Destiny 2's Season of the Splicer Sounds Great, But Questions Remain


Bungie finally announced Destiny 2's Season of the Splicer yesterday, and it appears it'll pick up where the excellent Season of the Chosen left off.

While last season had us butting heads with the Cabal, we're now making friends, not enemies - with the Fallen, of all things, to take on a common enemy, the Vex.

Read More: Destiny 2 Season of the Splicer LEAKS: Release Date, Vault of Glass, Roadmap, Transmog, Weapons, Season Pass, Exotics, Quests And Everything We Know

Destiny 2's Season of the Splicer Sounds Great, But Questions Remain

In my recent Season 14 wishlist, I argued that the Vex are long due their time in the sun (or eternal darkness, whichever they prefer).

"The Vex have always been simultaneously Destiny's most interesting but most difficult factions. For all of the promise of time-travelling robots that deal in probabilities (admittedly an oversimplification), they never really got their chance to shine," I opined.

"They've also not had a clear "baddie" in the way that we've had Ghaul, Eramis, Caiatl, and the High Celebrant. Come on Bungie, give us a Vex season."

While we don't yet know if we'll have a clear, singular antagonist, I guess that's kind of the point - the Vex are a collective. In fact, with the return of the Vault of Glass, maybe we'll be hunting down Atheon as the culmination of the season.

It does seem a little strange that the Vex have stopped the sun coming up over the Tower. Short of a fresh skybox, I can't work out if that'll have any tangible gameplay changes, but it seems unlikely.

Perhaps fittingly, there are almost infinite narrative possibilities for a season where the Vex are the main enemy faction, particularly with the constant shadow of Savathûn lingering in the background - setting up for 2022's big expansion, The Witch Queen.

Arguably more exciting is the arrival of Mithrax, who'll be our ally from the sounds of things. Given that the Fallen (or Eliksni) were the first race we clapped eyes on in the first game (and the first things we shot at), it's interesting that we'll be fighting alongside them.

Sure, Spider's hired guns appeared in a handful of instances during Forsaken, but it appears Mithrax will offer more than just a series of bounties. Formerly of the House of Wolves, Mithrax is somewhat of a "deep cut" in terms of Destiny 2 lore because he was part of the Zero Hour quest that many (myself included) missed out on.

He's also included in a background capacity in Beyond Light, taking on Variks' Eliksni refugees from the frozen planet, though it appears this time around he'll be embedded within the Tower (or at least, the H.E.L.M).

That said, I'm still a little disappointed that Caiatl appears to be gone. Vowing to unearth the conspirators within her ranks that attempted to kill Zavala, I'd love for her investigation to lead her back to the Tower at some point.

I have to wonder, now that we've earned Caiatl's respect, and look likely to join forces with Mithrax, if we're essentially building a team to go toe-to-toe with Savathûn, the Hive, and the Vex. It's an exciting prospect, especially given the added depth given to members of the Vanguard over the last couple of years.

Still, there's an unshakeable suspicion that this season will be a little lighter on content than Season of the Chosen (perhaps understandably, given the ongoing pandemic). While Vault of Glass returning is a huge boon (especially since it's available to all players), I'm really hopeful we'll get at least one Strike added.

Of the Strikes that have been part of the game, a sizeable number have been vaulted. Last season added one and reprised two, and while that seemed generous, I'd take one reprised Strike this time around, or even just a vanilla D2 one pulled from the vault. Hell, at this point, I'd be almost excited to run The Pyramidion again, even with Io being removed wholesale.

It also seems unlikely we'll be getting any fresh Crucible or Gambit maps, which still feels like a big miss. Maybe next season, eh?

Finally... transmog. I've made my thoughts clear, and Bungie has said it's assessing community feedback, but I can't see it changing this close to the start of a new season. I'm not against paying for cosmetic items, but having to grind to use the ones I already have still feels a bitter pill to swallow.

For now, though, I'm approaching Season of the Splicer with a fair degree of excitement.

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