Beyond Light on Game Pass

Amidst all the hullabaloo surrounding Halo Infinite and that bold brute. During July's Xbox Games Showcase it was all too easy to overlook Bungie's surprise announcement that current and future Destiny 2 content will be included on Game Pass from this September. Especially as Bungie and Microsoft were estranged bedfellows after a parting of ways following years of critical and commercial success with the Halo franchise.

Longtime readers may recall I was a huge fan of the original Destiny in 2014 and embraced the notion of a decade-spanning story. However, the release of Destiny 2 marred the experience to the point where I stopped playing, entirely, within weeks. More slog than compelling sci-fi space opera and it was deserted of players.

When Bungie broke free of Activision and Destiny 2 went free-to-play, I briefly revisited the looter shooter but it failed to rekindle my enthusiasm. Foolishly, I'd overlooked cross-save and created a new Titan (the original Titan remained trapped in PSN purgatory, her story unfinished).

The Game Pass announcement spurred this lapsed Guardian out of retirement and last evening imported his female Titan - via the wonder of cross-save - from the original Destiny on PS4, to be greeted by a story so far sequence that resonated more powerfully than expected.

An absence of 2-3 years made the heart grow fonder and suddenly I was reunited with old friends; struck at how much I'd missed the banter with Ghost (filling the gaping void left by one of gaming's most beloved characters, Halo's Cortana). After completing the opening story mission for Shadowkeep and a few live events. Shoot me to the moon! It's fun again, Guardians!

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Beyond Light has been delayed until November. However, there'll be plenty of content when Destiny 2's current expansions arrive on Game Pass. This should give new and lapsed Guardians (myself included) time to level up in readiness for exploring the frozen wastes of Europa.