Hi everyone. This is going out a little later today than normal because Substack was seemingly down for a bit. Let’s get into it.
Destiny 2 Finds Its Groove
Destiny 2 is having a rough time. After last year’s expansion, Lightfall, arrived to disappointment from the fanbase and missed sales projections, the multigenre online game hit a significant speedbump. The softened sales caused Bungie, the studio behind the game famous for making the original Halo games, to double down on ensuring their story-closing expansion, The Final Shape, was in The Best Shape possible.
Bungie’s model for Destiny 2 involves releasing an expansion and then supplementing that update with a handful of seasonal stories. The Final Shape delay caused the final story update for Lightfall to creep on well past its expiration date — and left Bungie scrambling to find something, anything to engage fans in the interim. That “something” finally came to light this week in the form of Onslaught, which is a wave-based fight mode similar to Horde Mode popularized by Gears of War.
Destiny players have asked for a mode like this for years. The seasonal model, however, makes it difficult to implement full-on new experiences since the makers are working on rolling out updates every four months or so. Bungie ensures that Onslaught isn’t the only part of this mid-gap content update coming between now and The Final Shape’s June release date. But even if it was, the mode looks so polished and engaging that I’d be comfortable just diving into that for a few months.
A lot of the core activities in Destiny are almost too structured but that’s not the case with Onslaught. It’s the best of the title’s core gameplay — weapons and powers go burrr against enemies — without any narrative ties. It’s an exceedingly easy mode to jump in and out of for either ten minutes or ten hours at a time. And it’s, candidly, long overdue. Maybe, just maybe, Destiny 2 is on its way back after a year in the wilderness. The rest of Bungie? Well, that’s less clear.
Good Music
2023 felt like a high-ceiling, low-floor year for music. I enjoyed the albums I listened to, but there wasn’t a glut of things I continually returned to throughout the year. I was, in fact, hard-pressed to put together an end-of-year playlist, having to settle for roughly 25 songs instead of my normal 50-ish.
2024 isn’t having that same issue. Last week saw Kacey Musgraves drop her new album, and this week features the splashy new Metro Boomin’ and Future release that’s already causing headlines thanks to a surgical Kendrick Lamar verse (my editor Frazier Tharpe at GQ has a nice breakdown if you’re looking for good context) and, by all accounts, another all-timer from Waxahatchee. Not to mention the imminent St. Vincent and Vampire Weekend albums, both of which arrive before May.
We’ll see if the rest of the year is as fruitful as this period, but I’m already feeling like we’re in a much better spot in 2024 than in 2023. At least when it comes to my tastes.
Wythe Pearlsnaps
Those looking to put a little yee in their haw, clothing-wise, without feeling like they’re doing cowboy cosplay should start with a pearlsnap—specifically, the ones Wythe has a sale on right now. After a fake spring last week, temps hit the floor like Drowning Pool, and I needed just one extra layer this morning. Wythe’s flannel ‘snap is light but still warm and comes in a few different colorways that feel like they’ve lived in your closet for years, like this one below, which just so happens to be the one I have and slipped over a hoodie this morning.
The pearlsnap construction gives a timeless staple like a flannel just the dash of westernwear that fits into anyone’s closet. Wythe’s feel like a steal at full price, let alone on sale.
A Week of Good Trailers
What a week for trailers! Alien: Romulus! House of the Dragon! The Acolyte! Furiosa! Each of these, in their own distinctive way, look good to great, depending upon how you feel. I wrote a little bit about Hot D and The Acolyte for GQ and don’t have many new thoughts to add outside of the fact that it’s just nice to get excited about IP-related stuff when it actually? looks? good?
Out of all of these, I think Furiosa remains my most anticipated. I don’t know how many folks ended up engaging with One Thousand Years of Longing, but I felt it was an excellent follow-up to Fury Road that functioned as a direct, stylish rebuttal to that film while remaining a distinctly Miller film. Furiosa also has Anya Taylor-Joy, one of our best new talents, alongside a seemingly unleashed Chris Hemsworth going full sicko mode. Those reasons alone would be enough to get me in a theater, let alone the fact it’s a Fury Road prequel. Doubt Miller at your own peril.
Snoopy MoonSwatch
Another week, another bit of Snoop news. At long last, we have the release date for the forthcoming Swatch x Omega x Snoopy Mission to Moonphase watch, which is a white-out stunner.
The little Snoopy on the lefthand is a nice and subtle touch and it even glows in the dark. I’m not a huge watch collector (that’s an expensive hobby) but this is the kind of down the middle collaboration more brands should do.
Odds & Ends
The big news I teased last week was this: I made my trade debut over on TheWrap, with this review of X-MEN' 97, which I really enjoyed. I’ve always had it on my list of goals to make it to a trade publication like Variety or The Hollywood Reporter, so landing TheWrap crosses a big one off my long list of achievements. My review was also, uh, the lead-off voiceover quote on this promo about the critical reception to the series. You never write these kinds of things with getting quoted in mind (or you shouldn’t, at least), but it’s a cool surprise when it happens.
Gonna keep it short and simple here and say that I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week. See y’all next time.
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