To me the gunplay and mechanics of Destiny 2 are first class and I personally enjoy the ongoing story, characters, and even deeper lore of the universe bungie has set out to make. The time to kill on PvE enemies varies, but outside of one shot adds and health gated bosses it is short enough to be snappy without feeling like mowing through a crowd, and long enough to be challenging / engaging without feeling like fighting a bullet sponge. I have not played for too long in relation to the games life but from what I've observed PvP is in a constant state of flux with different weapons and abilities being made meta with every major or seasonal update. From the little bit of PvP I have played I enjoy the speed and time to kill of opponents; noticeably faster than something like Halo but slower than Call of Duty. When it comes to the looter shooter aspect of the game I could take or leave grinding to get the perfect random roll of a weapon or armor piece, but the loadout / build crafting that happens afterwards is something I really enjoy. The customization afforded to you in modern day Destiny 2 with armor mod builds and weapon loadouts gives me a great amount of enjoyment when I finally put together my perfect setup and try it out... not that everyone gets to do that. Destiny 2 is not for new players. If you are not actively playing every expansion, every season, every holiday event, you are missing out. Not "you are missing out on a good thing, come on and play already.", you are missing out and have already missed out and will be worse off in game because of it. The previously stated customization tools are not provided all at once. Until recently, of 70+ armor mods, there was a selection of 2 on a daily rotation (now 4), so rise and grind gamer. Multiple, fully fleshed out locations, raids, weapons, armor sets, and campaigns, full stories have been removed from this live service game with no other way to acquire them now or in the foreseeable future. Sorry I forgot that list also includes 3 paid DLCs that together cost $77 at their respective releases. There are no in game resources to catch up on the story being told, to learn about the characters around you, or to know what you should do or work towards next. This game is being made for the people who have been consistently playing for years, so unless the gameplay can hold you over till you know whats going on I can only promise hardship for new or inconsistent players. Destiny 2 is a great game that kills itself with bombardments of questionable changes and removal of massive amounts of content. I can only hope that in the future things will change and the idea of content removal and a bad new player experience will be a thing of the past. All that said I could use some people to raid with.

EDIT: When I originally wrote this review it could be argued that the game was in a good state; Now it is not. The store page is irredeemably confusing and an obvious ploy to confuse people into buying more than they need to play the currently available content. Season passes that were previously $10 are now $12, requiring you to pay for the $15 in-game currency option since there is no way to pay for the season by itself. As of 10/30/2023 Bungie has just fired ~8% (~100 people) of their staff including support/social communicators and many iconic names like Michael Salvatori & Lorraine Mclees who have been the backbone to a lof of amazing works from the company since as far back as 1997. The said reason was because of missed revenue targets due to poor reception of the Lightfall expansion and low pre-orders for The Final Shape expansion. Lightfall was dog**** and player's trust is falling rapidly as more players either discover or accept that Bungie truly won't overdeliver as to stomp out expectations for good content, so overall hope is low in the playerbase and for good reason. The monetization is predatory, the progression loop is getting stale, and gameplay is suffering because of decisions being made by men in suits. Watch videos on the lore and raids but for your own good just play something else.

To me the gunplay and mechanics of Destiny 2 are first class and I personally enjoy the ongoing story, characters, and even deeper lore of the universe bungie has set out to make. The time to kill on PvE enemies varies, but outside of one shot adds and health gated bosses it is short enough to be snappy without feeling like mowing through a crowd, and long enough to be challenging / engaging without feeling like fighting a bullet sponge. I have not played for too long in relation to the games life but from what I've observed PvP is in a constant state of flux with different weapons and abilities being made meta with every major or seasonal update. From the little bit of PvP I have played I enjoy the speed and time to kill of opponents; noticeably faster than something like Halo but slower than Call of Duty. When it comes to the looter shooter aspect of the game I could take or leave grinding to get the perfect random roll of a weapon or armor piece, but the loadout / build crafting that happens afterwards is something I really enjoy. The customization afforded to you in modern day Destiny 2 with armor mod builds and weapon loadouts gives me a great amount of enjoyment when I finally put together my perfect setup and try it out... not that everyone gets to do that. Destiny 2 is not for new players. If you are not actively playing every expansion, every season, every holiday event, you are missing out. Not "you are missing out on a good thing, come on and play already.", you are missing out and have already missed out and will be worse off in game because of it. The previously stated customization tools are not provided all at once. Until recently, of 70+ armor mods, there was a selection of 2 on a daily rotation (now 4), so rise and grind gamer. Multiple, fully fleshed out locations, raids, weapons, armor sets, and campaigns, full stories have been removed from this live service game with no other way to acquire them now or in the foreseeable future. Sorry I forgot that list also includes 3 paid DLCs that together cost $77 at their respective releases. There are no in game resources to catch up on the story being told, to learn about the characters around you, or to know what you should do or work towards next. This game is being made for the people who have been consistently playing for years, so unless the gameplay can hold you over till you know whats going on I can only promise hardship for new or inconsistent players. Destiny 2 is a great game that kills itself with bombardments of questionable changes and removal of massive amounts of content. I can only hope that in the future things will change and the idea of content removal and a bad new player experience will be a thing of the past. All that said I could use some people to raid with. EDIT: When I originally wrote this review it could be argued that the game was in a good state; Now it is not. The store page is irredeemably confusing and an obvious ploy to confuse people into buying more than they need to play the currently available content. Season passes that were previously $10 are now $12, requiring you to pay for the $15 in-game currency option since there is no way to pay for the season by itself. As of 10/30/2023 Bungie has just fired ~8% (~100 people) of their staff including support/social communicators and many iconic names like Michael Salvatori & Lorraine Mclees who have been the backbone to a lof of amazing works from the company since as far back as 1997. The said reason was because of missed revenue targets due to poor reception of the Lightfall expansion and low pre-orders for The Final Shape expansion. Lightfall was dog**** and player's trust is falling rapidly as more players either discover or accept that Bungie truly won't overdeliver as to stomp out expectations for good content, so overall hope is low in the playerbase and for good reason. The monetization is predatory, the progression loop is getting stale, and gameplay is suffering because of decisions being made by men in suits. Watch videos on the lore and raids but for your own good just play something else.