Destiny 2’sThe Witch Queenexpansion has been a massive success for Bungie, not only because over a million copies were purchased before launch, but also in terms of defining what a yearly campaign can look like. One of the major issues withDestiny 2’s annual releases prior toThe Witch Queenhas always been that the campaign would end quickly and be easy to beat, with no way to replay the missions and not much to do in their respective areas.The Witch Queenchanged that by having a Legendary version of the campaign that’s both challenging and rewarding, and also adding replayable missions on a weekly basis to get more loot and tougher combatants.
As forSavathun’s Throne World, the new main hub forDestiny 2, Bungie managed to create a location that is compelling to explore and rewards players who find its secrets. From a design standpoint, Savathun’s Throne World is one of the most complex and unsettling locations the franchise has ever seen. While it’s still very Hive-like, it’s also alien in a way that’s hard to fully comprehend. This is very much an intended effect, according toDestiny 2concept artist Dima Goryainov and other Bungie developers in a recent roundtable interview that Game Rant attended.
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Why Savathun’s Throne World and Her Mind are Indistinguishable
One of the main aspects of new in-game areas when it comes toDestiny 2’s expansions is that they should have plenty of stuff to do, while bringing to life places in the universe that were never seen before. Due toDestiny 2having a massive lore libraryvia in-game books and tabs, and due to the Hive being one of the most ancient and dangerous alien races mankind meets, the Throne World was a perfect place to craft a setting where battles between the Light takes place. Goryainov said Bungie had to make the call of having Throne Worlds either look like the regular Hive, or go a very different route.
Destiny 2is a game about hope at its very core, and players control a Guardian of mankind who takes action to their enemies' doorstep when the balance of the universe is at stake. There are still many elements of horror and despair withinDestiny, and this is often the case inThe Witch Queenexpansion as well, with players discovering that it was the Traveler who gifted Savathun with the Light. There is something deeply disconcerting about Savathun’s Throne World as well, and players learn this very early on thanks to theDeepsight ability.
“The Throne World is still beautiful in its own way, but it’s horrific or unsettling up-close. It’s a place you want to occupy and come back to, and it looks beautiful from afar, but when you start looking underneath, under the facade, you’ll notice there’s this ominous sense, there’s this kind of dread. Things are not as they seem.”
The Witch Queen’s narrativeand the design for Savathun’s Throne World are entwined in such an intricate way that it’s impossible to tell which is based on the other. Yet, both the expansion’s storyline and its location are riddled with secrets and half-truths, and such is Savathun’s mind. It’s a world of cunning and lies, illusions and impossible architectures, that Goryainov and colleagues had to make look like the Scarlet Keep on the Moon as well as something else entirely, something that screams Savathun at a glance.
“We’re in her world, and she’s in control. One of the examples is the stained-glass windows that are actually a sort of organic membrane, they kind of look like eyes that follow you. That was our way of saying that no matter where you are, she’s always watching you. If you’re not seeing her, she sees you, and she only shows you the things that she wants you to see.”
AlthoughSavathun is not the ultimate villainthat the build-up toThe Witch Queen’s release made her out to be, she is one of the most complex characters inDestiny 2’s to date, and that’s because she is alien like no other Hive while having very human flaws. Her Throne World conveys as much, and it does so by having players navigate Savathun’s deceptions while uncovering her deep memories of loss and grief.
Destiny 2is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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