Software:Destiny 2: The Final Shape
| Destiny 2: The Final Shape | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Bungie |
| Publisher(s) | Bungie |
| Director(s) |
|
| Composer(s) |
|
| Series | Destiny |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | June 4, 2024 |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing, first-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Destiny 2: The Final Shape is an upcoming major expansion for Destiny 2, a first-person shooter video game by Bungie. Representing the eighth expansion and the seventh year of extended content for Destiny 2, it is scheduled to be released on June 4, 2024, after being delayed from its original February 2024 date. The Final Shape will revolve around the player's Guardian seeking out the franchise's major villain, the Witness, who had disappeared through a portal that it created on the surface of the Traveler and entered its Pale Heart at the conclusion of Lightfall. The Guardian and the Vanguard must stop the Witness from creating the titular Final Shape—the calcification and destruction of all life in the universe—and end the war between the Light and Darkness. The Final Shape will conclude Destiny's first major saga, the "Light and Darkness Saga".
The expansion will add new content across the game, including new missions, Player versus Environment locations, Player versus Player maps, player gear, weaponry, and a new raid. Unlike prior years, Year 7 will not follow the seasonal model in which the year is divided into four seasonal content offerings. Instead, there will be three large episodes, which will be standalone experiences, and each episode will be divided into three acts. The episodes, titled Echoes, Revenant, and Heresy, were originally set to release in March, July, and November, respectively, but these have been pushed back due to the delay of The Final Shape; their new release dates have not been revealed.
Gameplay
The Final Shape will expand on the base Destiny 2 gameplay by adding a new free roam world, the Pale Heart, located within the celestial being, the Traveler, with areas influenced by previous destinations explored throughout the history of the franchise. New and existing story content will be expanded with a "Legendary" difficulty similar to that from the previous two expansions. Over the course of the year of content for The Final Shape includes one new raid taking place in the Witness's monolith in the Pale Heart, two new dungeons, as well as one returning raid; the latter two activities to be released during the episodes.
Subjugators, the personal soldiers of the Witness, are new major enemies within The Final Shape. They are tall, slender, bipedal beings that use glaives and are able to use Stasis and Strand powers against Guardians.
The Final Shape will introduce three new Light-based supers for each of the Guardian classes: "Twilight Arsenal" for Sentinel Titans, where they throw three Void axes at enemies and can be picked up by other Guardians from the ground; "Song of Flame" for Dawnblade Warlocks, where they imbue themselves with Solar energy to unleash unlimited powered melee attacks and grenades, similar the original Sunsinger Solar subclass in the original Destiny; and "Storm's Edge" for Arcstrider Hunters, where they throw an Arc dagger at enemies and then teleport to it to unleash a spin attack.
Plot
The Final Shape centers on the Witness, the main overarching antagonist of the Light and Darkness Saga (which began with the original Destiny) who was first introduced at the end of The Witch Queen. The Witness is an extremely powerful being of Darkness that commands the Black Fleet, and it is the product of an entire species having merged into one entity and a single gestalt consciousness through the mastery of the Darkness. It has spent eons chasing the Traveler as part of its eternal pursuit to impose "salvation" upon all reality through the titular Final Shape—the calcification and destruction of all life in the universe. The Witness has been ultimately responsible for humanity's Collapse, as well as for the destruction of countless civilizations across the universe throughout millennia, either by its hand or through the actions of its Disciples and other servants, such as the Hive.
During the events of Lightfall a year ago, the Witness and the Black Fleet attacked the Traveler in Earth's orbit, where it was granted a vision of the Veil, the counterpart of the Traveler, on Neptune; the player's Guardian was sent to the human city of Neomuna on Neptune to locate the Veil and defend it from Emperor Calus—the newest Disciple of the Witness—and his Shadow Legion Cabal; however, after Calus's defeat, the Witness used the Light from the Guardian's Ghost to perform an uplink with the Veil, allowing the Witness to use Veil's power to open a portal on the Traveler's surface and enter its Pale Heart to begin enacting the Final Shape. During Season of the Deep, the proto-Worm God Ahsa revealed to the Guardian the origins of the Witness, and that Savathûn, the Witch Queen, needed to be revived in order to find a way into the Pale Heart. During Season of the Witch, the Guardian forces Immaru, Savathûn's Ghost, to revive the Witch Queen, who reveals a fifteenth wish upon her resurrection that could be granted by the spirit of the deceased Ahamkara Riven in the Dreaming City. During Season of the Wish, the Guardian retrieves Riven's clutch of eggs which forces Riven herself to grant the wish, allowing singular passage into the Pale Heart; Crow volunteers to go through the portal and unlock the way for the Guardian and the Vanguard.
The Final Shape begins shortly after the events of Season of the Wish. The Guardian, Commander Zavala, Ikora Rey and the rest of the Vanguard manage to enter the Pale Heart of the Traveler, an otherworldly dimension inside the Traveler where its landscape is influenced by the Guardian's numerous deeds throughout the franchise. Together, with the spirit of Cayde-6, the Guardian and the Vanguard fight through the dimension to stop the Witness from bringing forth the Final Shape and end the war between Light and Darkness.
Release
In June 2020, Bungie announced three expansions: Beyond Light, The Witch Queen, and Lightfall, set for November 2020, late 2021, and late 2022, respectively.[1] However, in February 2021, it was announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the crowded release window of the fall, The Witch Queen had been delayed to February 2022, thus pushing Lightfall back to February 2023. The Final Shape was subsequently announced for early 2024 as Bungie felt that they needed one further expansion to wrap up the story of the first saga called the "Light and Darkness" saga.[2] The Final Shape was originally scheduled for February 27, 2024; however, on November 27, 2023, after rumors of a delay following recent layoffs at Bungie, the developer announced that the expansion had been delayed by over three months to June 4, 2024, as they needed more time to deliver on their vision for the expansion.[3]
References
- ↑ Carter, Chris (June 9, 2020). "Bungie already has the next two years of Destiny 2 planned out, will allow cross-play between generations". Destructoid. https://www.destructoid.com/bungie-already-has-the-next-two-years-of-destiny-2-planned-out-will-allow-cross-play-between-generations-593657.phtml.
- ↑ Gilliam, Ryan (February 25, 2021). "Destiny 2: The Witch Queen expansion delayed to 2022". Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2021/2/25/22301424/destiny-2-the-witch-queen-lightfall-release-date-window-update. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
- ↑ Sawyer, Will (November 27, 2023). "Destiny 2: The Final Shape – Everything we know so far". GamesRadar+. https://www.gamesradar.com/destiny-2-the-final-shape-guide/.
 |  |
