GamesRadar+ Verdict
GamesRadar+ Verdict
With a confident and satisfying campaign, a fascinatingly well-designed destination, and several standout endgame pursuits, Destiny 2: The Final Shape is an excellent offering for veteran and returning players of the FPS. Even with some classic endgame grinding repetitiveness, it’s an incredibly well-executed expansion that nicely rounds off a decade-long journey, making it Destiny 2’s best.
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Pros+Arguably Destiny 2’s best expansion+Satisfying story to close out the Light and Darkness Saga+The Pale Heart is an incredible destination+Great endgame missions and Prismatic is fun
Arguably Destiny 2’s best expansion
Satisfying story to close out the Light and Darkness Saga
The Pale Heart is an incredible destination
Great endgame missions and Prismatic is fun
Cons-Some repetitive endgame quests-Prismatic Fragments are quite a grind to unlock
Some repetitive endgame quests
Prismatic Fragments are quite a grind to unlock
Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy.
Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy.
Fast FactsRelease date:June 4, 2024Platform(s):PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox OneDeveloper:In-housePublisher:Bungie
Fast Facts
Release date:June 4, 2024Platform(s):PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox OneDeveloper:In-housePublisher:Bungie
Release date:June 4, 2024Platform(s):PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox OneDeveloper:In-housePublisher:Bungie
Although, that’s not to say that I wasn’t engaged in the story. Destiny has long struggled with effectively implementing a cohesive narrative, but after 10 years, it has finally come together in an ambitious campaign that respects the entire player journey in its most impressive destination to date.Bungiehas pulled out all the stops to deliver a monumental expansion for its space magic FPS that somehow pays off a decade-long rollercoaster of endless war across the Solar System.
There are some spoilers for Destiny 2: The Final Shape’s story below.
Confronting oblivion
(Image credit: Bungie)
With The Final Shape representing the end of the “Light and Darkness Saga” that began way back in 2014 with Destiny, the campaign has a lot of heavy lifting to do. Destiny has, rightfully, been criticized for its storytelling in the past, with many plot elements being either relayed poorly, relegated to lore entries, or removed from the game entirely. As a result, I had serious reservations about how Bungie would bring it all together – let alone tell a comprehensible story to conclude the arc. It seemed an impossible task, but Bungie has certainly squashed any concerns I had coming into this expansion.
The stakes are high right from the start; get to the Witness and stop it from enacting the eponymous Final Shape – the entire universe frozen in time for all eternity that the Witness sees as salvation from entropy and chaos. The first mission has you going solo into the unknown space inside the Traveler itself, known as the Pale Heart – a world of thought and consciousness physically manifested thanks to the combined powers of the Witness’s Darkness and the Traveler’s Light.
(Image credit: Bungie)
Ultimately, I think Destiny 2 has tended to flip between telling slightly hollow stories that mainly serve the expansion of its own universe and strongly pushing specific characters and themes to the forefront, making for more interesting stories that may be a bit heavy-handed. However, Destiny 2: The Final Shape strikes a good balance. While the story does focus on your grand mission through the Pale Heart to prevent the end of the universe, it doesn’t lose sight of its characters leading the charge around you, and that all makes for an epic but mature and, at times, poignant story about facing insurmountable odds – as well as finding purpose in a universe of conflict.
Be still, my Pale Heart
(Image credit: Bungie)
Things only get weirder when you start venturing into the Darkness anomalies between some locations, featuring clusters of pained faces as walls, fungal masses, and angry, red geometry that reminds me of the Hiss in Remedy Entertainment’s Control. Firmly into Witness territory, you’re greeted with the familiar sight of the rusted Cosmodrome where you were resurrected, infested with giant, grasping hands and harsh deep-black Pyramid architecture. Coupled with the cosmic Damien Hirst installations and vertically sliced sculptures of Guardians, the Pale Heart’s darker side veers into light body horror.
The familiar locations and features of some regions can mean that the Pale Heart sometimes looks like a masterclass in asset recycling, but there’s enough creativity and novelty behind it that I think it’s greater than the sum of its parts. Its eldritch and almost museum-like design makes it one of the most unique video game environments I’ve explored, and demonstrates that Bungie is firing on absolutely all its cylinders.
Witness me
(Image credit: Bungie)
Even with such pressure to get the campaign right, Bungie has not let up for The Final Shape’s endgame either. Some of Destiny 2’s best missions can be taken on once you’ve beaten the story, providing great challenges, fleshing out relationships more, and clearly establishing possible plot points for the future. As an example, the secret Dual Destiny mission is one of Destiny 2’s best cooperative challenges, effectively working as a two-player Raid against the clock.
Although, I think the most important endgame pursuits are the 10 Lost Ghost quests from Micah-10. They’re not especially rewarding and are even a bit repetitive, but they do a solid job of teeing up future threats to the Solar System outside the Pale Heart. It’s a good way to bring things up to date with new context, and give the post-Final Shape world some loose ends to chase or brace for. Otherwise, I think Destiny 2: The Final Shape would have appeared somewhat directionless once it was all over.
The Final Shape campaign is an immensely satisfying and, importantly, cohesive story that closes out the decade-long Light and Darkness Saga. Along with some of its best endgame activities and the go-wild approach to Prismatic and its new Exotics, Destiny 2: The Final Shape is a climactic, fun, and rewarding expansion. What the studio has created is a remarkable achievement and a return to form – one that I hope can be maintained, largely because it must be if the game is to make it through another decade.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
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