Destiny 2 is experimenting with Metroidvania and roguelike DNA as Bungie admits "Destiny is too complex" and "you practically need a PhD to decide what to play"

A massive change to Destiny 2's annual release model, shifting in 2025 to six-month expansions and free three-month major updates, spearheads a slew of announcements from Bungie marking the Destiny series' 10th anniversary. As a day one player, I was equally intrigued by the nitty-gritty details of how Bungie hopes to simultaneously diversify Destiny 2 releases and make the MMO's core gameplay more approachable, and then Bungie said the words Metroidvania and roguelike and I was really intrigued. 

"Destiny is too complex," says game director Tyson Green in one of many chunky Bungie blog posts. "With literally hundreds of activities, you practically need a PhD to decide what to play and how to get rewards you're looking for."

To address this, Bungie's planning an overhaul for Destiny 2's activity UI "to make it easier for everyone to find and launch into great activities." We get a work-in-progress preview of this new UI, dubbed the Portal, in a separate post. The Portal seeks to group activities through quick-access categories ranging from solo (1-3 players) to fireteam (3 players) to flashpoint (6 players). 

"The Portal screen will also host consolidated and streamlined side objectives, like bounties or Seasonal Challenges," Bungie says. "That aspect of the redesign is still a work in progress, but the primary goal is to greatly reduce the “chores” that need to be done before diving into an activity." 

Crucible gets its own Portal category but Gambit is notably absent from this list. Bungie says no older activities are going away, though "it is our intention to clean up and retire some older activity offerings that are well served by the Portal," but Gambit alone "will remain available from the Destination map but will not be rolled into the Portal Categories at the start of next year." Raids will also continue to live in the Destinations page due "the long clear times combined with the wide variation in experiences," but Bungie's working to "get this content into