‘Destiny 2’: Bungie Talks Importance Of Supporting Characters And Ghaul, ‘Lots Of Cutscenes’

The amount of information to come out of the Destiny 2 gameplay reveal event Thursday is enormous and is something fans are still shifting through. One of the more important aspects is the direction Bungie is taking the story for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC sequel following the highly-criticized lack of story in the original release. World Lead Steve Cotton spoke with Inquisitr about the importance of the supporting characters and the new villain.

Bungie’s recognition of the importance of story and character development for Destiny 2 should have been obvious immediately to anyone who watched the gameplay premiere livestream. It opened with the story of Commander Zavala from the time he was first woken by his Ghost, to the number of times he died, and died, and died again battling the Fallen until he finally discovered a fledgling Last City, then helped build and defend it against those who sought to destroy humanity.

This was followed by opening cinematic to Destiny 2 of the Cabal Red Legion invading Earth. Even the gameplay of the first mission, “Homecoming,” is interspersed with cinematic cutscenes and fighting alongside major supporting characters.

Simply put, it felt like there was more story and character development, along with some badass moments, in the two-minute cinematic trailer plus the nine minutes of “Homecoming” gameplay then there was in the entirety of the original release of Destiny.

The supporting cast will play a huge role in Destiny 2. As previously mentioned, the Red Legion attack sends the three Vanguard leaders off in different locations throughout the solar system for different reasons. This provides the catalyst of the early part of the story to re-unite the Vanguard.

“Really important,” Cotton responded when it was pointed out how important Commander Zavala, Ikora Rey, and Cayde-6 seem to the Destiny 2 story.

“We wanted this story to have characters that you cared about and loved. They just make a better story. You have the three of them and you have some new characters that we’ve added that you haven’t seen yet.”

And it’s not just the supporting characters. The villain will get some screen time as well. The backstory of all the leaders in the original Destiny was hidden in the Grimoire cards that had to be read outside of the game. For the Red Legion leader, Dominus Ghaul (aka Gary), Bungie is making sure his motivations are clearly understood and supported by what is happening in the game.

“We also wanted to make sure the villain is a villain you love to hate. Ghaul is so complex,” Cotton explained. “Luke talked about his motivations. He wants to be chosen. The Traveler didn’t choose him, it chose humanity and humanity is like vermin to him.

“At the same time, he’s able to take the Light, but he doesn’t want to. He wants the Traveler to choose him. That’s a really important part of the story.”

Cotton confirmed that there will be “lots of cutscenes, lot of cinematics” involving not just the Guardians, and the supporting cast of Zavala, Ikora, Cayde, and others, but also of Ghaul.

But what about other cast of characters Destiny fans grew to love like Iron Banner leader Lord Saladin, Eververse shop keep Tess Everis, the various faction leaders, and even raisin-giving Eris Morn?

“Destiny 2 is going to lay this foundation that we can just keep building on it. So all of these characters, whether they come back in Destiny 2 right away or not, they’re in the universe,” Cotton said.

The World Lead then deadpanned, “Unless they’re dead.”

Destiny 2 will release September 8 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The PC version is expected sometime afterward.

[Disclosure: Activision provided travel and hotel accommodations so that I could attend the event.]

[Featured Image by Bungie/Activision]