With only a few weeks away from the release of Destiny 2: Lightfall, we’re excited to announce that starting today, the critically acclaimed Beyond Light expansion is available to PlayStation Plus members until March 6. This primer will help Guardians prepare for Lightfall by getting the most out of Beyond Light’s Stasis subclass, powerful Exotics, and more.

Not only does Beyond Light unlock an entire frost-themed subclass called Stasis, the expansion also includes a thrilling campaign filled with ice-cold cosmetics, Legendary gear, and powerful Exotic armor and weapons.

Wield Powerful Weapons

Weapons like No Time to Explain, the Exotic Pulse Rifle belonging to the iconic time-traveling Stranger.

No Time to Explain: Precision hits and hits against enemies affected by Stasis will return ammo to the magazine. Stack this effect to summon a portal which will fire bullets from an alternate timeline of the weapon.

And because of how Destiny 2 enables you to increase the strength of the weapons and armor you collect, the gear you love in Beyond Light can be as powerful as you want it to be as you embark on your Lightfall adventure. That means you can immediately start building your Guardian into a frost-slinging monster-shattering machine that will leave the Tormentors on Neptune shivering in their boots.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; Lightfall doesn’t launch until February 28. Today we’re heading to Europa, a cold and treacherous moon of Jupiter. So, let’s start with the power that Eramis, the Kell of Darkness, is chasing—the same power you’ll be mastering as you play through the campaign.

The First Darkness Subclass: Stasis

Beyond Light is significant for several reasons, but first and foremost, it marked the first time a new subclass was added to the original trio of Arc, Solar, and Void. And it’s the only subclass that draws its power from the Darkness as opposed to the Light. Diving into Beyond Light today is your opportunity to get a head start with Stasis in preparation for the threats of Lightfall.

At its core, Stasis is a power that unlocks the ability for Guardians to slow, freeze, and shatter their foes; and each class gets their own way to wield the new element:

Warlock Shadebinder: The Shadebinder can summon a Stasis staff that fires projectiles which can freeze opponents, immediately rendering them immobile. Their Penumbral Blast melee is a quick burst of Stasis energy that erupts from the staff and instantly freezes anyone it hits.

Hunter Revenant: They can’t kill what they can’t hit. Hunters use the power of Stasis to slow down foes, doubling their effectiveness on the battlefield. The Hunter’s Super features a pair of Kama blades which explode when thrown at opponents, summoning a Stasis storm that chases down stragglers.  

Titan Behemoth: If getting up close and personal with the bad guys sounds like your style, may we introduce you to the Titan Behemoth? The Behemoth takes the most direct route to conflict resolution: forming a massive Stasis crystal gauntlet around their fist and punching their way to peace.  

Destination: Europa

It’s on Jupiter’s moon of Europa that you’ll uncover Stasis as well as Eramis, the Kell of Darkness, and her Fallen army. As you play through Beyond Light’s story, you’ll discover her motives and a dark plot unfolding right at humanity’s doorstep.

In addition to the campaign which will take you all across Europa, through Empire Hunts and Exo Challenges, there’s also a new three-player strike and six-player raid.

The Glassway: Within the Asterion Abyss on Europa lies a Braytech facility holding a unique Vex portal. Eramis has ventured here intending to use this long-dormant gateway for an unknown purpose.

Deep Stone Crypt: Deep beneath the surface of Europa lies a facility created during the Golden Age. The knowledge of what it holds was lost to time… until now. Something within this hidden cavern whispers to Eramis. As she struggles to gain access, Guardians will intervene, and in the process, learn the dark truth about what happened here.

Up for the challenge? Ready to stand face to face with the power that whispers to you from the dark cold wasteland? Then we should probably upgrade your weapons and armor…

Exotic Power

From a Sniper Rifle that summons lightning to Warlock gauntlets that corrupt enemies with poison, here’s a look at three of the over ten new Exotics you can start collecting today for your mission to Neomuna in Lightfall.

Cloudstrike: Precision final blows will generate lightning bolts at the target location. Rapid precision shots will summon an entire storm at the point of impact.

Necrotic Grip: Melee attacks corrupt combatants with increasing damage over time. Defeating a corrupted combatant spreads the corruption to nearby targets and restores melee energy.

The Lament: Block with The Lament to rev the blade, then shred through shielded combatants. At its peak, damaging a combatant will heal the wielder.

Some Exotics (like Necrotic Grip) are so powerful that you can create entirely new builds around them, and others easily slot into whatever playstyle you’re into at the moment.

Beyond Lightfall

This is all just the tip of the iceberg. Once Lightfall launches and introduces the world to Strand (Destiny’s second Darkness subclass—that has a grappling hook, by the way), you’ll have brand new ways to approach Europa with a completely different build. Including mixing and matching Beyond Light Exotics with Strand abilities and vice versa.

Just imagine suspending enemies with Strand and revving up your Lament for a power attack, or freezing a Tormentor in its tracks with Stasis. Once you’re a grappling-hook pro, how cool would it be to fly through the platforming sections of the Deep Stone Crypt using Strand? The possibilities are only limited by your creativity.

In fact, you should probably just keep track of everything you think a grappling hook would be cool to shoot at.

Destiny 2: Beyond Light is available for all PlayStation Plus members to redeem until March 6, 2023, and keep for the life of their membership. It requires the base Destiny 2 game to play, but the good thing is that it’s available with no additional charge from PlayStation Store.*

Download and start playing today. We hope you enjoy your time on Europa and get ready for the next chapter coming in Lightfall. Our end is just beginning, and humanity needs every available Guardian to answer the call.

*PlayStation Plus membership may be required to access some features.

Feel-good gem Garden of the Sea combines world exploration with farming, creativity and much more. If you are looking for progression and adventure, you will find it. If you are looking for relaxation, stay where you are and let the world gently take its course. The wholesome game launches on PlayStation VR2 February 22.

Make gardens and craft everything you might want to customize them, from bamboo, coral, woods, stone, plant parts, and more.

• Pet and feed the many kinds of animals with homegrown veggies and cuddle their babies
• Expand and decorate your home by crafting items, furniture and paint
• Go fishing for new friends to hang out in your pond
• Take your boat for a ride to discover new land and environment types
• No violence – all tend and befriend
• Complete quests to unravel each island’s hidden mystery

Play Video

Garden of the Sea invites you to head out across the ocean as playful sea creatures swim along, to discover new land and treasures, make a home and fill it with the best of the best from your adventures.

Meet the developers

Linnéa, Christoffer and Flippy of Neat Corporation.

We spoke to two of the developers: Art Director Christoffer Svenningsson and Artist Filip “Flippy” Tengwall.

What led up to the start of Garden of the Sea’s development?

Christoffer: I had been wanting to make a specific type of game for a long time, like a more fantasy version of Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon. Something bright, imaginative and wholesome with lots of creativity, farming and places to explore. On a boat!

Flippy: It’s a genre a lot of us at Neat enjoy playing ourselves so when we heard the idea it was easy for the mind to go “What if this in VR?”

Christoffer: As the idea caught on we found ourselves sneaking in work on Garden of the Sea even while the first Budget Cuts game was still in production. It lay in the pipeline for a long time so the concept got to evolve slowly and organically while we explored as many of our ideas as possible. It was just a lot of fun to work on and a relaxing contrast to the dark corridors of Budget Cuts, so it was hard to stop ourselves. Someone snapped a photo of me during a break just lying on a pouf playing GotS like a happy loaf of man with a huge smile on my face. That one’s definitely found its way onto our instagram at some point.

What was the core of what you wanted to create?

Christoffer: The original pitch is actually quite different from what the final game ended up being, even though much of it’s still in there. I wanted to explore a world that feels familiar at some levels but still different from everyday life. From the beginning we were toying with many ideas, like  the islands floating in the sky and exploring them on an airship but in the end we landed (no pun intended) with the boat in an archipelago. We hadn’t seen much of animals in VR, so the care-taking aspect was also new for us to explore. There aren’t many VR farm-simulation games in general. Coupled with that we felt that these types of games were the most interesting to us personally, we got really excited about the project. I’ve been following this genre for a long time so as a fan it felt very natural to bring it to the VR scene. And it turned out that it works really well.

I can confess I played Stardew Valley the first time when on sick leave for insomnia and stress, and for a while it was the only way I could find a sense of relaxation to pass the time when I was too exhausted to do much else. And as I read some Garden of the Sea player reviews I came across a few that mentioned mental health and how Garden of the Sea has helped them in various aspects of their lives.

Flippy: From the top of my head there is a fairly recent review that mentions feeling less lonely when playing. It reminded me of when the pandemic hit. We had the game open for purchase and playing to collect feedback from players before we finally made an official release in January 2022. There were obviously a lot of unknowns and fear in general society and we were all working from home, as most people who could were. We kept in contact with the player community for feedback and a lot of people also reached out to us in private just to tell us how the game was helping them cope. Even though it’s a single player game, many people felt it helped them through the isolation and other struggles too.

Christoffer: I can recognise that too from my own life, having grown up in the countryside on a farm with lots of animals around. It does feel more lonely here in the city, where many people don’t have the space at home to keep pets. I definitely feel an emotional connection to the GotS animals even though they’re digital, which surprised me a bit.

Flippy: I think VR as a medium generally amplifies immersion times a hundred. Since many games out there are action- and conflict-driven, VR in entertainment has proved to give us stronger adrenaline kicks and more realistic scares. But it was cool to discover that we can use that immersion boost to work with other emotions as well, such as what folks usually refer to as “positive” emotions. It was especially clear to us when we saw people playing the game. Their reactions to the cute animals were often surprisingly strong, like “whoa, that’s cute!”

Garden of the Sea will be a launch title on the PS VR2, February 22.