Bungie is Getting Rid of Grimoire Cards in ‘Destiny 2’
Now you'll see more stories from the 'Destiny' universe in-game instead.
There are a great many elements of the original Destiny experience players didn’t enjoy working through, such as the repetitive mission objectives, which kept sending you to the same locations, or the grindy daily bounties required for a shot at obtaining some better equipment for your Guardian. Regardless of how you personally felt about the overall experience, however, there was one aspect of Destiny we can all agree was lackluster — the game’s thin story and its cast of forgettable characters.
Naturally, Bungie is emphasizing how much better the story of Destiny 2 will be compared to its predecessor thanks to a new villain with a complete backstory named Ghaul and a series of fantastic personalities you’ll actually see fighting alongside you. Long gone are the days of getting a single look at Nathan Fillion’s beloved Cayde-6 in a cutscene every few expansions, and in are the days of laughing at his cheeky humor with every passing mission you complete in the game.
But even with the promise of a new story filled with lore, nothing is more intriguing than the removal of Destiny’s infamous Grimoire Cards in Destiny 2 — which World Lead Steve Cotton shared in an interview with Forbes earlier this week.
“We want people to be able to find the lore,” Cotton said. “All the story is told through the Adventures (a new type of quest in the open world), it’s told through the characters in the world, it’s told through the campaign, and it’s told through scannables you find throughout the world.”
Since much of the original Destiny story and lore was told through Grimoire Cards, which could only be accessed outside of the game online or via the companion app, players needed to have more than the game to fully understand everything Bungie had created for its larger universe – meaning that the game didn’t inspire you to care about the characters or worlds they inhabit while playing for yourself. To develop a connection with the Destiny universe you had to take the extra step yourself, which never bodes well for a game with such an expansive history built into the experience.
A Titan, as seen in 'Destiny 2,' wielding one of the new exotic weapons called Sweet Business.
Removing the Grimoire Cards to focus on building Destiny 2’s story and lore in-game is a massive step in the right direction for Bungie’s sequel, allowing players to experience everything firsthand instead of reading a series of cards on an application in their spare time. This doesn’t mean we won’t see other stories outside of the game, however, as told through comics or videos released as Destiny 2 continues down the same lifespan as Destiny over the next few years.
With many of Destiny grimoire stories being extremely interesting to read through, Adventures and the campaign of Destiny 2 have the potential to share some legendary tales with players provided the same level of care is put into the stories we see in-game this fall.
