The hype for Destiny 2 has started to steadily build ever since the first official trailer back at the end of March. It was just a small taste which consisted of lots of death, an inspiring speech, and the perfect dash of Cayde-6’s humor. Now we patiently await the gameplay reveal which is set for May 18, just a few short weeks away. It’s sure to bring with it a ton of info as it introduces us to the next level of Destiny.
The initial trailer made it very clear that the Cabal have invaded our home, destroyed it in fact, and that we are now on the offensive. Our new enemy is Ghaul and his Red Legion, a vicious group of warriors who would love to do nothing more than snuff out our light. Outside of that conflict, the trailer didn’t give too much information regarding the state of the galaxy. After all, we did kill an alien god, fought off the king of the Taken, and stopped the machines from rising up to devour everyone alive. Yet, a new hint has come from Bungie, and it came in the form of an invite to Destiny 2’s gameplay premiere.
On the back of the invite, a single line is written:
Welcome to a world without light.
To those who may have never delved into the Destiny experience, those are seemingly innocuous words. A tagline that can be ascribed to any game that has you facing some gargantuan evil. Heck, you could’ve used that for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or even Super Mario Sunshine and nobody would’ve batted an eyelash. But to the initiated, to the Guardians of Destiny, light is a precious thing. It is the source of our power, of our never-ending vigil against the Darkness that comes for the Traveler and our home galaxy. A world without light means that players are set to find themselves in some seriously dire straights.
This can mean several things. For starters, at the very beginning of the initial trailer, you can see the Traveler burning as it defends the last city from the Cabal onslaught. As many players know, the Traveler is the source of our Light, meaning it is the very source of our power. That attack may have very well disrupted our connection to the source, meaning the new abilities that are promised in Destiny 2 may actually be far more different than we initially thought.
In a world without Light, the abilities of Sunsingers, Defenders, Bladedancers, and the other sub-classes may not exist, or at least not in the same way. They were supernatural powers granted by the essence of the Traveler, and without that entity watching over us as it once did, we shouldn’t expect to still take advantage of all its boons.
A world without light can also possibly mean that the Darkness we’ve been hearing so much about is finally here, on Earth. We’ve entered areas influenced by the Darkness, and it is known that it attacked us once before (it’s what ended the Golden Age). A world without light may not strictly mean a world completely devoid of hope or power. But, hope is at an all-time low, and the backs of Guardians in Destiny 2 are firmly pressed against the wall.
It’s going to be a strong divergence from what fans are used to. The player base has faced countless obstacles, but there was always that theme of “we can get through anything.” We’re being told that this is seriously a bad time to be a Guardian. At least we know that it also means we’re going to have plenty of opportunities to further our legends.
Until that time comes, safe travels, Guardians.
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