For over a decade, the Destiny franchise has taken players on adventures throughout the galaxy on console and PC. The sci-fi shooter’s in an odd place right now, but Bungie is committed to expanding it in new ways in the hopes of reaching new audiences.
Enter Destiny: Rising, the series’ first-ever mobile title. Developed by NetEase Games (of Marvel Rivals fame), players will once again take on the role of a Guardian and fight the forces of the Darkness with a plethora of guns and cosmic powers. The main difference is, Rising is set in the post-Dark Age era in the early days of the ever-familiar Last City of Earth. Not only that, it’s set in an alternate timeline separate from the two mainline games.
You wouldn’t know that from the trailer, though: there’s a lot that’s familiar here, from the enemies and locations to the series’ science fantasy aesthetic. But the differences are also easily apparent, such as a number of new characters who look like they’ll take on key supporting roles in the narrative equal to the likes of Zavala, Osiris, and Saint-14 in Destiny 2. Most importantly, players are taking on the role of the Guardians’ predecessor, Lightbearers.
According to design lead Murty Wu in vidoc, Rising is set well before the series’ iconic classes of the Hunter, Titan, and Warlock were formed. As such, the “path of Light is ambiguous and unclear. Back then, there were no guides as to what it meant to be a Lightbearer.” So instead, Lightbearers will have distinct combat styles: the trailer shows new Supers like a Void Scythe and Arc Shield. What other powers await, and what this means for newer subclasses Stasis and Strand (plus the Transcendence state) is up in the air, but they definitely look and feel like Destiny.
If all this sounds like your cup of radiolaria, Destiny: Rising will have a closed alpha beginning on November 1, which you can sign up for here.
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