Does Destiny Suck?

For nearly the last month the only game I’ve played is a small independent release called Destiny 2. In this game you shoot aliens, collect shiny guns and fashionable gloves, then participate in a ballin’ space frog’s idea of the Olympics to prove you deserve his vast stores of knowledge. Those things are what everyone who plays Destiny 2 will agree upon. The rest, well, nobody can seem to agree upon, up to and including the simplest question of all: is this thing any good?

This is really nothing new. Ever since the original Destiny was in beta nobody could agree on whether the game was good or bad. The shooting is certainly tight, this is one thing Bungie has never gotten wrong, but the game was such a grind that even having enough light to simply enter the first raid was a hurdle many players could not leap without 40 hours of play. As that game went on, added DLC (especially Taken King) it grew into something that everyone could accept was good. In places. Most of the time? Who am I kidding, nobody agrees about anything Destiny. But with the release of Destiny 2, I think we have a better grasp on why.

Splatoon 2 and the Switch Are the Perfect Union

Way, way back in 2012 I walked into a Gamestop, picked up my launch day Wii U, and took it home to give to my wife as a birthday present. A little under 5 years later I brought home the console I thought I was bringing home back then.

The Switch is a transcendent little device. The only issues I’ve had with it are the Joy Cons being a bit too small for my hands (release some kind of ‘Pro’ Joy Cons soon, Nintendo) and the lack of Netflix and Crunchyroll on the device*. Everything else is essentially perfect. The screen on the Switch is beautiful and never feels cramped. The change from the device to the TV is as smooth as advertised. The Pro controller is a great addition, and necessary (albeit a bit expensive). The convenience of being able to switch from a large TV to the Switch, instantly, is clear enough when you’re all alone. When you have a child, though, it becomes magnified to such an extent that it’s hard to go back to using a stationary device like a PS4, let alone a PC.

*This seems like such a slam dunk. A device you can bring with you, with a big, beautiful screen, that instantly connects to a giant TV. It was MADE for streaming services.

That’s all well and good, but without games even excellent consoles die ignominious deaths (RIP to my Vita). Luckily, the Switch already has an impressive number of excellent titles on it, including two games I would call Killer Apps: Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2. Breath of the Wild didn’t trip my trigger quite like everyone else’s, but I can see why people lose their minds over it. I won’t waste more words on that title. I will, however, on Splatoon 2 as it has perfected a number of things I’ve found lacking in other team shooters lately: