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Wait, Destiny Was Delayed Due To Story Issues? Really?

John-Shepard 10 Comments

Nobody plays Destiny for the story, do they? Well, did you realize that was the reason behind the game's original delay?

First, some background: Developer Bungie and publisher Activision have been embroiled in a lawsuit with Marty O'Donnell, who composed the soundtracks for the Halo games, and also produced a few songs for Destiny . He now claims he was "fired without cause" and forced to give up shares in the company. But something else has arisen from this battle, as found in submitted court documents (via VentureBeat ).

As it turns out, Bungie made "substantial revisions" to the game's narrative just before the original projected release of September 2013. The game was then pushed back 7 months. Now, thing is, fans have been complaining about the Destiny story from the start, as the disjointed nature of the narrative led them to believe big pieces of the plot were missing. Don't forget that it was supposed to have quite the background in lore.

Currently, most of the game's backstory can only be found in the Grimoire Cards, which aren't even in the game (they're found on site online). It would appear that the 7-month delay didn't really do much to help…perhaps it hurt?

Related Game(s): Destiny

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Bungie: Story Can Be Played Solo, But Multiplayer Is Encouraged

Ben-Dutka 4 Comments

Will you have to team up with other players just to tackle the story missions in Destiny ?

No. During a Game Informer interview with Bungie's Jason Jones, one of his responses led people to believe that co-op would be mandatory for campaign missions. But as Bungie community manager Eric "Urk" Osborne confirmed in the NeoGAF forums :

"You aren't required or forced to play any story missions in Destiny as part of a co-op group."

Jones was basically just saying that the single-player elements will hopefully lead gamers to become more interested in the universe, at which point they'll opt to play with others. He said the social experiences can be "incredibly powerful and interesting," but you can still play the game completely solo if you wish. However, it's feasible that some of Destiny 's end-game content could require co-op:

"We describe it in a lot of ways as sloping the floor towards socialization, without putting a requirement on it. I would say that there’s some sort of–if you wanted to talk about it in MMO terms, you’d say 'end-game activities', but some of the most intense non-competitive activities in the game do require co-operation.

They require a group of players to tackle at once. I guess at some variable, distant endpoint we are going to say, 'Yeah, if you show up at this door, and you don’t have five friends, you’re not going to be able to succeed,' but the core experience that solo players have enjoyed in shooters, they’re going to be able to get that, and we’re going to pull many of them into social experiences as well."

There's no doubt that Destiny is a game probably best played with other humans. The developer just wanted to clarify that it isn't a requirement, and that's an important distinction, right?

Related Game(s): Destiny

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Bungie: Destiny’s Story Is “Deeper Than Anything We’ve Told”

John-Shepard 5 Comments

Just because Destiny is primarily an online multiplayer game doesn't mean it can't include a compelling narrative.

Bungie.net community manager DeeJ has been answering pressing questions concerning the team's anticipated new MMOFPS. Firstly, he confirmed that your character will be "totally customizable, and you'll evolve and change over time as your adventure makes you more dangerous." Sounds a little like Fable .

Furthermore, there's going to be quite the "rich narrative" involved. While you will spend the majority of your time gunning down baddies with your friends, you can also seek out pieces of the story as you progress. You can even strike out on your own to explore and conquer, although that won't always be advisable:

"I can tell you that Destiny will revolve around a rich narrative that is deeper than any story we’ve ever told. While this world will be populated by other players, there is nothing stopping you from charging through and crafting your own adventure unaided by other gamers – although you may find yourself wishing for an ally or two when the Fallen drop a Devil Walker packed with sweet loot in your path."

Personally, I'm not a fan of such storytelling and I'm relatively certain that nobody is going to be picking up Destiny for the plot and character development. It's almost entirely gameplay-oriented, obviously. But you can still have a few interesting things happening on the side, which makes for a more involving experience.

Related Game(s): Destiny

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