As Bungie prepares to change Destiny 2 to a biannual expansion model driven by “mid-size” releasesAssistant game director Robbie Stevens pointed to the original Destiny 2 to clarify that Rise of Iron-sized experiences await us.
Stevens discussed the future of Destiny 2 in a developer livestream today, October 1. “The way we look at the size of these is similar to Destiny 1's Rise of Iron, but this happens twice a year,” Stevens said. . “The reason we're talking about this, the rough shape of the box we're filling, is that each expansion will have its own unique version of a campaign and a post-game experience that you can really delve into. Beyond the game initial, similar to how Beyond Light's Dreaming City or Pale Heart have worked Beyond those initial campaign experiences, there are more things to explore and secrets to discover.
The first expansion of this new model, Codename: Apollo, will set up “our next saga,” Stevens reiterates. It also represents a big change on Bungie's part in the shape of Destiny 2's content.
“You're going to travel to a Metroidvania-inspired destination,” says Stevens, based on a previous teaser from game director Tyson Green about experiments with Metroidvania, survival, roguelike and other gaming DNA. “That's our guiding light for how we're creating this new location.”
What does Bungie mean by Destiny 2 Metroidvania? This new destination “will feature a non-linear campaign that puts you in the driver's seat to explore its world and its story, so this is very different from the past where you followed a very linear mission structure,” as Stevens states. puts it.
Narrative director Alison Luhrs reiterated the example of allowing players to explore paths A, B, C, or D in any order they choose, and tailoring the narrative to match this flow, with “between 25 and 30 different story threads.” that you can discover.” “In today's broadcast, he also delved deeper into the branching flow of search action that defines the best metroidvania games. “You might want to look at B because that's where you'll get the skill that will allow you to access region A so you can talk to the character you really like,” he says.
Just as Bungie hopes to release new content more quickly under this release model, Luhrs says the new expansions will “advance the plot at a much faster pace than before.” This new agility also allows Bungie to stop worrying about “filling the size” of an expansion with “a bunch of extra stuff to fill the space.” Instead, “we're going to tell a more focused story with a pace that fits what the fans want,” he adds.
Luhrs also had a hand in delivering Destiny 2's narrative, meaning the conga line of NPCs spread across the solar system. “This also drives us crazy,” he admits. “We believe that everything should be questioned, right? We should question that structure, we should re-investigate it. Starting with [Act 2: Revenant]and especially when we get to Apollo, we will deliberately shake it up.”
This section of the broadcast concluded with two new pieces of concept art from Apollo (above). Stevens echoed Metroidvania's theme: “Within this new destination on Apollo, you will discover powerful abilities to uncover secrets in this location and to open a path to the great mystery at the heart of the planet.”
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