Destiny 2: The Witch Queen Review – Queen’s Gambit

As long as Destiny and Destiny 2 have had expansions. These expansions have followed a specific pattern. The add-ons have always been stand-alone options with new weapons and a new place to play, dropping players into a new story primarily separate from what came before. Each had a lot of new content and a new story campaign, but they weren’t like new chapters for a live game. Instead, they were more like semi-discreet new modules added to an enormous game. The Witch Queen changes all of that. Instead of adding something new and different to Destiny 2 without any context, it is a natural, evolutionary progression. This is Bungie’s live game going through a change, coming out of its shell as something better, more innovative, and more complete than before.

When Bungie first talked about The Witch Queen, they said the new story was “the definitive Destiny campaign.” Even though it was just advertising, that statement turned out to be true. Destiny expansions are mostly built on multi-mission story choices, but The Witch Queen’s campaign differs from the others. It is, without exaggeration, the best marketing campaign Bungie has ever done for a game. It beats out even the most popular releases, like Forsaken and The Taken King.

Destiny’s campaigns tend to be on the more accessible end of the spectrum. They give players a way to get into the more complicated parts of the game, like raids with six players and dungeons with three. The problem with this strategy is that, while the early parts of any given Destiny 2 expansion feel good—the game is nothing if not incredibly satisfying in terms of simple shooting mechanics—they don’t show what makes the game suitable. Destiny 2 has been defined by its raids, full of practical mechanics that require skilled groups to learn the rules, set up roles, talk about their goals, and work together like the parts of a complicated machine. You can’t understand what’s good about Destiny 2 until you play its best content, which is always high-level stuff that can be hard to get to.

The Witch Queen has been amazing and fun to play as I’ve tried out all of its new features, missions, places, and raid. The laudable story campaign is the game’s main feature. It makes many of the best parts of the game more accessible to a wide range of players. The Witch Queen also brings back the best parts of Destiny’s past, like the key-filled, complex, and exciting places from The Taken King and Forsaken expansions. The Witch Queen is a big step forward for the game. It is the latest in a long line of significant changes and additions that have made Destiny 2 the best it has ever been.