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An appreciation of 2017's in-game shopkeepers
In-game shops are more than handy outlets to transform random metal scraps and tired old gear into new and useful items. Shops offer a reprieve from the action of whichever digital world you've entered, allowing you to take a moment, breathe and consider the situation from afar. Do you want to play as a gun-toting tank or a sneaky spy? Is your bow powerful enough for the battles ahead? Do you have enough health potions? Does your character look better in green or purple? Only the shop can provide the answers. Overseeing all of these calculations -- and guarding stores' impossibly large piles of loot -- are the shopkeepers. The past year has been incredible for video games, as we've discussed at length, and this infusion of creativity extends to the stingy store servants selling wares and wiles along our adventures. From Cuphead to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, 2017 has offered up a buffet of adorable, wacky and nostalgia-ridden shopkeepers for us to enjoy -- so we might as well get to it.
'Destiny 2' factions will reward you with powerful discount weapons
If you've been playing Destiny 2 for a while, you probably know the fate of "the city". What's set to follow -- as I try not to spoil anything-- is the return of factions. We all love some good in-game tribal battles, and the shooter's Faction rallies will kick things off on September 26, at the decidedly precise hour of 2AM PT / 5AM ET / 9AM BST -- with some nice rewards for the faction that comes out on top.
'Destiny 2' studio explains how a hate symbol made it into the game
Earlier this week, Destiny 2 developer Bungie announced that it had become aware of some armor in the game that looked a lot like a symbol used by white supremacists. The company apologized, noted that the symbols didn't represent its values and said the offending armor would be removed.
‘Destiny 2' launches Guided Games matchmaking for high-level raids
Destiny 2 improves upon its predecessor in many ways. In short, it offers a more satisfying, shared-world experience. Building upon that, the game's developer Bungie is today launching the Guided Games beta. The feature essentially delivers the matchmaking system for high-level activities that the first title lacked. Players may have noticed the longer-than-usual server maintenance downtime today, which brought with it a a massive patch. Download it and you'll get Guided Games.
'Destiny 2' studio will remove armor that looks like a 'hate symbol'
Destiny 2 came out much fanfare September 5th, with a much-improved storyline and a better shared-world experience. One of the fun bits of the meta gameplay is finding improved armor and weapons that can make your Guardian even more of a badass than before. On Twitter, developer Bungie said that it had found a set of gauntlets (armor gloves) that shared "elements with a hate symbol." The development team promised that this was "not intentional," and that it will be "removing it."
The first 'Destiny 2' expansion will reintroduce players to Osiris
If you've already finished Destiny 2's campaign and are grinding through the endgame, here's some news you might be interested in. The first expansion for developer Bungie's shared-world shooter is dubbed "Curse of Osiris," named for the infamous multiplayer mode from its prequel. This time 'round, it's a campaign expansion according to Polygon, and it takes place on Mercury where you'll "journey through time and space" to learn Osiris' (a legendary warlock) secrets and reunite him with Ikora Rey -- the warlock vanguard who gives you class-specific gear.
'Destiny 2' gives Bungie's online shooter the narrative it deserves
Bungie's shared-world shooter is known for a lot of things. It has a dedicated community and excellent gunplay mechanics -- but Destiny has never been known as a game with a great story. In fact, the original title's story is notoriously vague, to the point that a single quote from the core game is both emblematic of the entire narrative and an in-joke: Destiny doesn't "have time to explain" what it doesn't have time to explain. The original game's storytelling was bad enough that I almost dismissed its sequel without playing it -- but Luke Smith promised me that Destiny 2 was being written for players just like me. I gave the game a shot at a recent review event and you know what? He's right. Bungie has finally figured out how to tell a story.
We wish 'Destiny 2' looked as good as this live action trailer
Are you getting excited about the upcoming launch of space-shooter Destiny 2? If the impactful shared-world experience doesn't grab you and the themed PS4 Pro bundle is out of your reach, this new trailer might help ratchet up your anticipation. Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts of Kong: Skull Island fame, the Destiny 2 live-action trailer has robot Nathan Fillion exhorting three new recruits to find the big guns and take back the Earth from "a psycho rhino named Ghaul."
'Destiny 2’: A more open and impactful shared-world experience
My first experience with Bungie's shared-world online shooter was the result of a challenge. It was 2014, and I still hadn't upgraded to the new console generation. It was early in the cycle, and I had yet to stumble across a game that justified the upgrade. Then, Engadget's gaming staff insisted I try Destiny. I did. And I hated it. My friends had primed me for an epic space opera with tight gunplay and exciting challenges -- but to me, the game felt like an intentionally tedious shooting gallery filled with generic enemies that soaked up bullets like a dry sponge. I found Destiny and its expansions so boring that I was hesitant when Bungie invited me to try the game's sequel ahead of launch. Today, I'm eating my words. Destiny 2 is shaping up to be everything its predecessor wasn't.
'Destiny 2' PC beta starts August 28th
We already got a taste of Destiny 2 during the beta test last weekend on consoles, but Bungie is finally revealing when PC gamers (who didn't make the trip to E3) will have their chance . The beta test will run from August 28th to the 31st, with gamers who've pre-ordered going in first, again, before doors open to everyone on the 29th. Bungie has also published minimum and recommended specs, as well as a suggestion about hardware available to buy today that would be a worthwhile upgrade. Minimum: CPU Intel - Core i3-3250 AMD - FX-4350 GPU Nvidia - GeForce GTX 660 2GB AMD - Radeon HD 7850 2GB RAM 6GB
One weekend with the 'Destiny 2' beta
It's easy to think of the original Destiny as a large-scale, highly polished test run for Bungie's vision of the future of video games. When Destiny came out in September 2014, it was unclear whether an MMO-style first-person shooter could even work on consoles, and it wasn't guaranteed players would be able to reliably connect to the servers over the game's lifetime. We're talking about an online-focused game that landed on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 alongside current-generation consoles, back before Rocket League, Smite or Overwatch invaded the living room. Back when the industry knew something like Destiny was possible but not whether it would be popular or profitable. Bungie has tweaked Destiny over the game's lifetime, incorporating fan feedback into add-ons like The Taken King and Rise of Iron, and players have stuck around for the ride. Last week, fans got their hands on Destiny 2 for the first time in an open beta across Xbox One and PlayStation 4 -- and though the test was supposed to end over the weekend, it was extended through July 25th. Now that Bungie has proved Destiny's success, the sequel is a chance to truly push the medium forward and leverage a new ecosystem of connected consoles. So, what's new in Destiny 2? Engadget associate editor Timothy J. Seppala and senior reporter Jessica Conditt dive in and report back.
Twitch vs. YouTube Gaming: A ‘Destiny 2’ snapshot
YouTube Gaming hit the net in August 2015, promising to compete with the live-streaming world's dominant force, Twitch. Two years later, both sites have evolved. Twitch offers a raft of nongaming streams -- including anime and '90s-TV marathons, cooking shows and creative corners -- plus it instituted an in-chat tipping system and enabled game sales directly on individual channels. Twitch has its own bustling economy. Meanwhile, YouTube Gaming produced live shows, reorganized its UI a few times and rolled out "sponsorships," allowing viewers to send cash to streamers each month. Today, YouTube Gaming is lagging behind Twitch when it comes to actual viewer numbers, as demonstrated by the hottest new release: the open beta for Destiny 2. The beta went live July 18th, and it's been a hot topic across the video game community, with dedicated fans clamoring to consume every shiny new weapon, map and mode. Destiny 2 represents big-budget, AAA games with massive audiences -- the gaming industry's bread and butter. So, how is it faring on the two largest live-streaming sites?
Link your Blizzard and Bungie accounts in time for ‘Destiny 2’
PC players may be a bit sore about having to wait longer to play Destiny 2 compared to console gamers. However, there is some good news for mouse and keyboard fans: You can now link your Blizzard account to a Bungie.net profile. Hurray!
Sony's white-hot PS4 Pro debuts with 'Destiny 2' in September
PlayStation is repeating history. Once again it's dropping a white Destiny bundle, except this time it's for this September's Destiny 2 and the hardware is a PlayStation 4 Pro. The limited edition 1TB console will set you back $449.99 in the US and it will be released on September 6th. In addition to the game and PS4 Pro, the bundle includes early access (like all PS4 editions) to bonus bits, as well as an expansion pass. If your white 2TB Xbox One S needs some company in your A/V rack -- and gold isn't your color -- maybe this will do the trick for you.
'Destiny 2' beta begins July 18th on consoles, hits PC in August
If you want to get your hands on Destiny 2 before it comes out this September 6th, Activision and developer Bungie have you covered. Folks who pre-ordered the game for PlayStation 4 can start playing July 18th, while everyone else on consoles will have to wait until July 21st. The test period runs until July 23rd and Bungie says that in addition a cooperative strike and adversarial multiplayer modes, the first story mission will be available to play as well. Folks who want to play with a mouse and keyboard have to wait until August for a PC beta. For a tease of what you can expect, check out the trailer embedded below.
'Destiny 2' on PC is nothing like the first game
Destiny, like Bungie's Halo before it, was a relatively slow-paced shooter. That was ideal for console controllers, but it wouldn't have translated well to PCs, where gamers expect everything to move much faster. Now that Destiny 2 is finally bringing the series to PCs on October 24th, I couldn't help but wonder how Bungie would adapt it for mouse-and-keyboard play. Would it retain the slow and methodical pacing that we're used to, or would Bungie ramp things up?
'Destiny 2' release dates confirmed for PC and consoles
Tonight during Sony's E3 2017 press conference we got a good look at the new trailer for Destiny 2, and now Bungie has revealed when the game will launch. The sequel will be released on PS4 and Xbox One September 6th, ahead of its PC debut on October 24th. But that's not all. Pre-order betas start even earlier on consoles: July 18th/19th for the PS4/Xbox One, respectively, before an open beta period starting July 21st on both systems, with everything ending July 23rd. PC gamers will get to test out an early version of the game at some point in "late August." Also, if PS4 is your platform of choice, there will again be timed exclusive content (until fall 2018, at least), including a multiplayer map, co-op strike, armor sets and one sniper rifle.
‘Destiny 2’ tackles the original’s biggest problem: storytelling
The first time I played the original Destiny, I felt frustrated and annoyed. It was a fun online co-op team shooter but the game's narrative was insultingly shallow -- a poorly written space opera where a vague "darkness" was out to destroy a mysterious entity called the Traveler that somehow thrust humanity into a golden age, but also might be dead. It took a year for Bungie to patch in interesting characters and emotional hooks with The Taken King expansion, but by then, I had moved on. Destiny 2, however, has my attention. Not only does it look like a good starting point for new players, but it has the one thing every epic story needs: a great villain.
'Destiny 2' on PC won't have dedicated multiplayer servers
There's good news, and bad news, about Destiny 2 for PC gamers. On the plus side is the fact that it exists on PCs at all -- the first game never left consoles. But, unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to settle for multiplayer matches without dedicated servers, PC Gamer reports. Destiny 2 will instead continue to rely on peer-to-peer networking, like the original game. For players, it means that they might have to deal with more latency and instability during their frag fests. Dedicated servers, on the other hand, are typically more reliable and something PC gamers are used to seeing in big budget games.
‘Destiny 2’ has the fundamentals to be a solid sequel
When it comes to serialized media, be it film, comics or video games, rarely does someone say with conviction that "the sequel was better." The expectations are always too high. A good sequel not only has to embody the best of its predecessor, but also be new and original enough to stand on its own. Destiny 2's gameplay premiere event didn't completely assure me that it would surpass the original game, but it's off to a great start.
