Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate Review – Something Feels Seriously Off

The Fate Saga’s opening chapter delivers narrative brilliance hampered by frustrating mechanics – it’s like two different teams made this game and never talked to each other.

I’ve been playing Destiny since its first closed beta, and I can honestly say I’ve never been more conflicted about an expansion. The Edge of Fate launched on July 15th with the lowest concurrent player count for any Destiny 2 expansion, which is wild because the story is genuinely some of the best work Bungie has ever done.

But here’s the thing: brilliant writing can’t save you from mechanics that feel like they were designed to annoy players. It’s maddening.

The Story Actually Slaps (In a Good Way)

Let’s get this out of the way first: the campaign is fantastic. I’m talking Witch Queen levels of good, maybe better. After years of The Nine being mysterious background entities that occasionally gave us loot, they finally matter to the story in a meaningful way.

The real star here is Lodi, this guy from 1960s Earth who got displaced and is trying to make sense of everything that’s happened. When he learns about the Collapse and has what’s basically a panic attack, it feels completely real. Most Destiny characters talk in space opera technobabble, but Lodi reacts like an actual human being would. His conversations with Ikora are genuinely touching—you can tell the writers put real effort into making these feel like actual relationships.

The Nine themselves finally have personalities. Mars comes across as this aggressive, warlike entity, while the Sun feels like that condescending parent who thinks they know better than everyone. The revelation about Three (Earth) orchestrating events because they didn’t want to die alone? That hit harder than I expected from a Destiny story.

Maya Sundaresh is back as The Conductor, which has me excited for where this is all heading. The House of Exile stuff with their corrupted dark matter Ether is genuinely creepy and gives them actual motivations beyond “we hate Guardians.”

Then There’s the Matterspark Problem

Here’s where I start getting frustrated. While the narrative team was cooking up this incredible story, whoever designed the gameplay mechanics seemed determined to make me hate playing it.

Matterspark is broken. I don’t mean “needs a buff” broken; I mean fundamentally does not work as intended. The camera movement has a tendency to make me motion sick, and I’m not someone who usually has that problem. You’re constantly forced into these cramped tunnel sections that feel more like chores than gameplay. It adds nothing to combat but dictates how entire levels are designed, which creates this weird disconnect where spaces look one way but function completely differently.

The new destination, Kepler, feels like someone threw Io and Titan into a blender and called it a day. It’s not mysterious or intriguing… It’s just confusing to navigate. No Sparrow access means you’re stuck using these destination abilities that feel more like busywork than cool powers.

Don’t even get me started on the combat changes. Red bar enemies now take forever to kill, which makes firefights drag on way longer than they should. The whole thing feels sluggish compared to how dynamic Destiny combat used to be.

It Feels Like Two Different Games

This is what bugs me most about Edge of Fate. It’s not that individual things are terrible, it’s that nothing feels connected. The story is asking me to care about intimate character moments and cosmic mysteries, while the gameplay is forcing me to roll around in a ball through tedious obstacle courses.

Bungie’s grown massively over the years, and I think that’s showing here. When different teams work in isolation, you get exactly this kind of disconnect. The writers crafted this beautiful story about fate and human connections, while the gameplay team implemented mechanics that actively fight against player agency.

Launch Was a Mess Too

The technical issues at launch just reinforce the feeling that teams weren’t communicating. Missing patch notes, progression bugs on alt characters, rally flags not working in the raid—basic stuff that should have been caught.

The Desert Perpetual raid launched with contest mode that’s way harder than the advertised -25 power. I’ve seen teams execute perfect damage phases and barely scratch the boss. It feels like something got lost in translation between the raid team and whoever sets the power scaling.

The Community Is Split

Reading reactions online is like watching two different communities talk about two different games. Story fans are calling this some of Destiny’s best writing ever, while gameplay-focused players are leaving negative Steam reviews talking about how tedious the forced morphball sections are.

Veteran players especially seem frustrated. I’ve seen comments from people saying this is the first Destiny DLC they didn’t buy at launch, which says something about where the community’s trust level is right now.

The player count tells the story here. Edge of Fate peaked at under 100k Steam players, compared to 300k+ for previous expansions. That’s not just disappointment with individual systems; that’s people losing faith in Bungie’s ability to deliver cohesive experiences.

Should You Play Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate?

If you care about Destiny lore and want to see The Nine finally get their due, absolutely play this campaign. Lodi’s character development alone makes it worth experiencing. The writing team deserves recognition for what they accomplished here.

If you’re mainly here for smooth, engaging gameplay? Maybe wait for patches. Or at least know what you’re getting into with the Matterspark stuff. Keep some Dramamine handy.

AJ Hanson

AJ Hanson has been part of games media since 2011, writing, streaming, and ranting about the industry long before it was his job. He runs the Galaxy’s Edge Discord, the go-to community for fans of Disney’s Star Wars parks, and works as Marketing Director for the Virtual Cantina Network, helping produce shows, interviews, and fan events. A lifelong Star Wars fan and unapologetic nerd, AJ’s focus has always been on building spaces where people can connect, argue, and celebrate the things they love without all the corporate gloss.