I'm actually quite fond of the Warmind "expansion". Did it turn things around for Destiny 2, hell no. However, it was the beginning of the game becoming good or at the very least, what it should've been at launch.

Destiny is cyclical, it goes through a rough period before going all out to redeem itself, then a slow decline into mediocrity before the cycle begins. Warmind was very much in the stinky asshole part of the cycle, right before Forsaken when Destiny 2 and arguably the series as a whole peak. Things were pretty bad at the time but there was an inkling of hope on the horizon.

Warmind didn't address many of the problems that Destiny 2 was facing at the time, double primary was lame, no chase for loot since rolls weren't random, build-crafting was next to non-existent, the game being way too slow, and a myriad of other small issues that pile up to being a mountain. Addressing and changing a lot of this stuff less than a year after release sounds like hell. Also, improvements to the writing style were not found here.

The campaign for Warmind is mid at best, still very much using the schlocky writing style that was ever present in year one. It's also woefully short and mission design is still some of the mission design of all time, it's not bad but it's not good either. Ultimately, culminating in a disappointing finale killing off one of the most powerful beings in the known Destiny universe (at the time) in some goo goo gaga mission. Personally, I'm not (that much) of a dork to really care about that kind of stuff, but it was pretty funny to see lore people get upset over it.

So why am I quite fond of Warmind? Shit was bleak during vanilla and Curse of Osiris, one of the worst periods in the franchise. Warmind wasn't the savior but it gave the community hope. The best kind of Bungie is a Bungie that's backed into the corner and that's where they were during this time period of the game. The beginnings of change were being felt in this expansion. Actually engaging end-game content was found in Escalation protocol and the added raid lair with loot that was actually worth a damn. The loot was still statically rolled but still a step in the right direction. Also, some exotics were revamped and catalysts were added to make the exotics feel exotic and not some glorified legendary. Abilities received significantly shortened cooldowns as well as a movement speed increase. Now we're on track to feeling like all-powerful gun-toting space wizards instead of a bunch of bumbling morons wielding nerf guns and throwing out some pretty lights every now and then. Finally, we're getting back on track.

Warmind in it of itself isn't a great expansion but it was the first step of greatness. Now that Bungie learned their lesson, they totally won't repeat the cycle. Right Bungie?

Warmind is, amongst Destiny 2's campaigns and honestly the whole series, the low point. The only thing of value to the story in my opinion is the introduction of the Bray Exoscience team as antagonists of the past, and gameplay-wise bringing Mars back to Destiny 2. I honestly think that, besides some of the seasons, Destiny 2 is great at structuring it's story content, but this and Curse of Osiris have a big issue in dumbing down huge lore characters for the sake of easy antagonists for short stories. Worst of all, I believe that Ana Bray will likely never come up again, and that the hive Worm God we kill here is not actually dead, meaning all of it's consequences are for naught.

Even bigger of a mistake is this new focus on public events over unique Raids or Dungeons (the latter would be a later invention that rectifies this issue). You revisit the Leviathan here, facing a much smaller enemy than the fucking Worm God you fight at the end of a basic story mission here. How very....blase? Destiny's power scaling has never reflected the actual power of the enemies, the cinematic quality and the stage you face them on does that part of the work, but to make the most canonically powerful foe we know of a two phase boss fight in a solo mission is very dull.

Not to mention, this is the worst take of Leviathan we've had so far, both from a gameplay variation standpoint and a lore standpoint. I do like the missions where we work for 'enemy' species a lot, Variks in particular as a mission giver in D1 was always fun, but Emperor Calus is a weird situation. I'm not sure how I feel about working for the ex-communicated Cabal leader, though I suppose I shouldn't bolster such qualms with optional content.

Still, the little bits of lore we get about the Brays is interesting. Ana and Elsie's implied relationship, which one remembers and wants to forget and one has forgotten but wishes she remembered, is a unique tale of tragedy I'm surprised they stuffed into all this. Plus, you get Polaris Lance outta all this discovery, an excellent weapon that I wish I could still use in the game....alas, these Content Vault updates have stopped me!

Christ. Man parts of this expansion were just disappointing, especially having A WORM GOD KILLED IN SUCH A PATHETIC WAY; AS A STRIKE BOSS. however where that dropped the ball hard, Spire of Stars and Whisper picked up and tried carrying the weight of this expansion. While Spire was quite the challenge up until it was put in the content vault, it didn't have loot to match aside from an emote. While Whisper gave us a Taken version of Black Hammer from D1. However, trying to carry and actually doing it are two separate things