I came into the final shape with high hopes, especially since bungie has been building this epic stroy for years, and I had hoped it would have been something similar to Mass Effect 3 with everyone coming together to fight the big bady. Instead we got a campaign that was 85% focused on the vanguard, the plot was often advanced by characters doing the dumbest thing possible, and the story as a whole relyed on nostalgia & weak emotional setups to trick the player into thinking the story was good. To start, let's look at the 1st cutscene. We have Zavala decide that him, Ikora, and the guardian need to rush into the portal with no real plan and no clue if they will even make it through the portal alive. This is incredibly dumb, as why would the 2 remaining vanguard leaders abandon their citizens for what could have been a suicide mission? Moreover, consider the moral effect it would have had on the citizens and guardians. For reference, this would be like if WW3 kicked off tomorrow and your countries leaders arbitrarily decided to hop on a plane, fly to the frontlines, fight their way through the enemy army, and challenge the enemy leader to a 1v1 dual. Imagine President Biden trying to fight -blam!-. As comical as it would be to watch, I think most Americans would basically have a feeling of "we are doomed." -What should have happened...Zavalas should have put together a strike force consisting of the guardian, drifter, Eris, Eliksne engineers & warriors, Cabal psions & warriors, and finally Awoken techians & warriors. Next, we see the vanguard cross the portal and spend the next few missions looking for each other. This, too, is very dumb. I mean, why not try to stabilize the portal so more reinforcement, communication, and supplies can easily come through? -What should have happened... The strike force mentioned earlier should have crossed over, and then with the help of the Eliksne engineers, techians, psions, Eris, and Drifter, we should have tracked down HVTs who the Witness was using to disrupt the portal, eliminate them and build a structure to stabilize the portal, so that the coalition would no longer rely on Mara Sovs power to pass through the portal. This would also explain why we could freely come and go between the pale heart and sol system. Then, the next few missions could have focused on our force progressing forward and taking key positions with our allies fighting alongside us just like in the post campaign missions. Next, let's look at Zavalas' breakdown and crisis of faith. To me, it felt like a forced attempt to get the player emotionally involved. I mean, anyone who played Season of the Haunted, should have know that Zavala worked through his past and healed his old wounds as that was how we were able to defeat the nightmares after all and stop calus. So by going back and revisiting this story arc, it felt like they were cheapening or de-canonizing that seasons stroy. -What should have happened... The Witness temps Zavala, he resists, but suffers emotional trauma. Caiatl then transmats to Zavala (as she is both his closest friend and support network) and consoles him in his time of grief. Just as Zavala starts to look up, then the Torrmentor from the strike, drops in and just beats everyone with ease. The Torrmentor then kidnaps Caiatl as part of the Witnesses' revenge for Zavalas stubbornness. This would have utterly destroyed Zavala and better explained his recklessness during the strike, as he wants to save Caiatl. Then, during the strike boss fight, we could see the Witness corrupting Caiatl. Once we beat the Torrmentor, Zavala could transmat in and try to save Caiatl just to have her turn on Zavala and start draining his light and corrupting him. To save them, Zavalas ghost sacrifices himself but clears the corruption and returns them to normal. This would have been a powerful and devastating scene that would have really drawn in the players. Next, rather than Zavala dumbly seeking out statues by himself and gaining no real answer, other than keep going to the tower that we were already heading too. -What should have happened... Drifter and Eris (who have experience with pyramid tech and the statues) would interact with them and learn exactly what Zavala did in the campaign. This would have also made a great emotional scene as the Witness could have sent a force to kill them, with Eris getting seriously injured and for once we get to see Drifter lose it and go crazy unleashing all manor of cross class abilities before tearfully taking Eris's injured body back to the FOB to treat her wounds. Finally, let's talk about the final single-player campaign fight against the witness. Rather than us just blindly killing enemies until the traveler arbitrarily helps out. -What should have happened... We should have had a battler horn and been able to summon various allies to fight (similar to the final boss fight in Dragon Age Origins, imagine holding reload and using the Dpad to select between Cabal, Eliksne, Awoken, or Shaxx and his frames to help you fight) as we fight the witness, the Vanguard could have focused on communing with the Traveler and summoned the fissures of light which gave us the sheild and sword we needed to injure the witness. Then, the final cutscene could have played out as normal, with everyone trying to escape a P-d off Witness. Just my thoughts, and I'm sure a lot of people will disagree and enjoyed the campaign as is. As for me, I was more disappointed than Variks watching guardians fail to dismantle mines.