Destiny 2: Lightfall

Destiny 2: Lightfall is the seventh major expansion for Bungie's shared-world shooter, launched on February 28, 2023. It serves as the penultimate chapter of the Light and Darkness saga, the narrative backbone of the franchise since 2014. The expansion drops players into Neomuna, a neon-drenched cyberpunk city hidden on Neptune, where the Cloud Striders, cybernetically enhanced protectors, fight to hold back the Shadow Legion, a Cabal force loyal to the Witness. The city's visual identity leans hard into 1980s synthwave: towering skyscrapers bathed in pink and purple holograms, rain-slicked streets, and a pulsing electronic soundtrack that complements the action.

The expansion's biggest gameplay addition is Strand, a Darkness-based subclass that lets Guardians manipulate reality as green, thread-like energy. Strand introduces a grapple ability that works like a grappling hook for traversal and combat, plus new grenades and supers tailored to each class. Hunters get the Silkstrike super, a staff that enables rapid melee combos and aerial movement. Titans summon two massive claws with Bladefury, while Warlocks launch a volley of seeking projectiles called Needlestorm. The subclass system offers deep customization through Fragments and Aspects, rewarding players who invest time in mastering its nuances. Lightfall also overhauled the armor mod system, replacing the old system with a streamlined approach based on six energy types, and added a new raid, Root of Nightmares, set aboard the Witness's pyramid ship.

Critically, Lightfall landed with mixed reviews. IGN gave it a 7/10, praising Strand but calling the campaign story "disappointingly thin." GameSpot scored it a 6/10, noting the narrative felt "rushed and unsatisfying." The metacritic aggregate hovered around 68-72 across platforms. Common complaints included a short campaign (6-8 hours on normal), confusing plot points, and underdeveloped characters. Despite the narrative letdown, Strand was universally praised as a fresh, high-skill-ceiling addition to the sandbox. Commercially, Lightfall performed well, it hit over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam in its first week and drove millions of active players across all platforms, though Bungie never released official sales figures.[edit]

Strand is the star of Lightfall's gameplay. This Darkness subclass rewires movement and combat around green threads of reality. The grapple ability lets you swing across Neomuna's vertical cityscape, pull yourself toward enemies for a melee strike, or escape tight spots. Each class gets a unique super: Hunters wield the Silkstrike staff for rapid melee combos and aerial dashes; Titans summon Bladefury claws for aggressive close-range slashing; Warlocks fire Needlestorm, a volley of seeking projectiles that track targets. Beyond the super, Strand offers Shackle Grenades that bind enemies in place and Threadling Grenades that spawn small seeking creatures. Aspects and Fragments let you fine-tune the subclass, for example, the Wanderer Aspect turns your grapple melee into a trap that suspends foes, while the Mindspun Invocation Aspect lets you consume your grenade for a buff.

The expansion also revamped the armor mod system. Instead of the old elemental affinity system, mods now cost energy from six universal types: Combat Style, Charged with Light, Warmind Cells, Elemental Well, and two new ones for Lightfall. This simplification aimed to reduce complexity while keeping buildcrafting deep. The Root of Nightmares raid, which launched March 10, 2023, is a six-player activity aboard the Witness's pyramid ship. Its encounters emphasize team coordination and spatial awareness, with mechanics like linking light beams and managing planetary orbs. The raid was praised for its accessibility, it was completed in under three hours by the world-first team, Team Hard in the Paint, and for its loot, including the Conditional Finality shotgun and the Hierarchy of Needs bow.

Lightfall's seasonal content ran across four seasons in Year 6. Season of Defiance (Feb-May 2023) introduced Defiant Battlegrounds, where players defended Earth from the Shadow Legion. Season of the Deep (May-Aug 2023) sent players to the depths of Titan in the Deep Dive activity, alongside the Ghosts of the Deep dungeon. Season of the Witch (Aug-Nov 2023) centered on Savathûn, adding Savathûn's Spire and Altars of Summoning activities. Season of the Wish (Nov 2023-Jun 2024) wrapped up the year with Riven's Wishes and the Warlord's Ruin dungeon. Each season brought new weapons, armor, and story beats that tied into the overarching Lightfall narrative.[edit]

The Witness, the overarching villain of the Light and Darkness saga, finally arrives in the Sol system aboard its pyramid ship. The expansion opens with a full-scale assault on Earth, forcing the Vanguard to retreat. The Guardian is dispatched to Neptune to find Neomuna, a hidden human city that has remained secret for centuries. Neomuna is defended by the Cloud Striders, cybernetically enhanced humans with a lifespan of only ten years after augmentation. Their leader, Nimbus, guides the Guardian through the city's neon-lit streets.

The campaign centers on retrieving the Veil, a mysterious artifact tied to the Traveler and the Darkness. The Shadow Legion, led by the Cabal commander Eramis (now allied with the Witness), pursues the same goal. The Guardian allies with the Cloud Striders to push back the Legion and secure the Veil. The story culminates in a confrontation aboard the Witness's pyramid ship, where the Witness successfully links the Veil with the Traveler, creating a massive portal above Earth. The expansion ends on a cliffhanger: the Witness enters the portal, leaving the fate of the universe uncertain. The narrative was widely criticized for its brevity and lack of resolution, many players felt it advanced the overall saga minimally compared to The Witch Queen. Bungie later acknowledged the feedback, with game director Joe Blackburn releasing a statement in March 2023 promising improvements for The Final Shape.[edit]