The presentation was definitely an improvement, but now we can actually talk about what was shown. The general feeling I’m seeing is that the audience isn’t exactly jumping to their feet in applause. Few people seem genuinely excited about what’s coming, and those who are may be the most dedicated of fans—the kind Bungie tends to overlook while trying to bring back lapsed players or attract new ones to Destiny 2 after eleven years. It’s a big ask, and so far, Edge of Fate and the Frontiers era don’t seem up to the task.

So, Kepler and The Edge of Fate:

• The event kicked off with a fresh story launch trailer that was actually pretty cool, leaning into the “time travel” angle of whatever is going on in Kepler, and borrowing a bit from, of all games, Control. I thought the trailer looked great.
• The zone itself looks odd. Its visual style feels underwhelming when compared to recent major expansions like The Final Shape, Witch Queen, Beyond Light, and even Lightfall, which all had strong artistic direction. Kepler? Maybe there’s more that hasn’t been shown yet, but from what we’ve seen, it looks like some sort of Fallen sewer system, and nothing—from the destination armor to the new weapons—seems to fit together under any clear theme. That’s not something Destiny usually drops the ball on.
• The campaign was briefly showcased, and Bungie mentioned there would be a playlist-style system for campaign missions, letting you replay them with variations.
• The main activity of the expansion seems to take place across the open world map and its zones, combining elements of public events and larger-scale activities like Vex Incursions as a way to gear up, getting harder as you progress through World Tiers—a system I find intriguing, though the activity itself feels a bit odd.
• Another activity was mentioned, one that appears only occasionally on the map. It sounds very much like Vex Incursions, but no real details were given. That seems to be the full extent of Kepler’s built-in content.
• Bungie brought up comparisons between Kepler and Rise of Iron from Destiny 1, a comparison they've made before, saying it's more about the scale of the zone (since the Plaguelands weren’t huge either). But naturally, Edge of Fate doesn't have big additions like strikes or Crucible maps. As for the map size, this one seems small enough that you can’t even use your sparrow—you mostly roll around as an electric ball instead.

Now, The Portal:

• The Portal worries me. Solo Ops appear limited to a few Crucible modes that don’t allow pre-made teams, and otherwise only offer PvE Lost Sectors that you can tweak to raise their difficulty. So far, it doesn’t look like they’ve come up with any actual solo content for this space. I assumed they’d create something new, but that doesn’t seem to be the case yet.
• The Fireteam-based Portal demo was somewhat underwhelming, focusing strangely on a Beyond Light-era Empire Hunt—an activity five years old—“updated” with million-health Brigs and a bunch of champions and banes thrown in. Again, there doesn’t seem to be anything new here, just a mix of older strikes and seasonal content. It might expand over time, but right now, it’s just a pile of old material with a new modifier system layered on top.
• I have one big question about the new modifier system, where bonuses and penalties affect your score to help gear farming. Using this in a matchmade setting—like in the Fireteam Portal or Pinnacle Portal for exotic missions—suggests that the only way to truly customize modifiers is by running with a premade team who can agree on everything. I’m not sure how this will work with Fireteam Finder, unless everyone’s on voice chat and willing to spend ten minutes setting mods, which seems unlikely. A standard playlist seems to run with a fixed set of modifiers you can’t change at all, which kind of defeats the purpose. This system could end up being very awkward in practice.

I appreciate that Bungie showed more this time, but I don’t think what we saw is particularly reassuring. In some ways, it confirmed concerns about what’s coming in the expansion—and more importantly, what’s missing. I fear convincing players this is worth their time is going to be a hard sell.

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