Puzzles have been an integral part of Destiny since day one, but Destiny 2: The Witch Queen's story campaign placed greater emphasis on them than ever before--without reducing the importance of weapons. The Witch Queen campaign is the closest Destiny 2 has ever been to feeling like a story-driven single-player game, balancing weapon combat with those delicious Void 3.0 character builds and non-combat gameplay. Battling my way through the solo Legendary campaign and experiencing puzzles that are usually seen in multiplayer activities was enlivening. Using my brain and my new weapons elevated the campaign experience and proves that Bungie should look for more opportunities to let players engage with its game world in ways that involve more than just shooting enemies.

Destiny lore branches off into tons of other stories that can be best told without gunplay. Puzzles are a core component of Destiny, whether it's in Exotic missions, raids, dungeons, or the numerous alternate reality games (ARGs) that the Destiny community comes together to solve; the satisfaction of cracking the code is the most enjoyable part of experiencing Destiny for many. These mechanics, usually reserved for endgame content, meshed so well with the campaign story because Destiny finally placed non-combat mechanics at the center of everything.

Moments like in The Ritual mission, where incorrectly completing the puzzle caused Savathun to laugh at our incompetence while enemies flooded the area, created an exciting atmosphere because I wasn't just shooting at hordes of enemies to get through the room. It's that balance of puzzles and combat we need to see more of in Destiny. It controlled the story's rhythm in a game where players normally rush through enemies, it pushed us to be aware of our surroundings, and it made us feel the threat of this antagonist instead of merely being told to fear the enemy.