Destiny 2: The Final Shape

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows (Steam Deck Nope!)
Current goal: Defeat The Witness
Buy it from: Humble Bundle

I was in LA last week for Summer Game Fest, which ground my Final Shape progress to a halt at the worst possible time. While everyone else was glued to the raid race, enjoying the wild 12-player final mission it unlocked, and has been deep in the post-game grind ever since, I’m still barely past the half-way point in the main campaign and, I gotta be honest, it was a slog up to that point. In terms of story and presentation, The Final Shape is everything I’ve hoped for so far, but those early missions had nothing on The Witch Queen.

Fortunately, literally everyone else I’ve asked has said the back-half of The Final Shape is its strongest, and a genuinely bold display of the game’s ambitions firing on all cylinders. It’s been a while since Destiny 2 sucked me in like a live service black hole, but I can’t wait to experience some of that again this weekend. In fact, I’m almost glad I missed out on the initial wave of everyone completing the expansion, because now I can experience the campaign in my own time, without the anxiety of the power grind or keeping up with the rest of the Destiny 2 community zeitgeist. I’ve been spoiled enough to know there’s an Avengers-style showdown coming and I can’t wait. After all, it’s one I’ve waited 10 years for. — Ethan Gach