Season of the Chosen review - PvP edition (non-toxic version):

1) I loved the two energy 120s brought in. Both Bottom Dollar and Igneous Hammer feel like good Destiny weapons. As the sandbox changes, good-feeling weapons will keep them relevant. Their base damage might be too high, but they'll feel good for a while yet.

2) Dead Man's Tale. Oh boy. Yeehaw weapon was such good fun that it's now become a genuine balancing pain point for the community. Luckily Bungie are committing to fixing it and we'll see changes. But yet another win for the weapons team. Amazing weapon.

3) Stasis. Balancing patches were a genuinely good step forward, but the Shuriken meta at the start was a very bad decision. Behemoth still feels a bit too strong, Revenant is still S-tier for hunters and Shadebinder's strengths feel correct. Looking forward to further balancing.

4) Primary meta - overall very balanced, if a little too long range. Palindrome's introduction made 140s a little more fashionable again, but 120s dominate and that's not great. Gunfights feel very predictable and boring. Felwinters/Astral adds to the monotony.

5) Primary meta (2) - the best weapons this season were long range beasts - 120s, DMT, Messenger. This leads to a slower natural style of play from most, and it's by design due to the strength of Stasis. This philosophy is questionable, but it allowed other archetypes to shine.

6) Special meta - Felwinters, Astral, Felwinters, Astral. Aside from Frozen Orbit/Adored, everything else feels intentionally niche. Quickdraw on these shotguns isn't the problem, it's the damage. Expect them to dominate again next season.

7) Maps - yikes.

8) Trials - new loot made Trials better to play this season, but the same issues exists. Card based system isn't working to incentivize casuals. Cheaters rampant. Rounds decided by supers, making high-card games campy. I think it's time to axe Elimination.

9) Vendor changes - great start, but not enough. We need more like this, though this is a more comprehensive issue with core activities as a whole.

10) Core experience - it's like eating boiled chicken and broccoli for dinner for a year straight after a workout and you don't lose any weight. Unsatisfying, unrewarding, stale stale stale.

11) Rotator experiences (alt playlists) - Can we bring back Labs at least?

12) Iron Banner - nope. Trying not to be toxic.

13) In conclusion: it didn't change much. New weapons were fun, tuning heading in the right direction. Expect nothing substantial until S15 and play it for an easy way to get through your podcast list.

4/10.