The 2025 Festival of the Lost got mixed reactions of the entire community around the pixels in the middle of the skeletons dancing in the candlelight of the pumpkin. Nevertheless, “Bungie,” the company’s vote when “Destiny Tracker” suggested to players rating the experience on a one to five scale, “not every user is going along with this ghostly cheer.”
When someone speaks of the Festival of the Lost, what comes to mind is a Halloween celebration that the game virtually invites and is honored to bring with special activities, including giving away exclusive loots and a lot of candy. Parts of the event were familiar but at the same time new updates were presented that players either love or are completely checking off.
The festival has two main activities: the Haunted Alters are PVE (player versus environment) and Red Rumble is PVP (player versus player). Instantly, players are split over which one they like more, if at all they liked any of them.
The first category consists of the happy players and thus we start with the positive side. One user, WingedBeast61, rated a full 5 saying he returned to the game after a five-year break and the Festival has “soaked him with loot.” Also rated 5 was UndeadSoul1134, who liked the changed activities and the new content but wished there were more guns to get.
The middle ground is there as well. Players who think it’s just okay but no big deal. Edward disposed of it with a rating of 3/4 saying “pretty decent loot, it’s cool to just run different builds and actually have fun playing the game instead of sweating to death.” Conmanay, another player, rated it a 3.5 and said it was the best event in terms of rewards and also pointed out that Haunted Alters adds a nice touch to the existing content.
But then… the critics arrive. And how! They are very harsh.
Players have been saying that bugs are everywhere. One of the issues players have been complaining about is soft locks – this occurs when the game freezes and you are unable to do anything, and there are also network issues. Pizzaboy1984 simply gave it a rating of 1 because of “all the bugs and soft locks” and the low drop rates for holofoils which are collectibles. Mahmoud Fekry was even harsher, giving it 0 and stating that the event was “unplayable” due to the technical problems.
The activities are getting mixed reviews too. The PVP mode Red Rumble might be the most controversial of all. One player JM simply said “Don’t like rumble so that gets a 1/5” and another player diamond2065 mentioned that it is only pleasant “IF you play with friends to have a laugh with” but solo play is not fun because “the pros usually ruin it.”
Even the PVE mode, Haunted Alters, is now being accused of being too repetitive. Steven P said it is “a reskin of alters” and they would have preferred “a new unique activity” instead. Another player, threeborg, labeled the common public event boss fight “pretty boring, repetitive and monotonous” and furthermore remarked that it cannot even “bring a high end computer to its knees.”
The loot situation is yet another reason for arguments. While some players are happy with the rewards, others think that the pool is too small. Dillon Cope, a new player experiencing Festival of the Lost for the first time, gave it 2.5 out of 5 and identified the “limited loot pool” as a downside. A few players particularly mentioned the new bow as a weapon they’ll “never use.”
Then there are the players who simply… didn’t care. FireStriker_ rated it a “solid ‘didn’t play it’ out of 10” saying it “wasn’t good enough to make me come back.” MonsterMilika just said “I would have to reinstall so….” implying they haven’t even logged in to take a look at it. GRANDMAGAMER was even more straightforward: “I didn’t even log into the game over the weekend” and remembered how the first Halloween event they participated in Destiny 2 was “fun asf” but now “I don’t even want to log on.”
The ambience and mood of the event was also mentioned. Less than a score of 3 was given by Lena Volans, who remarked on the absence of the vibe from earlier years and suggested that turning down the lights and playing the Festival of the Lost music would elevate the mood.
Where does that leave us? It seems that Festival of the Lost 2025 is one of those instances where a person either loves or hates it. Players who are enjoying it seem to be very thankful for the loot and the opportunity to try out different builds without the stress of super hard content. Nevertheless, being plagued with issues on PlayStation and Xbox
