Stellar Blade – Guides Hub
Stellar Blade takes you to the far future, one where humanity has been overrun by a deadly menace. With but a single city left standing, it’s up to the vanguard warriors of the Colony to reclaim the planet. This leads to the introduction of Eve, a heroine who’s more than a match for the deadly challenges thrown her way. She also meets companions, such as the pilot Adam and the engineer Lily. Your goal: see to it that the trio succeeds in their task. Our Stellar Blade guides hub has several articles to help you on your quest.
Stellar Blade guides hub
General guides
Beginner’s guide – We’ve got a bunch of tips for those who are just starting out. We cover basic mechanics, as well as advanced concepts that you’re bound to encounter within the first few hours.
How to fast travel – You’re going to explore several regions, so you might as well have the means to make the journey smoother.
How to change Eve’s hairstyle – You don’t have to stay stuck with the same look, and Eve certainly doesn’t want to have “dull” hair.
Fishing minigame and Fantastic Bait – You can relax a bit by fishing. Still, there are several quests and rewards that await.
Puzzles and progression
Xion: Math puzzles – Someone in humanity’s last city wants you to play the numbers game.
Xion: Lost Ark – A certain sect has a hideout in the city, but you need to look around for the code.
Eidos 7: How to make the flood waters recede – This zone has an area that’s submerged in contaminated water. If you can make the floods recede, then you’ll be able to explore further.
Wasteland: How to access the Forbidden Area – Something sinister lurks at the bottom of this pit.
Stellar Blade has you facing off against vicious Naytiba while trying to figure out your origins. Action, thrills, and a bunch of collectibles await. We’ll add more articles to our Stellar Blade guides hub soon, so stay tuned.
Stellar Blade – How To Change Eve’s Hairstyle
Stellar Blade stars Eve, who, like her comrades from the Colony, is called an Angel. Still, there’s one fella who’s not that impressed. Help him out, and you can change our heroine’s looks. Here’s our guide on how to change Eve’s hairstyle in Stellar Blade.
How to change Eve’s hairstyle in Stellar Blade
To change Eve’s hairstyle in Stellar Blade, you need to complete a quest called First Customer. Here’s a quick summary:
- The quest comes from Kasim, a resident of Xion. After you’ve finished chatting with Orcal in the Presence Chamber, you should see several quest markers on your map.
- Kasim is in the salon, which is right along the main street that leads to the plaza. Talk to him, and he’ll remark that Eve’s hair is actually “dull,” as though it’s missing glamor or flair.
- You’re then given the First Customer quest, which tasks you with finding items for Kasim: Scissors, Dryer, and Straightener. These can be obtained in the Wasteland’s Junkyard area.
How to complete the First Customer quest
The quest is relatively straightforward, though there are a few caveats:
- When you first visit the Wasteland, all camps and waypoints aren’t working. That’s because you need to repair the Solar Tower. Make sure you complete that objective to make exploration easier.
- The Junkyard is in the eastern portion of the Wasteland, and it’s fairly close to the Forbidden Area.
- Ensure the First Customer quest is being tracked and you scan the vicinity using your drone. Soon enough, you should be able to spot the quest items.
Upon obtaining all three items, return to Kasim to receive the following rewards: 700x Gold, 50x Polymer Material, and 15x Advanced Polymer Material.
Choosing a new hairstyle
With the quest done and over with, you should now be able to choose from 13 hairstyles. Most of these require the following materials just to unlock: Polymer Material, Advanced Polymer Material, and Extreme Polymer Material. Don’t fret if you don’t have a lot of these resources early in the campaign, as you’re bound to amass a lot in due course. Moreover, you can purchase these from Kaya at the Sisters Junk shop by spending gold.
Note that you can also change the hair color, though only a select few are available depending on the hairstyle that you pick. The good news is that altering hair color (for the same hairstyle) doesn’t cost anything.
In any case, this is how you change Eve’s hairstyle in Stellar Blade. Since you’re trying to yassify our heroine even further, we suggest obtaining all nano suits and outfits for her.
Stellar Blade has you facing off against vicious Naytiba, all while trying to figure out your origins. Action, thrills, and a bunch of collectibles/unlockables await. For more tips, you can visit our guides hub.
Stellar Blade – How To Access The Forbidden Area
There are many locations that you get to visit in Stellar Blade. One location can be reached as you’re free-roaming in the Wastelands, although nothing seems to be there. Well, you’re going to be in for a treat. Here’s our guide on how to access the Wasteland Forbidden Area in Stellar Blade.
How to access the Wasteland Forbidden Area in Stellar Blade
The Forbidden Area is in the eastern part of the Wasteland. There’s a ruined building nearby, which even has a Beta Core upgrade. However, looking to your left, you should see a rope that lets you descend down a narrow pathway. Be careful when traversing this section, as there’s a steep drop and Eve could die from fall damage.
If you visit this place early in the campaign, you won’t be able to find anything save for a Cryo the Clear collectible. It’s as though you wasted your trip.
The Life of Scavengers quest
However, if you want to find out what’s in the Forbidden Area in Stellar Blade, you just need to start a quest called Life of the Scavengers. Here’s a quick summary:
- The quest comes from Cyrus, the masked man on the steps leading to Enya’s and Su’s bar in Xion.
- The quest became available in our campaign when we finished the main objectives in the Wasteland’s Altess Levore area.
- Note that we’re unable to confirm if other side quests are prerequisites.
The Brute Naytiba and the Sporty Yellow outfit
In any case, with the quest active, make your way back down the pit. When you approach the metal gates, the Brute boss will emerge. Watch out for notable attacks like hammering blows, leaping smashes, and magma explosions.
Upon defeating the Brute, you may loot the items in the tunnel. This includes:
- Perfect Combat Gear – Increases your attack power if HP is high.
- Damaged Weapon Core – You can exchange two of these with D1G-g2r to receive an actual Weapon Core. It can then be used to boost Eve’s attack power permanently.
- Sporty Yellow – This is one of Eve’s outfits.
- Tommy’s Testament – This data slate contains a passcode for Tommy’s locker in Xion.
Tommy’s locker
Return to Xion and go to the place with the Sisters Junk shop. Off to the side, you’ll see a metal container. Enter the passcode from Tommy’s data slate to unlock it. The chest contains several upgrade materials, including some Extreme Nano Elements.
This is how you unlock the Forbidden Area in Stellar Blade. If you’re looking for hidden areas that you can access as you progress through the campaign, you probably want to check out how to make the flood waters recede in Eidos 7.
Stellar Blade has you facing off against vicious Naytiba, all while trying to figure out your origins. Action, thrills, and a bunch of collectibles/unlockables await. For more tips, you can visit our guides hub.
28 Years Later Adds Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, And Aaron Taylor-Johnson To Cast – Report
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s upcoming zombie movie 28 Years Later has made significant progress this year. In addition to finding a home with Sony, the film has reportedly found its lead actors.
According to a Deadline report, the upcoming zombie movie will have Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in prominent roles. All of these actors have starred in various high-profile movies. For example, Taylor-Johnson recently starred in The Fall Guys, while Comer appeared in 2023’s Napoleon and Fiennes in 2022’s The Menu.
The Deadline report explains that Boyle is set to direct the first film written by Garland, while Nia DaCosta, the director of 2021’s Candyman, will handle the film’s sequel. As of now, the plan is to shoot both movies back-to-back. Other than that, not much is known about the movie’s overall plot.
In addition to working closely on the first film, Boyle and Garland will produce 28 Years Later with Bernie Bellew alongside the movie’s original producers, Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice. Cillian Murphy will also return to the franchise as an executive producer, though it’s unclear if he’ll star in it, too.
For more movie news, check out our story detailing Nicholas Hoult’s advice to Anya Taylor-Joy for Furiosa.
General Grievous Strikes In Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire’s First Clip
Lucasfilm is celebrating this year’s Star Wars Day by releasing all six episodes of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, a thematic follow-up to 2022’s Tales of the Jedi. While Tales of the Jedi followed Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku’s respective rise and fall, Tales of the Empire presents fans with two women on darker paths: Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) and former Jedi Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger). But in the first preview scene from the series, Morgan finds herself in almost a heroic role as she goes up against General Grievous (Matthew Wood).
In Star Wars: The Clone Wars and in Revenge of the Sith, Grievous was a Kaleesh cyborg who was taught how to effectively wield multiple lightsabers by Count Dooku. Several Jedi died at Grievous’ hands, which is why Morgan and her fellow Nightsisters are so overwhelmed in their battle against him.
Inosanto originated the role of Morgan Elsbeth in The Mandalorian Season 2, when she was revealed to be an associate of Grand Admiral Thrawn. She reprised her role in the Ahsoka series last year. Morgan’s side of Tales of the Empire will presumably reveal how she ended up in Thrawn’s service.
Barriss Offee’s episodes of Tales of the Empire will depict her training to become one of the Inquisitors who hunted down the Jedi. In The Clone Wars, Barriss was one of Ahsoka’s best friends, before she betrayed her and the Jedi Order. Perhaps we’ll get to see Barriss and Ahsoka face off one more time in this series for some resolution of their conflict.
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is set to be released on May 4 on Disney+.
X-Men ’97 Reveals Theo James’ Mystery Role
Before the premiere of X-Men ’97, it was announced that Theo James, the star of Netflix’s The Gentlemen, would provide the voice of “a fan-favorite character” on the series. And during the events of this week’s episode, “Bright Eyes,” James’ role was finally revealed to fans… and his importance to the remaining episodes of Season 1 may have been underplayed by X-Men ’97’s creative team.
Warning: the following contains spoilers from the latest episode of X-Men ’97 on Disney+. If you haven’t seen the installment or don’t want to know what happens, stop reading now.
Sharp-eyed viewers may have caught a glimpse of James’ character in the fourth episode, “Lifedeath 1,” when he appeared in a picture on Forge’s wall. But now, Bastion stands revealed as the true mastermind behind the mutant massacre on Genosha, as well as Operation: Zero Tolerance, an initiative that has created advanced human Sentinels.
In the comics, Bastion was the fusion of Master Mold and Nimrod after they were forced through a mystical object called the Siege Perilous. When Bastion returned to Earth in a human body, he launched the Prime Sentinel program and systematically targeted the X-Men and their allies. That history is seemingly repeating itself on the show, although Bastion’s alliance with Mister Sinister is new.
The seventh episode confirmed that Gambit died during the assault on Genosha, but it also revealed that Magneto survived and is now a prisoner of Bastion. Additionally, Bastion now has proof that the X-Men lied about Charles Xavier’s death, and he may use that to discredit them before unleashing his “masterpiece” against them.
X-Men ’97’s three-part season finale, “Tolerance is Extinction,” will begin on Wednesday, May 1.
Embracer’s Name Is Going Away, CEO Denies It’s Due To Backlash And Controversy
Video game giant Embracer won’t have that name for much longer. As part of the company’s recent announcement that it’s splitting into three distinct companies, the Swedish giant also confirmed that the name Embracer is going away.
Current Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors told GI.biz that he will create a new holding company for which he will serve as the majority shareholder for all three companies. The name of this overarching company has not been confirmed yet, however, nor do we know when the name Embracer might go away for good.
Wingefors denied that he’s dumping the Embracer name to distance himself and the company in general from the controversy surrounding the outfit after its decision to lay off 1,400 people, cancel more than two-dozen games, and close studios.
“Not at all. These name changes are strategic decisions aimed at allowing each new entity to develop its own unique brand identity, tailored to its specific business focus and to maximize its potential in the market,” he said. Wingefors previously said he deserves criticism for what happened at Embracer.
Embracer is splitting into three companies: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain and Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises and Friends. For the latter two, these are only temporary names, with official titles to be revealed later.
Wingefors also clarified another key point of Embracer’s announcement, which was that it had lined up €900 million from a group of banks. That money is close to the amount of debt moving from Embracer to Asmodee. Embracer chose Asmodee to assign the debt to because the banks believed its business–tabletop games–are far more secure than video games.
“The banks love Asmodee; they know the company has been highly leveraged on their private equity ownership for more than a decade,” Wingefors said. “That amount is basically paying down the debt–not all, but most of the debt–in the remaining Embracer Group, meaning Coffee Stain & Friends and Middle-Earth & Friends. Basically, we are in a much better position from a balance sheet perspective today.”
Wingefors said the financial market in general does not enjoy the “volatility” of the AAA games space.
In February this year, Embracer disclosed that it canceled 29 unannounced games and laid off nearly 1,400 people in the previous six months as part of its previously announced restructuring effort.
Embracer made these drastic cuts in part due to a major deal falling through at the 11th hour, which has subsequently been revealed to be a pact with Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games. Embracer previously took $1 billion from Saudi Arabia and defended that decision when people criticized Saudi Arabia’s position on human rights.
Anya Taylor-Joy Shares The Advice Nicholas Hoult Gave Her For Furiosa
Later this year, Anya Taylor-Joy will take on the role of a young Furiosa, the role first played by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road. Before Taylor-Johnson joined Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, though, she turned to her friend and co-star in The Menu, Nicholas Hoult, who appeared in Fury Road nearly a decade ago.
“These movies are big, colossal beasts, and it’s a type of filmmaking where it’s all stitched together so surgically that you can feel a bit lost in it,” Taylor-Joy told Total Film. When she went to Hoult, he gave her a direct piece of advice: “trust George.”
Director George Miller created the Mad Max franchise in 1979, and his comeback in Fury Road was hailed as one of the best action movies of all-time. To better understand Miller’s world, Taylor-Joy added that she “would watch the first 10 minutes of Fury Road over and over again.”
Taylor-Joy has previously spoken about a 15-minute action sequence in Furiosa that took 78 days to shoot. But according to the actress, the entire scene was pivotal to her character’s evolution.
“George and I would have these big conversations about why this particular set-piece was so long,” said Taylor-Joy. “It’s because you see an accumulation of skills over the course of a battle, and that’s very important for understanding how resourceful Furiosa is, but also her grit. It’s the longest sequence any of us have ever shot.”
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will hit theaters on Friday, May 15.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Lets You Select Classic Suit Variants Again Thanks To New Patch
A patch for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 mistakenly removed the option to use Classic Suit variants in the game. After reports from the community, developer Insomniac Games has released a new patch, version 1.002.004 to be exact, which addresses this specific issue.
The issue was fairly self-explanatory. Users over at Reddit quickly found out they were unable to use Classic Suit variants last week after the release of version 1.0002.003. The official Instagram account replied to a comment on April 18 saying the team was aware and looking into the issue.
That previous version was focused mostly on addressing stability fixes and reported bugs from the community, including an issue where masks and lenses on certain suits would appear wavy, or how an orb of light would appear on Peter’s Iron Spider Suit. They’re definitely pretty to look at, but suits sure carry their singular tech intricacies.
Both of these patches follow upon a big update for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 back on March 7, which added new game plus, ultimate levels, gold gadgets, mission replay, and more. The Classic Suit variants were fine by then, but an accidental debug menu managed to snuck itself in, revealing potential DLC in the process.
How The Intricate, Secret-Packed Destiny 2 Collector’s Editions Are Made
Lots of games are released with collector’s editions, but few are as involved as those that accompany Destiny 2 expansions. The universe of Bungie’s shooter MMO is incredibly dense and has seen reams of lore and tons of secrets come and go over its 10-year history. With its collector’s editions, Bungie translates a lot of the experience of uncovering Destiny’s story and unlocking its secrets into physical objects. A Destiny 2 collector’s edition doesn’t just come with a statue of some real-world version of an in-game object you can put on your desk–it’s also usually full of lore, mysteries, and puzzles that offer extra rewards and a deeper understanding of the game world.
With the collector’s edition for The Final Shape, the next big Destiny 2 expansion and the culmination of the last 10 years of its story, Bungie looked forward at what’s coming in the story–the final confrontation with the Witness, the story’s ultimate villain, inside the ever-present god-like robot, the Traveler. But it also looked backward to the original Destiny and how far players have come. The package includes items that fit both themes. There’s the Entelechy lore book, a compilation of pieces of information about the Witness compiled by Eido, an Eliksni scribe who was a big part of one of the seasonal stories last year. And there’s an autograph book signed by and full of well-wishes from various in-game characters, some of whom have only appeared in deep-cut lore entries.
The centerpiece of The Final Shape Collector’s Edition is a replica of the first Destiny’s social space, the Tower, which is a real-life version of a replica statue seen in-game in the office of Commander Zavala. It also features three small figurines that represent the three leaders of the Vanguard: Zavala, Ikora Rey, and Cayde-6.
The Final Shape Collector’s Edition, as with the others Bungie has designed, is a collaboration between several different teams, as Bungie Consumer Products director Katie Lennox explained in an email interview with GameSpot. The Consumer Products team takes the lead and consults with developers from other disciplines, including the creative, narrative, game design, and marketing teams, she said. A number of the people from those teams responded via email to GameSpot’s questions about how collector’s editions come to be.
“Each collector’s edition must be grounded in the release’s overarching narrative storyline,” Lennox explained. “Because of our product development timelines, this means we are engaging with the development teams very early in their processes to understand the creative and narrative goals of the game content and to identify unique and compelling opportunities for collectibles that we think would delight our fans.”
Collector’s editions are major undertakings, she said, and can take more than a year to complete. Because of the long lead time, the Consumer Products team is always working on at least one.
“The process for any product, including a collector’s edition, starts with the game,” said Alex Dixon, senior manager of Product Development. “For some products, our team already knows the character or in-game content that we’re basing it off of really well. Other products might be based off new, unreleased content. Regardless, we always revisit our digital world and get in the weeds with the digital assets and the greater narrative surrounding them to make sure that we are keeping every detail in mind for the final product.
“Next, we think about the medium we’re translating this digital item to. Some items are a more direct translation, like realistic statues; for others, like plush, a design has to be adapted to the type of product. The materials, colors, and manufacturing techniques all play a part in helping the product feel as accurate as possible to the in-game version. Finally, we sample the product based off the design we’ve created, tweaking and adjusting where needed to get to a final product the team is proud of.”
The biggest part of The Final Shape Collector’s Edition is its Tower replica, which is more than just an ornament for a desk or a shelf. Switch it on, and it lights up and plays sounds that issued from the public address system while you were hanging out there in the game.
The Tower is one of a few items Bungie has produced that uses near-field communication (NFC) to hide extra secrets. Placing the figurines on top of the Tower, alone or in different combinations, while it’s switched to “scanning mode” causes it to play voice lines from the original game.
The NFC capability also hides a fun mystery. When you open the collector’s edition box, you’re only presented with two figurines, even though the package was marketed with three. Placing the Zavala figurine in a specific spot on the Tower opens up a hidden compartment to reveal the Cayde-6 figurine.
NFC was also a major part of The Witch Queen Collector’s Edition, which included both a replica of a Hive Ghost from within the game, and an object called a Psychometer that was designed to read the resonance of certain items. Tuning the Psychometer while certain collector’s edition items were placed on top of it would produce different sounds, which gave story hints about the expansion. It gave the sense of uncovering secrets in the same way that characters used to conduct their investigation in the expansion.
“Our team has really enjoyed playing with NFC and working this technology into special interactions between items that ship in the contents of a collector’s edition,” Hausermann said. “We are always trying to figure out interesting ways to delight our players and include some secrets to solve or bring something exciting and new to the product.”
A chance to tell stories
Something that elevates Destiny 2 collector’s editions beyond those of other games is the way they add to the overall story told in the game and lore. Most of them have included their own dedicated, printed lore books, with stories that build on whatever’s happening in the expansion with which they’re paired. The lore book that came with the Shadowkeep Collector’s Edition dealt heavily with a strange alien artifact that had been discovered on the moon in Destiny 2’s distant past, for example. The Beyond Light Collector’s Edition included a journal penned by Clovis Bray, a character who previously appeared heavily in the lore and who was central to the expansion’s new location, Europa.
For The Final Shape, Bungie used the collector’s edition to fill in some backstory about the Witness. Its lore book, “Entelechy,” was created specifically for the collector’s edition, narrative designer Lynne Qui said, rather than being something repurposed from elsewhere in Destiny 2.
“The creative brief was to write a series of entries looking at the Witness’s backstory and motivations, along with a vague suggestion that it might be written by Eido,” Qui said. “While we had a locked-down concept of what the Witness was and how it came to be, I had a lot of freedom to explore what came before, and how its past affects its present. Nothing critical will ever be exclusive to a collector’s edition lore book to avoid locking players out of important story beats. So, while reading the collector’s edition lore book may offer deeper insight and personal stories, it’s supplemental reading, rather than required!”
There’s also something of a concern about including spoilers in the story told in these packages, senior narrative designer Hannah Filipski said. While The Final Shape doesn’t release until June 4, the collector’s editions are already in players’ hands, and it’s usually the case that many will receive the packages well before they have a chance to actually play the game and encounter the story naturally.
While the collector’s editions don’t include any story that’s drastically important for players to understand what’s happening in the game, they do provide opportunities for Bungie to dig deeper into some of the deeper ideas and themes at play in the story in lore.
“I think there’s always more stories that we want to tell than could possibly fit in any one place, and the collector’s editions are a great place for in-depth explorations of really deeply philosophical stuff,” narrative designer Johannah O’Halloran added.
Memory lane
While The Final Shape Collector’s Edition adds to The Final Shape by providing a better understanding of the Witness as a character, much of the package is more nostalgic, with a focus on the original Destiny and the familiar locations players have spent time in over the last 10 years. In addition to the Tower replica, there’s the autograph book, which features personal messages from several Destiny 2 characters. There are also coupons for the Tower’s iconic spicy ramen restaurant, a place players pass by frequently and the location of several story moments in the lore, and even a few Polaroid photos Eido snapped while searching for information about the Witness.
The decision to look back at Destiny 2 wasn’t a matter of worrying about spoiling what was to come, Filipski said, but of getting across the feeling that the upcoming mission has incredibly high stakes for everyone players have met in the game.
“The more powerful driver to lean towards nostalgia was that the Vanguard had no idea what was going to happen once they went through the portal [into the Traveler],” Filipski said. “It’s fair to say that this is the kind of mission someone goes into expecting they won’t come back from it. While developing the collector’s edition, we focused on how the people of The Last City and of Sol would express their appreciation for those going on the most dangerous mission with the absolute highest of stakes. We wanted players to feel immersed while reading through the autograph book, seeing Eido’s bad selfie, flipping through ramen tickets and other ephemera–to feel how everyday citizens see their Guardian’s heroic acts. It’s something we don’t often get to explore in the game but appealed to the Narrative team in a deeply personal way.”
Destiny 2 collector’s editions always have what feels like a personal link to its characters. Often, they include messages “written” by key figures for an expansion–The Final Shape’s kicks off with a letter written by Eido, and past expansions have included personal messages and journals from series mainstays like Ikora and Eris Morn.
The autograph book in The Final Shape’s physical package takes that feeling a step further. To capture the feeling that Eido was wandering around the Tower, talking to important people, Bungie delved pretty deep into the lore. Characters who have only ever appeared in the text of lore books or in weapon descriptions are present within it, helping to give a sense of the breadth of Destiny 2’s world, even if many of these characters have never appeared on screen. As to how the team chose which characters would appear in the autograph book, O’Halloran said the process encompassed both early plans from the team and some ideas that popped up as the book was being conceived.
“From the beginning we wanted to pull from a wide range of character sources, and we wanted there to be fun little surprises–people you might not expect to hear from, or who might only have been in one or two lore tabs, alongside fan favorites that we knew for sure would be welcomed,” O’Halloran said. “The first thing I did after I understood the scope was run to the rest of the team asking for a wishlist of unusual characters they would want to hear from, and it was a really broad list! That’s something I love about Destiny, that there’s something interesting in our lore for everyone. Even the characters who haven’t shown up much have some dedicated fans out there somewhere.
“Once I had a list of characters who might appear in the book, I came up with ways they might run into Eido. (And double-checked with our historian to make sure I wasn’t resurrecting anyone by accident!) As I was going through the list and writing out messages, even more possibilities came up organically–sparked by design conversations with team members–or ways that characters might interact.”
Making the game world feel real
The autograph book, however, goes even further to make Destiny 2 lore characters feel realistic, and their relationship with the player somewhat more personal. It’s not just a series of text messages that characters have left behind; it’s made to look as though each character actually signed the book. It includes visual elements that imagine what the characters’ handwriting might look like or what flourishes they might have left on the page. In the case of non-human characters, there are other elements left behind in the book, as well.
“I absolutely loved working on the lore and autograph books for this collector’s edition because it really was this wonderfully collaborative process where one person’s idea would inspire another person’s and that person’s ideas would spark something in someone else and so on,” Consumer Products visual designer Jordan Dalgarn said. “It led to fun questions of, ‘How would a member of Caiatl’s mighty Cabal actually go about signing such a small book?’ ‘What does this character’s handwriting look like?’ ‘What would so-and-so say here?'”
The book is supposed to be a sort of thank-you from the people of The Last City, who players work to protect as part of Destiny 2’s story. As such, it includes a series of drawings of Guardians, ostensibly done by children who live there.
Dalgarn and Consumer Products development manager Chris Hausermann confirmed the drawings in The Final Shape Collector’s Edition really were made by kids–the developers’ kids, in fact.
“Yes, pretty much all of those kids’ drawings were done by the children of Bungie employees,” Hausermann said. “A couple of my son’s drawings from elementary school are in there. Even the paw prints of my cat (Duchess Henrietta Pickypants) found their way into the book.”
“It was just a ton of fun to collab over and it was also just so heartfelt every step of the way,” Dalgarn continued. “The autograph book, in particular, is meant to inspire our Guardians on this epic journey into the unknown, so everything we put into this book had to come from the heart. I know everyone involved poured themselves into it; not only to narratively support and rally behind our Guardians as they prepare to face arguably their greatest foe, but also to celebrate and champion our community and our journey together with the players.”
More than meets the eye
The autograph book is a fun visual element that calls back lots of Destiny 2’s deep story elements, but it’s more than just a cute nostalgia trip–like the Tower replica, it hides secrets of its own.
Secrets, in fact, are among the most compelling parts of a Destiny collector’s edition, and they’re often hidden behind puzzles players have to solve. Some of those puzzles are relatively minor and easy, and every collector’s edition includes a few that hide redeemable codes for in-game emblems. Others are so complex, they require the cooperation of a huge part of the Destiny 2 community.
“The puzzles must be extensions of this rich world, its characters, factions, and secrets. With that in mind, we brainstorm various ways to tie these puzzles to objects that feel as though they fell right out of the game world and into our players’ hands,” Dalgarn explained.
Engineering director Michael Williams works on Bungie’s Central Technology team most of the time, but he has a “sideline” working on designing collector’s edition puzzles.
“For emblem puzzles, we want them to be a fun discovery process that a single person could do or describe to a friend in a single sentence,” Williams said. “We want these puzzles to feel as ‘in-universe’ as possible, so it’s important to make them fit thematically, and even think about who might be embedding the codes. Puzzles related to Clovis Bray should feel different than something from Ikora.
“One extra challenge is that emblem codes are essentially random strings of numbers and letters, so fitting them naturally into the collector’s edition content can be difficult. Early on, we chat about materials available, locations we could work puzzles in, and non-puzzle imagery the collector’s edition might include. I take that and draft up four to five ‘programmer art’ versions of puzzles we could integrate, and the group talks through them. Then the team takes that art and makes it look incredible. In some cases, they take the ideas to amazing places–in the latest collector’s edition, the artist turned an idea for a robot pawprint into an incredible maze. In at least one case, the team took my art as-is, because they felt it fit the feel of the character!”
Some collector’s edition puzzles have gotten incredibly complex, however. For Shadowkeep, the collector’s edition included a sort of puzzle box called a Cryptoglyph, which could be opened like a combination lock using clues hidden within the package. Inside was a piece of paper directing players to a website, where they could access a tiny sliver of an image. By all sharing the images they found, the Destiny 2 community was able to stitch those slivers together to reveal an entire additional lore book related to the expansion. Williams said that particular puzzle was one of his favorites.
“For more complex online puzzles, I try to think about how the community will participate,” Williams said. “I like to think about it as a giant jigsaw puzzle, where everyone has a piece to provide, even if they don’t know how to assemble it. Our community is brilliant, and you can give them almost any near-impossible challenge and they will solve it.”
“We put a lot of work and love into the lore book and the autograph book to help convey that connection between the characters of the game and the player,” said Dalgarn. “Smudges and intentional little imperfections in a character’s handwriting all lend to that and help us deliver these puzzles in such a way that aims to pull the player into the game without them ever needing to fire up their console or PC. We always want the puzzles to be challenging but rewarding, so we do what we can to deliver visual clues or hints to help guide players without outright giving them the answers.”
In a lot of ways, Destiny and Destiny 2’s collector’s editions have grown with the game as Bungie has dialed in exactly what Destiny is. They weren’t always quite so involved or complex, but as the game has grown to encompass deeper stories, more fleshed-out characters, and greater mysteries, so have the physical packages evolved to follow suit. The collector’s editions have changed to bring more life to the game, in many cases physically manifesting things that have only existed on the screens and imaginations of players and developers.
“There’s something magical about holding something that you’ve experienced only digitally for a long time,” Dixon said. “The Consumer Products team has a very fun job, but we take it seriously. We want our players to feel that all of our products authentically express the digital world and characters that they have come to love.”