Dare you enter the Infinite Forest?
Destiny 2 ’s first new playable zone will be on Mercury, and developer Bungie showed off the slowly decaying planet — and some of its unique spaces — today in the reveal livestream for the game’s first expansion, Curse of Osiris.
Here are some key stats to know about Curse of Osiris: The power cap is rising to 330 from 300 (with gear mods, to 335 from 305). Meanwhile, the experience cap will now be 25 rather than 20. And as far as activities go, Bungie confirmed in the livestream that it’s bringing back the heroic strike playlist with Curse of Osiris.
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Bungie introduced Curse of Osiris with a cutscene featuring the legendary Warlock himself, who will be voiced by Oded Fehr ( The Mummy, 24: Legacy). Like his student Ikora Rey, Osiris is a human Guardian; he is of Middle Eastern descent, and much of his armor (as well as, of course, his name) is inspired by ancient Egyptian culture. Osiris is also notable for his Ghost, Sagira, the first named Ghost — and the first female one — in series history. Sagira is voiced by Morena Baccarin, who becomes at least the third Firefly alum to appear in Destiny after Nathan Fillion (Cayde-6) and Gina Torres (Ikora).
Curse of Osiris ’ campaign takes place a few months after the events of Destiny 2 ’s story, which — spoiler alert! — ends with the Traveler awakening and sending a pulse of Light through the solar system and beyond. That blast of Light, said Curse of Osiris narrative lead Christine Thompson during the livestream, was an “essential component” for the Vex’s master plan with Mercury, which the robotic aliens terraformed ages ago. They’ve activated a Vex gate on the planet, and Ikora needs you to investigate.
A revamped version of the Lighthouse on Mercury, which debuted in the original Destiny as a reward for players who could complete a flawless 9-0 run in Trials of Osiris, is the hub area for Curse of Osiris. It’s not solely a social space à la the Tower or the Farm; the footage from the livestream was played from a first-person perspective, whereas the view in existing social zones is a third-person camera.
More to the point, Bungie said that the Lighthouse has its own mysteries to explore, and that players will start and end many missions there. The studio also compared the characters who hang out there — including Osiris superfan Brother Vance — to the world nonplayer characters on Destiny 2 ’s destinations, like Devrim Kay in the European Dead Zone. A medallion on a wall in the Lighthouse bears 12 symbols, one each for an Osiris-modded weapon that players will be able to forge in Curse of Osiris.
A portal in the Lighthouse connects to the main patrol zone of Mercury, which offers the same kinds of activities as any other destination, such as Lost Sectors, Adventures and a new Public Event that Bungie built specifically for Mercury. Bungie played through some gunfights on the planet before heading into a massive Vex gate that leads to perhaps the most interesting new element of Curse of Osiris that the studio has discussed so far: the Infinite Forest.
It turns out that the Infinite Forest is “a reality engine the Vex use to simulate all of the aspects of reality that they can touch,” said Thompson. Three different versions of Mercury exist in this simulation: past, present and future. And the missions that are set in the Infinite Forest will vary in some way if you replay them, said art director Dave Matthews: “Odds are, that space is not gonna play out the exact same way.”
The encounters, enemies and objectives — as well as the time frame — can be different each time through, although Bungie stressed that the Infinite Forest isn’t procedurally generated. “We can create new and unique experiences every time you come into the Infinite Forest,” said Matthews. Bungie’s goal, he explained, was to “create something that felt like it could sit outside of time and space.” The Infinite Forest exists deep beneath the surface of Mercury — the Vex hollowed out the planet, and replaced its core with this simulation — which is why there’s no sky above it.
Bungie didn’t give any further details today on the activities in the Infinite Forest today, but two more livestreams are coming over the next two weeks before Curse of Osiris launches Dec. 5 on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One. For more on the downloadable content, watch the clip from the livestream below, which also touches on the expansion’s introduction of “ raid lairs.”
