Destiny 2 is full of déjà vu

I’m playing Destiny again. No, wait. I’m back in the Tower hub for Destiny, but I’m playing Destiny 2. What happened? Also, why is my level 750? Why do I have a big fiery hammer superpower instead of my electric Tron shield? What happened to the farm hub? Where do I go next? What do I do now? I don’t even know what’s real anymore.

If you’ve been gone from Destiny 2 for a spell, (maybe to play other looter shooters) you’ll probably be as confused as I was. Things are kind of the same, but different. Destiny 2 is free to play now. No, really. Bungie just launched the Shadowkeep expansion, added a battle pass progression system with premium and free tracks, then made the base game along with a lot of previous expansion content free for anyone to try out. They also replaced the story start with a completely open Tower hub. Oh, Bungie moved the game from Battle.net to Steam for PC players as well! They’ve been busy, these rascals.

Confusing beginning aside, the strategy is probably a good one. In the absence of a cherry deal from a publisher or exclusive store, revitalizing an older title that always had a mixed reputation requires drastic measures to attract players. Everyone loves free stuff.