For the first time in the series’ history, Destiny 2 now offers players a choice that could shape the rest of their game. The Allegiance quest, which begins this week, will ask players to choose between the Vanguard and the mysterious Drifter, with potentially far-reaching consequences.
As of yesterday, approaching The Drifter (after having completed the first few steps along the Gambit Prime and Reckoning quests) unlocks a decision point, giving you the option to “turn your back on the Vanguard to stand with the Drifter.”
Bungie says that your decision will have consequences, which for now appear to be limited to “different quest content,” and “different rewards” depending on which route you pick, although siding with The Drifter over The Vanguard will also limit access to a particular lore book. In the long-term, however, it looks as though plenty more is set to change. In a notably Telltale-style take on storytelling, you’re told that “The Drifter will remember your choice,” and that “this choice may impact future content for [your current] character.”
Destiny 2 players are already finding that their choices are impacting on the rest of their game, with Vanguard-aligned players reporting somewhat aggressive voice lines from The Drifter when they load into Gambit Prime.
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Similarly, other Reddit posts are suggesting that the Vanguard are being a little more frosty with you if you side with the lovably roguish Drifter.
Destiny, 2014: "Story is, you're fighting space gods, okay? We don't know. Fuck you."
Destiny, 2019: "You must now decide whether or not to betray the organization you've served for years. This decision will have permanent narrative consequences." pic.twitter.com/4xGmoVPr1F— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 12, 2019
It’s undoubtedly a difficult choice for fans of the series. On the one hand, you’re being asked to turn your back on the organisation that you’ve followed for five years. On the other, The Vanguard has been known to sell you down the river on more than one occasion. And The Drifter seems really cool.
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Of course, the trickier aspect of all this is that we don’t know what the consequences mentioned in that original quest text are, or when we’ll learn more about them. For now though, the greatest challenge will be learning to accept the Guardians who’ve turned their back on your chosen path.