Revisiting Destiny 1 in 2024: The Ambitious Foundation of an Online-Only Franchise

I‘ve been playing Destiny ever since launching with the beta way back in 2014. As a long-time Guardian, I‘m often asked by friends whether it‘s still possible to play the original Destiny game and early DLC expansions in 2024.

The short answer is: No, none of Destiny 1‘s campaigns or content can be accessed offline or as single player experiences. Let‘s dig deeper into why that is…

Why Destiny 1 Requires Persistent Online Connectivity

As clearly stated on Destiny‘s networking requirements page:

"Destiny is an online-only multiplayer first person shooter that cannot be played offline."

This always-online design was likely influenced by Bungie‘s previous experience operating the massively popular Halo franchise on Xbox LIVE service.

Delivering new content via live updates meant no isolated sequels and a perpetually evolving universe that players keep inhabiting rather than restarting progress.

But the cost is that players forever lose access to vaulted Destiny 1 campaigns, destinations and gear due to reliance on Bungie‘s servers staying online. More on content vaulting later.

Declining Active Players Means Diminishing Experiences

Third party player population trackers give us an idea of current engagement with legacy Destiny releases:

Data Source: Warmind.io

As seen above, attrition has led to vastly reduced PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 populations. This impacts matchmaking times for co-op activities.

My recommendation is PS4/Xbox One as more reliable avenues forsome Destiny 1 action with reasonable queue times.

But content vaulting affects all platforms equally…

Expansions Galore, Lost to The Vault

One aspect severely limiting Destiny 1 in 2024 is the Content Vault introduced by Bungie in late 2020. This removed the base campaign, multiple expansions and destinations from playability:

4 full campaign stories and 5 explorable destinations summarily deleted

As a franchise fan, this loss of paid content remains a sore point for me personally. While I understand Bungie‘s technical reasons around game size bloat, so much intriguing history and lore is now inaccessible to new players.

And with Destiny 2 set to run at least till 2024‘s Lightfall expansion with no sign of a third mainline title, I doubt vaulted content will ever return.

Service-based Structure Means Play & Pay…Forever

Destiny 2 now faces minimal competition as one of few remaining service-based looter shooters after contemporaries like Anthem and Avengers collapsed from lack of updates.

Comparisons between Destiny 1‘s third year and Destiny 2‘s 2023 Lightfall expansion shows just how greatly monetization strategies have evolved:

This depth of recurring in-game purchases that funds the live team and seasonal model comes at a cost of increasingly aggressive monetization through battle pass progression gates and FOMO.

But it ensures the franchise‘s longevity and a steady stream of new activities.

The Bittersweet Loss of a Bygone Era

Revisiting the original Destiny in 2024 made me nostalgic. Reminded me of epic moments like tackling Vault of Glass blind, finally defeating Skolas after 9 hours, experiencing the jaw dropping opening of King‘s Fall raid.

Rose tinted memories indeed, but that magic is hard to recreate without access to venerable campaigns and destinations that cultivated such camaraderie in my regular fireteam.

Maybe one day Bungie will surprise loyal fans and undo some content vaulting. But regardless, no one can deny Destiny laid vital foundations as console gaming‘s first true service-based shared world shooter that inform design philosophies even now.

We shall watch the saga unfold further when Lightfall launches soon, carrying our battle-worn Guardians into a new era of adventure.