DESTINY: Beta Impressions Discussion.

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Hello All,

I know a few of us in clan have had an opportunity to play the BETA for Destiny and would like to start an open discussion about the potential of this game. I know currently, Balz, Bold, and myself are playing the BETA. I would like to share my initial impressions to help those in mXm who are following this game.

First off, I would like to say its a beautiful looking game. The vast worlds and textures even in BETA look superb! But I do not want to get into graphics and the like since I really want to go over the mechanics and feel of the game.

For those who have played Borderlands, Halo, and Mass Effect, you will see a lot of gameplay elements from these games incorporated into DESTINY. I, for one, loved the addiction of Borderlands where you would find and collect massive amounts of loot, guns, ammo upon exploration and from killing enemies with weapon drops etc. In my first few hours with Destiny I have to admit I found myself looking for more loot drops and finding chests and be rewarded for looking beyond the obvious paths to your objective but I am thinking, maybe in BETA, these things aren't as populated as the final build. That I do not know, but I would love to see more rewards for exploring the terrain etc.

Maybe the game is so massive that they limit a lot of these things for the pacing of the game for grinding and leveling purposes. This is a minor gripe, but I felt myself longing for the weapon drops that borderlands provided.

Also, My initial feel of the UI was that it was built for PC as you have to use your R3 button for choosing items in the menu screens. It took a little getting used to but got comfortable with it right away. It felt like a mouse was the preferred method for the menus but the R3 button served just fine.

Weapons:

So far in the early stages, the weapons felt decent and the overall controls felt a tad stiff, even though you can adjust the speed and sensitivity, it didn't feel as tight as BF or COD controls but not a deal breaker at all. I would say its a tad under the feel of BF4/COD controls.

Overall, the mission structure is HUB based where you need to chose your destination from a tower via a map. I really like that as sometimes in a game like Elder Scrolls, it can be cumbersome sometimes to walk, but I think for the grand scheme of the game, this is a great decision. Inside the tower you can visit shops to buy weapons, upgrades, and ship repairs/upgrades that feels a lot like Borderlands to me. You even have vaults where you can store your inventory and meet up with your faction to collect rewards for things you find in missions and such.

I have yet to get to multiplayer as I haven't hit level 5 yet, so I will let the others comment on this, but this game is a day 1 purchase for me as I see already in BETA how polished this game feels and how awesome it will be to co-op with mXm on here in a way we have yet to do outside of our typical FPS/3PS style.

Overall, I wouldn't say this game is groundbreaking as it borrows a lot from itself (Bungie), as well as Diablo/Borderlands/Halo/Mass Effect, but what it does is take the best elements from those games and do it right.

Overall so far I am very impressed with the BETA, but I still am VERY early into the gameplay to make more elaborate observations, but this is a must buy for anyone who loves deep immersive gameplay that you can play with friends.

More to come... and please feel free to add on for those who are BETA testing.

O~

[[mXm] andy19]

Also, My initial feel of the UI was that it was built for PC as you have to use your R3 button for choosing items in the menu screens.  It took a little getting used to but got comfortable with it right away.  It felt like a mouse was the preferred method for the menus but the R3 button served just fine.

Seems like a missed opportunity to use the Dual Shock 4's touch pad.

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You are right Andy, and I am sure in the BETA forums, someone probably made mention of that as it would have been better to use your finger to scroll on the touch pad.

[[mXm] BalzOnYer4Head]

The game is very polished, for a Beta, only been booted once. Like Odie stated the graphics are wow. I do like the co-op aspect. I have played Crucible and it is your typical fantasy/future FPS. Not my cup of normal tea, but like all games, if I am playing with mXm ill be happy. I will absolutely prefer the co-op missions over the multiplayer, but will play both.

[[mXm] BOLD Edition]

The co-op (re: Strike) missions are definitely entertaining and enjoyable. I would prefer to have a fireteam of four instead of three in that instance, especially when you can level up the intensity, but it is still manageable nonetheless. Had a good fireteam strike run with Balz and a new friend earlier today.

Balz, I think Crucible will be more enjoyable as we are able to unlock the different modes. Control is the only preference we have right now, when it may be better as a free-for-all, or CTF, or something along those lines. Did you notice that all the Crucible modes require Playstation Plus?

I also wonder if they will enable Crucible fireteam chat; right now, we can only hear the people in our smaller, active fireteam, which is inconceivable for team based play. Not sure why that is right now. It is not always possible that you'd enter a Crucible run with a 6-person fireteam already established.

ODlN, good impressions from your perspective man. I can see how Borderlands heavily influences how you approach this game; whereas you hadn't played HALO, it is understandable how some of those Bungie "particulars" stick out a bit. For instance, the gameplay is fast, but does not compare to COD/BF/Borderlands, etc, in terms of speed.

[[mXm] BOLD Edition]

Honestly, I am not sure how to feel about this just yet:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/07/31/destinys-end-game-raids-require-five-other-friends-to-play/

It is counter to most MMO's endgame play. This, coupled with the fact that in the Beta you couldn't hear other Crucible players (unless they were already on your "local" fireteam) suggests that Destiny is all about exclusively gaming with your friends. I am hoping that it is more open and flexible than that. If I want to run a raid to get my daily marks and mXm isn't online, then I should have the choice of puggin' the game so that I can keep progressing.

[[mXm] BalzOnYer4Head]

I see both sides of it. I would only want to run raids with clan/friends. Getting into a raid with some randoms who are either griefers or do not know what they are doing can be very frustrating when your time is limited for gaming. Investing an hour into the raid and then two of the randoms decide to leave or whatever, now you've wasted an hour of game play. 

 

However I do understand that not everyone can get online at the same time as everyone else, and not being able to participate in a part of the game that drops the best loot would make one feel like they are not getting their monies worth.

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I missed the last 2 days of the BETA due to vacation, but I was really enjoying the online multiplayer quite a bit. Balz is right. This BETA feels extremely polished and I find myself missing playing this already which is a good sign.

In the meantime, I am picking up The Last of US Remastered for PS4 and will be on that multiplayer as well. I am looking forward to playing this game again and delving into the DLC which I missed on the PS3.

For those of you who haven't played this game on PS3, do yourself a favor and experience it. The online Multiplayer is 4v4 and slower paced like SOCOM.

But back to Destiny, my pre-order is paid off! Looking forward to some good gaming this fall.

O~

[[mXm] BOLD Edition]

I see both sides of it. I would only want to run raids with clan/friends. Getting into a raid with some randoms who are either griefers or do not know what they are doing can be very frustrating when your time is limited for gaming. Investing an hour into the raid and then two of the randoms decide to leave or whatever, now you've wasted an hour of game play.

However I do understand that not everyone can get online at the same time as everyone else, and not being able to participate in a part of the game that drops the best loot would make one feel like they are not getting their monies worth.

Yes, that makes sense; both sides. I hope that we are able to overcome this particular challenge with some level of consistency :)

[[mXm] andy19]

One thing I'm not a fan of are the long raids.  It's one reason I don't like MMORPGs, and if it's a major component in Destiny I'm not sure if I'll be picking it up.

 

It's a beautiful game, and the shooter aspect is good (just like Halo), but if they're going to be insisting on multi-hour long battles, I might not be purchasing. 

I am willing to play for hours - I can do that from time to time - but a single battle?  Not sure.  I get tired of Battlefield after 15-20 minute battles, let alone several hours.

[[mXm] BOLD Edition]

One thing I'm not a fan of are the long raids. It's one reason I don't like MMORPGs, and if it's a major component in Destiny I'm not sure if I'll be picking it up.

It's a beautiful game, and the shooter aspect is good (just like Halo), but if they're going to be insisting on multi-hour long battles, I might not be purchasing.

I am willing to play for hours - I can do that from time to time - but a single battle? Not sure. I get tired of Battlefield after 15-20 minute battles, let alone several hours.

I'd posit that the "Strike" and PvP elements of Destiny would be enough to appease. If you choose not to do a raid, then you still have those 15-30 minute elements at your disposal (and they seem to be consistently fun).

[[mXm] BOLD Edition]

I missed the last 2 days of the BETA due to vacation, but I was really enjoying the online multiplayer quite a bit. Balz is right. This BETA feels extremely polished and I find myself missing playing this already which is a good sign.

In the meantime, I am picking up The Last of US Remastered for PS4 and will be on that multiplayer as well. I am looking forward to playing this game again and delving into the DLC which I missed on the PS3.

For those of you who haven't played this game on PS3, do yourself a favor and experience it. The online Multiplayer is 4v4 and slower paced like SOCOM.

But back to Destiny, my pre-order is paid off! Looking forward to some good gaming this fall.

O~

I just watched some gameplay footage of Last of Us multiplayer; that looks amazing. Definitely seems very team based, rather than run-n-gun. I may have to join you in this, Chad. Tempted. Very tempted.

[[mXm] BOLD Edition]

New trailer out of Gamescom 2014:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20opyh1pLYg

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This game is so polished its ridiculous! Cant wait until 9/9... I am going to the midnight release here in Annapolis MD

[[mXm] BOLD Edition]

I watched this video today about Destiny's raids and "Nightfall" missions. I like where they are going with this.

http://youtu.be/oFRQlCX3Ygs