Author Topic: Anyone playing Destiny the Taken King?  (Read 1355 times)

gf78

Anyone playing Destiny the Taken King?
« on: September 22, 2015, 10:52:20 am »
I hadn't played Destiny in probably four months or so.  When I bought the Ghost Edition at launch, I had the season pass for the two expansions.  By that point, the lack of any meaningful story in the game coupled with playing the same crucible maps wore on me and I gave it up for a while.  Enter The Taken King.

My thoughts?  It's a definite step up from what came last year with the initial launch.  Static characters that you would talk to in the tower never seemed to interact or do much of anything.  Now, these characters converse, interact, banter, work together and annoy each other.  Short cutscenes have been added in various places that flesh out the characters and give a reason for why you are running around doing all the stuff you are uhmm...doing.  The cutscenes are informative, interesting, well done and best of all-never overstay their welcome by dragging on. 

New Crucible maps along with a new super ability for each class of character have added to the fun and keep things interesting.  While it is a bit annoying that some Legendary and Exotic gear & weapons have been nerfed, it's much easier to acquire good gear early on.  You also level your character up all the way to 40 by just playing the game and leveling your gear & weapons up now as opposed to having to grind in raids in the vain hopes of getting a new piece of gear for your set.  I'm mixed on Nolan North taking over as the voice of the Ghost from Peter Dinklage.   It's ok, but I guess I was just used to Dinklage's delivery and calling the Ghost "Dinklebot."

All in all, it's a good refreshing of a game that while I loved to play, it was always half-baked from the start.  And I may have just missed it, but I didn't catch the infamous "A Wizard!  It came from the moon!" line.   ???
Currently playing:  Last of Us Part II Remastered, Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition
Currently listening to:  Iron Maiden & Ghost
Currently Watching:  Cyberpunk Edgerunners & Last of Us

rayne315

Re: Anyone playing Destiny the Taken King?
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2015, 11:48:37 am »
So I have to ask. As a guy who bought the game day one and the 2 expansion pack but never played the second one and who was severely disappointed with the original game and expansion's lack of storyline and meaningless grindathon going through the same exact very few maps. Would you consider This new expansion to be worth $40? and would you recommend it to me? or should I wait for more expansions to come out/never bother getting them?
PS2 Palooza: 8/2XXX games finished
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gf78

Re: Anyone playing Destiny the Taken King?
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2015, 12:23:09 pm »
So I have to ask. As a guy who bought the game day one and the 2 expansion pack but never played the second one and who was severely disappointed with the original game and expansion's lack of storyline and meaningless grindathon going through the same exact very few maps. Would you consider This new expansion to be worth $40? and would you recommend it to me? or should I wait for more expansions to come out/never bother getting them?

Disclaimer:  I bought the Legendary Edition which is $60.  The disc has The Taken King, the original Destiny and both expansions.  To me, it was worth the extra $20 to have all the content on-disc.  Secondly, because I am insane, I also purchased the limited edition PS4 system which has a hard copy in the box as well (I'm leaving it sealed).  I don't know if it was because I bought the Legendary edition, but I received a one-time use item in the game that boosted my level 1 Titan instantly to level 30 (I believe it was 30, it may have been 25 but my brain is fried from lack of sleep right now).

With that out of the way, I have to say that this is what I hoped Destiny would have been from day one.  You will revisit areas.  You will still have your weekly raids, etc.  But whereas I never reached level 30 in the original (and two expansions) because I refused to grind through raids in the vain hope of getting a piece of gear to raise my light level, I'm level 39 right now with about maybe 30 more minutes of playing before I hit the level cap of 40.  You can level up and weapons and gear from common to exotic and raise your light level each time.  I've gone from (example) level 30 to 31 just by leveling up my gauntlets after completing matches in the crucible.  Crucible matches also frequently drop strange coins now.  I've gathered up about a dozen in less than five hours of playing PVP.  So with reaching level 40 an attainable goal without the endless grindathon that you and I both hate and easily acquiring strange coins, weekend visits to Xur Agent of Nine will probably be pretty cool now.

There is a lot more story this time around.  Starting with a new Titan, I've been experiencing the story from the beginning.  I've been sent on a secret mission by Cayde-6 (the Warlock council member), watched a spectacular cutscene of a battle in the rings of Saturn and been given more story in a few hours than I ever got out of playing the original release and it's two expansions for eight months.  The Taken-while variations of enemies you already have faced-each have new attacks and abilities and are visually quite interesting IMO.  Each class has a new story mission where you obtain a third ability branch.  With the Titan, I now wield this flaming hammer that you can hurl at your enemies as your special.  Think Thor.  It's cool and adds something new to the game.  I've watched (and been on the receiving end) of Hunters with a giant scimitar-like sword and Warlocks that glide across the ground with lightning attacks like the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. 

You no longer need to return to the tower or Reef to turn in bounties and you can carry a buttload of them at once.  Your main menu allows you to easily see what missions you are working on and turn in bounties.  There are a ton of new options for your Ghost's appearance and each one has different light levels that help contribute to your overall light level. 

I've really been enjoying the new Crucible maps.  There is a lot of variety to them including one where you have huge areas that you have to double jump across, leaving you vulnerable to enemies on the ground.  Whereas I didn't care for the new maps added with the House of Wolves and Dark Below, these are a lot of fun.  One map is an abandoned version of the tower which is pretty cool.  I'm quite pleased with what Bungie has been doing.

The Taken King is to me, more like the classic PC expansion packs like Brood War for StarCraft.  It's not as big as the standalone original, but it's got a lot of content in it's own right.  Would it be worth buying?  I would recommend you look at online reviews from other gamers first because I would hate to say "YES!  BUT IT!" and then you dislike it or feel indifferent and that you wasted your money.  For me?  I have been more than happy with what they have done and feel it is worth $40.  And again, I opted to buy the Legendary Edition with all the content on-disc for an extra $20.

Currently playing:  Last of Us Part II Remastered, Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition
Currently listening to:  Iron Maiden & Ghost
Currently Watching:  Cyberpunk Edgerunners & Last of Us

argyle

Re: Anyone playing Destiny the Taken King?
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2015, 08:58:16 am »
So I have to ask. As a guy who bought the game day one and the 2 expansion pack but never played the second one and who was severely disappointed with the original game and expansion's lack of storyline and meaningless grindathon going through the same exact very few maps. Would you consider This new expansion to be worth $40? and would you recommend it to me? or should I wait for more expansions to come out/never bother getting them?

Disclaimer:  I bought the Legendary Edition which is $60.  The disc has The Taken King, the original Destiny and both expansions.  To me, it was worth the extra $20 to have all the content on-disc.

Just wanted to point something out since it has been my only irritation with the new set so far - all of the content ISN'T on the disk. The only thing actually on the disk as far as I can tell is vanilla Destiny, everything else downloads after you enter the packed-in code.
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis


gf78

Re: Anyone playing Destiny the Taken King?
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2015, 09:13:31 am »
Just wanted to point something out since it has been my only irritation with the new set so far - all of the content ISN'T on the disk. The only thing actually on the disk as far as I can tell is vanilla Destiny, everything else downloads after you enter the packed-in code.

Really?  When I put the disk in and it did the standard HDD file install, I was off and running in the new game.  Did you not have Destiny on your system beforehand?  Maybe the 2.0 update that dropped a few days before the Taken King's release installed all the files needed?  I don't know.  The two codes I entered didn't seem to start any large downloads and again, I was off and running with a new Titan within minutes.  Hmmm.....
« Last Edit: September 23, 2015, 09:15:14 am by gf78 »
Currently playing:  Last of Us Part II Remastered, Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition
Currently listening to:  Iron Maiden & Ghost
Currently Watching:  Cyberpunk Edgerunners & Last of Us

argyle

Re: Anyone playing Destiny the Taken King?
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2015, 10:04:52 am »
Just wanted to point something out since it has been my only irritation with the new set so far - all of the content ISN'T on the disk. The only thing actually on the disk as far as I can tell is vanilla Destiny, everything else downloads after you enter the packed-in code.

Really?  When I put the disk in and it did the standard HDD file install, I was off and running in the new game.  Did you not have Destiny on your system beforehand?  Maybe the 2.0 update that dropped a few days before the Taken King's release installed all the files needed?  I don't know.  The two codes I entered didn't seem to start any large downloads and again, I was off and running with a new Titan within minutes.  Hmmm.....

I had traded in my original Destiny a while back, so it wasn't on my system at the time. I bought the CE from Gamestop, but I'd assume the disk is the same - the code it came bundled with said it was for the 2 original expansions + Taken King itself. And there was a 17gb download that took forever.

Guess I could pop it into my wife's system & see what she has access to without entering the codes just to be sure.
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis


gf78

Re: Anyone playing Destiny the Taken King?
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2015, 10:46:24 am »
I had traded in my original Destiny a while back, so it wasn't on my system at the time. I bought the CE from Gamestop, but I'd assume the disk is the same - the code it came bundled with said it was for the 2 original expansions + Taken King itself. And there was a 17gb download that took forever.

Guess I could pop it into my wife's system & see what she has access to without entering the codes just to be sure.

Interesting....you should check that out if your wife has it on a separate system already.  Like I said, Destiny had a large update they called "Update 2.0" which my system auto-downloaded a couple of days before the Taken King came out. 

Perhaps the update contained all the Taken King files and the download codes only unlock the content if it is already installed?  I'm definitely interested to find out more about this.  I know that some have been griping that the 2.0 update nerfed the original game and placed their crucible maps in one section, which is how the old maps are now with the Taken King.
Currently playing:  Last of Us Part II Remastered, Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition
Currently listening to:  Iron Maiden & Ghost
Currently Watching:  Cyberpunk Edgerunners & Last of Us