Destiny has had a weird launch.

Here's a brief list of observations:

• Reviews were held back because of arbitrary reasons about the press needing to play with the public (not representative of the final game's social features in my opinion).
• Review scores were then relatively low.
• Bungie 'no get no bonus' because Metacritic.com lied to the shareholders by displaying average scores.
• Public reception has been fervent but also relatively negative. Mostly in regard to drop rates...and its dumb half shrug of a story...and the lack of content that comes from having a dumb half shrug of a story...and the lack of in-game social options...and the grinding...did I mention its story is stupid...it's basically a $60 teaser for the expansion packs.
• No one ended up caring about the amount of p's it was displayed at.
• Magic caves were removed from existence and then reborn again like a bad case of fungus (not sexual).
• The list goes on.

To make a long story short, it's been rocky in a way that isn't normal for big budget AAA games.

...To make a short story long...It is relatively well made and beautifully rendered. It is an always-online game that actually worked on day one (for most people). If you dig deep enough and don't mind replaying the same content ad nauseam you seem to be able to wring a lot of hours out of it. The combat is impeccable. People that play a lot of the game still, rightfully, have a lot of problems with it. I really like it but can't seem to stop finding things I dislike. There's so much to not like! The game is downright obtuse! The flaws are glaring! GET A FUCKING CODEX FOR THIS GRIMOIRE BULLSHIT!

At the end of the day, or perhaps just the end of this particular week, I am starting to think that it isn't even about it being good or bad. It's about people paying attention to it. It's about how it was described/misunderstood as this expansive thing that would last 10 years and it then ended up being beatable in one day. Essentially giving their audience a bad case of blue balls (not sexual) when they discover that the vision they appeared to be pitching for this game was actually dealing more with the franchise.

Destiny, the game that is out in stores now, is a bald- faced lie compared to what it was being marketed as and it is still proving to be extremely successful. People don't usually like that. Gamers don't usually like that. But it can still be successful because enough people have been informed of its existence. The hype was massive. The budget was huge. It didn't deliver the good when it was actually released. It's Waterworld.