Destiny: Rising marks the expansion of the Destiny franchise into the mobile gaming market. First announced back in October, the game officially launched for Android and iOS earlier this week. The game is set in an alternate timeline, promising a refreshing new take on a familiar universe. Of course, I took the liberty to try out this new spinoff, and here are my thoughts on how the experience so far.
First things first: it’s safe to say that you probably don’t need to be familiar with the lore to play this game. The idea of jumping into Destiny: Rising might be daunting for those who haven’t played either of the original games. However, I’d say that while there are many familiar elements and characters, the game has enough differences in terms of both gameplay and story for prior knowledge to be unessential.
In fact, one of the differences is immediately apparent from the moment you load into the game for the first time. Both Destiny and Destiny 2 let you choose your player character’s class, which determines your abilities. Meanwhile, in Destiny: Rising, your class is chosen for you from the get-go. Your player character, Wolf, is for all intents and purposes, a Hunter.
That said, you will have the opportunity to play as other classes later in the game. So, if you’re a shameless Warlock main, you’re actually forced to branch out for once. However, getting to play as your favourite class is tied to a mechanic that one would find pretty controversial. You see, Destiny: Rising is a gacha game. This means that if you want to play a Warlock or Titan, you will have to acquire one. For what it’s worth though, you can get Ikora and Kabr by just playing through the main story quests. And yes, these are the same characters from the original games.
Basically, abilities and weapon types are specific to each character in the game. For instance, Ikora has Nova Bomb as her Super, plus two other Void-based signature abilities. Additionally, she can only equip Light Grenade Launchers and Rocket Launchers. This restriction can be frustrating if the options don’t suit your playstyle as you won’t get the same flexibility with your builds.
Of course, you could try your hand at the gacha if you’re looking for a bit more variety. To do this, you will need Bon Voyage Charms, which are acquired by spending Lumia Leaves and Silver Dust. The latter is the premium currency, which you will have to purchase. On the other hand, Lumia Leaves can be earned in-game from completing objectives and exploring locations.
Speaking of game objectives, it should come as no surprise that the activities are where things feel the most familiar. You can play through Story Missions and Strikes, as well as a new-ish PvPvE Shifting Gates mode that is essentially a form of Gambit. While each of these activities are simpler than their equivalents in the other games, parkour is necessary at certain points, which, honestly isn’t too great with the controls.
The layout is pretty cluttered with the different buttons, although this is not a problem exclusive to Destiny. Admittedly, the game has probably made your life easier by cutting down the number of weapons you can equip to two instead of three. However, it’s still fairly hard to navigate without accidentally firing your weapon. Aside from that, there is an odd quirk where once you start sprinting, you will not stop even if you let go of the controls. This could simply be a bug, though.
Overall, Destiny: Rising is a game best experienced with fresh eyes and an open mind. While Destiny veterans can appreciate the familiar elements, the gacha mechanic might be an off-putting aspect, especially given the increasingly dismal state of Destiny 2’s monetisation.
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