A pair of Destiny 2 trailers introduce Cayde-6 and Hawthorne

One of the challenges facing Bungie as it prepares to launch Destiny 2 is that it's built upon an extensive, sometimes convoluted lore that some PC gamers—myself included—know absolutely nothing about. (I still think of the two central characters as Blue Man and Browncoat, and if there are more than two central characters, well, that just reinforces my point.) To help close that knowledge gap, the studio has put out a pair of brief videos introducing Cayde-6 and Hawthorne, and it's a good bet that more are on the way.

Yesterday was Cayde-6, the Gunslinger.

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Today, it's Hawthrone, the Sharpshooter.

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(I imagine we'll meet Blue Man—Command Zavala, apparently—very soon.)

The original Destiny grew into a game "that became difficult to recommend," project lead Mark Noseworthy told Rolling Stone. "It got to this point where, you know, your brother-in-law or someone would ask you: 'Hey, should I be playing this Destiny game?' And my first instinct would be like, 'Mmm, I don't know if I've got enough time to carry you for that period of time, where I'm gonna have to explain everything."

That's a shortcoming Bungie aims to address with a more integrated narrative in the sequel. "With the Cabal and the main storyline of the Red War, we're trying to tell a relatable story with memorable characters, where you want to anticipate what's gonna happen next and push the story forward," he said.

Part of making that word is having a "really interesting villain," but that carries risks too. "Are we making him too sympathetic? Are you almost rooting for him? Because at some point, you know, you might fight him. And you've gotta want to win."

Destiny 2 is set to come to the PC on October 24, following a PC open beta from August 29-31 and a September 6 release on consoles. Speaking of which, we recently spent some time with the PS4 version of the game to check out planetary exploration in the European Dead Zone—get our mostly-positive thoughts on the experience here.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.