Destiny is "meh" compared to what exactly?

[krazykidd]

So the game has been out for nearly 2 weeks. In general people say the game is a resounding "meh". And i'm curious, "meh" compared to what exactly?

Now, i have no problems, with people disliking the game, i for one am having a blast with it. I actually thing the game is very good. However, because a lot of people are saying it's average at best, i'm wondering what FPS these people are comparing it to, because if i'm having so much fun with such an average game, well then i obviously missed the good ones and would like to know what those " good ones" are.

So escapists, can you tell me what why Destiny is "meh" and which games you are comparing it to , to come to such a conclusion?

 

[Thoughtful_Salt]

just to rattle off a few examples:

1.Planetside 2
2.Blacklight Retribution
3.Battlefield 4 (post DLC)
4.Halo Multiplayer
5.Borderlands

Just a few. They all have destiny beat in story, gameplay depth and price. Heck, the first two are FREE and won't set you back 100 dollars just to get started. Even Battlefield 4 is a better beast now that most of the bugs have been ironed out, even with the combined cost of premium you'll have a lot more fun with it. Give it a year, you won't be playing Destiny anymore, something better will come along and we'll all have a laugh.

 

[theevilgenius60]

Love it as an FPS, but you have to admit, as an RPG it's seriously lacking. Full disclosure, this is coming from someone taking their third character to level cap. What's "meh" about it is the barebones nature of it, no non-merchant npcs that you can interact with. The most generic enemy faction names ever and a story you have to read on the app. It works for Halo because that's a straight up shooter. You don't have to level up the Chief or Arby. If only Avery Johnson were on hand at the tower.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

It's meh compared to pretty much any RPG because doesn't have much of a story to speak of, no interesting characters, and no particularly exciting loot.

It's meh compared to most competitive multiplayer shooters because it lacks balance what with the random loot drops and the fact that people get to bring their characters into the multiplayer, meaning a lot of the game revolves around random chance, which is something that doesn't benefit a competitive experience.

So yeah, it's comprised of a bunch of parts that don't work particularly well on their own. Buying Borderlands 2 and Halo 4 together would basically give you a better experience in terms of story and RPG mechanics (as barebones as they are in Borderlands) as well as a better multiplayer experience, and both games together would give you more content for about the same price (or less) than buying a brand new copy of Destiny would.

Now that's not to say that you should dislike the game by any means. If you're having fun then have at it by all means, but to truth of the matter is that Destiny is basically a competent game, and nothing more. If just being competent is good enough for you then that's fine, but a lot of people don't want to spend $60 on something that's just "competent" when instead they could get something that's "good."

 

[sXeth]

Well to preface, I really enjoy Destiny. As something to hop on with a buddy or two and shoot up some aliens (or people, sometimes)

That said, the story barely holds together for a shooter, nevermind an RPG (or MMORPG setting). Its all very generic, and concepts are tossed at you with no explanation constantly. Even then, some of the storytelling jumps awkwardly between trying to provide exposition, and trying to act like this is all existing universe (the off/on treatment of the Vex as an unknown, for instance). Even as ingame wikipedias go, which is already a cheap crutch in storytelling, Destiny's grimoire doesn't even have the courtesy to be ingame, instead its awkwardly navigated on the website (or the app) and tough to tell what cards are new or not fully unlocked.

Socially, it falls flat on its face. It doesn't even have ingame social features, relying on external PSN/XBL invites and messages. Even if you wrangle a fireteam, the ingame voice chat is often inaudible amidst all the other sounds (which have no controls, as another point), so you end up also using the PSN party chat or whatever XBL's is. The complete non-fluid nature of forming fireteams adds in as well, you can be standing next to a guy in the world, but if you join his team, you have to completely reload in.

The Crucible suffers from several things. One is the imbalance of gear. They turned damage boosts off, but Legendary/Exotic gear gives tons of perks that aren't damage boosts and can upend a game entirely. You can get an Auto Rifle with a 100+ clip and the fire rate of the heavy machine gun, and go in and make a mess of people using more standard 30 clip, mid-rate ones. Their decision to cycle gametypes as "Events" further weakens it, as anything but the bare bones Control, Team Deatmatch modes are only available at Bungie's whim.

 

[spartandude]

Destiny is meh compared to other games i would rather be playing at any given time. Doesnt have to be compared to MMOs of FPSs, just when ever i play I think id rather play something else and then regret buying it.

 

[EmpReb]

Its simple a game already did it better and its called Firefall. It does TRUE FULL open world, good story(its pretty damn good one both in backlore and current happenings) and full RPG system. Heck even our Yahtzee pretty much said its fun. So for him to say that means got some thing right. Desinty was fun in the beta but I saw how empty the 'Open world' it was and found my self playing multplayer which then was going why would "I play a Halo lite that has balancing issues when I could just get HALO MCC this year?"

It comes down to this. Desinty is just what PC mmos have done a long time consolefied. It shows EVERYTHING that PC gamers have accused happening to every genre that went from PC focused to Console focused in physical form. Dumbing down, lack depth, small FOV, small player count, and lieing about the openness of the game. Saying it was not a MMO when it CLEARLY was at some point and has the worst parts of them. Its polished to shit but its SHIT in its depth and wants you to pay truck load of money for more DLC to "flesh it out". Sorry but Firefall has parts of the maps that tons of dynamic events happening at once its a truelly alive world over there and feels reactive. Plus the devs are going to go against us tomorrow in the Chosen to really make it feel real. THAT right there is enough for me to see the difference from over hyped AAA only polished but not really good game to one for all of its faults(Firefall has plenty) tried and some how succeeds at breaking real ground for MMO's and shooters.

I know where I am playing for years to come and I do hope Destiny either crashed to stop this massive over investment in AAA or bungiee fixes the true problems with there game before 343i burns their ass with Halo 5.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Im playing it and having fun but I think thats mainly because I get to play with a few friends in a game (finally). The FPS aspect is solid but there is a serious lack of variety in guns, the social aspects are non existant ditto for the story which falls flat on its face so hard it killed itself, the game world is very empty and pretty damn small considering how long they apparently spent on it, mission variety is pathetic simply consisting of go here or kill these and occasionally kill this.

Basically it takes MMOS strips out the fun social aspect and keeps the bad repetitive quests and grinding aspect I have also not been overly impressed with the maps in multiplayer they all seem to favour closer range weaponry instead of having a variety to choose/playout (I know you cant choose for some reason) from/on. The server stability is also worrying. Really though it just feels so unimaginative everything is so by the numbers like a checklist of things was crossed off without any idea how they work or fit together. I always get the feeling I am looking at the dead remains of another game that was remade at the 11th hour and released into what we now have.

Also I have no idea who thought up the loot system in Destiny I hope they are not in charge of any money or in a position of power. If this game did not have the huge advertising push it would not have created any waves, guess it feels unfinished like quite a few other next gen games I can think of.

Its not all bad as I have said I am playing it making it one of the very few FPS games I have touched since Halo 2 but I cant honestly say it anything other than mediocre but its not the first mediocre game I have ever enjoyed.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

The real meh to it is unfortunately it's just a bit too straightforward with no real catch or uniqueness to it. It plays it standard, and while it does it damn well, it's far from reaching it's potential.

Still better then Borderlands though.

 

[Nazulu]

It doesn't need to be compared to anything to be called average. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe it's bad at all, but I've been watching my brother pass through the whole thing pretty quick and while it looks sharp and detailed, it's also very very repetitive. The mobs and bosses really aren't that interesting, and all the landscapes feel samey in a short time, the story is alright I guess and the designs for the armour and weapons are alright too.

I just don't see anything special about it. My brother is entertaining to watch as he out-does other players on a higher level, but I'm already tired of looking at it in general.

 

[Revolutionary]

Pretty much any good FPS or MMO. It's an amalgam of borderlands, halo, and any WOW style MMO you can name, yet fails to execute the individual components of those genres as well as the good games from those genres. Destiny on its own is fairly well put together, but it's elements are all done better by other games.

 

[NoX 9]

My favorite FPS games are Lucas Arts' Outlaws, and the Project Reality mod for Battlefield 2. Both these games have very little in common with Destiny beyond the basic FPS mechanics, so I wouldn't expect you to find them better games just because I feel they are. Destiny didn't click with me, can't really tell you why..

Actually, Outlaws is great and you should play it. Very old game, and it's abandonware. Project Reality is definently not for everyone...

 

[List]

It has a mix of 3 genres: mmo/psuedo-mmo, rpg, fps. It's good in it's fps category but meh on the other 2

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

You don't have to compare it to anything to think that it's boring. But in case of Destiny, you can compare it to a whole bunch of FPS games from recent years that it stole ideas from. Including Bungie's own Halo.

 

[stroopwafel]

When I first played Destiny I was immediately grabbed by how extremely enjoyable the gunplay was, with probably the tightest/best controls I've ever experienced on any (console) FPS. Enemy designs are simple yet a joy to shred apart and the lighting/sound effects all add neat little details to the engagements. Visually it also reminded of this kind of '70s style sci-fi book cover, its the closest I've ever seen of concept art being actually in-game.

So the foundation of the game is excellent in my opinion, it's just what holds it all together is a little lacking. The game is cold and sterile with a mere semblance of a story that is hardly worth mentioning(not that I really care as for me its always gameplay first, story second). However the premise and subtle environmental storytelling is intriguing. Like in Earth/Old Russia you see the remnants of the human exodus to outer space and the incredible detail and amazing lighting effects again really gave it a sense of awe.

I don't play MMO's and the 'grinding' aspect of the game hardly bothered me, espescially since it hardly impact the gameplay. If anything it just adds an incentive to replay levels, but competively low-level weapons are almost just as capable as high level ones. Speaking of which the multiplayer is tons of fun. Strike missions have their own dynamics that can get really hectic and intense and provide some of the most fun co-op play I know. PvP is a lot of fun as well, with small excellently designed maps that have you near constantly engaged with other players.

In many ways Destiny I think is a strange game. Considering so much of the good stuff is somewhat hidden in the details and subtleties of the mechanics; its almost like a niche game but with an insane budget. I seem to be in the minority here, but I think Destiny is a genuinely really good game. Though that's probably also in no small part thanks to having absolutely zero expectations of the game. And never having played a Halo game before.

 

[TheIceQueen]

When I say 'meh' I use it to mean indifference, not to say that it's an example of an average game. It simply ends up in the average as a byproduct of this, not because there are better or worse games than it, but it was unable to provoke strong feelings one way or another. Destiny is meh not because there are better games, but because it bored the hell out of me. It's not a bad game. It's not a great game. I'm not comparing it to any other game I've played. I'm simply saying it fills me with indifference. In a few years, I'll have forgotten about it except for when someone makes the odd reference and I'll say "Oh, yeah, that was a thing at one point, I guess."

 

[IBlackKiteI]

About to play through it a bit more, not sure why, not my copy and I guess I'm just bored of Steam games at the moment.
Well Destiny is definitely not bad but it could be so, so much better. You can pretty much tell with only a brief playthrough or looking over someone's shoulder that nearly every part of it could be improved in some way, and I feel like no matter what part I'm playing I've already played a better version of it somewhere else, the same feeling I got with the later Halo games now times 10. In short it's essentially Halo and Borderlands with the better parts of neither.

Got maybe around 7 hours in it now, from my impressions its like:
- Campaign - Outdone by Halo, especially CE. Bungie had already done the whole heroic sci-fi adventure shooter thing much better over 10 years ago, and playing through Destiny has even given me a renewed appreciation of the later ones which I didn't particularly like.
- Cooperative missions - Outdone by Borderlands. With an already mediocre game nothing substantial is really gained from having extra players. The classes, weapons and abilities are too similar for it to feel like any player is having much of an individual impact beyond shooting dudes and furthermore with silent, blank-slate characters and no real visual customization other players almost feel like NPC's.
- Progression (loot, leveling and skill trees) - Outdone by Borderlands and most successful MMO's. Once you unlock your core skills (which you probably should just have to begin with) you'll find there is not much else to see. From the looks of it some band of geniuses made all the skill progression linear meaning your not actually making decisions and tailoring your character to how you want it, but are just following a bland path already laid out for you.
- Enemies (designs, AI, variety, etc.) - Outdone by Mass Effect 3 and Halo. Seriously, the Hive in particular are essentially Reaper ground forces with all the interesting bits removed, and furthermore they're virtually identical to the Fallen in just about every way that matters. I'm not holding my breath for the remaining factions to be much different.
- Competitive multiplayer - Outdone by just about every current arcade-style shooter. Probably the strongest part of the game, but even still the only part that is above 'meh' are the map designs which break up sightlines well preventing camping and actually forcing players into the fight. However, problem is that more close-range oriented builds get an advantage as there's really no need for anything else. Weapon damage is standardized but there's still a ton of attributes that will greatly vary amongst players, meaning someone will always have an unfair advantage and someone else a disadvantage. If you want to run and gun grab one of the better CoD's, if you want solid teamplay go to Team Fortress 2, if you want larger-scale mayhem look to Battlefield 3 or 4, and this isn't even counting more 'hard' stuff like Tribes: Ascend, Project Reality or Red Orchestra 2.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

I don't understand destiny. I know I should technically hate it with all the screaming flaws in design and gameplay but holy shit, it's just so much fun. It's one of those game in which the combat system carries the entire thing. It just feels so satisfying to shoot at stuff that it somehow makes up for the fact that shooting stuff is all you ever do (unless you're stuck in one of those ridiculously long loading screens).

 

[laggyteabag]

The problem with most games that mix genres is that they tend to have the best parts from both genres, but they are never as satisfying as either one gameplay wise. Take Brutal Legend for example, the game was a hack-and-slash third person fighter game with RTS fights. Whilst the game was fun, the mechanics for both the hack-and-slash and RTS elements were both very basic and thus not very satisfying to play. From what I have heard about Destiny is that the same is true. The PvP is okay, the looting is okay, the RPG elements are okay, the story is, well, not okay, and the MMO elements are okay, but the shooting is great. It seems like they have tried to do too much and not really focused on anything but the shooting, thus resulting in a game that doesnt really know what it is or what it wants to be other than being some sort of shooter. There are a bunch of games that handle all of these mechanics really well individually, but Destiny tries to make them all work, but none of them are overly well fleshed out or detailed, thus resulting in a game that it supposedly very average.

 

[RA92]

Compared to quite a few games that didn't cost five hundred fucking million dollars.