Destiny 2's best game mode returns in March's Season of the Worthy update

One of the most cherished competitive game modes in the history of Destiny is coming back, and it has nothing to do with Xur or the Nine. That's right: Bungie is bringing back Trials of Osiris, the most intense and beloved Destiny 1 competitive PvP mode, to Destiny 2 on March 13 after the launch of the new Season of the Worthy.

Destiny 2 developer Bungie announced late Tuesday night in a Dev Insight video on YouTube that Trials of Osiris would return in Season of the Worthy, confirming previous leaks from January indicating as much.

Trials of Osiris was a fan-favorite PvP mode in Destiny that Bungie and Activision unfortunately didn't carry over into the sequel. A less-beloved Trials of the Nine competitive mode simply didn't compare. Players partake in a series of 3v3 Elimination matches. If players did well, they could access the Lighthouse to visit Mercury and get some of the best loot in the game. "Going Flawless" became a term for one of the greatest accomplishments a player could achieve, and it's something the developers at Bungie discuss in the video, which you can watch below:

"We want to make sure we really stick the landing with Trials," Art Director Rob Adams says. "It's important that this doesn't go out half-baked."

Adding in such a beloved mode almost three years after the game's initial release makes Bungie seem a bit behind the curve, but the developer seemingly took the time to create a more polished experience that fans would be happy with, especially after Trials of the Nine wasn't received as well.

Designer Eric Smith also elaborates on Bungie's Trials of Osiris creation process: "We are in the playtest lab every day playing Trials, trying to get it just right. We've been working to balance the abilities, the subclasses, the weapons, the armor to make sure it is as fun and as fair as possible. We've done a lot because it's important."

The video also reveals that several Destiny 1 maps are returning to the game, including Cauldron, Exodus Blue, and Anomaly. The original Trials of Osiris gearset from Destiny 1 will also make its grand return with the launch of the new season on March 10.

Players seem generally happy in the responses to the YouTube video, though some are concerned about balance as power levels will be taken into account initially by Destiny 2's Trials of Osiris. While Trials of Osiris seems like it will be sticking around for many months to come, the event will initially be tied to the new Season of the Worthy. That being said, they also seem to be the first step in Bungie's new approach to season-tangental content.

"We’re talking about moving away from creating Season-bespoke private activities and instead using that time and effort to build themes that aren’t just represented by a marquee event that will fade away, but rather to inject these Seasonal themes into more of the game," Bungie wrote in a new Director's Cut post Wednesday. Once Trails of Osiris become a staple, a bit of Season of the Worthy will always be with the game, clearly making it one of the first implementations of this idea.

The Inverse Analysis

While I don't dip my toes into the PvP aspects of Destiny 2 that much, I heard great things about Trials of Osiris back when Destiny 1 was in its heyday. Any great live-service multiplayer game, PvP or PvE, needs to consistently release fun content for players to return every single week. Otherwise, the experience gets stale.

Trials of Osiris is a great solution for that, so it's somewhat surprising that it wasn't in Destiny 2 from the start. Still, it's better late than never and will likely entertain Destiny's hardcore PvP player base for hundreds of more hours. Bungie has continued to improve and support the game with new seasonal content, even after the rocky split from Activision early last year, and this could be just what the game needs to keep fans enticed with feelings of nostalgia as we hurdle towards Year 4 for Destiny 2.

Season of the Worthy is expected to begin March 10 with Trials going live March 13.