Bullet Points – Destiny: The Taken King Review

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When I first reviewed this game, I said it was a game where if you wanted to learn a little about MMOs on a console, you should check it out. Crazy to think that was over a year ago right? However we’re now in Year 2 with the launch of The Taken King, just before it’s launch a 2.0 patch was released that got rid of the light leveling system and made it easier for you to track your quests received. There is a new story for players along with a more…interesting enemy. Forget what you know about The Fallen, Hex and Cabal. It’s time to learn about The Taken and see if this expansion is the savior of Destiny! 

Likes

  • Story – The story in this game is pretty straight forward, you killed Oryx’s son Crota and he’s here to get his revenge by taking the enemies you’ve faced before and use them as his own puppets to kill you. I think he’s just mad because his son was a wimp but that’s beside the point of this review. It’s a good story with a lot of great things to accompany it like the enemies and missions that take you to parts of the game you haven’t seen before. On top of that the voice acting and interactions you have with some of the Vanguards have improved vastly…actually…they are apart of it now and have actual personality. My personal favorite out of all of them…the smarty bot of them all Cayde-6 voiced by Nathan Fillion. It’s also great to have a new voice for the ghost in the game in Nolan North (Nathan Drake from Uncharted Fame). That last battle is also something that you’ve never truly encountered in a Destiny Boss Fight. I’ll just say, be prepared to NOT go in and just shoot, be ready to expect some surprises.

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  • Leveling and Crucible Improvements – The patch that was released just before the expansion made vast improvements to leveling. When this expansion was finally released we got to see everything come full circle for year two. You level faster and we’re not talking about going through the crucible to level up your guy. We’re talking about while doing missions, you’ll notice it takes a lot less time to get from level to level. Speaking of the crucible, I love the fact they added in two new modes with Rift and Elimination. Now my notes point out three new modes with Rift, Mayhem and Zone Control, but through my play through I have only noticed Rift and Elimination. These two modes were never offered at first but they add more options to PvP. I can only think that modes like Mayhem and Zone Control are rotated in and out of the Crucible much like the Vehicle modes. I am absolutely fine with this and have enjoyed what has been added so far. There are also 8 new maps with one that’s a timed exclusive to PlayStation 4 named Sector 618. Each map adds their own flavor and finally adds more variety to the lineup.

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  • Quests & Bounties – There are now quests you will get outside of the main story that also reward you better than before. I think it’s pretty good and really drives home the point of Destiny being an MMO. I should say a console MMO.

Love/Hate Relationship

  • Loot System (Crucible) – While I’m still not a fan of the way loot is decided in the crucible, I have gotten used to its randomness but also it has improved a bit since launch. I still wish that if loot is being given out in Crucible matches, that either everyone on the winning team gets loot or the top 3, but that looks like it’s not going to happen and I’ll take what I can get.

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Dislikes

  • None that I can think of.

Conclusion

The Taken King is an expansion WORTH getting. It features a lot of improvements that the first two expansions didn’t offer and shows that Bungie is absolutely listening to their fans. If you want to get into a console MMO, this is a good start and would suggest getting the collectors that gives you the full experience.