Festival of the Lost is Peak Halloween-Gaming Content
Celebrating Destiny 2’s annual event
Welcome to the Halloween Month at Game Loot! Three articles, all geared to celebrate the best holiday of the year. The leaves have turned and the jack-o-lanterns have been lit…
How do you celebrate Halloween?
For me, I tend to go all out. We decorate the inside of the house with candles, spider-webs, lights, and black cats. I make a October movie viewing list (over at my Letterboxd account, which is here). I also tend to pick out a couple of horror books to read and then look at all the horror titles in my gaming backlog. I eat Halloween candy while I enjoy the cool air and turning leaves. These are things I’ve done since I was a kid, and I love the ritual of them. It’s a constant in my life, and something that makes me love October, from 1 to 31.
It Never Starts Out Scary
Now that it’s Halloween Month at Game Loot, I want to talk about one of my other Halloween rituals. Every October, Destiny 2 hosts a special event known as the Festival of the Lost. It generally runs the entire month, and completely changes certain areas across Destiny’s game world. The Tower is crowded with purple candles, ghastly projections, and even pumpkins. This is all in service of returning dedication to collecting Candy; this currency is earned in all activtites throughout the game while wearing a Halloween mask. Haunted Lost Sectors also exist, which players can run to earn Halloween-themed weapons and Spectral Pages that are used to unlock a wheelbarrow full of new lore.
The Horror Story auto rifle was one of my favorite guns in the early days of Destiny 2. My old version was part of the great sunset, so I’m happy to report that I got a new version with an even better roll. It has been out-classed by other auto rifles (hello Chroma Rush), but I believe that personalization is one of Destiny 2’s strongest elements. That’s why I continue to use Sweet Business like the child that I am. Speaking of personalization…
Spooky Purchases!
Since live-model games have been a thing, holiday events have grown in populatiry. Destiny 2 has several, Fortnite has even more, and even games like Dead by Daylight roll out the bloody carpet for Halloween. I know that these events are legitimate cash grabs. Cosmetics and dances sell better during limited time events, especially as we look to celebrate the holidays that we adore in the games that we play.
I’m okay with that! The good ones allow you to use in-game currency, even if the grind is a bit much. The bad ones don’t allow that, but that’s not really what this article is about. I think that the Festival of the Lost is the perfect version of this kind of event. Three weapons to collect, a new kind of event to play, and a bundle of old and new cosmetics to buy.
Bungie could have just slapped a spooky banner at the top of the Eververse, but they went the better way. They made the event mean something. They paired us with Glint, who in turn brings us lots of fascinating lore that highlights a sinisterly silly corner of Destiny’s universe. The fact that I can play Gambit with a Drifter mask is just icing on the cake.
Pumpkin-Brained
I love the flavor of the Festival of the Lost. I know that that isn’t entirely interesting, but I don’t think that I’m alone. Drop into nearly any kind of activity and every Guardian within shooting distance is wearing a kooky face cover. PC Gamer ranked Destiny 2’s event 3rd, going up against all the other gaming events. I’ve seen all of the Festival armor sets, sometimes all at once. I hope that Bungie continues to pour time and money into these events. Finding the balance between content and microtranscations is tricky, but they just may have done it. I’ll see you in the nearest Haunted Sector, Guardian.
Happy Festival of the Lost.
