It’s time to pay off. For years, Bungie has teased the potential of Destiny’s most sly villain. In recent months, that teasing has increased. The Hive queen named Savathûn has penetrated all major storylines, alluding herself to the events that shape the story. Now, at last, the Sorcerer Queen’s trap has been set, as she co-uses humanity’s most precious resource – the Light that powers the Guardians – and uses her power there to make his own immortal warriors.
With The Witch Queen, Bungie is betting big on a narrative twist that’s been in the works for a long time, and using that narrative moment to push new twists on a long-established game model, includes a massive step forward in terms of gameplay customization for players. On the eve of the expansion’s release, we spoke with the project’s creative director and got the scoop on what longtime player, the lapsed Guardians return to the screen. First and even newbies can look forward to exploring over the next few months.
Creative director James Tsai said: “The villain, Savathûn, the most cunning Hive enemy we’ve ever had, is at the center. “And it wouldn’t be a Savathûn story without the tricks. She is the lord of cunningness.” The focus on betrayal, hidden meanings and secrets doesn’t end as Savathûn has now revealed her true identity and come to light. And it seems the main focus of the The Witch Queen experience is to combine intelligence to counter such cunning enemies. “We actually talked about this as a mystery,” continued Tsai. “This time the player imagines like a psychic detective. You are entering this uncertain destination, this creepy, grotesquely beautiful, spiraling place. What is the mystery here? What can you trust? ”
Those beautiful grotesque dynamics are on full display in the play space Tsai is describing. Savathûn’s Throne World is a vast new area for players to explore, filled with secrets and combat opportunities across various regions. Reflecting Savathûn’s mind, World of Throne is an old Hive Kingdom being remade and blessed by the Light that Savathûn stole. “She has the Light, so she has this luxurious, manicured castle. The sculptures, the courtyard is cool. It’s not the typical Hive area. Then you have this swamp, the kind of area she hasn’t yet rebuilt with Light. And then this part of the underworld. There’s even a new six-man co-op called Wellspring taking place in World of Throne, built to convey the fantasy of storming a seemingly insurmountable castle. Conceptually, the swamp, heat and humidity represent something new and different from what we’ve seen before from the franchise.
On top of that new landscape, Bungie has big plans to make the new campaign particularly memorable. “We call it Operation Clear Fate,” says Tsai. “It was about bringing some great sense of grandeur of some of our last-game aspirational sensibilities into the campaign itself. Soar through these truly amazing environmental settings. Memorable encounters require a lot of thought and understanding. Bring puzzles into the campaign for players. There’s a really revived focus on the campaign in this release. ”
The new importance of the campaign also means new ways to play. In addition to the classic experience, players can take on a legendary version of the campaign. That translates to more enemies with significantly more health, additional boosts in combat, and tweaks to the Shadow Zone to ensure players can’t trivialize encounters. In return, players can expect rewards commensurate with gear packs that help push your Guardian into raid-ready status, module upgrades, and even weird drops.
The Legendary Campaign also takes a new approach to small party size, adjusting content and enemies depending on the number of Guardians in your playgroup. “Our aim is to make sure that there is no wrong way to play this game,” says Tsai. “You want to play it alone; you are doing it. Want to play with friends? You will get the same difficulty experience and the same achievement. ”
Whether on classic or legendary difficulty, players should expect a key challenge that remains constant – Lucent Brood’s monstrous threat. While the player will still face entire factions of the Hive enemies they’ve been battling for years, Savathûn’s forces are joined by new variants empowered by the Light. Like the Guardians player character, Lucent Brood uses superpowers and rises from the dead after being defeated. “It really changes the sandbox experience against them,” says Tsai. “It’s not just like fighting a Hive with new pajamas; You must consider these possibilities. “
Players can look forward to confronting the newly empowered Knights with Void shields like a Titan. Arc-powered mages unleash electric attacks. And the solar-powered Acolytes uses the fans of flaming knives. Upon death, these high-threat enemies will lie dormant for a few seconds until their Ghost brings them back to life and full health, ready to continue the fight. Your only option is to venture close to the enemy Ghost and then tap your Finisher to capture and crush them, ending the threat.
Meanwhile, the more standard Hive enemies will be powered by moths that transmit Light to them. “So you can fight an Acolyte, who is empowered with the Light, and when you defeat that Acolyte, the moth flies out and it seeks to channel its power into another of them. people fighting nearby, or it chases you and tries to explode,” explained Tsai. More implications are added, and the battles against Lucent Brood aim for intense encounters that require close encounters to end the war decisively.
To increase your chances of survival, the Guardians have a few new tricks of their own. The Glaive comes in both exotic and legendary varieties, acting as a combined melee and ranged weapon with considerable destructive potential. “This is our first new weapon prototype in the game since the bow and arrow, and it’s the only first-person melee weapon we have,” said Tsai. Unlike the wide arcs of swords, glaives are precisely targeted at skirmishes with single enemies. Aggressive spikes can be strung together with multiple button presses to create a fluid combo. Glaive can also fire an energy blast at short or medium range and has a defensive shield that powers up when you defeat enemies.
Glory is just one of many weapons you can craft and tweak with the new weapon crafting system. This sophisticated new system fulfills a wish many Destiny players have been saying for years: the opportunity to create their own custom arsenal, modifying weapons to support individual play styles. Weapon crafting starts with a template, which can be used to create the initial form of a given weapon. Using that weapon in battle boosts allows you to further fine-tune its abilities, from passive attributes like increased range or handling, to magazine properties and post-apocalyptic adjustments. other fruit. Eventually, you’ll be able to change its core traits and perks, like Rampage or Killing Wind. You are also gathering crafting resources, both through various sources in the game world, as well as by dismantling other weapons. Optional consumable mementos even allow you to unlock aesthetic changes to your weapons.
All of these weapon changes are enabled through the use of Relic, both to create and then customize your perfect destructor. It’s a new focus on investing in the game and personalizing your experience, and it’s meant to be – a designated location you visit has multiple options for crafting a given weapon. only you. “The reason we have this monument is because we wanted it to feel like a private, sacred and emotionally intimate moment for you and give it cosmic importance,” says Tsai. speak.
The Witch Queen is also set to see a further push towards gameplay customization through modifying Void’s subclasses. That retrofit is the first reorganization of Light-based subclasses planned for the year, with both Arc and Solar slated to roll out in later seasons. For an idea of what to expect, look no further than the recent launch of Shadow-based Stasis powers, with their facets and shards allowing players to reshape the way they play. When applied to Void classes, players should not expect entirely new arrays of powers. Instead, it’s about mixing and tweaking existing power plants to build the exact character you want. “We really feel it’s a huge quality-of-life improvement over those Light subclasses, possibly just optimizing the way you play,” says Tsai.
After a significant delay that pushed The Witch Queen into the new year, Destiny 2 players have high hopes for a refresh that aims to invigorate the age-old hobby game. While the full scope of that refresh won’t be clear until weeks after the new expansion, it’s safe to say that Bungie has a clear plan ahead for continued growth. After all, The Witch Queen is just the first in an expanded line whose name is already in the books. But before the final form can coalesce, the complete picture of Savathûn’s deceptions and tricks must come to light, and those developments capture the attention of a fan base. crazy.
Check out the gallery below for more screenshots showing what players can expect in the impending expansion.
This article originally appeared in Chapter 343 by Game Informer.
