Destiny 2's PS5 update is phenomenal

Article by Lauren Aitken Former Guides Writer

Published on Dec. 9, 2020

If there was ever a good time to jump back into Destiny 2, it's now.

The free PS5 and Xbox Series X optimisation upgrade for Destiny 2 arrived yesterday, though it was a bit of a faff to get on the PS5. Essentially, you had to delete Destiny 2 from your PS5 then select to install the PS4 version via the three dots before the PS5 option appeared. The download is just over 60 GB, though, so shouldn't take long provided you have a stable internet connection.

Let me start by saying that even the PS4 version of Destiny 2 loaded pretty fast on the PS5, both from the login screen and when travelling between destinations. The upscaling made it look great, even if I fucked my Beyond Light intro cutscene by forgetting to take off my Cryptarch mask.

It's probably worth mentioning that I own an LG OLED55CX5LB TV, meaning that I'm playing Destiny 2 in true 4K. Given that cross-save exists and the Xbox Game Pass is full of Destiny 2 DLC, I'll probably download it on my Series X as well, just to complete the 4K trifecta.

With the PS5 upgrade, Destiny 2 looks fuckin' mint. This is peak Bungie MMO stuff, pure and simple. In under a minute, I was cutting about Europa admiring the snow. The menus load quickly and the UI feels sleeker, more intuitive and less of a chore to examine. A quick visit to the Tangled Shore showcased some deep and realistic looking puddles, with NPCs like Spider appearing more detailed than ever before.

The Crucible can now be played in 120hz and while I got my arse handed to me as usual, each map and Guardian looked amazing while doing so. It's difficult to put into words just how brilliant Destiny 2 looks and to be quite frank, I really didn't know that I needed a FOV slider in my life this badly. At least to my - admittedly, a bit shite - eyes, I didn't experience any screen tearing and everything stayed at a solid 60fps, which made everything from the most mundane bounties in the EDZ to Gambit matches look incredible.

Speaking of the EDZ, the real OG of Destiny 2, it looks beautiful. It really makes you appreciate the lush greens surrounding all the chaos and destruction in the location. NPCs look sharp and scoping in on enemies feels slick, dare I say Respawn level of quality.

Bungie has had a tough time since splitting from Activision and there was some disappointment in the resolution and visual quality of the content over the last year, but as I said, this truly is the best of Bungie. The next three years are going to be very interesting if Beyond Light is anything to go by.

So, stop making excuses and go download the upgrade. It's free - what else do you want, cross-play? Lucky for you, cross-play is coming to Destiny 2 in 2021.