I’m very happy to confess that Future 2: The Last Form ended up being a beautiful shock in most ways in which matter. From its vibes to its new raid, Last Form is nice stuff, sure, nevertheless it additionally set far too excessive a baseline for the brand new seasonal content material.

For one, Bungie introduced the Echoes/Episodes – a substitute for the earlier years’ Season – simply across the time folks have been determining that the Season of the Want wasn’t all that good within the grand scheme of issues. The apparent expectation, then, was that issues can be altering a good bit, and, to be completely trustworthy, it did appear like this is able to be the case all the way in which as much as the primary Episode’s launch:

• Bungie was shifting away from 4 seasonal releases down to 3
• Every of the three new Episodes would include extra content material to compensate
• Gamers would have extra time to parse and play by every Episode
• The brand new Act-based development construction would enable gamers to progress at their very own tempo as an alternative of ready for Bungie to maneuver issues alongside on a weekly foundation

Sounds good, proper? Mix this with Bungie’s Episode stream, the place the group members confirmed off some fairly darn stellar paintings, plans, and scheduling for the entire of 12 months 11, and all the things was poised to ship the second a part of the Future 2‘s new one-two punch. Then Echo 1 got here out, and it grew to become clear what was up.

Future 2’s new Episodes are Seasons, nearly to a T

No, actually, that’s the crux of it: Episodes are Seasons, there are not any two methods about it. So little has modified about Future 2‘s newfangled seasonal mannequin that the straightforwardness of all of it gave me whiplash on week 1.

To be completely clear proper off the bat, I personally don’t even thoughts this: it’s not like Seasons have been so dangerous that the entire idea ought to’ve been carried out away with for one thing wholly new. In no way! As an alternative, one of many largest, most annoying issues with Future 2‘s seasonal content material has been transferred over into Episodes with such bravado that it’s nearly ridiculous.

Particularly, right here’s the issue: Bungie made it clear early on that Episodes can be act-based. Every Episode would include three Acts, with each new Act bringing in an assortment of recent loot, new goals, and – however after all – contemporary narrative development. The apparent expectation, I really feel, was that this is able to flip Episodes into three mini-campaigns launched at choose intervals. Gamers would simply want to attend for brand spanking new Acts to launch, and so they’d have free reign to progress nevertheless and every time they need between these three releases. Word that that is decidedly not the case.

Naturally, Bungie didn’t specify whether or not this is able to be the case wherever. It simply feels prefer it was the plain conclusion, given the wording on present and the guarantees of change, proper? And look, I’m hardly the one one that’s irritated with this.

Bungie insists on drip-feeding content material, at all times

Bungie doesn’t need us enjoying Future 2‘s seasonal content material the fallacious manner, I believe. In any case, dropping Future for weeks at a time messes with engagement, and we will’t have that in a live-service recreation. So, what we’ve bought as an alternative is arguably the worst facet of the Seasons making a triumphant return within the new-and-improved Episodic content material: incremental narrative development on a weekly foundation.

Oh, and it will get higher, for those who can imagine it: Episode 1’s Act 1 wrapped up after three weeks of drip-fed narrative development. We’re not getting Act 2 subsequent week, although. You see, Act 2 is approaching July 16, as an alternative, which supplies us not only one however two layers of drip-feeding to maintain gamers returning to Future 2 each single week, maxing out engagement (in idea).

It’s not all dangerous, I reckon. In order for you a number of weeks after every new Act “launches” you technically can full it in full nicely upfront of the following Act. This simply doesn’t really feel just like the supposed solution to interact with the sport, although, proper?

On a tangential and probably extra worrying observe, we don’t know whether or not Episodes will probably be each bit as FOMO-laden as Seasons have been in the long term. Bear in mind: Seasons saved being sundown on the finish of a given “yr” of content material, which successfully meant carving out big chunks of narrative development to maintain issues considerably neat and streamlined in the long term. Will the identical occur with Episodes, too? We don’t know but, however on condition that they’re successfully only a spruced-up rebranding of Seasons, I believe everyone knows what the most certainly reply is.