On February 22, 2022, the long-awaited expansion of The Witch Queen was finally released for Bungie’s Destiny 2. The story of the expansion is that, shortly after the events of “Season of the Lost,” the planet Mars is finally released from the clutches of The Darkness and its pyramid ships. It’s here that Savathun, The Hive Goddess of deception, lies, and cunning, quickly establishes a gate to her Throne World. Upon entering, to the shocking horror of many, it is discovered that Savathun and some of her hive soldiers have gained the power of the light, a power thought untouchable to them until now. Under the leadership of the warlock vanguard Ikora Rey with the assistance of her spy ring, and hive-expert Eris Morn, the player’s guardian must traverse the swampy marshlands of Savathun’s Throne World to unravel the web of mysteries from within.
Now the question you maybe are wondering: Is Destiny 2 and the recent The Witch Queen expansion worth it? My answer: Yes! A million times Yes!
Here’s why:
To play this expansion after six grueling months of waiting during “Season of the Lost” until the final week felt like Christmas and my birthday in one. For years, players have waited to see Savathun make her appearance in the game after years of her only being mentioned and appearing in lore cards. Savathun is revealed as the one pulling the strings of many major events in Destiny’s narrative. With this exciting information, upon release, it was revealed players could explore not only Savathun’s Throne World as a travel destination, while also obtaining new exotic weapons and armor, new types of enemies, weapon building mechanics, a new raid (released on March 5th), and a new glaive weapon type to experience. However, what made The Witch Queen a better experience to me was, even after the main story of the campaign was finished, there was (and still is) content in the post-game that expands the story of Destiny even further.
Another positive aspect of The Witch Queen that I love, is what makes it different than the other expansions, how well written throughout it is, story-wise. Most expansions, seasons, and characters’ actions during major events seem to just “happen out of nowhere” in the past, unless players read the lore entries associated with the game. Players aren’t going to understand the true meaning of some situations. This is what made The Witch Queen so different. Before the expansion was even released, the trailers, from months before, revealed the main conflict for the expansion: after Savathun’s worm (a living fragment of darkness and source of her power) is exorcized from her, both she and some of her soldiers have gained the power of the Light and it is the Guardian’s role to figure out how it is possible. This exciting concept of the light being used by those called enemies for years while guardians can use the Darkness. The often-used quote of “the line between light and dark is so very thin” perfectly expresses the message the story of the game is telling.
In conclusion, The Witch Queen is by far the best expansion in the Destiny series of the time. The addition of sights and sounds of the destinations, its characters, its new items, and especially the story and message are what make the expansion, as well as the game, much better. Personally, if Bungie continues hitting it out of the park with the next two expansions (currently being called Lightfall and The Final Shape), Destiny could become just as memorable as their Halo series.
Samuel Dera is a guest writer.