Well, actually this is about what I want to see Destiny do in its open world. I want it to approach the compelling narrative of Red Dead Redemption and Fallout 3. I think that asking for Elder Scrolls levels is not going to come until Destiny 2, at which point the depth of the legendary backstories will have soaked in, as well as with fan fiction and hopefully a good book by Greg Bear.
I know Bungie don't like to hear 'RPG' but as beautiful as the environments are so far, if Destiny doesn't get a lot of open world missions going, then I will be disappointed. That is to say that if it's strictly Halo-like in terms of the pursuit of enemies leading you around the map, then it won't work as well as I think it should.
So here's what I'm thinking, in short spurts.
A. Task Areas
Some kind of areas should be 'task' areas. That is to say you should be able to travel to a place in the open world and hang out there doing a number of tasks and returning to that same place. I think of the big farm way up the hill in Red Dead Redemption. Catch a runaway horse. Stop a barn fire. Tame a mustang. In Destiny task areas could be similar with the occasional alien enemy making a pest out of themselves.
In Old Russia, one could be tasked to find 5 car tires or mechanical doohickies from that stream of abandoned wrecks. Or maybe you need to find spare parts for your own ship in the Cosmodrome. Wow, now that I think of that, I can't see how that would not be a simple first mission depending upon how much of a chickenchaser they make your newb Guardian.
I can imagine you finding some old derelict Awoken codger out in the airplane graveyard cooking a greasy piece of meat in the fuselage of an old A380. Which now that I think of it, what other kinds of creatures does earth have besides birds? What do the Fallen eat? Maybe they eat horses and we have a horse escort mission. Meh, I hated driving cattle in Red Dead, but horse roping from a Shrike might be cool.
B. Traditional Dungeons
Other areas should be like traditional 'dungeons', where you go into creepy surroundings in order to retrieve some strange artifact. In these, everything is what you would expect and I'm rather taken by the rules of engagment set by Skyrim and Fallout 3. The first time through the dungeon, if it is visible and accessible to you, presents a challenge as part of a narrative and it it leveled up to your skillset. Upon subsequent passed through there should be a modicum of sameness, but the challenge should be of a different shape after a set number of visits.
I'm thinking in particular of my favorite dungeon in Skyrim that was guarded by two daedric princes - you know those devil looking guys. There was always lots of gold and some high quality weapons there, and if you could beat the two daedra, then you were set. It would have been nice if on the third try the game threw in a completely different set of enemies and loot to throw me off balance.
C. Wandering Prizes
I think it would be cool for you to be aware of some kind of loot or achievement that doesn't exist in one place for long. Or maybe it's like soap, if you don't grab it successfully, it squirts out of your hand to a new location, except in Destiny that location might be through a transport portal. I like the idea of perhaps one of those scary little girls who appear out of nowhere and tell you to follow them and it ends up being something really trippy. "How did you get that cape?" "From the girl in the pink tutu on Venus, near the laboratory".
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