After restless anticipation and a brief postponement, the new expansion for “Destiny 2: Beyond Light” was finally released to Xbox, PlayStation, PC and Stadia on November 10. Despite the delay, it was certainly worth the wait. This expansion added a plethora of different features, one such addition being the now playable location of Europa, one of Jupiter’s many moons. It also introduced new powers and weapons, even reviving some familiar faces and places. 

The landscape of Europa is a beautiful icy tundra covered in the ruins of old laboratories and outposts, making it a perfect setting for the story of “Beyond Light.” Additionally, this location directly concerns your character’s Stasis, which are abilities gained that are used to defeat the game’s newest enemy. While the story isn’t exactly groundbreaking, it is a very fun way to progress with your character and explore Europa’s hidden treasures and secrets. However, the narrative of the story is compelling in the way it introduces the new enemy, Eramis: A leader of the group of aliens known as The Fallen, and a wielder of the Stasis abilities that you have as well. This character dynamic creates an interesting encounter rarely seen in the “Destiny” franchise.

“Beyond Light” also brings back characters such as the Stranger and fan-favorite Variks. Fleshed out characters have rarely been a strong point for “Destiny,” but that could be starting to change. Throughout the story you see a few different shades to some of the characters, and get a better sense for who they are, which is certainly a welcome shift in character developments. 

As for the new Stasis abilities, they are not only fun to use and give you the sense of power accompanying Destiny’s other abilities, but they are unique enough to justify their inclusion in the game. While there are some similarities in gameplay when it comes to the Hunter and Titan’s subclass, they are fun and powerful in their own way. The new melee and grenade abilities also help distinguish these subclasses from the others. Even further, the new system that allows you to customise your Stasis subclass with items that you find around Europa to fit your playstyle certainly makes this a wonderful inclusion. 

While there is still much of this expansion that remains to be seen, such as the new weapons and armor that have been added, what has been added is overall spectacular. While I haven’t experienced most of the exotic weapons, the pulse rifle, “No Time To Explain” is an amazing weapon and definitely feels like it earns the rank of exotic. Duality is also just a very fun weapon to use, and allows for players who love shotguns, such as myself, a chance to explore new builds and playstyles. 

The new grenade launcher, “Salvation’s Grip” was one the new weapons I was most excited for, as it is the first and currently only Stasis weapon in the game. The point of the weapon is to freeze enemies to have an easier time killing them, but grenade launchers are mainly used to kill large groups of enemies, making this weapon seem unnecessary. Unfortunately it is a bit disappointing, as it does very low damage for a weapon of its kind. There are also other weapons and armor that I haven’t gotten my hands on yet, simply because they are unlocked by completing activities I don’t have access to yet.

Overall this is an incredible expansion and without a doubt worth the time of anyone who plays “Destiny 2.” While there are shortcomings such as the amount of content removed, they pale in comparison to the amount of fun to be had with this new expansion.