Over the past few Seasons, Bungie has been weaving elements of other genres into Destiny 2. From selecting different buffs in The Coil akin to a roguelite, or fishing like a life-sim, Destiny is much more than just a great shooting experience on PS5 and Xbox. Well, during a roundtable interview reflecting on the state of the game, Bungie developers explained that further genre experiments are on the horizon – though we are missing out on a dating sim.
In the roundtable, Bungie staff designer Clayton Kisko explains that pulling in elements of other genres into Destiny 2 is “absolutely on the table and something we want to continue to explore”. So, not only is Destiny 2 one of the best FPS games on PS5 and Xbox, but it could also become one of the best roguelikes, or even one of the best racing games if the beloved Sparrow Racing League activity finally made a return after years away.
As for what these new gameplay and genre experiments could be, Bungie did not elaborate. However, with the developer acknowledging the success of its roguelike push over the past few Seasons, including Season of the Wish, we wouldn’t be too surprised to see this taken to its logical conclusion – a full Destiny roguelike mode. There are plenty of other avenues though, such as tower defense modes to weave in some strategy, wave-based assaults, the aforementioned Sparrow racing, and much more.
Perhaps most exciting though, GamesRadar reports that the PR overseeing the roundtable jokingly mentioned a Destiny dating sim. Following this, lead narrative designer Jonathan To went on to explain: “We have, what do you call those, game jams, and stuff like that has been made in game dev jams within Bungie.” In other words, a Destiny 2 dating sim mode exists, at least internally, though it will likely never see the light of day.
Nevertheless, this leaves the door open for even more absurd modes and activities in the future. How about a Pokémon-like? You could collect and battle Ghosts – just for fun, of course. With the recent knock-out success of Palworld, other studios are no doubt taking notes to capture some of its spark. Perhaps it’s finally time for a deck-building card game to take on the likes of Gwent from The Witcher 3.
While Bungie is almost certainly focused on delivering a great experience with Destiny 2 The Final Shape, we’re hoping to see some more experimental modes in the new Episodes structure. During the long wait for the new expansion, find out six things you should do during the Destiny 2 content drought to spice things up.