BeforeDestinyturned into the science-fantasy space opera that it is today, Bungie, the game’s developer, originally planned for it to be a full-on fantasy. Instead of space ships, planets, and aliens, the game would have wizards, castles, and giant frog monsters. Bungie wanted to go in this direction to do something different fromHalo, the popular space opera it had just finished with. However, the studio’s fascination with the sci-fi genre won out in the end.
Still, concept art exists that shows what the game was supposed to look like as a fantasy, and one of the artists behind the drawings, Jaime Jones, recently shared some of them over on his Twitter page. It’s been a long time since Bungie had the originalDestinyin development, so Jones doesn’t necessarily remember when he created the paintings; his best guess is 2008. Regardless, he shared four images in total, and each paintedDestinyin a much different setting.
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It’s important to note that these images aren’t new — as in this isn’t the first time they’ve appeared online. They originally showed up with many other concept images, like the mentioned giant frog, around a year beforeDestinylaunched. So, if anyone finds them familiar, that’s why. Jones didn’t explain why he decided to personally share them now. Best guess would be simple nostalgia. Again, it has been a long time sinceDestinywas strictly fantasy.
It’s strange to think about whatDestinyandDestiny 2would be like had Bungie decided to stick with their original ideas. As a strict fantasy, the game wouldn’t be able to offer nearly as much as it does right now, and with no guns or space-faring,Destinywould likely play more likeGodfall. It almost wouldn’t really have the choice not to, and it’s safe to assume that wouldn’t be inDestiny’s best interest consideringGodfall’s lukewarm reception.
While aBungie-madeGodfalldoes sound interesting, it’s hard to debate thatDestinywouldn’t have as much inspiration to draw on if it remained only a fantasy. Being the science fantasy that it currently is,Destinycan take the best of both the sci-fi and fantasy genres if it wants to, something it wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. For example, if Bungie ever wanted to return toDestiny’s fantasy roots, it could be simply making one of its planets host the setting. Maybe it will decide to one day.
Destiny 2is on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
