It’s undeniable that 343 has handled the EU exceptionally well, for the most part. However, what’s also undeniable is that 343 hasn’t adequately tied the EU in a way that is clear for everyone in the games (4 & 5). It’s all fine and dandy for us, we who are familiar with The Mantle and what not, but throwing this stuff at players without explanation results in things such as The Ur-Didact being a piss-poor villian, confusion to what is actually happening in Halo 5, etc.
And with regards to Halo 5, I’ll be blunt. The narrative was crap. Its relationship to the marketing exists at a bare minimum. Cortana’s sudden "Hurr, Durr, Let’s subjugate humanity for their own protection because AI are the true inheritors of The Mantle" is both left field and clashes with Cortana’s characterization in Halo 4. It feels as if 343 completely scrapped the whole “Chief discovering his humanity in the face of Cortana’s death” narrative that has been hammered over and over again by 343 at the last minute. In it’s place what we got was basically a chopped up version of I.Robot mashed with Sci-Fi tropes with a Halo skin. Look, you can argue that there are parallels with Mendicant Bias, or that Cortana was somehow inflicted with the Logic Plague by the Gravemind in the relatively short time they were together, or that Halo 6 will wrap everything up. But just because these elements were present it doesn’t mean they redeem 343’s handling of Halo 5 in any way. I could go on for hours.
It’s not a question of 343 staying true to the universe, but whether their handling of Halo 5 will turn into a common trend in how 343 handles the universe and advances Halo’s narrative forward in the future.
Great replies guys, one thing a few are not realizing is that Cortana was attacked by the gravemind and was given the logic plague, which they never tell you if she beat or not and the fact to that Cortana was also in the middle of rampancy which means that she was already unhinged, so add all those together and you have current Cortana, all that stuff was in the books and only vaguely mentioned in the games. Halo on!!
343 knows what they are doing. No questions asked.
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> I agree with what EWOK is saying, and would also like to point out that the lack of proper build up is what killed it for me. This storyline could have been a lot better if they didn’t reveal everything ten seconds into the third mission. Give it time to simmer. What’s causing this massive destruction? (We never actually saw a cratered city firsthand like the concept art showed). Who’s behind this? What’s activating these things? Cortana should have been revealed in the last mission or later half of the campaign. Instead, we have “Osiris introductory mission,” “Blue Team introductory mission,” “Cortana is alive somehow! (Ship went into slipspace as it exploded. Wouldn’t that just mean it’s now exploding inside slipspace, which would be disastrous?). She’s suddenly evil for some reason! (Huh? Rampancy or?). I told you guys this was happening all along! (When?!)” Etc, etc before Guardians are even established as a threat, or even really known to the player/Osiris/Blue Team. It’s a hard stop that gives extreme emotional whiplash moving from 4 to 5.
> I went into Halo 5 expecting an introspective tale about Chief dealing with a major loss, the resurgence of the Insurrectionists, morally grey cloak-and-dagger ONI missions, finding out if a possibly disillusioned and traitorous Chief joined the Insurrection because of the things ONI’s ordering him to do (aka Locke Hunting the Truth if he’s turned traitor or not), two sides to every mission, and more. We’ve already saved the world on a grand scale, it’s time to get personal. Dig into the characters. We got none of that. HTT amounted to one mission of “Chief’s gone missing (after a massive explosion that could have killed him no less), find out where he’s gone. Take these immobilizers on the off chance he’s gone rogue, which we wouldn’t really have any reason to suspect because hey, it’s the Chief. All he’s done so far is ignore communication attempts.” Then when both fireteams meet it’s Locke: “Chief, come back, another crew is taking care of Cortana.” (What? When was anyone told about that). Chief: “WTF dude, I’m still on mission and trying to stop her. Somehow I know it’s her activating these things too. Get out of my way.” Then they’re all buddy buddy after a drunken brawl that doesn’t really fit Spartan strength or speed.
> All in all, this major character is back from the dead and hand-waved away by the other characters as if she never heroically sacrificed herself in the first place. Didn’t sit right with me. Nobody had any time to grieve.
> That said, they absolutely nailed Sangheilios. Those missions felt “Halo,” and I want more Covenant Civil War stuff.
I agree with everything you have said as well. It’s refreshing to have someone understand where you are coming from.Also… It would have been way more logical if instead of the “drunken brawl” Locke could have been, “Hey, you’re after Cortana… we are after Cortana…8 Spartans better than 4?” and just joined the Chief.
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> Great replies guys, one thing a few are not realizing is that Cortana was attacked by the gravemind and was given the logic plague, which they never tell you if she beat or not and the fact to that Cortana was also in the middle of rampancy which means that she was already unhinged, so add all those together and you have current Cortana, all that stuff was in the books and only vaguely mentioned in the games. Halo on!!
Yeah, but think about it. It took over 20 years (correct me if I’m wrong here) for mendicant bias to be turned over to the flood by The Primordial. Cortana was with the gravemind for a month at best. Presumably the gravemind didn’t indoctrinate her in that short period of time. How advanced Foreunner Ancilla’s are compared to Human AI could be a point of contention though. I still think 343 will explain their gaffe by claiming The Warden or The Domain corrupted her somehow.
Correct, but when the gravemind captured Cortana she had fragmented herself down to a dangerously low point, even she admits to that and tha is why the gravemind was such a huge threat to her. And to answer the other person who posted. You do get to learn more about your people if you just hang out and listen to your team talk, they make references to each others personal life, like you hear Tanaka ask Buck how he makes his relationship with Veronica work or how Olympia got to learn Sangheili or about how Fred and Linda feel about the mission, just to have to listen to the back chatter. This story is very much a huge telling about the chiefs state of mind and how he feels about Cortana aka why him and Locke went to blows for example.