Exactly five years have passed since Bungie released Destiny 2: Beyond Light, and honestly? The debate is still on if it was a magnificent success or a total fiasco. A while back, and now in comments, people are still split on whether this expansion has become the pinnacle of Destiny or the doom of it. It’s amazing that one single DLC has generated so much uproar even after five years.
Now, the question arises — what did really happen with Beyond Light? It was the expansion that firstly introduced us to the snowy planet of Europa, then allowed us to use the Stasis subclass (which is basically the power of ice), and in addition, the Deep Stone Crypt raid one more that fans still talk about. Plus, the expansion marked the initiation of the Destiny Content Vault (DCV) project that most of the community disliked where Bungie removed a great deal of the old content from the game. This decision? Certainly, this is one of the reasons why there are still grudges among gamers.
Going through the anniversary tweets feels like watching a family dispute on Thanksgiving. There are gamers such as @icomplexcarbs branding it as “the worst expansion ever delivered froom Bungie” while @shadebinder02 responds with “At least Beyond Light had stasis, a decent story, and a new location.” And afterwards @x_lilman_x delivers “The dlc that destroyed the game 😂” as if it were a mic drop. The drama is real, people!
What is very curious, however, is the fact that the community is still so split. On the other hand, there are players who totally loved the Beyond Light expansion – @ibetonme2 even called it their “favorite destiny 2 dlc of all times” and was talking about everything from the weather changes on Europa to the Deep Stone Lullaby song. Nevertheless, @DJManiac150285 says it was “good expansion, but also the start of the downhill for the game.” It seems no one agrees.
The DCV issue is probably the most heard complaint by the gamers. @MarauderMK42 made a rant about the “new player experience” that they “literally destroyed” by taking out the content that told the story. And a very good point has been put forward by them – think about the ordeal of trying to get into Destiny 2 today when the beginning of the story just… Isn’t there anymore. It’s like starting a novel from Chapter 7 and being told, “just have faith, it makes sense.”
Then there is the PvP community that continues to suffer the consequences of Stasis. @Dr3dedPsych0 did not hold back in saying that “the PvP mode’s gradual decline began with this expansion” while @Evilcon27 agreed that Stasis “inflicted death on the pvp” as the frost subclass’s operator was reaching an invincible level. Remember when freezing was happening every five seconds in Crucible? That was definitely a huge deal.
But what annoys me is that five years later the community is still so loud about a Destiny expansion. Like, @xpadrex wrote it was their “first experience” and they “soon became addicted” contrary to having “no clue what was happening.” Also, @moveable35 stated that it was “around the time when I first started playing Destiny 2 too.” So, for all its mistakes, Beyond Light did pull in and create a few core memories for the new gamers.
Following the comments section debates under the post is simply hilarious. @icomplexcarbs and @shadebinder02 keep on claiming that Shadowkeep was worse than Beyond Light, while @itsHecticc puts in his two cents by summoning Lightfall and Curse of Osiris in the discussion, “hey, do you remember these other disasters?” It’s like seeing disputes over which child turned out to be the biggest disappointment.
The truth is that Beyond Light has brought in the new mechanics and changes that are still affecting Destiny 2 today, which is a reality not only hard to believe, but also unreal. Is the DCV concept still in place? Yes, it is. And Stasis? It is still very much a part of the game (though much more balanced now). What about Europa? It is still one of the hot spots players like to visit. One single expansion actually set the next five years of the Destiny universe but still the players were not given a choice to either like it or not.
And isn’t it ironic? The very fact that the players are still so invested in arguing over a five-year-old expansion shows how much the game means to them. If they didn’t care they wouldn’t even bother participating in the replies. The interest – both positive and negative – is what keeps this community going even when they are fighting with each other about things like content vaulting and buffed subclasses.
So let’s congratulate Beyond Light on the fifth anniversary. You brought us the fashion and the PlayStation and Xbox communities are still debating your legacy.
