Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate Campaign (PS5) Review – I’m About To Break

Ugh.

<<< edit.

I apparently have to say more than one word, even though it summarises my feelings on this expansion fairly succinctly. The Edge of Fate is a masterclass in not knowing what on earth to do with your now eight-year old live-service game and hope the the fans will just put up with the greatest hits, maybe throw in some b-sides while you’re at it.

Here’s the thing. The previous expansion, The Final Shape, was an absolute blast. It introduced some insanely cool new powers, the narrative had depth and I was hooked from the beginning. Being able to explore ‘inside’ The Traveller was something I’d wanted to do since I first landed on The Tower in Destiny 1 on my Xbox 360. It threw fan service in your face but didn’t scapegoat on the gameplay, which was fresh and exciting throughout. It kicked my ass plenty of times and I just came straight back in because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I loved it.

The Edge of Fate saw that and decided to not bother with any of the above. Whilst proclaiming that this new expansion would be welcoming to newcomers, a few story strands that follow from the end of The Final Shape still linger, and will make little sense to those who haven’t jumped in already. The mention of The Witness is kind of a big giveaway that this isn’t really a good place to start things off if you’re new to the series. Instead this expansion feels like a reset button on a game that never needed one. Destiny 2 was moving in a direction I felt really excited by and suddenly I’m nearly back to square one again and trying to understand why on earth I’m even bothering anymore. It’s become a chore, which is something I never really wanted to say about Destiny 2.

It’s not all been mythic emblem drops across its tenure to be sure. Lightfall was a misstep after the joys of Beyond Light and The Witch Queen but I knew it would bounce back and it did with the aforementioned Final Shape, an absolute celebration of everything Destiny 2 is and has been – look it gave me the power to reign fire on my enemies with a click of my fingers. It’s frickin’ awesome -, so with The Edge of Fate taking such an enormous step back in terms of quality, narrative, design, mechanics…I’m really struggling here to feel anything but hateful towards what we’ve been provided. It feels like it just doesn’t matter to Bungie anymore.

And I don’t like feeling this way. I don’t take any pride in Destiny 2’s apparent self-appointed downfall. Has it overstayed its welcome? Perhaps, there’s only so much a single live service can offer before it becomes the same thing again and again. Destiny never really had that problem though, because each expansion offered something new to play around with, even if it was just a new power subclass or a weapon that was new to the series (the Lightfall bow remains a god-tier addition), and whilst The Edge of Fate does offer something new (I’ll get to it), it’s a miserable, utterly joyless mechanic that feels like it’s been picked out of the rubble on the floor that didn’t stick to the wall. Destiny 2 was a game I thoroughly enjoyed playing when a new expansion came around, for reasons I’ll get into. With even more content to come in December (Renegades – a Star Wars crossover, bewilderingly), I’m starting to wonder if it may just not be worth the effort of downloading it.

And that sucks, much like the new Matterspark – a way to navigate the world through tiny tubes by assimilating yourself with matter and turning into a shiny ball of light that can tear crawlspaces and jump up and down to act as a way to boot up a power source. Look, when I write it down like that it sounds ridiculous, and make no mistake, it very much is. I did think it was cool at first, it got me out of a rather sticky situation, but after the 750th time of turning myself into sparkles I nearly booted up the first Destiny just to feel something. It’s a mechanic that isn’t terrible, it’s just kinda meaningless. I don’t need a new way traverse these levels, especially when it’s as undercooked at this one. I understand what a Destiny 2 level is and that’s exactly why I’m here.

It’s why I’m playing yet another expansion, because I love what’s here and I will always welcome to additions to the mechanics (I love you, Prismatic subclass), but where did this come from? And how does it benefit me? And how is this the only way to get through certain levels? The enemies are seemingly already in these rooms when I arrive, how did they get in there? Do they possess these powers also? No? Do you see what I’m getting at, Bungie? Anyone? The traversal in Destiny is perfectly perfect, I don’t see why this new addition benefits me as a Guardian with massive weapons. After eight years of building up my characters I’m damn near immortal but no, let’s just be a sparkly ball for reasons. Over and over and over and over again.

I don’t even want to mention Kepler, the new world that the majority of The Edge of Fate is based on. A world so barren of anything interesting to look at or be around you have to wonder if it was thrown together with assets that were previously discarded. It’s just so boring, so lifeless. Oh look, the Vex are here again. Cool. I haven’t fought those guys a billion times before. Remember when it felt like we were dropped straight into the middle of a fantasy RPG in The Witch Queen? With every corner of those worlds looking mythical and full of creativity and the beautiful bleakness bringing every inch of that expansion to life. Come on Bungie, give me something to work with here?

UGH.

OK, I’m going to end this on a positive note. The Edge of Fate does offer some rather good quality of life upgrades to Destiny 2’s ridiculous onboarding problems. The ‘Portal’ is a solid new way to get to exactly want to do very quickly and goshdarn, it actually works. I’ve long lamented that if you’re new to Destiny 2 you simply don’t have any semblance of a chance to understand their cumbersome, absurd menu system and the sheer amount of things you can customise, and add, and take away, and how to change the bloody colour of your helmet, it’s all an absolute nightmare and genuinely still not sure how it all works myself, but I can at least get into the game I want to play much easier now through the new Portal system. See, that’s something? Mind you, at this point if you’ve not played Destiny 2 I still don’t think you stand much of a chance, though at least Bungie have gone to the effort of making it ever-so slightly more intuitive than it has been before.

And yeah, from a technical standpoint everything is working as it should. On PS5 it runs at a smooth as silk 60fps and the visuals continue to be terribly nice, with gloriously well refined audio and a genuinely nice soundtrack, as ever.

I feel like I’m kicking a horse while it’s down and about to be sent to the big ranch in the sky, Bungie have had a torrid year and this only serves to prove that they either have nothing left in the tank for Destiny players or the primary focus was on Marathon throughout – and we all know how that’s turned out. I take no pleasure in feeling this way about The Edge of Fate, I have adored Bungie ever since I picked up a Duke for the first time and landed on a certain ring world, pumping to that incredible theme tune as I tore my way through The Silent Cartographer. Those memories that last a lifetime are written in Bungie code, and it’s something I’ll forever be grateful for.

I’m not expecting Destiny 2 to make me feel that way again, it’s too big an ask, but I want to root for them. I want them to knock down the doors and showcase that magic we felt, the demonstration that this was a developer not to be messed with or spoken down about. In 2025, Bungie are a completely different entity. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, we all evolve and move on, but we’re at a plateau right now, and their rough patch – arguably the first of the their entire lifecycle – was inevitable. It feels wrong of me to rally against Bungie, and I do want them to bring the sauce and show the industry and its players just how utterly sensational they can be.

The Final Shape was a masterclass in what makes Destiny 2 so damn great. One expansion later, what the hell happened?

Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate is available now on PS5 (review platform), Xbox Series X|S and PC via Battle.net

Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Bungie

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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