Destiny 2 was released September, and it's been a hit with gamers. Damn near everyone I know online and real life is raving about how much fun they're having with Bungie's second installment of the series. It almost feels like I'm missing out on some of that fun, especially since the first Destiny was console exclusive. Now since there's a PC version for D2, I'm on the fence if I should pick it up or not.

A little gaming background. MMORPG's were my thing when I first started playing back in the mid-2000s. Of course, a little game called World of Warcraft caught my attention and 10 years later, I still keep up to date with them, more or less. Even before WoW, I remember playing a game called Illusion of Gaia for the SNES. What intrigued me about this game was how story-heavy it was. Prior to that, other games were simply "destroy all in your way, kill big baddie", which is fine, but IoG gave me a different change of pace. Reading text was something I started to enjoy. You'd think my young self would just skip the dialogue and go straight to the action, but I actually enjoyed what the game provided. During the PS1 times, I played a lot of RPGs. Star Ocean 2, Xenogears, FF 7, 8, and 9 and similar games. They all had hella text to read (especially Xenogears's second disc), but if you can provide me a good story with an interesting narrative and unique characters, you pretty much got me hooked. Part of why I still play WoW from time to time. I may not care too much about current gameplay changes, but the lore always kept me in their world. Speaking of which, a good environment also draws me in. Open world games like Grand Theft Auto V nails this aspect. There are so many non-essential things you can do in the game, on top of impressive-looking visuals. It's great when a game world looks amazing, but have tons of distractions to keep me immersed. Story and environment go hand in hand, so when a game nails both, it's one hell of an experience.

Character progression is also important to me. No game gave me a sense of accomplishment better than Aion. It was freakin' tough to get good gear unless you worked for it. Getting my gold weapon as Chanter was exhilarating because of the obstacles I had to overcome. Typically it takes a couple of weeks or so to complete the super-long quest chain. This involved traveling all over the gaming world to speak to NPCs in obscure, or very dangerous locations. You even had to port into the enemies' homeworld and complete a couple of quests there, which was extremely difficult to do solo. Chanters weren't the best at 1v1 PvP back then, so a group was mandatory. It took me about 20-something hours to complete in one setting, but it was worth it! The weapon lasted me a while, even after I hit the level cap. Leveling skills is another way of character progression I enjoy. Games like Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and Path of Exile are great examples. The ability to progress in any skill of your choice allows the player to custom-make a unique character of their own, with a unique playstyle, unlike other players. Want to be melee-only? Go ahead! Want to be a dagger-wielding rouge with lightning spells? Sure, why not? Games that allow you to play how you want are winners in my book.

Now back to Destiny 2. I ask you, my fellow readers, is it worth picking up? Do they have an engrossing story/world, or is it more about dungeons, raids, and PvP? How is character progression versus WoW or similar MMOs? Let me know in the comments!