“The Taken King” is everything we’ve always wanted Destiny to be

Holy crap. Destiny has a story.

More accurately, Destiny’s new “Taken King” DLC has a story, and it throws it at you fast and thick. I’m in love.

Available last night, “The Taken King” quickly asserted itself to be everything that Destiny was not. The DLC’s opening cinematic gives you a taste of what new baddie Oryx is capable of. Heading to Mars for the DLC’s first mission, you’re treated to the sci-fi equivalent of Saving Private Ryan‘s opening. Fast. Punchy. Action-packed. You can’t wait to let your Guardian do some damage.

Story isn’t delivered exclusively through flashy cutscenes (though they’re there) and Destiny 1.0.0-style “press X to trigger your Ghost, the next checkpoint AND move the story along” sequences, but rather through gameplay itself. Scanning is still present, but slowing down and checking out Cabal corpses, as an example, provides backstory that once could only be found by reading Destiny‘s Grimoire online. A simple little change to the nature of the Ghost — and there are more functions we’ll leave as surprises — make the game more polished as a whole and makes you feel like your Ghost is an actual companion and teammate.

I’m still not sold on Nolan North’s voice work, though.

Characters in the world of Destiny are actually that for the first time ever. Once wasted, the likes of Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres and Lance Reddick are able to inject some personalities into each of the Vanguards of the Tower. Especially in the early missions of the DLC, Fillion shines as Cayde-6, Hunter Vanguard. He finally is given some scenery to chew on, and does so with zest and bravado. Minor characters like Amanda Holiday, the Tower Shipwright, actually have something to do rather than stand at a storefront 24/7 and spout the barest of one-liners.

The world of Destiny finally feels like just that: a world. A galaxy.

Changes are everywhere, with the biggest being the way in which your Guardian levels. A level 40 cap is now in place, alongside a Light level that is an average of all the weaponry and armor — including accessories like your Ghost — that you’ve equipped. It’s a refreshing change, and one most have been anxiously waiting for, but be warned — as you start playing through “The Taken King”, be prepared for all your favourite Exotic and Legendary gear to be come obsolete. Quickly. Hopefully you weren’t too attached to your Icebreaker. The way in which XP is channeled into levels rather than using Light means those new to the game won’t be sitting there scratching their heads, wondering how to level up past 20. That sure sucked.

All Guardian types are able to hit up a single-player story very early on into “The Taken King”, and it’s highly recommended; it’s the mission that’ll give you access to your third subclass. Do it, and do it quickly. But not before heading to the Tower to collect extra goodies.

But before I go too much further, let’s just step back for a moment: Destiny, once a game without a story, now has specific tales that introduce Titans, Hunters and Warlocks to their third subclass. They’re all ridiculously awesome, by the way.

New locales and sort-of new enemies also come with the new DLC. Saturn is introduced as if pulled from a sci-fi fan’s wet dream, and while the Taken and Oryx are interesting, terrifying and cool, it’s almost like it was Bungie being a little lazy and avoiding drastic new- or re-designs (from what I’ve seen). That said, you’ll freak when you encounter Taken Psions and see what they can do. Actually, you’ll just freak with the Taken in general and what their introduction means for Destiny.

I could go on, but hopefully I’ve already sold you on the changes to Destiny as part of “The Taken King”. All the things I’ve been hating on Destiny for appear to have been addressed and corrected. Of course, it’s really too hard to tell if getting new gear will be fun or a grindfest, but we’ll keep that in mind as we continue playing. Consider this a review-in-progress, and very nearly a 10/10 at that, though we’re holding off on a final verdict until we can poke around in some new Strikes and possibly even the game’s upcoming Raid.

Have you been playing “The Taken King”? What do you think so far?