It was just over ten years ago, in 2014, that I downloaded the beta test for Bungie’s upcoming title, a shooter called Destiny. The game was unlike anything I’d played before, a first-person shooter with the stylings of an MMORPG, a step beyond the gameplay I’d enjoyed with games like Borderlands. Even as the community collectively suffered through Peter Dinklage’s awkward chatter, which I personally didn’t mind, it was clear that Destiny was something special.
It’s not often we have the chance or even reason to think about where our favorite games will be in ten years, and so I certainly never would have predicted that Destiny would still be going strong, albeit in the form of Destiny 2. I’d heard from time to time that Bungie had a ten-year plan for the game, but I dismissed it as wishful thinking until The Final Shape released, wrapping up the story that they’d started a decade prior.
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In the decade since its launch, Destiny has allowed players to take on kings, slay gods, and find the good in our former enemies. We battled across some of the most unique environments across the solar system, like Titan and the Dreaming City, facing seemingly endless waves of foes. I still remember my clan’s first desperate attempts to clear the Vault of Glass, when our final standing Guardian died launching a rocket that barely managed to kill The Templar. From our reaction, you’d have thought we’d just won Olympic gold.
No one could have anticipated Destiny’s longevity, and what we got was great.
Or the first time we boarded the Dreadnaught to defeat Oryx, racing up and down the dank, dimly lit corridors looking for any hint at an environmental puzzle. These all seemed like moments in a series of memories that would never stop forming, as Destiny established itself as the newest landmark in the gaming landscape, but all things must end.
It’s been a decade full of highs and lows, both personally and globally, but through Destiny, I forged friendships that remain meaningful today and made memories I still look back on fondly. We all witnessed the rise and fall of several Destiny-killers; gamers proudly declaring – based on a single trailer – that this one would be the one to take down the faux-MMO. Of course, when the dust settled, Destiny stood on top each time. We could not have known at the time that the only game that could take Destiny down was Destiny itself.
With the announcement of the end of Destiny, all we have left are the memories.
Even now, as the game’s player base dwindled in the wake of troubles at Bungie and the awkward launch of the new story, it’s hard to believe that it’s coming to an end. It still feels unreal, as if suddenly hearing that World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, or Nintendo itself were closing up shop.
As I sift through my memories of this incredible experience, I think it will continue to feel like a bad dream until the Monument of Triumph update releases, marking the end of Destiny’s life cycle. It will be a bittersweet update: a grand celebration of the end of a great run, but an end nonetheless, and participating in it will feel like attending a funeral, albeit one with a lot more guns and aliens.
There isn’t much else to say, except a deep, heartfelt thank you to everyone who brought this game to life, and to all the Guardians I met along the way.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S.
