Destiny 2 keeps making the same mistakes as Destiny 1.
From its September debut until now, Destiny 2 has managed some sort of quantum trick: it's simultaneously superior to its predecessor in a hundred obvious and subtle ways, while also repeating almost every one of the first game's launch-year failings, sometimes to the letter. It's understandable that Bungie would want to cut away the many bandage-like auxiliary systems they added to Destiny over three years. They'd want to do that in order to launch a game with a sturdier foundation, something they can build on in new and exciting ways over the years to come. It's less understandable why they would still fail to communicate with their players to the degree they have, or why the game would still hide crucial systems and calculations, forcing players to figure out for themselves that the XP system is invisibly throttling them, or a new exotic buff item isn't working as intended.
Personally speaking, I like Destiny 2. I appreciate the numerous ways Bungie has managed to improve the game over the last few weeks. Despite a rough winter, I'm still optimistic that it'll become a better and better game over the months and years to come. But it's remarkable how closely the sequel's meta-narrative has matched the narrative of the first game, up to and including the disappointing winter expansion and Bungie's continual unforced communication errors. It was exhausting the first time around, and it's incalculably more so to do it all over again.
