I got to thinking about the nature of this game's replayability. Destiny largely relies on increasing difficulty level to present us with new challenges. The problem is the challenges aren't really new.
What if, instead of completely relying on modifiers, we actually had variants of missions that were more challenging and demanding in an organic way?
For example, what if the final battle with Omnigul took place in a different room, which didn't have a convenient lobby area to fight from? What if, on the way to Phogoth in a nightfall version of the strike, Ikora radioed in and told us to detour to the World's Grave to save a fallen Guardian because there weren't any other fireteams in the area? What if the nightfall version of the Archon Priest strike had us arriving too late and finding the Priest's soul fully restored (and he didn't have a gun that was only effective within cuddling range)? What if the nightfall version of the Nexus had the hydra boss fully encapsulated in a shield, instead of having a gap we could conveniently fire through (and what if the minotaur that spawned up top was invulnerable so we couldn't just cheese it every. stinking. time.)?
This could be applied to dailies, too. For instance, what if the heroic version of the final mission had the heart bring all three of those gate lords to life at the same time?
The worlds are already built. In large part, missions simply direct you through them. Detours could be created to have you take alternate paths that bring you through more hostile territory. Or, maybe previously empty areas could have a large battle raging that you have to fight through to continue on a strike. Additional features, such as vestiges and dark burden, could be built into old missions.
In short, what if the more difficult versions of missions and strikes actually were difficult because they were different in a more challenging way? Modifiers are great, but they don't fundamentally alter the experience in a way that will keep them fresh.
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Love it