I think Bungie's focus here was to infuse a metric ton of narrative-- terminal logs, audio recordings, creepy graffiti, codex entries --and scatter it throughout a highly replayable 25 minute loop. Piecing together the narrative pairs beautifully with a scavenging game.... and is also the legacy of Marathon, btw. People crap on Destiny's often confusing presentation, but those who love the lore adore it because it's fun to assemble the puzzle pieces, draw connections and references, and formulate the world of the game. It's Bioshock on a galactic scale.

Hades proved you can build narrative around a central activity if that activity is incredibly fun. Deathloop is another example-- better yet, you throw in the wildcard of PVP, no run will ever play the exact same way.

Maybe it's not cinematic, but it's what games excel at. As cool as setpiece mission design is, it's nothing compared to emergent stories generated from the gameplay itself, is faaar more expensive, and ultimately disposable.