Destiny 2 is/was MY game. I am grieving and I am distraught. It was like an anchor for me, and I don't know where to go. I love this game and this franchise. - My own sappy sendoff
Destiny 2 came out around the time I left high school to become an adult and has been a close companion through a lot of struggles, grief, loss, and more.
Loss of 2 pets, my grandmother, a close friend, my job, I have been through 5 different traumatic housing changes, 3 of which being in hostile living situations. I have developed several chronic illnesses that, while not lethal, still affect my quality of life. Major depression and anxiety. Coming out as trans and transitioning while being surrounded by family that refuse to accept me.
Destiny was my companion through it all and helped to keep me centered. It was reliable and always there to help me release negative emotions. I loved the ever advancing story and feeling of a world really progressing that many games, even MMOs, never capture.
I met many great friends. It was even the last game I played with a few good old friends who moved on from gaming. 100 raids, some of the funnest gaming moments I've ever had.
Build crafting that made sense and worked for me. Gunplay that I have found deeply satisfying past any other game. A story that means a lot to me, full of wonder and mystery.
I remember little moments from my experiences in most seasons and expansions. Hearing Journey for the first time. Zavala showing up to the warmind. The joy of finding out the Tangled Shore was only the beginning of forsaken. Playing gambit for the first time. Advancing the bridge in reckoning. Barely beating Heroic Menagerie. The dread of seeing the pyramid for the first time. The first proper seasonal activity. The arrival of the pyramids. Treking across europa to get my ice abilities during covid right after a friend took their own life and barely holding my sanity together. The Space Walk. Time trials with a new friend (my current best friend) in Splicer. Fighting savathun and learning the truth. Starting Seraph thinking it was a weak season and then ending with one of the strongest points in the franchise. Grinding patterns endlessly. Being endlessly frustrated by Lightfall. Helping Eris Ascend. Helping Riven. Reuniting with Cayde and grinding the Pale Heart for a month and a half. Exploring the Dreadnaught.
There are many more notable moments. More than I am willing to dive into without crying.
So many more could be made, I just hope I can find another game that meant what Destiny did to me. Some say Destiny met a conclusive end and its okay that it's done, but Destiny was always more than just our guardian, our ghost, the vanguard, oryx, savathun, the witness, hive, cabal, eliksni.
It has also always been an entire mysterious universe full of unknowns, magic, and new friends. It is a platform many great friendships, livelihoods, and families were built on. It was a solid anchor for many to come back to and just let the pain of their days leave them.
Destiny deserves more and it always will.