Bevendre

I think what upsets me the most about Mario Maker isn’t that it’s been done before in many ways on many platforms, but that it’s all that Nintendo’s doing for Mario’s 30th anniversary and we could have had a compilation of classics like Sunshine and Galaxy remastered, or a new Mario game altogether.  Just imagine a 3D Mario platformer with the graphical engine of Mario Kart 8!

Growing up in the U.S. I was told and taught every day that I lived in the greatest country in the world.  I was brought up believing that the past was a dark and terrible place, but that we as a country had moved on from those times.  I was taught that if you worked hard, no matter who you were and did your best to avoid, or apologize for your mistakes then you could and would find success.

Grown up I can’t go a day without being disappointed in my country.  Every day is another example of how imbalanced the economy is, and how close-minded and selfish many Americans are.  Every day shows just how broken and defunct our political system has become.  Every day is a new lesson in how the darkness of the past is every bit as prevalent now as it has been for centuries.

Today, with Ferguson is an even more poignant example of what the United States is, whether that be what it has become or what it may always have been.  It sickens me, it frightens me, and it shows just how wrong it is to tell the young that their country has no flaws.

Okay, I just finished the campaign of Destiny so let’s have a quick rundown of what I think of the game so far.

Coming from Bungie, I am extremely, EXTREMELY disappointed with Destiny.  

Bungie is known for its gameplay, its story and world building, and to an extent its presentation.  Unfortunately, the gameplay in Destiny is virtually identical to what we got in Halo, which isn’t bad, but it’s been done and done by the same people.  Movement feels the same (the Titan’s Lift ability feels and works identically to the jetpack from Halo Reach).  Weapons feel the same, with only two weapon types, the Fusion Rifle and the Hand Cannon not feeling identical to a Halo counterpart.  Even then, the Fusion Rifle handles much like a Spartan Laser, and the Hand Cannon is almost synonymous with the Halo 1 pistol.  This is not a bad thing, but it’s been done and it’s been done better.
The other half of the gameplay, namely the RPG aspects are almost not there.  Each of the 3 classes plays the same with very minimal differences.  Leveling is purely grinding with little to no rewards.  Loot drops are rare, and finding anything above an uncommon drop is unlikely to happen.  It seems almost like the RPG elements that should be the backbone of the game were slapped on at the end of the development at times, and forgotten at others.

The presentation is fantastic, thankfully, both visually and audibly.  The score is beautiful, and the locations are beautiful.  Each locale looks and feels different from the last, despite there being no fluctuations in movement, gravity, weather, or even much of a different in layout.  Animations are smooth, colors are well used, and overall the game looks good, especially on PS4.

The story and world, however, feel flat.  The story is almost nonexistent, and is largely told through your Ghost, a floating drone that guides you along, and is voiced by Peter Dinklage.  Sadly, the man behind Tyrion Lannister provides a very flat and robotic performance for the Ghost.  To a point it’s understandable as the Ghost is a robot, but this is coming from Bungie who has made some of the most iconic and human AI characters in videogames.  The bulk of the story comes from the Ghost, with a few snippets taken from other characters that are poorly set up, if at all, and overall comes across as almost not there.  That the story of Destiny boils down to Avatar: The Last Airbender in space doesn’t help:

3000 years ago humanity entered a new age of prosperity, but then everything changed when the Darkness attacked.  Only the Traveler, carrier of the Light could stop it, but when we needed it most, it went dormant.  Now, a Guardian has stepped forth to revive the Traveler, and although s/he’s generic I believe s/he can save the world.

It’s poorly told, almost never present, and because of this something that could easily feel huge and epic comes off as ‘Go here, kill this, pray for loot you won’t get, repeat.’  Destiny is an MMO at heart, but that’s no excuse anymore, especially from a company that has shown that it can very successfully weave a story and lore into a shooter.

Overall, it’s a fun game with good-ish, albeit recycled, gameplay.  After the campaign there’s a LOT of grinding to do, but no real incentive for it, sadly.  I may play some more to try and get some of the higher end stuff, but it’s questionable.  It took a while for the game to grow on me enough to want to play it for a while (when I could, for the first week I couldn’t play for more than 30 minutes to 2 hours due to server issues, that’s right it’s an MMO and you are required to be online at all times while trying to play it.) and now that the campaign is over, I have very little desire to play it more.

At the moment, I’d give it a 7.7 at most, which is a shame as it is one of, if not the, most hyped games of the year.