Month: September 2021

Just about every week brings something new to Destiny 2, whether it’s story beats, new activities, or interesting new combinations of elements that let players devastate each other in the Crucible. Iron Banter is our weekly look at what’s going on in the world of Destiny and a rundown of what’s drawing our attention across the solar system.

When Destiny 2 finally gained cross-save capabilities back in 2019, I was finally able to stop playing the game on PlayStation 4–where I’d been since the first day of Destiny–and hop over to PC, where my serious Destiny friends resided. That was around the time I also started to take the PvP aspect of Destiny 2 semi-seriously, and while I know that I’ll never be a great Crucible contender (I’m too damn old at this point and completely unwilling to put in practice time to improve), I’ve really enjoyed a stepped-up focus on the competitive aspect of the game.

That’s why the best news this week is Destiny 2’s new take on the Trials of Osiris. Sure, Savathun and Mara Sov said some more really cryptic, downright unsettling stuff about the threats we’re dealing with next year in Destiny 2, but it’s the Trials that are dominating my thoughts as we head into the third weekend of the Season of the Lost.

Trip To The Litehouse

I’ve always liked the concept of the Trials of Osiris, just like all the aspirational and endgame content in Destiny 2. Its requirement that you go “flawless” and win seven tough matches in a row, unlocking some of the game’s best rewards, is the kind of extra-special, cool experience that I associate alone with this game. For the people really invested in Destiny 2, this, like raids, is something that pays off your time in the game and your excitement for it with a one-of-a-kind gaming experience.

But in practice, Trials has always been, at best, a pain in the ass for the vast majority of us Guardians. It’s an event that has traditionally been prohibitive for all but the very best players. Top-tier streamers, pro gamers, and all-around especially good Guardians have dominated the Trials, stomping on us lesser mortals every weekend. And that creates a feedback loop. No matter how sweaty I get, I’m not getting to the Lighthouse; it’s something I had to come to expect. So, for the most part, I quit playing Trials–and other players react like I do. The pool of Trials initiates gets smaller and smaller as it gets more and more frustrating a mode to take on, and that means you’re more and more likely to run into only the people who hang around: the best people. That increases the frustration, driving more players out. And so Trials became a playground for the absolute elite, a section of the game that was a waste of time for the rest of us.

Recent adjustments to Trials, which include dishing out rewards with weekly bounties and at different win tiers, have mitigated the frustration a bit. My team and I can at least reliably make our way to three or five wins before we bottom out, so we get something. But it still always felt like Trials was a mode where the rich get richer and the poor merely present themselves to make a broken, bloody staircase of Guardian corpses for the Flawless players to climb to more fun rewards.

With the new changes to the Trials of Osiris in Season of the Lost, everything is different–at least on paper. As of this writing, I won’t have had time to jump into the new Trials mode and actually try it out. But the list of alterations Bungie has made seem excellent. New matchmaking, new opportunities for solo play, new reward tiers, new Passages that no longer count losses; all of it means that the vast majority of Destiny 2 players have a reason to get into the mode again. The more the player pool expands, the more each of us regular Joe Crucible contenders actually has a shot at the Lighthouse, as we dilute the pool of ludicrously good folks with our mediocrity. That means the mode will be more fun for us to play, and we’ll be facing each other more of the time.

And overall, that’s great. Trials is a cool idea, but not if it drastically locks out most of the player base. And it doesn’t need to sacrifice what makes it special and super-tough–you still have to rack up seven wins with no losses to make it to the Lighthouse–to be something that everyone can enjoy. I’m hoping the changes work as well as it sounds like they should, and I’m hoping that a big influx of more players into the mode will actually mean that, sometimes, a miracle Flawless will happen. But if not, I’m content to at least pick up all the armor and a few nice great guns for my trouble.

Discovering The Darkness Daddy

This week’s story content sent us to the Shattered Realm take on the moon, the excellently named Ruins of Wrath. The radio dialogue between Petra, Mara Sov, and Ikora this week, along with our visit to Savathun, continually pivots around a central idea: Xivu Arath answers to somebody else.

This is something that’s been swirling in the background since, like, Shadowkeep. Every time we’ve talked with the Darkness–be it in the Moon pyramid, on Io during the Season of Arrivals, on Europa as we gathered Stasis powers, and so on–there’s been the implication that there is a real, specific “entity” somewhere in the distance that we haven’t officially met yet. The Black Fleet of pyramid ships is some kind of manifestation of that creature, but pointedly, we discovered during Arrivals and afterward that those ships are empty. There’s no one inside to fight. The Black Fleet isn’t a one-to-one Darkness equivalent to the Traveler, it’s something else, and the Presage mission is all about how Calus was trying to make contact with this entity directly. As Osiris-as-Savathun says during that mission, the Darkness and the entity are separate things. (Meylin Games on YouTube has a good breakdown of the Presage clues.)

We haven’t seen whatever the entity is yet. But it sounds like that’s where we’re imminently headed.

It makes sense that, since we’re driving towards the eventual end of this Light and Darkness story arc in the next couple of years, that Bungie is starting to lean harder into establishing that villain in a practical sense. It also feels like this further adds to speculation a lot of people in the community have (including me) that Savathun might be antagonistic in The Witch Queen expansion, but not serve as its actual antagonist. We’re starting to lay down what the Darkness actually is so we can gear up to fight it.

Okay, so what’s interesting about this is what was said about this Darkness entity, which I’ve been calling the Anti-Traveler just to give it a clearer name (Darkness Daddy also works). An ongoing thread this season is the apparent unification of Darkness forces that previously weren’t pals: the Taken and the Hive often work together, but now we’re seeing them also work with the Scorn, which is a new development. The Taken also previously were controlled by Savathun by way of Quria, but we (supposedly) killed Quria in the Season of the Splicer, and it seems the remaining Taken are now working for Xivu Arath. Finally, dialogue this week mentioned that Oryx, the Taken King, did not invent the Taken–he basically borrowed the power to create Taken creatures from the Darkness. Someone else, presumably, is actually in control of the Taken and has been loaning those creatures, and the ability to zap sentient beings into another dimension to turn them into whatever the Taken are, to characters such as Oryx and Quria.

That adds another degree of formidable to the Anti-Traveler and suggests the Taken will be the major antagonist force as we near the end of the saga. It also calls into question how the Hive’s powers work, or will work, especially after Savathun breaks free of her worm. And if you ask me, it provides more evidence for the theory that Savathun gets her Light from the Traveler.

So Bungie is currently teasing a badder antagonist than we’ve seen before, something on the level of the god-like Traveler, and is filling in the details of its abilities. But over and above that, we have what Savathun said last week, about something more than the conflict between the Light and Darkness. The characters and story here are spinning out, seemingly, two things we need to be worried about in the future. First, there’s the Anti-Traveler, the immediate Darkness threat that’s been building since the post-credits scene of Destiny 2. But second, there’s whatever Savathun was referring to–whether that’s the overall concept of Destiny 2 as a game itself, or a level of existence beyond the paracausal entities messing with us right now. But it sounds like more hints at what we could see of Destiny 2 once we’re past the last announced expansion, The Final Shape.

Anyway, the Anti-Traveler is coming. Wonder if it’ll look like those statues we’ve seen around the game so far, and what might be hidden under that black cloth on its head.

Oh, one last thing! Last week in the lore on the new Iron Banner armor, Saladin gives a passing thought to Savathun’s Song, that “viral chant” we’ve heard characters including Shaxx, Crow, Eris, and Lakshmi-2 singing, for a start. Just something that hasn’t come up in a while that seems like it might be super-relevant to the ongoing conversations we’re having with the Hive god of deceit.

Destiny’s Final Shape

After Bungie’s Witch Queen showcase at the start of the Season of the Lost, I got to sit down and have a conversation with Destiny 2’s game director, Joe Blackburn, and its general manager, Justin Truman. We discussed a bunch of things both present and future in Destiny 2, including what they’re drawing on for inspiration with The Witch Queen, what playing against Hive Guardians will feel like, and how the developer is working to make more of Destiny 2 feel like its iconic content, such as raids and dungeons, and less like other first-person shooters.

There’s more from the conversation I’ll be publishing soon, but to start with, Blackburn and Truman’s explanations of what Bungie wants The Witch Queen to be like are compelling. Specifically, Blackburn said the team wants more of Destiny 2 in general to be more like the game’s best parts–missions such as Presage, as well as activities such as the dungeons and raids. The plan with The Witch Queen in particular is to make “the definitive Destiny campaign,” he said, which sounds pretty intriguing.

You can read the first of these pieces from the interview with Blackburn and Truman here, and I’ll hopefully have more from that conversation–maybe the entire conversation itself–in the coming days as well.

One thing I didn’t get a chance to talk about with Bungie was the 30th Anniversary celebration event the developer is putting out later this year. It has some specific meme intensity that I can’t ignore–a dungeon based on the Loot Cave from Destiny 1 (an element that is both hilarious and traumatic for me from the early days of covering the game) and the return of Gjallarhorn, Destiny’s most iconic gun. Darryn Bonthuys took a look at what makes the Gjallarhorn so special, which is a good primer for those Destiny fans who missed out on the gun back in the day. You might also want to dig into the lore about Gjallarhorn a bit in places like Ishtar Collective, as it’s one of those items that really feels like essential “Guardian history.”

That’s it for the Destiny stuff that’s buzzing in my brain this week. If there’s anything I missed, feel free to share it in the comments below.

In Chapter 2, Life is Strange: True Colors begins introducing puzzles that Alex will have to navigate to help the residents of Haven. The heavy-hitting ones are mandatory, though there are a few optional ones as well. Below, we go over all the major choices you’ll get to make in True Colors Chapter 2: Lanterns.

Quick note: Chapter 2 is when True Colors really opens up, allowing you to freely explore Haven and pursue tasks in whatever order you want. Alex will usually comment when she hits points of no return–in the case of Chapter 2, first telling Jed she’s done with work and then confronting Mac–so make sure that you’ve done everything you can before those moments.

More Life Is Strange: True Colors Guides

Chapter 2: Lanterns Walkthrough

Did Gabe Make The Call? [Mandatory]

At Gabe’s wake, Ryan will confront Mac, angrily accusing him of ignoring Gabe’s call to halt the scheduled detonation in the mine. To this, Mac will say he got no such call and Gabe must have made a mistake. Ryan will then turn to you for validation, asking you to support his claim since you heard Gabe make the call.

Of course, you didn’t hear the call. All you have is Gabe’s word that he made the call. Telling the truth isn’t the ideal way to go in this scenario, especially if you’re gunning for friendship or romance with Ryan. Side with Ryan and lie: Tell everyone that you heard Gabe make a call, thus accusing Mac of negligence.

Steph’s Grief Puzzle [Mandatory]

Similar to understanding Ethan’s fear, to understand Steph’s sadness, you need to empathize with her. Approach her and tap into her grief–this will highlight certain items around the apartment with a soft blue glow. Finding everything shouldn’t prove too difficult. You’ll know you’ve found everything relevant when Alex says that she has enough to go on to comfort Steph.

When you approach Steph, the subject you want to bring up is playing foosball. Goad her into playing. You’ll likely beat her the first time and then she’ll collect herself and dominate you in the second round, so prepare to battle it out in round three. It doesn’t matter too much whether you win or lose, but if you win, Alex will act like an entitled champ and Steph will be reminded of the fun she’s had with Gabe as a result. So try to win.

Signing The Typhon Agreement [Missable]

Once you’re free to explore Haven for the first time (during Alex’s search for Mac) quite a few optional choices open up to you. One of the most important involves Charlotte. Go to her shop, the marijuana dispensary, to speak with her. She’ll confide in you that she’s struggling with her own grief, helping Ethan, and dealing with Typhon–the mining company responsible for Gabe’s death.

Charlotte will tell you that Typhon has sent her a document for an enormous settlement, provided she agrees to immediately not press charges about Gabe’s death. It’s a super shady deal, but she could also use the money to support Ethan’s future. She’ll ask Alex what to do. Tell her to take the money–it sucks but it also shows that Alex cares about Charlotte and Ethan and wants their future to be secure.

Comforting Ethan [Missable]

If you head to the park, you can find Ethan. Though he isn’t really ready to open up to you, you can read his emotions to understand how he’s feeling and then let him know that you’re there for him. This will improve Alex and Ethan’s relationship. It will also unlock additional dialogue with Charlotte–you can go back to her now and tell her what’s bugging Ethan, improving your standing with her even more.

Boss For The LARP [Missable]

During this exploratory phase, you can also meet up with Steph at the record store. She’ll tell you that she wants to plan a LARP for Ethan and will ask Alex to pick which villain should be the final boss.

Your choice here will determine which of the two bosses that Alex and Ethan will fight during the LARP in Chapter 3. Both seem to be of equal strength so it really just comes down to which boss sounds cooler to fight.

Alex’s Name For The LARP [Missable]

Before leaving the record store, you can fill out Alex’s character sheet for the LARP. Before you do, be sure to read the second issue of Ethan’s comic–it is on the counter right next to the character sheets. Doing so will reveal that the protagonist in Ethan’s comic has a trusted companion by the name of Alwynn.

When filling out the character sheet, you can choose Alwynn, Alto, or Alexandra as Alex’s name for the LARP. Now that you know that the character that Ethan will portray has an in-universe companion named Alwynn, you should go with that. It will further solidify the bond between Alex and Ethan and more seamlessly insert Alex’s character into the LARP.

Eleanor’s Fear Puzzle [Mandatory]

When you search for Ethan at the flower shop, Eleanor will tell you that he left a while ago. Before you can leave, you’ll notice that Eleanor is deeply afraid. You can’t leave the shop without helping her.

Similar to handling Steph’s sadness, approach Eleanor and read her emotions. You’ll then need to find all the relevant objects–they’ll be glowing purple. In the room with Eleanor, there’s the sign on the door, flowers in storage, and the register. In the backroom, you’ll find the phone and a picture of Riley. Interact with all of them to understand why Eleanor is afraid.

You’ll then have to help retrace Eleanor’s steps. To do this, you’ll have to once again interact with the five objects but in the right order. Based on what you’ve gleaned from Alex interacting with each object, you have to try and use common sense to piece together Eleanor’s day up to that point. If you need help, we’ve outlined the steps below.

1. Interact with the sign on the door.
2. Interact with the phone in the backroom.
3. Interact with the picture of Riley.
4. Interact with the flowers.
5. Interact with the register.

After all that, you’ll be confronted with a horrifyingly daunting and tragic choice. It will hurt, but we feel that opting to tell Eleanor the truth is the right way to go. Neither choice will impact the ending of the game, however.

Helping Mac [Mandatory]

When you finally confront Mac, he’ll have a panic attack. You can either help him or just walk away and leave him to suffer. Neither choice impacts what ending you get–just decide whether he deserves to suffer through a panic attack alone.

Forgiving Ryan [Mandatory]

When you find Ryan at the end of Chapter 2, his grief will make him angry at himself. You have to talk him down, and ultimately tell him whether Alex forgives him for Gabe’s death, Gabe would forgive him for his own death, or that Ryan ought to forgive himself. These choices don’t seem to influence the overall direction of the story too much, though suggesting that Gabe would forgive Ryan makes the most narrative sense.

After that, Alex and Ryan will continue to talk and eventually you’ll have the choice of shaking Ryan’s hand or hugging him to seal the duo’s partnership. If friendship–and eventually, romance–is your aim, go for the hug. If you want to keep things strictly professional, then a handshake works.

Like previous games in the series, Life is Strange: True Colors will regularly present you with choices that will influence the outcome of the story. Most of these choices are mandatory but a few are optional and easily missable. Below, we go over all the choices that are important to True Colors Chapter 1: Side A. You’ll make additional decisions beyond these ones, but they don’t have as significant an impact.

As an additional note, though we don’t go into detail about all of them here (we’ll cover the major ones), there are certain choices that can influence how Alex perceives herself. Notably, whether she loves music and herself. If you constantly make decisions that have Alex look down upon her incredible musical talent, she won’t as easily regard making music as a career choice. Additionally, folks around Alex–upon learning of her Empathy–will regard her as a superhero, but it’s up to you to decide whether she ultimately views her abilities as a gift or a curse.

More Life Is Strange: True Colors Guides

Chapter 1: Side A Walkthrough

Meeting Gabe [Mandatory]

Right at the start of True Colors, Alex will meet her brother again for the first time in years. You’ll be prompted with the choice of whether to shake Gabe’s hand or give him a hug.

Personally, we advise you to go for a hug. Neither choice has massive ramifications for the story (at least as far as we can tell) but hugging Gabe as opposed to shaking his hand will influence the two siblings’ relationship to start on as positive a note as possible.

Meeting Riley [Mandatory]

When you first meet Riley, you’ll learn that Gabe is helping her with an application essay. Riley thinks it’s smarter to use flowery language to describe her weaknesses, like she “works too hard,” while Gabe thinks it’s better that she just be honest. Riley will then ask you to be the tiebreaker.

If you want to ensure your relationship with Gabe is as close as it can be, side with him. However, it’s better to side with Riley in this debate as doing so will ensure you set the most positive first impression you can with her (similar to hugging Gabe at the start as opposed to shaking his hand). Being Riley’s friend and someone she can trust will be important for later chapters.

Talking To Gabe About Ethan’s Plans [Mandatory]

When you first meet Ethan, he’ll tell you about his plans to sneak into Haven’s old abandoned mine after dark. He’ll ask you to keep his secret–later, his trust in you will be put to the test when you have the option of telling Gabe about Ethan’s plans or keeping quiet.

It may seem like the right and responsible thing to do to tell your brother that his adopted son is planning to go visit a mine after dark. But that’s how cops think, and Alex ain’t no snitch.

And beyond that: Your choice in this instance doesn’t really matter–the overall story won’t change depending on whether you blab or keep your mouth shut. But you do get brownie points with Ethan for keeping his secret and that’s more important.

Rocking Out With Gabe [Mandatory]

When Gabe shows Alex his apartment, he’ll eventually start playing air drums and invite Alex to pick up a broom to rock out with him on “guitar.” You can join him or be a coward and just watch.

Don’t be a coward.

Meeting Charlotte [Mandatory]

When you finally meet Gabe’s girlfriend, Charlotte, she’ll strike up an (awkward) conversation with Alex, in an attempt to get to know you. She’ll take notice of Alex’s star tattoo and eventually ask how Alex feels about Haven so far. You have the choice of being positive, negative, or ambivalent.

In order to set a positive first impression with Charlotte, it’s important to be positive or ambivalent about how Alex feels about Haven.

Alex’s History As A Server [Mandatory]

When Gabe needs to step out for medical attention, Jed will ask if you can step in to be a server for the bar, saying that Gabe told him that you have plenty of experience as a server. This, of course, is a lie. So you have the choice of supporting Gabe’s lie or telling Jed the truth and admitting you have no experience.

In this instance, telling the truth and then impressing Jed with your performance is the best course of action. As a server, you’ll need to clear the backroom, take and remember two orders, and check in with people. The only tricky part of this is remembering Diane and Duckie’s orders. They will tell you what they want and then you need to tell Jed via a multiple-choice test. As soon as you get their order, just go straight to Jed before you forget. You’ll have time to do everything else afterwards.

Duckie’s Missing Whiskey [Missable]

Part of Duckie’s order is his usual: a particular brand of whiskey. He and Gabe had the bottle last, so you’ll need to find it. It’s upstairs in the apartment, squeezed between the couch cushions.

Steph’s Jukebox Game [Missable]

Steph is in the bar during your shift and will ask if you want to play the Jukebox Game with her. You get to ask five yes or no questions in an attempt to figure out one of the songs in the Jukebox.

Frankly, it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose. The important thing is to play so that you start a friendship with Steph and establish a repertoire that can lead to romance down the line, if you so wish.

Talking To Riley About Mac [Mandatory]

When Riley learns about Mac getting beat up, she’ll show up to ask what happened to him. Mac will then lie, telling Riley that Gabe is at fault. You can also lie and cover for Mac (ensuring Gabe takes the blame for the altercation) or tell Riley the truth.

Though you do earn Mac’s trust by covering for him, the dude doesn’t deserve it. And even without his trust, you’ll be able to get the information you need from him later (it will just require a little push on your part). Tell Riley the truth–it will end her relationship with Mac for good, but it will further cement your friendship with her. More importantly, you’ll firmly earn her trust and you will need that for later.

Talking To Gabe About Alex’s Past [Mandatory]

On the rooftop, late into the first episode, when confronted with the choice of talking to Gabe about Alex’s past, you’ll have two options. You can talk to Gabe about Alex’s life in foster care or outright reveal to him that she possesses superhuman Empathy powers.

There is no wrong answer here–either choice will improve the relationship between Alex and Gabe as her opening up to him will prove to him that she trusts him. However, there is a branch in the story here. If you tell Gabe about your powers, he will be the first to know about them. Continuing to hide them means that someone else (one of True Colors’ two romance options–Ryan) will be the first to know, ensuring that their relationship with you will be a lot closer (as they will then become the first and only person to know).

This may make it seem like hiding your powers from Gabe is the way to go, especially if you want to romance Ryan, however, telling Gabe about your powers is extraordinarily helpful in getting Alex onto the track of regarding her abilities as more of a superpower than a curse. You’ll be able to get her on this track regardless of what you decide here, but if you want that process to start sooner rather than later, confide in Gabe.

How Alex Feels About Gabe’s Gift [Mandatory]

When Alex admits that she found Gabe’s gift–a guitar–he’ll ask her what she thinks about it. You can have Alex tell him that she felt rusty or that she loves the guitar. Go with the latter choice, especially if you want Alex to fall in love with making music over the course of the story.

With The Matrix Resurrections finally and recently given a release date of December 22, it’s time to start thinking about watching the original trilogy either for the very first time, or just to refresh your memory. Whatever the reason–even if you took the wrong pill–the solution is easy enough: HBO Max has The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions on both ad-supported and ad-free tiers. It also has The Animatrix, a collection of nine short films.

The fourth movie will be both in theaters and that streaming service on that day, right alongside the original three. In fact, it probably wouldn’t be a bad reason to get a few rewatches in between now and December, as the new trailer is suggesting a very mind-warping movie is ahead to continue the story. Depending on what you choose to believe, the next entry in the franchise seems to be about Neo reconnecting with his true identity, or coming to terms with how most of his memories have been wiped. It probably makes more sense to just watch this new clip, and decide for yourself.

To further get people hyped for the film, WhatIsTheMatrix.com has also launched. The website will allow you to take your chances and see one of over 180,000 unique teaser videos. Every video features footage from the new movie and narration from the cast. So, that’s also something you can try when revisiting the original movies. You can also go further down the rabbit hole by reading this theory about the now-defunct Matrix Online MMO game’s relationship to the upcoming film.

The Matrix: Resurrections stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen), Jessica Henwick (Underwater), Ellen Hollman (Spartacus), Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter), Priyanka Chopra (We Can Be Heroes), and Daniel Bernhardt (Birds of Prey). The fourth movie in the series is directed by Lana Wachowski. Lilly Wachowski will not be working again with her sister on the latest movie, as she didn’t want to step back into the world of The Matrix.