She mistreats you, she beats you up, she keeps asking you for money with very little in return... But you simply cannot stop yourself coming back for more.
Destiny was overhyped and therefore expectations were extremely high before the game's release. It ended up with mixed reviews which usually ended up saying that you would either love it or that you would hate it. The fact of the matter is I believe it's a mix between the two. Destiny is the game that you "hate to love".
There is no actual reason why Destiny takes the form of a heroin-like drug-habit that you keep crawling back to even though you have been told by critics and friends that the game "sucks". Bosses are pretty much bullet-sponges, the story is fairly straightforward and the community can be a tad intimidating (by the way, when I say "tad", I obviously mean "very"...). There are very few reasons to love the game, and yet, it is for some reason, very hard to not enjoy the experience. The game is no walk in the park, and the challenge is definitely one of the real selling points of Destiny. With AAA games becoming easier and easier, to the point where even the word "difficulty" has become a sad joke that we avoid mentioning (looking at you Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Call of Duty), Destiny is a real breath of fresh air. The game is challenging. That does not mean that you will be stuck at "level" for days and days, but the game will, however, very often cause beads of sweet to glide down your neck or moisten up your palms. It is a rather enjoyable thrill.
The beauty of the game cannot be overstated either. I very rarely hear it as a selling point but... WOW. Honestly, during the first handful of hours you will constantly be looking around at the sky, the ships and the lighting effects and really enjoy the level of beauty the developers have put into such a rather large game.
If you are hesitant on whether or not to start your adventure now, in such a late stage, the only advice I can give you is to simply jump right in. And there is really no better time to do it, either with suspected massive improvements coming with "The Taken King" expansion.
The game has come a long way since its release with many improvements on weapon balancing, matchmaking and story telling. With the one year-mark just around the corner, I believe that it is time for a re-evaluation of the game.
Destiny will always be the game I "hate to love" and every so often I'll need to remind myself why I'm actually pouring in so much time into the game, but it should not take me too long to realise why.
Destiny will have you hooked or repelled, but it will definitely not leave you indifferent. Buy it on the cheap and decide whether to play and pay for more.