Promos for Shadowkeep, the upcoming Destiny 2 expansion, have been pretty dour up till now. They’ve mostly focused on spooky ghosts and evil moonie men. The Destiny 2: Shadowkeep launch trailer, however, doubles down on Guardians getting down. It’s one of those trailers what matches the action to the beat of its music. That’s how you know you’re in for a good time. Oh, and there’s a rundown of all the big new features, too.

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You can see the launch trailer yourself up above. If you’re having trouble focusing, though, here are some highlights. We’ve got what sounds like an evil or corrupted Ghost that says “We’ve been waiting…” That’s usually a bad sign, I’d wager, but more things to fight is usually a good thing.

There’s also a big, float-y portal to another dimension at one point. Destiny has kicked around with that idea in the past — via things like the Ascendant Challenge — but this one looks a lot more seamless (and cool). Presumably you will fight even more things once you go through said portal. Speaking of which…

Shadowkeep itself is all about fighting villains from past Destiny expansions and seasons. There’s not a lot of that going on in this launch trailer, though. Instead we see a bit of Crucible shenanigans and Shaxx screaming to the heavens. Bungie clearly knows that its fans want more Shaxx screaming to the heavens (or at least I do). I’m not sure if that’ll be enough to make me crawl back into Crucible to get my ass waxed, though. We’ll just have to wait and see!

Shadowkeep Launch Trailer

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Launch Trailer

In the meantime there are new emotes to taunt with, vehicles to blast away with, and a couple shots of what look like new weapons. At one point we see what looks like some Hive praying to some guns. This is actually how I picture every person still playing Destiny 2 between now and the release of Shadowkeep — just worshiping, arms outstretched, at the altar of RNG that they will get the Exotic drop they want.

Finally, the Shadowkeep launch trailer closes out with the promise that “This is just the beginning.” That seems awfully silly, considering Destiny 2 has been out for over two years, seen three major expansions, and three further “seasonal” updates, but… I kinda get it. This is the first expansion Bungie is making since it wiggled out of its contract with Activision by some dark magic. It probably feels like a new beginning to a lot of the folks involved — longtime fans included.

If I’m being honest, though, I’m a little bit tired of Destiny always promising “This time we really got it right!” I went through the release of The Taken King, Destiny 2, Forsaken, and the switch to the Annual Pass model. The original Destiny came out half a decade ago… I’ve had a ton of fun with it, off an on, ever since! But at a certain point we need to recognize that this is the game that it will always be. Whether you like that or not is up to you!

In the meantime, please enjoy this Shadowkeep launch trailer. The Destiny 2 expansion itself will be available on Oct. 1, 2019. And you can bet your bottom glimmer that Fanbyte will be covering the hell out of it. Stay tuned!

The Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Launch Trailer Focuses on Fun, New Features

Beware the things that go "bop" in the night.

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