SLAY QUEEN

Since its release, Destiny 2 has been cursed to reinvent itself with each expansion. Starting with Forsaken, and through to 2020’s Beyond Light, Bungie has overhauled every aspect of the game multiple times—weapons, armor, abilities, activities—each solving some issues, but introducing new problems that inevitably led to the cycle repeating. No matter what changes were made, Destiny 2 always felt a few major tweaks away from being truly brilliant.

If The Witch Queen does one thing right—and, in fact, it does many—it’s that it brings a sense of consistency and stability to the game. It adds new features, yes, but they’re all enhancements and progressions of systems and ideas introduced in Beyond Light. That rare sense of continuity allows The Witch Queen to instead stand out in a more meaningful way: By being Destiny 2’s best expansion. Finally, that future is here.

The centerpiece is the campaign, which for the first time in ’s history is itself a compelling reason to recommend this expansion. Previously, campaigns were little more than a path into the endgame—a handful of short missions, linked by rigidly templated repeatable activities and open world busywork. Here, though, it feels like the main attraction.