Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris Xbox One review: Decent content derailed by unfair grind

Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris is the first expansion for the shared world shooter which launched back in September.

It not only adds a short ninety-minute campaign, but also a variety of items for you to collect. Upgrading your gear is now easier than ever, but there's still a lot of unnecessary grinding. Now it seems like collecting resources takes a lot of your time and drops are never guaranteed. As addictive as Destiny 2 is, it's a shame that the game is still being padded by stringent drop rates which waste the player's time.

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Story and characters

Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris follows the robotic Vex who have a mysterious master plan. According to the developers, the story is set a few months after the main campaign. The reawakening of The Traveler has repercussions as a wave of Light spreads across the solar system. This turns on a Vex gateway where they're assembling a substantial force.

The Curse of Osiris expansion follows the robotic Vex who have a mysterious master plan.

Unlike Ghaul, the villain from the base game, the Vex seem bland in comparison. Even the final boss is a robotic monstrosity whose plan to destroy the solar system is cryptic at best. Even though Destiny 2's main campaign may have explained the story a little too plainly, it was preferable to the confusion caused by the expansion. We're shown tremendous scenes of destruction — a universe without Light — but how the Vex plan to achieve this remains a mystery. The story is simply passable as the narrative in the base game was much stronger.

The Curse of Osiris expansion also introduces some of the more memorable characters in the franchise. While Osiris, the legendary Warlock, may be a disappointment, his Ghost Sagira and a religious fanatic named Brother Vance delight. As the first female Ghost, Sagira is a breath of fresh air and absolutely hilarious. Brother Vance, despite his twisted beliefs, utters some of the most enjoyable dialogues. While both of them aren't on the level of Failsafe or Asher Mir, they still add a lot of charm to the game.

Activities and locations

Mercury is the new location accessible to those who purchase the expansion. Unlike Earth or any other planet, the open world area of this smoldering world is minuscule. Luckily, the Infinite Forest provides some reprieve despite its linear structure. Those hoping to explore a region as vast as the other areas in the base game will be disappointed. There aren't that many Public Events or Region Chests, so grinding resources seems like an impossible task.

The Infinite Forest sits below the surface of Mercury and lets players go back in time or into the future. It's a massive Vex simulation which allows you to experience different versions of the planet. Exploring the simulations plays an important role in the campaign as well as certain endgame events.

Aside from introducing Heroic Adventures which let you repeat quests for better rewards, Curse of Osiris adds Raid Lairs.

According to Bungie, the Public Event on Mercury is the "largest and most rewarding" one they've ever created. While it definitely feels like the largest because you have to jump from island to island accomplishing various objectives, the rewards are paltry in comparison. Exotic weapons and armor should be the rewards for completing the Public Event because it's so rare and time-consuming. If that can't be done, then more resources should be awarded which you can craft weapons.

Aside from introducing Heroic Adventures which let you repeat quests for better rewards, Curse of Osiris adds Raid Lairs. Raid Lairs are smaller Raids which don't take as long to complete but are still incredibly challenging. Not everyone can sit down with a Fireteam for hours to get through the regular Raid. It's great to see Bungie offering gamers an alternative with the same rewards every Tuesday when the challenges reset.

Crafting and gathering

When you finally get enough resources like certain obscure clusters, you can use them to unlock "Prophesies," which eventually allow you to forge weapons. The whole system is unnecessarily convoluted, but the weapons are quite powerful. It's worth it to create them even though the grind is unbearable. Why couldn't players have simply walked up to the forge, seen the specifications for the weapons, and worked towards the ones they wanted? Many of the additions to Destiny 2 in Curse of Osiris add a lot of uncertainty.

Forging new firearms is unnecessarily convoluted but the weapons are quite powerful.

So far it seems like the only way to collect these resources is to either open chests, participate in Public Events, play matches in the Crucible, or engage in other repetitive activities. It takes a really long time to grind these items so many players may just give up. Bungie needs to make it more lenient or guarantee drops because many of the weapons, despite their increased Power Level, aren't that good. For example, the new forged scout rifle is quite possibly one of the worst firearms in the endgame. It's only really good for fusing with the MIDA Multi-Tool to boost its damage.

Xbox One X upgrade

Alongside the Curse of Osiris expansion, Destiny 2 received an Xbox One X upgrade from Bungie which boosts the resolution to native 4K. It's great to see that the developer utilized the 1.8 teraflops advantage the Xbox One X has over the PlayStation 4 Pro to push a higher resolution without the need for checkerboarding or dynamic scaling. Destiny 2 looks better than ever, and the visuals just pop. Thankfully, the frame rate is still a stable 30 FPS, so the action is smooth.

Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris review conclusion

Overall, Curse of Osiris is a good expansion which has many issues when it comes to progression. There's a lot of compelling content here like Heroic Strikes, Raid Lairs, and the forge which enhance replayability. Unfortunately, gathering resources and earning a variety of weapons is painfully slow. Bungie needs to adjust the drops rates for materials, so they're easier to come by.

Loot is the only reason gamers should consider the expansion because the story isn't doing it any favors. Hopefully, Bungie is aware of the problems with the drop rates and will address them in a future update. Grinding games can be fun only if you're properly rewarded. In its current state, Destiny 2 fails to do that.

Be sure to read our review of the base game to learn more about the experience.

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