praise, the only truly noteworthy glint among the ranks of the enemies. Difficult to beat, full of novelties in terms of movements and fascinating. Similar speech for the Raid Nightmare roots. The main activity at the end of the game was beautiful in terms of setting and art style of weapons and armor, but not very stimulating from a longevity and mechanics standpoint. The raid was the most complete ever in the first 48 hours of Destiny's existence, even with Contest Mode active. Instead, let's skip over the design of the final boss.
Conclusions
Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store Price 49.99 € Holygamerz.com 6.5 Readers (10) 7.5 your voteDestiny 2 The Eclipse is nothing more than a prologue to The Final Shape. Boring and lacking narrative drive, the expansion clings to the rare presence of the Witness, the legacy of a massive expansion like The Whispering Queen. I'm sorry to say, but the better version of Destiny 2's gameplay in terms of intuitiveness and quality of life is what saves The Eclipse from a serious crisis that would have made a lot more noise than that. In a year's time, Bungie will fire his final shot at the Light and Dark saga and then we can take stock of a ten-year journey.
PRO
- The gaming ecosystem is now more agile and intuitive
- Improved mod management
- Telascura fun to use
AGAINST
- Narratively embarrassing
- Antagonist impalpable callus
- Neomuna is naked and ultimately useless
