Strand is truthfully so good and so enjoyable to make use of, it type of makes the older subclasses really feel a bit missing by comparability. Even if you happen to swap out the Grapple for one of the different two grenade choices—one spawns little creatures known as threadlings, my infants, and the different is a crowd-control possibility that catches enemies in a glowy inexperienced net—you’re nonetheless going to be having such time you may overlook the different courses even exist for some time. Granted that’s type of been the case for any new subclass Destiny 2 has launched in the previous, however this one feels totally different, since you’re not simply given a couple of tweaked mechanics, you’re given a number of brand-new mechanics and a brand new option to traverse the worlds of Destiny 2.
Cloudy With a Chance of Darkness
Let’s speak about Rohan and Nimbus, the Cloudstriders, the protectors of Neomuna. There are all the time two of them, and so they solely dwell for 10 years, a consequence of the heavy nano-augmentation they endure after they volunteer to change into Cloudstriders. We spend the most time with Nimbus, the youthful counterpart to grim and grizzled Rohan, and each minute of it’s a blast.
Destiny 2 has no scarcity of grizzled, stoic males and haunted, traumatized ladies. Nimbus is a breath of recent air, as a result of they’re none of these items. They’re shiny, bubbly, and nonbinary. They’re endearing and enthusiastic, with a way of youthful (and delightfully immature) humor that we simply don’t get sufficient of in Destiny 2. Voiced by sequence newcomer Marin Miller, Nimbus is the beating coronary heart of the Lightfall marketing campaign.
Too typically we solely get the narrowest slices of story growth for Destiny 2’s supporting solid. But that’s one of the issues Lightfall excels at. We get loads of time with Nimbus. Over the course of the marketing campaign, we begin to understand that Nimbus’ exuberance isn’t just a few protection mechanism or immaturity. It’s a alternative.
In the face of cosmic horrors, Nimbus protects that youthful enthusiasm from the straightforward cynicism that comes with grief and loss. They have 10 years to dwell, and so they’re going to dwell each final one to the fullest. It’s a nuanced and compassionate efficiency, and even when issues get extra critical and grounded in the post-campaign story, it is nonetheless refreshing. I can’t wait to see extra Nimbus in the seasons to return.
A Few Loose Ends
Despite all the pieces I cherished about Lightfall, ending up the marketing campaign felt like a reduction. By the finish, it felt like I’d completed the similar missions a couple of instances over. Go defend the factor, get to the factor earlier than the dangerous man. The most fascinating components of Lightfall are sadly not the issues we spend the most time exploring.
What is the Veil (past a justification to ship us to Neptune?) How did Neomuna get there? What’s the take care of Strand? What does the Witness really need? Spending time with Nimbus and exploring the new Strand powers was tremendous enjoyable, however each time I completed a mission I felt myself trying off at the horizon the place the actual struggle was occurring, wishing I used to be there as a substitute.
Thankfully, after you end the marketing campaign in Lightfall you do get to go take part in that larger struggle, and that is what the Season of Defiance is constructed round. Queen Mara of the Space Elves (oops, I imply the Awoken) wants your assist to free prisoners from the (most likely well-manicured) fingers of the Witness, and these missions are a blast. They’re thrilling, difficult, variety of spooky. Awesome. It’s like if you happen to needed to play by way of the Dreaming City earlier than you ever touched the storyline for Forsaken. No matter how good the Season of Defiance and Lightfall tales are, there’s an urgency hole between them which makes for some awkward pacing.
