Upon release, one of the main criticisms hounding Destiny 2 was its conversion of shaders from permanent unlocks to single-use consumable items . In response, many were quick to point out that shaders in general were easy to come by and that players wouldn’t actually be hurting for them all that much. In general, this is true. Shaders as an item are indeed relatively easy to come by. However, most of the best shaders are only gained through opening "Bright Engrams", items which are loot boxes in all but name. They’re obtainable through in-game means but only at a snail’s pace unless one decides to fork over some real cash. Players also have absolutely zero control over what they get out of them. So while those cool shaders are technically obtainable, there’s no guarantee that a player will ever get the one they want, much less more of it. So instead of encouraging players to enjoy Destiny 2’s new system that allows every piece of gear to be individually customized, the game instead pushes players to do the opposite and hoard what shaders they do get until they manage to obtain a piece of endgame gear that won’t be immediately scrapped. Armor and weapon mods suffer from a similar drawback too, though they can at least be bought with in-game currency. This problem isn’t just limited to consumables either. Thanks to Destiny 2’s deplorable token stat scaling System, there’s been wholesale reduction of player control over the gear they earn. The system is probably meant to promote grind, but instead it does the opposite. Why should the game’s players bother with the grind loop if they can’t grind for the things they actually want?

As for graphical fidelity, Destiny 2 offers more than enough to make PC users happy. Outside of being able to enable windowed fullscreen with upwards of 4K resolution, we are given a Field of View slider, Anti-Aliasing, SSAO, Texture Anisotropy, Texture & Shadow Quality, and Depth of Field selection. In addition, there’s environment, character, foliage and shadow detail distance, as well as Light Shaft, Motion Blur, Wind Impulse, Internal Render Resolution percentage, HDR for those with HDR screens, Chromatic Aberration and Film Grain. There’s even the option to display your FPS. Whew. As we mentioned, there’s a lot of options to go through, along with a VRAM Usage meter at the top to get a better grasp of your hardware capabilities. The ability to play Destiny 2 at 60 FPS is a game changer, especially if you can play it at a higher resolution such as 1440p or 4K. This feels like a game that’s made for it, and you won’t want to go back afterwards. Overall, the developers have done an amazing job bringing this to PC from a visual standpoint.

[JH]: So, that’s kind of outside the scope of where we have our involvement. We’re super dedicated to story, and the high-level development decisions based on classes or specializations happen amongst other teams. We try our best to have a good narrative wrapper around that decision-making. Our involvement in the PvP is to develop a strong character in Lord Shaxx.

Well that didn’t take long. It’s only been about a month since Destiny 2 released and it’s already struggling to hold its players’ attention. Many are focusing on loot or the sheer lack of content as the cause, but the game's real issues run a bit deeper. Having loot to grind for is all well and good, but it doesn’t amount to much when there’s not a whole lot one can actually do with it. The game’s economy has also undergone a very player-unfriendly change, one that encourages microtransactions and hoarding over fun and engagement. Even the moment-to-moment gameplay has suffered. What was once relatively fluid and fast-paced combat has become slow and laborious. As it stands, Destiny 2 meets the basic requirements necessary to be called a full and proper sequel rather than a glorified expansion, but falls into the category of unsatisfying sequel that "fixed" all of the wrong things.

On paper, the EDZ appears to be the largest open area Destiny has ever seen, but its scale can be deceptive. Using the brand new in-game map (accessed by holding down the Touchpad on PS4), it looks far bigger than the Cosmodrome. Looking closer, however, reveals that large sections of the map are taken up by long, winding roads. Take those away, and the EDZ may not be as big as it’s made out to be.

Hardcore Gamer was invited out to Bellevue, Washington to check out Earth’s new open area, the European Dead Zone (EDZ). Replacing the Cosmodrome, the EDZ may look fantastic, but does it provide enough meaningful content to keep players invested?

Destiny nailed its gameplay mechanics perfectly out of the gate and those carry beautifully into Destiny 2. Aiming and shooting feel fantastic, while platforming has been tightened up with Guardians now able to clamber over ledges. Jumping is still a little floaty, but the clambering should help players avoid some unnecessary deaths.