"Forsaken" introduces a decidedly darker and grittier tone to Destiny 2.
"We embraced that western, revenge vibe," Bungie said in a video revealing Forsaken.
We don't know much about Forsaken's story just yet, but Bungie says it starts with a prison break. One could assume that it's your job to bring the escaped inmates to justice.
The first new area you'll explore in "Forsaken" is the Tangled Shore. It's part of an area called The Reef, which Destiny 1 players will remember.
It's essentially a collection of latched-together rocks and asteroids. It's barren — there's even tumbleweeds.
The Tangled Shore is home to pirates and assassins and thieves — you know, bad guys.
The worst bad guys are a new alien race to Destiny 2 called the Scorn, which are highly aggressive.
Some of them carry fire swords.
Others will swing flaming maces at you.
Destiny players have been craving a new enemy type for some time, so the Scorn should be an interesting new adversary to strategize for.
There are also bigger bads in the Forsaken expansion, called "barons."
Barons are basically the top of the food chain among the Scorn.
In the Forsaken expansion for Destiny 2, you'll go on Baron Hunts to take down these criminals.
Each Baron Hunt is entirely different. One fight might be a long-range sniper versus sniper battle. Another one might force you to get up close and personal with a baron specialized in melee combat. And so on.
With all these new bad guys, you're going to need some more firepower. Thankfully, there's plenty of that in "Forsaken," too.
The Forsaken expansion introduces an all-new weapon type to Destiny 2: Compound bows.
You can choose between short, medium, or long-range bows — or switch between all of them!
One of the best updates coming to Destiny 2 is changes to how weapon slots work.
Previously, you could only choose one primary weapon, one energy weapon, and one power weapon.
When the Forsaken expansion launches for Destiny 2, all players (whether they buy the expansion or not) will be granted the freedom to use any weapon combination they want. This opens up exciting gameplay possibilities: Want to roll with three shotguns? Sure! Two snipers and a pistol? Why not! Only bows? Go for it!
Super abilities are also getting a big upgrade when the Forsaken expansion drops.
Each of the nine different subclasses in Destiny 2 are getting a brand-new super ability. So no matter which class you prefer (titan, warlock, or hunter) or which subclass you like best (void, arc, or solar), you'll have an all-new optional super ability to choose from.
Solar titans (or "Sunbreakers"), for instance, can now wield a massive flaming hammer that, when you swing it at an enemy, creates a massive fire tornado. (I'm not making this up.)
The new super ability for arc warlocks (or "Stormcallers") is a giant energy blast you shoot out of your hand a la Dragonball Z.
And, of course, there's plenty of all-new armor and armor sets ...
... and all-new legendary and exotic weapons to collect.
But what's the point of all of this new material? What's the end game?
Glad you asked. This is the end game for Destiny 2's Forsaken expansion: It's an all-new area called the Dreaming City, and it's an in-game destination Bungie has never done before.
The Dreaming City is actually a destination for all players, but it's also the home for the new six-man raid activity.
The Dreaming City is littered with unique areas and puzzles you need to solve.
One of the biggest complaints about Destiny 2 when it first launched was that it lacked the sense of mystery that made the first Destiny game so special.
The Dreaming City addresses that complaint: The area is massive, with tons of hidden passageways that might not seem to exist the first time you approach them.
The Dreaming City is also home to the new six-man raids, which are the end-game activities players look forward to most.
Raids in Destiny have historically been the most demanding activities that also offer the very best rewards.
And what's really cool about The Dreaming City is that "raiders affect the destination, and change it for everyone," according to Bungie.
That means the Dreaming City you see during the first week of the Forsaken expansion won't be the same Dreaming City two or three weeks later.
Many of the secrets and activities within The Dreaming City will unveil over time.
It will be interesting to see how The Dreaming City evolves when players finally get their hands on it starting in September.
If you don't like raiding, no problem! The Forsaken expansion also introduces an all-new game mode to Destiny 2 that looks like nothing we've seen before, called Gambit.
Gambit is actually a mix of player-versus-everyone (PvE) and player-versus-player (PvP) activities.
Gambit is essentially two teams of four people, fighting in two separate arenas next to each other. Bad guys spawn in each room, and it's your job to defeat your bad guys before the other team defeats theirs.
You collect small tokens, or "motes," from bad guys when you kill them. Banking your motes summons a massive enemy to fight, called a "prime evil." Defeat that, and you win the round.
What's cool about Gambit is that it also allows one player from each team to physically invade the other team.
Gambit looks like a pure adrenaline rush, but it will be interesting to see how players like it.
Aside from The Dreaming City and Gambit, there's plenty of other newness coming to Destiny 2 in the Forsaken expansion, including an all-new storyline.
Bungie is also making some important quality-of-life changes to reinforce the game as a "hobby": Destiny 2 will now track your various "triumphs" and collectibles, so you can easily figure out which activity to do next to fill out your collection.
The September update for Destiny 2 will also add in-game lore, so you can always read more about the world of Destiny, or any of the weapons or items you've collected, in a digestible way.
This is just scratching the surface. Bungie is keeping pretty tight-lipped about other changes to Destiny 2 with the Forsaken expansion.
But Bungie did answer one important question very early: Pricing.
There are three editions of the Forsaken expansion you can buy. The $40 standard edition, the $70 Annual pass bundle, and the $80 Forsaken Digital Deluxe Edition.
The Annual Pass is new to Destiny 2: Buying it will give you access to new activities and end-game content, as well as new rewards and achievements, throughout the second year of Destiny 2 (from fall 2018 to summer 2019). The Annual Pass replaces Bungie's old system of releasing paid expansions every several months.
The $80 Forsaken Digital Deluxe Edition contains the Forsaken expansion and the Annual Pass, plus some extra goodies for dedicated Destiny fans, which are basically an assortment of cosmetic items.
We'll be learning more about Destiny 2's Forsaken expansion at E3 2018 this month, and in the coming months before its release on September 4.
Until then, you can learn more about the Forsaken in Bungie's 9-minute video documentary about the expansion, which is embedded below.
