Generally, video game reviews come out around the same time that the game itself does, if not before. But I like to wait a month or so and really get a feel for the game before I start throwing around terms like "goddamn addicting" or "I've spent days of my life in a fictional universe because of how fantastic it is." Such is the case with "Destiny: The Taken King."

The original "Destiny," released over a year ago and sometimes referred to as "vanilla Destiny," disappointed most gamers. When it was originally announced, Bungie, the studio that developed it, had promised sprawling environments, numerous cinematic cut-scenes, and an overall fantastic plot. However, when the game was released, none of those things were included. There were large environments to explore, sure, but nothing on the level of Bethesda Studios' "Fallout" or "Skyrim," which is sort of what most gamers expect when you say your game is going to have sprawling environments. There were also cut-scenes, but they were random and in general none of the "plot" made sense because there was very little connecting one mission to next.

But the reason that the plot was so very, very confusing, was because of a lawsuit by a former Bungie employee against Activision, the company that owns Bungie. Even after reading that article, the exact details of the lawsuit and why the story changed so much are sketchy at best. But the significant damage was done, and despite grossing $45 million dollars within a few months of its original release, it didn't take long for gamers to get bored.

Sure, Peter Dinklage was the voice of your ghost, your floating robotic companion, but the appeal of the "Dinklebot" could only last so long. Dinklage has since been replaced by veteran video game voice actor Nolan North, who you may know more about after having read my last article, which I sincerely hope you did. I have nothing against Peter Dinklage; I love him on "Game of Thrones," but some people are just better suited for voice acting than others.

So what has "The Taken King" done? There's a story. A real, honest-to-God, coherent story. There are cut-scenes and characters who do more than just speaking ambient conversation when you walk by them. Nathan Fillion, who many people know as Malcolm Reynolds from "Firefly" or Castle from "Castle" (that's who he plays right? I don't watch "Castle") plays a large part in the story. Previously he was featured as one of the class trainers, I guess? But he did largely nothing. Now several of the characters who did nothing have actual conversations with each other, some of which are pretty funny. Nathan Fillion is a sarcastic robot, you guys; how could it not be funny?

They also fixed loot drop rates. "Destiny" is a very loot-oriented game, meaning that most of the reason players play is to get better gear which will allow them to participate in more difficult missions, which will allow them even better gear. It's a ridiculous and endless cycle, but don't think we aren't aware of that. Pretty much every MMO, such as "World of Warcraft", works this way, and since "Destiny" is basically a console MMO, it isn't surprising they would operate along the same lines.

So they fixed the story, added more loot, and it turns out the "Destiny" community as a whole is one of the friendliest video game communities I've been apart of. I have been in teams with women where not a single person said anything disparaging about them happening to be a female. I have yet to come across any 14-year-olds using the word f*ggot or the N-word. In the player vs player modes, nobody is tea-bagging the people they kill. Everyone acts more or less their age, which is something that is rarely seen. And I can't tell you why that is. I don't know how Bungie created a game where people aren't consistently awful to each other like in some other video game communities.

I guess let's talk numbers then, right? That's how video game reviews work? Well, I've been playing it basically every day since it came out in September so that definitely counts highly for something. But I don't think it gets a perfect score just yet. I don't know. How does 9 out of 10 sound?