Firstly my opinion is no more important than anyone elses, however I feel the urge to put this in public viewing if only for another piece of subjective evidence for others and Bungie to stew over. I will be disregarding the pedigree of Bungie, the budget of the game and Activision's supposed restriction of release content. I will be critiquing the game upon the game itself. Most importantly I can honestly say I am enjoying the game however there are multiple sticking points that detract from me be lost and enthralled in it. Regarding the campaign/story I feel it was very lackluster. The the concept and premise is so promising however I feel the game covered nothing that had me interested. When I first arrived at the tower I thought to myself "Geez I want to go inside the traveller, what is in there!?!". "Why did I die and why bring me back?" .Questions like these had me intrigued I was frothing to find out. Unfortunately that was not the case. *Spoilers* I found a warp drive, went to some planets went to this cool place called the Reef for a single cut scene where there was a queen who had pet Fallen (Who can explain that to me?! that's cool but I thought there was not context). Then I fought some boss to get his head then I went to a garden to kill 3 more of those bosses and not even get the chance to kill the big Blob thing. Nothing gave me any inspiration and willingness to go to the next area, it was a real slog to get from point A to B. Don't even mention mission variation because there are only three types. Guard doors and kill bosses or the sword of crota mission. (Yes the raid is different but this is not part of the campaign). After completing the campaign I had no intent to look at the Grimoire cards as the game did such a poor job of explaining anything or imparting intrigue for me to want to read these online. As mentioned by many others the exclusion of Grimoire cards was a massive mistake and should be noted by Bungie. To me currently, Grimoire cards are just a number to quantify and estimate how long someone has been playing for. Gameplay. I cannot fault this much, it really is what the game does best and is one of it's saving graces. Obviously as previously mentioned mission variety is necessary. Like why can't we have a wave mode-esque area, would be a great we for friends to compete against their high scores. Or missions in which you have to extract something or someone from a heavily guarded alien fortress. The variety of gametypes to support the enjoyable gameplay is just too little. This leads to the Crucible which is, okay. I cannot say it is a blast or that it is boring. I do believe it favors OHKO (fusion rifles) weapons which detracts fun. It results in no exciting gun battles, just oh you shot me first, I'm dead. Control and rumble are all I have played. Combined arms just seems like control with no control points because there are only pikes and interceptors as vehicles, which is very disappointing. There is so much potential for cool designs. That big tank in the Mars strike and that is the only other vehicle the player can interact with in the entire game! Obviously loot from the crucible is random. I do think this is fair, only in the case that Bungie implement a more competitive or ranked playlist which gives superior loot to superior placings. So if you are just in it for the fun go the random play list but if you are playing to win you wish to be rewarded adequately. This randomness is present at the infamous cryptarch also. I cannot criticise the game on this as the upcoming patch is an appropriate solution to the current problem. With this said I feel that engrams should be found at appropriately frequencies so that these legendaries don't become common and unenviable. Now a possible conversational opinion. Xur shouldn't be selling SPECIFIC exotics. THis just detracts from the status they bring when you see someone with one. strange coins are hard-ish to come by but everyone shouldn't have the same exotic if they chose so as it destroys the status of the item. This could be fixed with exotic engrams akin to the chests and helmets that were for sale. It is a risk that you mightn't get something perfectly suited to you, however you feel a bit unique - a special snowflake with this special exotic. Now. the MOST enjoyable time I have had is in the nightfall stike this week. A mate from uni and some guy from the other side of the world who we recruited from a twitch stream suffered through wipes and finally beat it. Most satisfyingly we actually got some fitting rewards (exotics/legendaries). This isn't the case with the strike playlist - no reward for your troubles whatsoever, which is supposedly being addressed next update. Random gripes: The lack of proximity chat is utterly despicable. It destroys any social experience that this supposed social game has. 4 emotes cannot convey anything, however amusing they are the first time you see them. Identical enemy spawn locations - a living world needs some variation, please just mix it up a bit and not have the strikes the exact same or the "open world map" the same each time. It really destroys living world aesthetic (the game is beautiful btw) Spawn me in a different location each time I come onto a planet. I want to get lost and find my way around! The lack of exploration possibilities is shocking. This beautiful art is created just past that trampoline barrier and I can climb on it, that is one of my favourite things to do. Imagine climbing up a building on mars and then some dude spawns in and tries to reach where you are. It would honestly add immense replay value to the game. Like armour shaders the option to mask your current armour with armour you like the look of more but retaining the stats of the superior armour. It adds more personality and connection to the game. I would like to hear your rebuttals to these points, please keep it civilised as I feel I have presented this in a constructive and civil manner. Regards, C YA L8R ALIG8R