Bungie released the first DLC for “Destiny 2,” called ”Curse of Osiris” on Dec. 5. The opening of the storyline brings back a bit of nostalgia for players who have been with the series since the beginning, with the Warlock Vanguard Ikora talking the player through the opening of the mission.
Through creative art scenes and clever storytelling, we are spun a tale of an exiled Warlock who’s on Mercury, attempting to stop the alien race called the Vex from taking over and destroying what remains of the Last City and the Guardians.
“Curse of Osiris” gives us a refreshingly interesting new voice for the player’s companion Ghost. Named Sagira, our new companion takes control of our original Ghost after nearly being destroyed on a mission with Osiris.
Sagira takes us back to Mercury where we meet the second new character of the DLC, Brother Vance. He is a follower of Osiris, but upon meeting him he seems more like your modern-day overly obsessed fanboy.
Over the course of the DLC we encounter a new location known as the Infinite Forest. Instead of being an actual forest, it’s a mechanism used by the Vex to test out different simulations and see what works best.
The main story missions of the DLC can be finished in about three hours, depending on your skill level and whether or not you’re playing alone.
The final boss mission can be tough to do on your own, but on my playthrough, I was able to beat it in roughly 20 minutes by myself. On a further attempt in which I ran the mission with a friend, it took us only five minutes.
While the main missions aren’t long, the DLC is well worth it. Mercury feels like there’s room for expansion in later updates.
By completing three regular adventures on Mercury, we’re able to unlock a new option called Heroic Adventures. Much like Nightfalls, in which you have certain modifiers that can both help and hinder you, Heroic Adventures have the same sort of settings.
Coming along with the DLC were some new events. Bungie added a new level to the public events, enabling them to become Heroic and drop more powerful gear.
A new area was brought to the Leviathan for raids, called the Raid Lair. Heroic Strikes and Heroic Adventures were released, which are essentially more powerful versions of the base events.
The new DLC came with its fair share of issues, however. A lot of the activities in the game got locked behind a DLC wall, meaning that if you didn’t have the new DLC you couldn’t compete in Trials of the Nine, Heroic Events or the new Raid Lair. You couldn’t level up, reach the new power level cap or use the new weapons.
In order to fix this, Bungie released a patch for the game not long after the DLC released. It allows players who didn’t have the DLC to access some of their favorite content again and allow them to compete in the Trials of the Nine.
However, much of the new content is still locked behind a DLC wall. Iron Banner was cancelled due to the upcoming release of The Dawning, and is slated to return in January.
The second event to come to “Destiny 2” was almost more anticipated than the DLC. Seasonal events themed around Halloween and Christmas were a major event in “Destiny,” so many fans looked forward to the first event of the same type in “Destiny 2.” On Dec. 19 fans finally got their Christmas wish as The Dawning was unveiled.
We were teased in the days leading up to it with the lure of snowball fights and a new player versus player activity called Mayhem.
Stepping into the tower for the first time on the day of The Dawning’s unveiling was magical. The tower had been decorated with snow and lights, and blue banners with the symbol of the event had been hung.
Snowballs dotted the landscape, allowing players to not only hit their friends but to take out enemies in the various worlds as well as during some activities.
The Dawning brought gifts for both players and the residents of the tower. At the tower, players pick up a quest step named ‘Dawning Gift Schematic’ which requires them to explore the planets for consumable items or to kill certain enemies to complete it.
Players can also get special engrams called ‘Dawning Engrams’ that give the possibility of special gear themed around The Dawning.
The armor released for the event has been touted by players as being some of the most gorgeous armor to ever be released in the game. It’s both elegant and practical.
The issue is that much of it is sold by the in-game cosmetic service, Eververse. It’s possible to get all of the armor if you work hard enough and collect enough Dawning Engrams, but it’s difficult. The only known way to collect the seasonal engrams is to play the specialty Crucible activity ‘Mayhem.’
However, it’s a slow process which can take ten or more rounds of the game to earn a single engram. In order to collect all of the pieces of armor, you may need ten or more engrams depending on the drop rate for the items.
Overall, the DLC is good, and while it’s short, its effective at telling the story and adding some much needed content to the game. The Dawning was highly anticipated but fell short of expectations in some aspects of gameplay. The idea is fun and the decorations were well planned, but some content lacked the quality that fans have come to know and expect from Bungie.
Jeri Hensley
Graphic Designer