Destiny 2: Season of the Witch is a good season that comes with a pretty good activity as well as a mediocre one. The story continues to be the formulaic weely grind we are used to get with Destiny seasons but the theme surrounding it with witchcraft and arcana cards will keep your interest in the season.
The Full Review(No Spoilers):
The New Hive God
Destiny 2's penultimate season considering that the next one will be the final season before we switch over to episodes, continues from the greatness of Season of the Deep. Many people didn't enjoy Deep but I myself have loved it and Witch is almost more of the same with a different theme.
Our story is about Eris Morn trying to become a Hive God basically. We, the Guardians try to tithe to her as her Acolytes in the process. The story here is good and it gets to somewhere very interesting but it feels a little bit repetitive.
Yes, Deep's story was repetitive as well. We got something new from Ahsa every week and solved the Witness' origins piece by piece. In Witch, we tithe to Eris every week and try to make her as powerful as she can be. So, both are repetitive but obviously Deep has a bit more to it's story here thanks to it being about the Witness and it's origins.
Now, let's talk about the content of this season. We had two new activities, let's start with those. Savathun's Spire is a 3 player matchmade activity that is basically a special strike mission with some parts of it being slightly different in each run.
You think it might be boring to repeat it over and over but I found it to be a pretty good activity and always enjoyed going through it. There are different final bosses to it as well so the things are kept a little bit more fresh than your typical strike mission.
Altars of Summoning on the other hand is also a 3 player matchmade activity but it's a lot different from Savathun's Spire. There is a hub area, connected to like 3-4 different mini areas. The game randomly selects one of these areas and a mission to do in it. You go to the specified location and select a difficulty for that mission.
Depending on your difficulty, you will increase your progress bar much faster. When the bar is full, you will get Altars of Summoning completion and rewards. But, you don't immediately exit the thing, you can keep grinding the bar again and again if you want.
Altars of Summoning was definitely an interesting idea but compared to Savathun's Spire, I found it disjointed and a little bit chaotic. One thing that was great about this season though was the Deck of Whispers. In many Destiny 2 seasons, our efforts went to spending points and upgrading some sort of terminal to help us get a few buffs in the seasonal activities or something.
Well, Witch's reward and progression economy is based on Deck of Whispers. The two activities have minor arcana cards you can collect in them that are hidden. Minor arcana cards gives you a random reward like legendary shards, exotic engrams, seasonal currency and more. There are also major cards you will get during story continuation.
Each major card will have their own set of quests to complete and once you complete that, you can use that card in the seasonal activities, before encounters to give you and your fireteam special boosts. It's not a fully fledged card game or anything but theme-wise, it's pretty cool.
Destiny 2: Season of the Witch is a good season that comes with a pretty good activity as well as a mediocre one. The story continues to be the formulaic weely grind we are used to get with Destiny seasons but the theme surrounding it with witchcraft and arcana cards will keep your interest in the season.
The Full Review(No Spoilers):
The New Hive God
Destiny 2's penultimate season considering that the next one will be the final season before we switch over to episodes, continues from the greatness of Season of the Deep. Many people didn't enjoy Deep but I myself have loved it and Witch is almost more of the same with a different theme.
Our story is about Eris Morn trying to become a Hive God basically. We, the Guardians try to tithe to her as her Acolytes in the process. The story here is good and it gets to somewhere very interesting but it feels a little bit repetitive.
Yes, Deep's story was repetitive as well. We got something new from Ahsa every week and solved the Witness' origins piece by piece. In Witch, we tithe to Eris every week and try to make her as powerful as she can be. So, both are repetitive but obviously Deep has a bit more to it's story here thanks to it being about the Witness and it's origins.
Now, let's talk about the content of this season. We had two new activities, let's start with those. Savathun's Spire is a 3 player matchmade activity that is basically a special strike mission with some parts of it being slightly different in each run.
You think it might be boring to repeat it over and over but I found it to be a pretty good activity and always enjoyed going through it. There are different final bosses to it as well so the things are kept a little bit more fresh than your typical strike mission.
Altars of Summoning on the other hand is also a 3 player matchmade activity but it's a lot different from Savathun's Spire. There is a hub area, connected to like 3-4 different mini areas. The game randomly selects one of these areas and a mission to do in it. You go to the specified location and select a difficulty for that mission.
Depending on your difficulty, you will increase your progress bar much faster. When the bar is full, you will get Altars of Summoning completion and rewards. But, you don't immediately exit the thing, you can keep grinding the bar again and again if you want.
Altars of Summoning was definitely an interesting idea but compared to Savathun's Spire, I found it disjointed and a little bit chaotic. One thing that was great about this season though was the Deck of Whispers. In many Destiny 2 seasons, our efforts went to spending points and upgrading some sort of terminal to help us get a few buffs in the seasonal activities or something.
Well, Witch's reward and progression economy is based on Deck of Whispers. The two activities have minor arcana cards you can collect in them that are hidden. Minor arcana cards gives you a random reward like legendary shards, exotic engrams, seasonal currency and more. There are also major cards you will get during story continuation.
Each major card will have their own set of quests to complete and once you complete that, you can use that card in the seasonal activities, before encounters to give you and your fireteam special boosts. It's not a fully fledged card game or anything but theme-wise, it's pretty cool.
Destiny 2: Season of the Witch is a good season that comes with a pretty good activity as well as a mediocre one. The story continues to be the formulaic weely grind we are used to get with Destiny seasons but the theme surrounding it with witchcraft and arcana cards will keep your interest in the season.
Despite all that was happening with Bungie and the community during this time, Season of the Witch is one of the better experiences Destiny has delivered in quite a while. For starters, this seasons story is the best one we have gotten in a while. Eris continues to be the best written character in the series, and the overarching narrative with the power struggle of her usurping Xivu Arath was compelling and well executed.
Gameplay this season was not lacking either, with two great seasonal activities in Savathuns Spire and Altars of Summoning. These built upon Deep Dives introduction of Rougelite ideas in a very fun way, with the latter including elements from the vaunted (for some reason) Court of Oryx of Destiny 1...but this time it was actually good! Seasonal activities aside, we also had the enigmatic Imbaru Engine which delivered some of the best puzzles this franchise has seen to date, especially the last one which is quite a mind-bender that's extremely satisfying to solve.
Season of the Witch also saw the reprisal of Crota's End, which was absolutely phenomenal. Many doubted the ability for CE to translate to modern day, but Bungie went above and beyond in making sure this raid would be difficult enough for modern standards while also keeping its identity. Easily the best reprisal and honestly a top 3 raid for me overall.
All and all Season of the Witch is one of the best seasonal experiences this game has ever put out, but in the end it's just that; a seasonal experience. Fatigue is at an all time high, and getting more of the same is only exemplifying it.
Gameplay this season was not lacking either, with two great seasonal activities in Savathuns Spire and Altars of Summoning. These built upon Deep Dives introduction of Rougelite ideas in a very fun way, with the latter including elements from the vaunted (for some reason) Court of Oryx of Destiny 1...but this time it was actually good! Seasonal activities aside, we also had the enigmatic Imbaru Engine which delivered some of the best puzzles this franchise has seen to date, especially the last one which is quite a mind-bender that's extremely satisfying to solve.
Season of the Witch also saw the reprisal of Crota's End, which was absolutely phenomenal. Many doubted the ability for CE to translate to modern day, but Bungie went above and beyond in making sure this raid would be difficult enough for modern standards while also keeping its identity. Easily the best reprisal and honestly a top 3 raid for me overall.
All and all Season of the Witch is one of the best seasonal experiences this game has ever put out, but in the end it's just that; a seasonal experience. Fatigue is at an all time high, and getting more of the same is only exemplifying it.
This season is genuinely one of the strongest Destiny 2 has ever had. The narrative was super tight and was a great arc for Eris and the ones around her. Do kinda wish we got more Savathun though.
The activities this season were quick and fun too which were spiced up with the rouge like elements and deck building. Hoping Savathun’s Spire gets turned into a strike because it’d be perfect for it. Altars of Summoning was great too and a chill time to sit in, which could be spiced up with a tier 3 if you wanted to tune in a bit more. The Imbaru engine was an awesome addition too, with new puzzles to solve over a couple weeks which rewarded loot and felt satisfying to figure out.
The seasonal loot was easily the weakest part, with all the weapons being pretty mediocre and already having better alternatives in game. The armour was cool and greatly themed though.
Crota’s End was reprised this season too, the face lift is received was fantastic and probably the best reprisal they’ve done yet. They turned a pretty bad D1 raid into something that actually felt like a raid. The loot was great too, all weapons are good with multiple great perk combinations, and that iconic Age of Triumph armour, do wish the base armour was available too though. :(
Lastly, is Festival of the Lost. Don’t really have much to say other than it was pretty meh. Haunted Sectors were pretty boring and the legend difficulty was too hard for the average player. The loot was decent enough though.
The activities this season were quick and fun too which were spiced up with the rouge like elements and deck building. Hoping Savathun’s Spire gets turned into a strike because it’d be perfect for it. Altars of Summoning was great too and a chill time to sit in, which could be spiced up with a tier 3 if you wanted to tune in a bit more. The Imbaru engine was an awesome addition too, with new puzzles to solve over a couple weeks which rewarded loot and felt satisfying to figure out.
The seasonal loot was easily the weakest part, with all the weapons being pretty mediocre and already having better alternatives in game. The armour was cool and greatly themed though.
Crota’s End was reprised this season too, the face lift is received was fantastic and probably the best reprisal they’ve done yet. They turned a pretty bad D1 raid into something that actually felt like a raid. The loot was great too, all weapons are good with multiple great perk combinations, and that iconic Age of Triumph armour, do wish the base armour was available too though. :(
Lastly, is Festival of the Lost. Don’t really have much to say other than it was pretty meh. Haunted Sectors were pretty boring and the legend difficulty was too hard for the average player. The loot was decent enough though.
Objectively, this season brought so many interesting concepts that were well executed. The amount of effort that went into tying Savathuun and her secrets/trickery to all the activities, the back and forth between Eris and Xivu, and the narrative is astounding. But goddamn bungie way to give up just short of a great payoff.
I appreciate what the devs did trying to mix things up and try new things. It just sucks that all this effort was tied to a 3.5 momth season. Insane person behavior. The seasonal model takes yet another L and with recent events at bungie, the future is shaky.
I appreciate what the devs did trying to mix things up and try new things. It just sucks that all this effort was tied to a 3.5 momth season. Insane person behavior. The seasonal model takes yet another L and with recent events at bungie, the future is shaky.
Had a good time
solid season
edit: it WAS a solid season, but rip I guess
edit: it WAS a solid season, but rip I guess
Hive eris is sick
seasonal content so boring it took me until now to finish it. Everything about it was meh except Crota's end which technically isn't even a part of the season anyways.
Great story and great activities and meh weapons, however still strong and fun
best season since Seraph but also that was not even a year ago so I'm gonna say best season since Lost or Splicer
This season was fucking awesome. Both activities were challenging in their own merit, had fantastic secret cards to find, had probably the coolest redesign for a character ive seen in games, and had exceptional art. It is unfortunate that I also have just lost the interest to play this game right now
For a season that should be utterly fantastic in every conceivable way, I’m severely disappointed with what we’ve received. I wanted to love this season from the bottom of my heart, but I just can’t. There’s many things Season of the Witch gets right, but its narrative and characters are so abysmally devoid of substance that the pros are unable to outweigh the staggering number of cons.
We’ll start with the pros, which consist of the seasonal activities and lore book. The Deck of Whispers and how its implemented in the Altars of Summoning and Savathun’s Spire is genuinely incredible. The buffs feel impactful, and it allows for a plethora of different builds to shine. Also, Altars being an activity that you can stay in and keep playing endlessly is a nice feature. Oh, and can we talk about the Imbaru Engine!? I adored all of the different designs and how each room had a challenging puzzle that corresponded with each sibling. It’s a fantastic way of showing instead of telling, and I loved each moment. Aside from that, the lore books are enriching as ever. Seeing a bit of Saint and Osiris’s domesticity, followed by Saint processing his anger and trauma against Savathun and eventually collapsing into Osiris’s arms was just chef’s kiss.
Now for the cons, and we’ll start with the narrative. Look, I’m speaking as someone who adores the lore, story, and characters (with Eris Morn being one of my all-time favorites), but this seasonal story is dreadfully uninteresting. Characters feel largely static and plot progression is minimal at best. The only person who had any meaningful development was Eris, with Xivu Arath of all characters coming in right behind her. Ikora, Immaru, and Savathun – while great characters in their own right, don’t get me wrong – have such stagnant writing. Trust me, as much as I love watching Ikora grapple with her friends’ mortality, Immaru’s hilarious jabs and low-blows, and Savathun’s brilliant schemes and trickery, there’s just not much there to keep me engaged. I loved watching how the Witch Queen had a plan for every possible scenario, but still it just feels kind of… eh? Like, so what? Oh wow, you predicted that Eris would abuse her power and murder everyone, well good thing I pre-ordered The Final Shape and already know that’s not gonna happen! It all feels so anticlimactic. It feels pointless. It feels like a waste of time. Every week is some variation of:
Eris: “Guardian! Give me tithes, aiat!”
Ikora: “Eris, I’m worried about you.”
Eris: “Fear not, Ikora. I’ve got this.”
Immaru: “She’s got a death wish, is what she’s got. [Cue 80’s laugh track]”
Ikora and Eris: “Shut up, Immaru. [Cue 80’s laugh track again]”
Xivu Arath: “MY NEW BABY SISTER I LOVE YOU! I CAN’T WAIT TO RINSE MY MOUTH WITH YOUR BLOOD!”
Savathun: “I’ve predicated this exact conversation verbatim. Fools, the lot of them. At this rate the Tower will be rubble in days. [Hot evil laughter goes here]”
Aaaaand repeat.
Also, speaking of the story, where is Veil Containment? If you’re not going to make any sort of meaningful advancement in your main story, at least have side content prepared to help supplement it. This season starts with Osiris and Nimbus finding more logs, but needing an extenuating amount of time to decrypt them. When Osiris said he’d need months, I didn’t think it would be literal. It’s been actual months and not a single update. Nada. Nothing. Not even little bits of information. If we end up getting a lore dump at the end of this season, I’m going to be furious. I’m tired of being front-loaded information. That’s NOT good storytelling.
Also, can we talk about that ending? How laughable it was? How ridiculous? Stupid, even? The fact that they had to put a pin in the Xivu Arath storyline and pretty much outright say they’ll come back to it after they’ve confronted the Witness, like what!? I get that it deserves a proper resolution, but to basically be told “hey, come back in a future PAID episode to see how we handle this” is infuriating. This season feels more like bad sitcom filler than it does a serious continuation of a long-standing series, and that is so disappointing.
Overall, Lightfall and its seasons have been mediocre at best and painfully bad at worst. I’m tired of being drip-fed meaningless filler content. I’m hoping that Season 23 blows me away because at this rate I’m starting to lose hope in The Final Shape’s integrity. In the meantime, I’ll gladly update this review when the season officially wraps up and we figure out what the “Wish” card actually means (will probably have something to do with the Ahamkara), but for now this season is unfortunately “meh.”
We’ll start with the pros, which consist of the seasonal activities and lore book. The Deck of Whispers and how its implemented in the Altars of Summoning and Savathun’s Spire is genuinely incredible. The buffs feel impactful, and it allows for a plethora of different builds to shine. Also, Altars being an activity that you can stay in and keep playing endlessly is a nice feature. Oh, and can we talk about the Imbaru Engine!? I adored all of the different designs and how each room had a challenging puzzle that corresponded with each sibling. It’s a fantastic way of showing instead of telling, and I loved each moment. Aside from that, the lore books are enriching as ever. Seeing a bit of Saint and Osiris’s domesticity, followed by Saint processing his anger and trauma against Savathun and eventually collapsing into Osiris’s arms was just chef’s kiss.
Now for the cons, and we’ll start with the narrative. Look, I’m speaking as someone who adores the lore, story, and characters (with Eris Morn being one of my all-time favorites), but this seasonal story is dreadfully uninteresting. Characters feel largely static and plot progression is minimal at best. The only person who had any meaningful development was Eris, with Xivu Arath of all characters coming in right behind her. Ikora, Immaru, and Savathun – while great characters in their own right, don’t get me wrong – have such stagnant writing. Trust me, as much as I love watching Ikora grapple with her friends’ mortality, Immaru’s hilarious jabs and low-blows, and Savathun’s brilliant schemes and trickery, there’s just not much there to keep me engaged. I loved watching how the Witch Queen had a plan for every possible scenario, but still it just feels kind of… eh? Like, so what? Oh wow, you predicted that Eris would abuse her power and murder everyone, well good thing I pre-ordered The Final Shape and already know that’s not gonna happen! It all feels so anticlimactic. It feels pointless. It feels like a waste of time. Every week is some variation of:
Eris: “Guardian! Give me tithes, aiat!”
Ikora: “Eris, I’m worried about you.”
Eris: “Fear not, Ikora. I’ve got this.”
Immaru: “She’s got a death wish, is what she’s got. [Cue 80’s laugh track]”
Ikora and Eris: “Shut up, Immaru. [Cue 80’s laugh track again]”
Xivu Arath: “MY NEW BABY SISTER I LOVE YOU! I CAN’T WAIT TO RINSE MY MOUTH WITH YOUR BLOOD!”
Savathun: “I’ve predicated this exact conversation verbatim. Fools, the lot of them. At this rate the Tower will be rubble in days. [Hot evil laughter goes here]”
Aaaaand repeat.
Also, speaking of the story, where is Veil Containment? If you’re not going to make any sort of meaningful advancement in your main story, at least have side content prepared to help supplement it. This season starts with Osiris and Nimbus finding more logs, but needing an extenuating amount of time to decrypt them. When Osiris said he’d need months, I didn’t think it would be literal. It’s been actual months and not a single update. Nada. Nothing. Not even little bits of information. If we end up getting a lore dump at the end of this season, I’m going to be furious. I’m tired of being front-loaded information. That’s NOT good storytelling.
Also, can we talk about that ending? How laughable it was? How ridiculous? Stupid, even? The fact that they had to put a pin in the Xivu Arath storyline and pretty much outright say they’ll come back to it after they’ve confronted the Witness, like what!? I get that it deserves a proper resolution, but to basically be told “hey, come back in a future PAID episode to see how we handle this” is infuriating. This season feels more like bad sitcom filler than it does a serious continuation of a long-standing series, and that is so disappointing.
Overall, Lightfall and its seasons have been mediocre at best and painfully bad at worst. I’m tired of being drip-fed meaningless filler content. I’m hoping that Season 23 blows me away because at this rate I’m starting to lose hope in The Final Shape’s integrity. In the meantime, I’ll gladly update this review when the season officially wraps up and we figure out what the “Wish” card actually means (will probably have something to do with the Ahamkara), but for now this season is unfortunately “meh.”
This was a really solid season. The activities were fun and reasonably challenging, the character work was all very fun, and the musical callbacks were lovely.
I do think that the finale dropped the ball, though. Not in terms of the Xivu Arath storyline, to be clear. But rather in terms of how Savathun's return isn't shown in-gameplay or in a cutscene. The last steps of the quest are a bunch of people talking about something you didn't get to see and that just makes me a bit sad.
I do think that the finale dropped the ball, though. Not in terms of the Xivu Arath storyline, to be clear. But rather in terms of how Savathun's return isn't shown in-gameplay or in a cutscene. The last steps of the quest are a bunch of people talking about something you didn't get to see and that just makes me a bit sad.
I really want to start playing this game properly again but I can’t. The magic the game had a few years ago is now gone to me and I cba.