Despite the narrative gravity of Destiny 2’s The Final Shape expansion, and the positive reception it received, it’s safe to say that the following year of episodic content is something of a transitional period for the MMOFPS. From next summer onwards, it will enter a new era called Frontiers, which reshapes the way it delivers expansions and begins a whole new saga. As this year draws to a close, Bungie has given players an update on its progress with Codename Apollo, the first expansion of the Frontiers era, and has revealed some more small details about its next Episode, Heresy.
As someone who’s been playing Destiny 2 for several years now, I have to admit that the last few months have been rather strange. Despite Bungie’s best efforts to deliver some shorter, snappier, post-Witness storylines, I’ve not really felt as gripped by the space game’s narrative as I have in the past. Conversely, we’ve seen Bungie ship some really enjoyable, experimental game modes that prove moving away from the old formula is the right thing to do. That makes me optimistic for Destiny 2’s new era, and it sounds like Bungie is making good progress on getting its first expansion ready.
“The Destiny 2 Team is hard at work, paving the way for Codename Frontiers,” says assistant game director Robbie Stevens. “The new destination in Codename Apollo is Content Complete, which means we’re focused on polishing the non-linear campaign, Metroidvania gameplay experience, developing the finer details of the world and fleshing out the numerous quests that you’ll discover during the journey through new frontiers.”
Stevens also says that Bungie is “going dark on Codename Frontiers communications for a little while” as it ramps up playtesting and hires community-sourced “gameplay specialists.”
Looking at what’s still to come before Frontiers and Apollo hit, there are some interesting changes coming for the end of the current Episode, Revenant, and its successor, Heresy.
It’s safe to say that Revenant’s main new mechanic, Tonics, have been underwhelming, and Stevens recognizes that. However, improvements are coming. “We’re in the process of developing changes to make Tonics last longer and give better payouts on top of a series of bug fixes planned for December 17 (stay tuned for future patch notes!). Also, we see how these changes are putting pressure on your vault, so we’re in the early stages of planning long-term changes to relieve vault pressure that will start [to] manifest later in the year of Codename Frontiers.”
Bungie is also looking to make new seasonal weapons sing a little louder and feel more desirable, so Stevens teases a new tier of loot for the next Episode called the Heretic Arsenal. He doesn’t share any concrete details on what the Heretic Arsenal will entail, aside from an assurance that “it will be clear when they hit your inventory that they’re worth inspecting.”
Bungie also seems to have reached a compromise when it comes to the rollout of content for Heresy. In its first Episode, it drip-fed content weekly in the traditional Destiny 2 seasonal fashion. In Revenant, it went to the other extreme and released all the activities, quests, and narrative beats at the start of each act, which led to some content voids.
“We’ve made changes to Heresy that strike a better balance between everything dropping on day one of an Act vs. meaningful reasons to return throughout the Episode. We’re taking an approach where the vast majority of the activity content will be available on the first day of an Act and subsequent weeks will add or evolve the content based on the story. Also, we’re adjusting the Act rollout schedule so that there is less downtime in the gameplay calendar later in the Episode.”
Stevens also talks about how the narrative of Heresy won’t be about tying up old loose ends from the Light and Dark saga and will instead “close the door” on it. “[Heresy will] act as prologue to Codename Apollo where the Guardian’s purpose in the next saga starts to take focus.”
Destiny 2’s next Episode, Heresy, will launch on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, while the Codename Apollo expansion will arrive in the summer of 2025.
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