I was just taking a look back at all the times I’ve begged people to play Destiny 2 over the years, and there’s a lot. I said itback in February when The Story So Far hit Humble Bundle. I wrote inmy review for The Witch Queenthat if you weren’t playing Destiny 2 right now you were missing a special moment in time, and boy, that sure aged well. I talkedmy colleague with very good taste into starting Destiny 2 for the first time- they didn’t stick with it, but I tried. One time, in October 2020, I said youshouldn’tplay Destiny 2until the New Light update dropped the following month, so I’m counting that one. Now here I stand, hand in hand, asking you one last time to come play Destiny 2. It’s such a great time to start. No really, I mean it.
And I also mean it when I say this is the last time I’ll ask. With The Final Shape just around the corner, Destiny’s decade long The Light and Darkness Saga is finally coming to a close, and while the game will live on, it’s clear that it’s going to be a very different thing. Many Destiny fans (and seemingly, developers) are considering The Final Shape to be a jumping-off point. I’m not sure how invested I’m going to be this time next year, either. But right now, you still still have a chance to be part of it. you may get on the hype train and be there to see how it all ends. This is your real last chance to be part of Destiny 2 before it starts winding down, and this month, you can do it (almost) entirely for free.
Here’s my pitch: on Tuesday, Bungie launched the Expansion Open Access Month. From now until June 3, you can play through Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, and The Witch Queen campaigns completely for free. You can also get free access to all four Year 6 seasons, including Season of Defiance, Season of the Deep, Season of the Witch, and Season of the Wish.
The only one that isn’t free (because it’s Destiny, of course there’s a confusing exception to a great offer) is the most recent expansion, Lightfall. You really should play Lightfall before digging into the Year 6 seasons. Luckily, PlayStation Plus members get free access to Lightfall. Xbox and PC players will have to shell out $30, but only if you get through the first four expansions and still want more.
Playing through those five expansions is as caught up as you can possibly get in Destiny 2 today, and it’s not as time-consuming as it sounds. Shadowkeep and Beyond Light can be completed in under six hours. The Witch Queen and Lightfall are longer, but you could probably knock out all four in a weekend if you put your head down - and you’ve got a whole month.
Of course, if you really want to prepare for The Final Shape, most of that month will be spent grinding Into The Light content. The pre-Final Shape mini-season introduced new activities, gear, and story content, and made collecting a lot of the most beloved and powerful weapons in Destiny 2 a whole lot easier. Everything in the game is geared toward helping people catch up right now, whether you’re a regular player grinding to finish a collection, or a new player wanting to get ready before The Final Shape comes.
If this is Destiny 2’s last hurrah, then I want as many people to get to experience this game as possible. There’ve been so many incredible eras throughout the history of the game that you had to be there for. There’s no way to experience Forsaken now. You can’t watch The Last Wish raid race with the entire community, or be awed by the revelation of the Dreaming City. So many moments have passed, but there’s still one more chance to be part of something really special - something big and bold and evidently unsustainable that we’ll likely never see in gaming again. You don’t have to do all of it, but it’s all there for you, for free if you want to. This is my last plea: don’t miss your chance to see what Destiny 2 is all about while it’s still here.
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