Whelp. There it is. Destiny 2 has been officially revealed, and there is a lot of new stuff coming this fall. So let's recap.

The Story

We've known the gist of the story for a while now, but today we got a decent amount of new information. So first, we knew that the Cabal are attacking the City led by a guy named Dominus Gaul, but we didn't know why. During today's stream, Bungie said that Gaul wants to take the power of the Traveler for himself and his Red Legion because he believes that the Traveler should have picked the Cabal to give its power to. So at the beginning of Destiny 2, Gaul and the Red Legion take the power of the Traveler away from our Guardians. This means we lose our powers and abilities, as well as the City, the Tower, and all of our gear that was in it. This is how Bungie will reset the score for Destiny 2, and will allow for a progression back into power for returning players.

Bungie noted that the campaign for Destiny 2 is the most cinematic-heavy campaign they've had, and will feature bigger roles for Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde-6. You'll actually play alongside the three leaders, which is a wholly new mechanic for Destiny. After the fall of the City, Zavala is apparently struggling with his identity as a Guardian. He thinks that if they aren't empowered by the Traveler, then they aren't even Guardians anymore, and has fled to Saturn's moon of Titan to find answers. Ikora, the Warlock, who holds the knowledge that the Traveler has given humanity dearly, and without it, she is lost. She has gone off the grid and flees to Jupiter's moon Io. Io was apparently the last thing the Traveler touched before reaching Earth, so it has secrets and maybe some answers for Ikora to find. As for Cayde, he makes an effort to stop the Cabal, and things end up going "sideways" according to Bungie.

Alongside the information, two story trailers were revealed during the stream, which you can see for yourself down below. The first is a short about how Zavala grew to be the Guardian he is today, and the second gives an overview of what's going on at the beginning of Destiny 2.

[embed width="696" height="392"]https://youtu.be/Daey6qGgLKU?t=14m9s

[embed width="696" height="392"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn1dML6RC5w

Everything New

In a lot of ways, Destiny 2 looks, sounds, and acts a lot like the original, but there are many new features, weapons, and game modes coming that could make it a very different experience. First off, weapons and weapon slots are getting a bit of a revamp. Instead of Primary, Secondary, and Heavy, it will be replaced with Kinetic, Energy, and Power, respectively. Apparently, Kinetic weapons will be things that shoot bullets, Energy will be things like fusion rifles, and Power weapons will be the big stuff. But they did mention that you can put what seem like Primary weapons in the Energy slot, so there will be a bit more customization available to you when it comes to your loadout. There will also be new weapon types. What we saw today were grenade launchers and heavy duty machine guns, but there will likely be more.

Guardians will also have new Subclasses at their disposal that will give new options for players with different play styles. One new super was announced for each class of Guardian -- The DawnBlade for the Warlock, the Sentinel for the Titan, and the ArcStrider for the Hunter. The DawnBlade is a giant fire sword that the Warlock can summon, and with each slash in the air, a blade of fire targets an enemy. The Sentinel allows the Titan to summon a shield that his fireteam can get behind, or he can throw it around like Captain America. And finally, the ArcStrider, which is a staff for the Hunter to swing around and take out multiple enemies at once.

A gameplay trailer was revealed on the stream, so check that out here:

[embed width="696" height="392"]https://youtu.be/Daey6qGgLKU?t=24m24s

While there weren't too many details revealed about how Strikes have changed, Bungie made sure we knew that there will be a ton of new Strikes to complete, including new Nightfalls. Press and influencers who were at the stream event will get the chance to play The Inverted Spire, a new Strike that takes place on Nessus, one of the new worlds of Destiny 2, and features a three level boss. Of course, there will also be a new raid at launch, but they're keeping all that close to the vest for now.

They talked a bit more about the Crucible, although there is certainly much more to be revealed. The HUD will change in Crucible, allowing you to see more information about your teammates as well as your opponents. They mentioned was that it will let you see who has Supers ready, and who picked up Secondary ammo. They announced a new game mode, called Countdown, which will be an attack/defense style game similar to capture the flag.

Exploring New Worlds

There will be four new areas in Destiny 2, and three of them take place on completely new worlds -- Io, Titan, and Nessus. Io, as has been mentioned before, is a moon of Jupiter that has been terraformed by the Traveler, and is chock full of lore for you and Ikora to discover. Titan is a moon of Saturn, which is made completely of liquid methane, meaning all of the structures on Titan are man made. It was apparently a Utopia for humans but is now sinking into the methane oceans. And Nessus, a planetoid out beyond Pluto, has been transformed by the Vex into a machine world, save for the giant canyons and exotic vegetation.

Back on Earth, there is a new area to explore called the European Dead Zone, which will be familiar to those who've played the Memento and Widow's Court maps in the Crucible. Here will be your new social area. It's a village and a farm that has been set up as a refuge for those who survived the Red Legion's attack on the City, and it is where the Guardians have regrouped. There is also a non-social area to it, where you'll be able to explore the new Adventures, which are side missions given to you by NPCs found throughout the EDZ, Lost Sectors, which are dungeons with mini-bosses and mysteries hidden within, and Treasure Maps, which will have you searching for hidden loot.

Speaking of maps, the new map system will give you a better look at the area while you are on-planet, rather than not being able to see the map unless you're in orbit like Destiny 1. You'll also be able to access Missions, Strikes, Raids, and other activities without having to go to orbit as well. Instead, you'll just have to find the point on the map where the activity begins. There will even be countdown timers for timed events, so you'll know when things are going to happen. You'll also be able to hop between planets and moons without having to go to orbit (which honestly might be my favorite change to Destiny 2).

Clans

A big part of Destiny is the end-game content, and with the first game, it was a bit hard to get to that content without a core group of friends to play with. In Destiny 2, Bungie has made an effort to help that issue with the integration of Clans into the game. In Destiny 1, clans were just a little subtitle to your name on your emblem, but now, Clans have much more to do. While you'll be able to do fun stuff like create a custom banner and level up as a group, Clans will also take on a little responsibility. Guided Games essentially allows Clans to become groups of sherpas who can help out solo players who are trying to play the Raids, or Nightfalls, or whatever it may be. Clans make a little description of what they're all about, and the solo player can decide whether or not they want to play with them. This is beneficial for both sides, since the solo player finally gets to play Raids, and the Clan of five can get a sixth Fireteam member.

Coming to PC

PC players rejoice! Finally, you'll be able to play Destiny on your big rig with all the bells and whistles. The biggest news to come out of the PC announcement, though, was that Destiny 2 will be available exclusively through Battle.net, Blizzard's online service and distribution platform. This makes a lot of sense since Activision and Blizzard are the same company, but it was unexpected nonetheless. This means that Destiny 2 will run on Blizzard servers and will use Battle.net integration when it comes to friend lists, chat systems, and all of the other services that they provide.

Here's Mike Morheim, Blizzard's President and co-founder, talking about how Destiny 2 will integrate with Battle.net:

[embed width="696" height="392"]https://youtu.be/Daey6qGgLKU?t=1h10m49s

You can watch the full stream here:

[embed width="696" height="392"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Daey6qGgLKU

Destiny 2 is slated for a September 8 release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Before that, look out for the Beta that will be taking place later this summer, which you'll get access to if you preorder.