Erica

@erica

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freelance illustrator, designer, and idk buncha stuff

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Erica @erica8/22/2023, 5:02 PM

i went into the Destiny 2 Showcase thinking "man they have a lot to prove to me about why bringing Cayde-6 back is a good idea" and i have left thinking "man they have a lot to prove to me about why bringing Cayde-6 back is a good idea"

this is the first time where i've felt pretty... i dunno. on edge? about the future of the game. i think gameplay and structure-wise Destiny is the best it's been in forever but the narrative has been real up-and-downs and I'm not really confident it's going to close in a way that feels "right" to me. Them talking about 'the characters you know and love' sitting around campfires going through their journeys together and shit like... I don't want that! I don't want Ted Lasso in my Destiny game, I don't want them to have group therapy constantly like Season of Defiance which made that season's narrative fucking insufferable. And bringing Cayde back as like "the trio is finally back together"... why?? You did so much good with that narrative beat and turned Crow into this complex character and you want to sideline all that to bring the guy who makes C-tier Marvel movie jokes again? Fuck, man.

I really hope they took the criticism of Lightfall/Defiance's writing to heart. It was really bad. And I'd really like for this decade-long story to close in a way that feels wholly satisfying.

That said, everything else in the Showcase was cool. The weapons look sick, new Supers look sick, new enemies look cool as hell.

#destiny 2

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in reply to @erica's post:

@Ashnaxx8/22/2023, 5:24 PM

100% agree. I have no clue why Cayde needed to come back other than "Some Destiny players cannot handle loss." If they'd just gotten off the narrative pot and made Crow the hunter vanguard already, Cayde would continue to be unnecessary.

Christian Simmers @Xuelder8/22/2023, 5:25 PM

My theory is that inside the Traveler is like a Valhalla space for Guardians and that Cayde is just manifesting cause he means so much/is a catalyst to pretty much all the main characters. The other theory I have been hearing is that it isn't so much Cayde as a memory of Cayde that the Traveler is projecting out as a sort of interface. Like its taking the shape/face of Cayde in order to get us to trust it?

[deleted]8/22/2023, 5:37 PM

Erica @erica8/22/2023, 5:41 PM

I literally started that show last night so if you could delete this comment I'd appreciate it because I don't want to be jump-scared by a spoiler in my notifs thanks

Rocket Ship @redcanoli8/22/2023, 6:18 PM

I’m in general excited but honestly? Every time I am reminded they chose to bring him back it really kills it for me. Let consequences be permanent! Let the loss be present sure, you don’t have to pretend he wasn’t there, but can we not? Please? I’m biased cause I really didn’t care for Cayde even before he died, so I’m ok letting him rest.

Maersk Aerospace @Maersk-Aerospace8/22/2023, 6:46 PM

i'll die on the hill that, as much as dsc was probably my favorite raid ever, the retcon to add the witness in beyond light killed any potential for a satisfying ender. destiny was so much more interesting when light and dark were manifestations of ideology and not just things that are kinda there, i guess.

RodmunchPHD @RodmunchPHD8/22/2023, 7:49 PM

It’s very funny that leading up to The Final Shape we have themes of self sacrifice & self disfigurement in the name of victory as a primary throughline, but on the flip side we’re not going to use Cayde’s death except to elaborate on how dead guardians can still interact with us. There was a sense of urgency in these longstanding characters like Osiris, Saladin, Rasputin, Holiday, Sloane, and now Eris being irreversibly changed by conflict, but Cayde coming back in some form really feels like a misstep coming off of what should be the closing act of everyone sacrificing something to take us one step closer to victory. I hope it’s executed well, but I have a feeling it’s going to detract from some of our main drama by giving Zavala & Ikora some form of closure with him.