Destiny 2's Japanese live action trailer is an incredible fever dream dance party

Last week, the first live action trailer for Destiny 2 came out and I didn't hate it, which surprised me because almost all live action trailers for videogames are god awful. But, shucks, now I hate the US live action trailer because the Japanese take is fucking incredible. Yeah, I just cussed in the first paragraph. It's that good.

Here's the brief, in case three minutes is too much time to gamble with. Adults in fancy guardian cosplay have a dance-off, one-upping each other by busting out their supers abilities, glow sticks, and a soccer ball. On first watch, it's absurd, but then the realization creeps in. 

Destiny 2 isn't really about mild space drama and 'saving the puppies'—it's about using your dance emote whenever it's the least appropriate. It's about using the best dance emote animation in videogames to communicate with strangers in an abandoned industrial lot (metaphor for life) and to enjoy the abandoned industrial lot despite how abandoned and industrial it is. It's about looking Ghaul in his weird Bane face and working it.

Destiny 2 is out now on consoles and Tim thinks it's an incremental, worthwhile improvement on the first game, but while you wait until the October 24 PC release date, you can dream about how nice your dance moves will look in our complete performance analysis

James Davenport

James is stuck in an endless loop, playing the Dark Souls games on repeat until Elden Ring and Silksong set him free. He's a truffle pig for indie horror and weird FPS games too, seeking out games that actively hurt to play. Otherwise he's wandering Austin, identifying mushrooms and doodling grackles. 

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