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obliviousally) wrote2024-06-05 12:11 am
obliviousally) wrote2024-06-05 12:11 am
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[D2] final shape
final shape thoughts go here lol i'll try to update as we play thru the campaign
likely spoilers within!!
only ran the first/opening mission! the longer version of the cutscene that was in the teaser trailer a couple weeks ago was Concerning™
i really liked all the environmental stuff going on as you work your way in to the traveler and the elements that look like environments from the root of nightmares raid - a neat foreshadowing to what we'd see inside. mara's voice acting was spectacular and i loved how stressed she sounded when the witness 'saw' us - i've loved her character development since witch queen, they're doing great stuff with her
i like the new enemies! the flying fuckers (grim) seem to spawn A LOT at once, but the subjugators move REALLY cool and kind of wander around and seek you out a bit. the little psion ones i keep calling 'dudes with the hats'
the cutscene approaching cayde was good and i thought it was nice they framed it well so you could grab good screencaps of your guardian and him interacting/talking. they reeeeally put the work into making him quite animated, even in the post-cutscene bit where you're talking to him. i def wanna rewatch his explanation scene b/c was he just dead until only recently and was yanked into the traveler? do ghosts/guardians return to the traveler when they die, but not in the way we thought (as though the place is a paradise/heaven kind of deal)? he mentions him and sundance kind of 'becoming one', but then being 'ripped' in some manner - will we see sundance in some capacity later on??
ghost being a vendor-like entity gives me a little stress lol
i'm definitely gonna have to pay more attention to things on playthroughs on my alts
also popped in with poe to help tony on lea
6/6
we ran a couple more missions last night - up through finding zavala. the mechanics with the light/dark eaters are pretty easy (i feel like something similar was done with those stumps/platforms in root of nightmares?? i'm not going to double check rn b/c i've been successfully avoiding spoilers this far lol).
everything, so far, has seemed TOO easy and i noticed there's, like, an enemy difficulty rank on the missions and i wonder when that starts to change OR if it's just for legend??? idk lol aside from learning by experience how the new enemies attacks work, killing things has been a cakewalk lol
i liked the interaction with cayde and ikora! i also liked cayde's little speech about letting go and everyone else getting grumpy/upset/not wanting to think about it over it lol - and his little anecdote about amanda was cute, too
we already know from the teaser that zavala becomes compromised somehow - i hope it's WORTHWHILE b/c, as stated in the missions and also SEASON OF THE HAUNTED we helped him sort through and process that shit and to have it undone in a way that feels flimsy is not gonna cut it for me
the campfire scene, despite being sad, was nice visually - i like that they're giving us a LOT of guardian cutscene photo ops lol
so, enjoyable so far! i appreciate them giving a warning that 'hey, this is supposed to be done all at once, finish the campaign before bopping off to another location'. we're only on step 12 out of 32 tho lol
i don't have any strong feelings about prismatic yet, but i think it'll be fun once everything is unlocked!
6/7
we got up thru, i think, step 20-something out of 32? i think we're next going to uhhh shit, i don't remember
we met the friendly lucent hive!! what a great addition. i also really liked the cutscene with cayde and sundance and all that
it feels like the game is teaching us a lot of different mechanics that'll be in use over the year, as well, with the addition of the glyphs (which, yeah, call back to vow of the disciple raid and witch queen)
i should write about these as i finish the missions gkjhfklghdf but i guess when i run with my other chars i'll be a bit more mindful of paying attention to things happening/what's going on lol
i am curious how we end up getting OUT or, i guess, opening the way? since the location IS a new destination and has lost sectors and patrol zones and all that (it's so fuckin big, too, and i've heard it only has ONE transmat point??? why wouldn't there be one at each since we set up camp at each???)
still avoiding spoilers lol i haven't been on twitter in days
6/9
played up thru the 'dissent' mission iirc, I'm glad to have been on the right theories about the witness' origins and there likely being individuals who were NOT on board with becoming a conglomeration!! and excite d/interested to learn more about these dissenters!!
zavala losing his ghost was a surprise, tho! the first time we get to heard targe talk/interact with him (love his personality) and they nuke him in the same campaign dodjrbdkdifjdf
the difficulty feels like it's ratcheting up a bit. the 'liminality' strike was somewhat difficult (idk how to get the taken essence out of the lava room lol) and the mission after that was a challenge! we wiped twice lol and the escaping part after the boss was HHHHHHHHHH
not as enjoyable as the shadowkeep mission where you have to escape in the darkness. all the jumping/staggered stairs just makes it a different kind of un-fun stressful
will probably finish up the last steps of it after I get back from running errands!
6/9
THE WITNESS FIGHT WAS HARD actually had to look up the trick to not dying immediately in the storm phase - but for all its frustration i DID like the mechanic of 'embracing darkness' and listening to the dissenters and then striking them down to actually harm the witness itself
also loved the witness completely losing his cool
i think there's a couple more steps left - i foolishly thought i was safe after the witness fight and refreshed twitter to catch sight of something form a cutscene i didn't recognize and i immediately fled the scene lol
6/10
OKAY FINALLY OFFICIALLY FINISHED
loved the twelve-man final witness fight. loved the cutscene and zavala’s speech beforehand. love the cutscene after, even with the WHAT?!?!?! of ghost dying (i anticipated something bad happening to someone, but maybe not necessarily our ghost so soon!) and cayyydeeeee i’m glad he got a nicely wrapped up ending on his terms. i’m glad he got to hand off the vanguard post to crow (which i knew was gonna happen for a long time now, i’m also glad they waited to do something like that to give crow time to grow and come into himself naturally) and their banter was very fun
we’re doing the exotic quest things now and it’s fun to have mithras and caiatl stuff going on, as well. and more savathun!! it was great to see her at the battle and it’s great to have her pushing us in ways that the vanguard won’t
i am curious what zavala is going to do without a ghost, tho it’s clear caiatl wants to see him remain as vanguard commander and she’s not really wrong there
this was a very good campaign and i’m glad i was able to scrounge the money for it (hoping the episodes are equally good!). it was much better paced than lightfall and just more enjoyable/felt ike a better and more cohesive story overall. i liked tangential stuff from lightfall - a lot of the neomuna characters introduced were fun and the calus and witness interactions were great, but it fell flat in a lot of spots for me
i also REALLY appreciated that they held off on launching the first episode until after the first week - being able to focus solely on the campaign really added to the ambiance of everything, it really did feel like you (or your fireteam) was at it alone and under desperate measures in a strange new place
looking forward to playing thru it with my other two guardians for good screencaps lol especially to get caps of poe and crow in the end scene with the lanterns
miscellaneous thoughts
ghost end scene probably canon similar for ancyn - she's been with their ghosts a long time and has a strong bond with it. kailani's would probably be a little more 'haha you're fuckin joking right?? who's gonna tell me not to do stupid shit and bore my ear off with philosophical ramblings??????'
poe's, i think, would be very different and actually a lot more in the vein of 'but we just met?? i just became a guardian don't take her from me' kind of situation - and the dialogue with cayde would probably be a lot different. i'm sure they knew each other in some capacity, since she was a cryptarch in the tower and all, but definitely a different relationship than 'favorite guardian' -- in fact, she may not 'canonly' go into the traveler until after it's designated a destination. maybe. possibly. idk lol she's still so green it wouldn't make sense for her to be there initially, but possibly also for the big witness fight??
but CAN do cute drabble about her and crow afterwards at the celebration lol
real belatedly to this - i wish they'd done more with the dissenters and the mirror/glass how they got zavala's attention. i think that would've been SO cool to seed through the saga, or at least be something we saw more of in the campaign prior to that cutscene/mission - them reaching out, a fleeting glimpse of desperation for someone to turn their way and help cut them free
likely spoilers within!!
only ran the first/opening mission! the longer version of the cutscene that was in the teaser trailer a couple weeks ago was Concerning™
i really liked all the environmental stuff going on as you work your way in to the traveler and the elements that look like environments from the root of nightmares raid - a neat foreshadowing to what we'd see inside. mara's voice acting was spectacular and i loved how stressed she sounded when the witness 'saw' us - i've loved her character development since witch queen, they're doing great stuff with her
i like the new enemies! the flying fuckers (grim) seem to spawn A LOT at once, but the subjugators move REALLY cool and kind of wander around and seek you out a bit. the little psion ones i keep calling 'dudes with the hats'
the cutscene approaching cayde was good and i thought it was nice they framed it well so you could grab good screencaps of your guardian and him interacting/talking. they reeeeally put the work into making him quite animated, even in the post-cutscene bit where you're talking to him. i def wanna rewatch his explanation scene b/c was he just dead until only recently and was yanked into the traveler? do ghosts/guardians return to the traveler when they die, but not in the way we thought (as though the place is a paradise/heaven kind of deal)? he mentions him and sundance kind of 'becoming one', but then being 'ripped' in some manner - will we see sundance in some capacity later on??
ghost being a vendor-like entity gives me a little stress lol
i'm definitely gonna have to pay more attention to things on playthroughs on my alts
also popped in with poe to help tony on lea
6/6
we ran a couple more missions last night - up through finding zavala. the mechanics with the light/dark eaters are pretty easy (i feel like something similar was done with those stumps/platforms in root of nightmares?? i'm not going to double check rn b/c i've been successfully avoiding spoilers this far lol).
everything, so far, has seemed TOO easy and i noticed there's, like, an enemy difficulty rank on the missions and i wonder when that starts to change OR if it's just for legend??? idk lol aside from learning by experience how the new enemies attacks work, killing things has been a cakewalk lol
i liked the interaction with cayde and ikora! i also liked cayde's little speech about letting go and everyone else getting grumpy/upset/not wanting to think about it over it lol - and his little anecdote about amanda was cute, too
we already know from the teaser that zavala becomes compromised somehow - i hope it's WORTHWHILE b/c, as stated in the missions and also SEASON OF THE HAUNTED we helped him sort through and process that shit and to have it undone in a way that feels flimsy is not gonna cut it for me
the campfire scene, despite being sad, was nice visually - i like that they're giving us a LOT of guardian cutscene photo ops lol
so, enjoyable so far! i appreciate them giving a warning that 'hey, this is supposed to be done all at once, finish the campaign before bopping off to another location'. we're only on step 12 out of 32 tho lol
i don't have any strong feelings about prismatic yet, but i think it'll be fun once everything is unlocked!
6/7
we got up thru, i think, step 20-something out of 32? i think we're next going to uhhh shit, i don't remember
we met the friendly lucent hive!! what a great addition. i also really liked the cutscene with cayde and sundance and all that
it feels like the game is teaching us a lot of different mechanics that'll be in use over the year, as well, with the addition of the glyphs (which, yeah, call back to vow of the disciple raid and witch queen)
i should write about these as i finish the missions gkjhfklghdf but i guess when i run with my other chars i'll be a bit more mindful of paying attention to things happening/what's going on lol
i am curious how we end up getting OUT or, i guess, opening the way? since the location IS a new destination and has lost sectors and patrol zones and all that (it's so fuckin big, too, and i've heard it only has ONE transmat point??? why wouldn't there be one at each since we set up camp at each???)
still avoiding spoilers lol i haven't been on twitter in days
6/9
played up thru the 'dissent' mission iirc, I'm glad to have been on the right theories about the witness' origins and there likely being individuals who were NOT on board with becoming a conglomeration!! and excite d/interested to learn more about these dissenters!!
zavala losing his ghost was a surprise, tho! the first time we get to heard targe talk/interact with him (love his personality) and they nuke him in the same campaign dodjrbdkdifjdf
the difficulty feels like it's ratcheting up a bit. the 'liminality' strike was somewhat difficult (idk how to get the taken essence out of the lava room lol) and the mission after that was a challenge! we wiped twice lol and the escaping part after the boss was HHHHHHHHHH
not as enjoyable as the shadowkeep mission where you have to escape in the darkness. all the jumping/staggered stairs just makes it a different kind of un-fun stressful
will probably finish up the last steps of it after I get back from running errands!
6/9
THE WITNESS FIGHT WAS HARD actually had to look up the trick to not dying immediately in the storm phase - but for all its frustration i DID like the mechanic of 'embracing darkness' and listening to the dissenters and then striking them down to actually harm the witness itself
also loved the witness completely losing his cool
i think there's a couple more steps left - i foolishly thought i was safe after the witness fight and refreshed twitter to catch sight of something form a cutscene i didn't recognize and i immediately fled the scene lol
6/10
OKAY FINALLY OFFICIALLY FINISHED
loved the twelve-man final witness fight. loved the cutscene and zavala’s speech beforehand. love the cutscene after, even with the WHAT?!?!?! of ghost dying (i anticipated something bad happening to someone, but maybe not necessarily our ghost so soon!) and cayyydeeeee i’m glad he got a nicely wrapped up ending on his terms. i’m glad he got to hand off the vanguard post to crow (which i knew was gonna happen for a long time now, i’m also glad they waited to do something like that to give crow time to grow and come into himself naturally) and their banter was very fun
we’re doing the exotic quest things now and it’s fun to have mithras and caiatl stuff going on, as well. and more savathun!! it was great to see her at the battle and it’s great to have her pushing us in ways that the vanguard won’t
i am curious what zavala is going to do without a ghost, tho it’s clear caiatl wants to see him remain as vanguard commander and she’s not really wrong there
this was a very good campaign and i’m glad i was able to scrounge the money for it (hoping the episodes are equally good!). it was much better paced than lightfall and just more enjoyable/felt ike a better and more cohesive story overall. i liked tangential stuff from lightfall - a lot of the neomuna characters introduced were fun and the calus and witness interactions were great, but it fell flat in a lot of spots for me
i also REALLY appreciated that they held off on launching the first episode until after the first week - being able to focus solely on the campaign really added to the ambiance of everything, it really did feel like you (or your fireteam) was at it alone and under desperate measures in a strange new place
looking forward to playing thru it with my other two guardians for good screencaps lol especially to get caps of poe and crow in the end scene with the lanterns
miscellaneous thoughts
ghost end scene probably canon similar for ancyn - she's been with their ghosts a long time and has a strong bond with it. kailani's would probably be a little more 'haha you're fuckin joking right?? who's gonna tell me not to do stupid shit and bore my ear off with philosophical ramblings??????'
poe's, i think, would be very different and actually a lot more in the vein of 'but we just met?? i just became a guardian don't take her from me' kind of situation - and the dialogue with cayde would probably be a lot different. i'm sure they knew each other in some capacity, since she was a cryptarch in the tower and all, but definitely a different relationship than 'favorite guardian' -- in fact, she may not 'canonly' go into the traveler until after it's designated a destination. maybe. possibly. idk lol she's still so green it wouldn't make sense for her to be there initially, but possibly also for the big witness fight??
but CAN do cute drabble about her and crow afterwards at the celebration lol
real belatedly to this - i wish they'd done more with the dissenters and the mirror/glass how they got zavala's attention. i think that would've been SO cool to seed through the saga, or at least be something we saw more of in the campaign prior to that cutscene/mission - them reaching out, a fleeting glimpse of desperation for someone to turn their way and help cut them free