Unveiling Destiny 2's Flawed Yet Promising Final Shape Raid - A Compelling Analysis

Highlights

Bungie faces challenges in choosing the Raid for Season 22, with options like Wrath of the Machine or Crota's End requiring adjustments.

The Final Shape Raid in Destiny 2 requires innovative changes in order to present fresh challenges and heightened expectations for Bungie. It is crucial that the raid incorporates intricate puzzles which encourage players to utilize their buildcrafting abilities, without resorting to exploiting the encounters using techniques like the Strand grapple.

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Destiny 2 is currently in the Lightfall era, with two seasons remaining before The Final Shape expansion is released. Season of the Deep is nearing its end, and despite its lore fixing most of the issues with the Lightfall expansion, Season 22 is expected to be equally significant. Bungie has already hinted that Season 22 will focus on resurrecting and collaborating with Savathun. Additionally, Season 22 will see the return of a previous Raid from the franchise, adding to the challenges Bungie will face. However, the ultimate test will be the Raid featured in The Final Shape, which will be completely new and present its own unique challenges. Bungie has several options for the returning Raid in Season 22, but each option comes with its own set of problems. Replicating either Wrath of the Machine or Crota's End from the original game would require significant work, such as developing new Exotic weapons or dealing with assets that are not currently relevant to the game's narrative. On the other hand, re-introducing vaulted Destiny 2 Raids could also pose difficulties for the community. However, regardless of the options, the Raid for The Final Shape will need to be completely fresh and face distinct challenges.

Destiny 2's Raid in The Final Shape Needs Puzzles That Can't be Cheesed With StrandIt's no secret that Bungie has been trying to provide players with increasingly more alternatives when it comes to how they want to play the game, be it accessibility options or choices in terms of gameplay and loadouts. This is mostly a positive thing for the game, as it encourages diversity both among community members and when it comes to in-game builds. Destiny 2's Strand is just the latest tool that players got access in the elemental department, for example.

The reception of Strand as a subclass has been phenomenal from the very beginning, primarily due to its unique ability to empower players in unprecedented ways. For instance, it grants the power to swiftly traverse the entire map by latching onto a Cabal ship and soaring through the air at remarkable speeds. The Strand grapple in Destiny 2 serves not only as a thrilling exploration tool that offers enjoyable experiences for individuals or groups of friends, but also presents a significant challenge in terms of achieving optimal balance, particularly in high-level encounters.

Destiny 2's Root of Nightmares Raid initially allowed players to use the grapple mechanic to discover hidden chests and exploit certain encounters. However, with time, players became more adept at utilizing Strand Fragments and exploiting the game's mechanics, such as using the grapple to cheese puzzles in the King's Fall Raid. It is expected that Season 22's Raid will face similar issues, as players already possess knowledge of all possible options.

When it comes to The Final Shape in Destiny 2, the Raid needs to excel on multiple levels, and one of them is providing challenging puzzles. The community enjoys the thrill of solving these puzzles upon release. This presents a dilemma for Bungie, as they should not limit the use of Strand in the final Raid of the Light and Darkness saga, yet they should prevent players from effortlessly bypassing these puzzles on day one. Unfortunately, there is no definitive solution to this problem.

Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.