I have added this thread to the Halo 5 forums due to its main link to the Halo 5 Campaign and story status, as opposed to the Halo Universe forum category.
To be clear, I am a long term fan of Halo, since CE on the original XboX all those years ago. I am also a fan of both Bungie and 343 with all the work they have done so far, while not without issues, I am posting here as a request for clarity; certainly not a complaint.
I have played through the Halo 5 Campaign and thoroughly enjoyed it, it kept me engaged with its ongoing narrative, and interested with the new developments within the game play style and character involvement. I will also not complain about the cliff hanger ending, while I would have liked some additional information, I believe the original frustrations of a cliffhanger can often be remembered more fondly in hindsight (“Sir, Finishing this fight”).
My concerns are for the franchise in general regarding the amount of unanswered questions throughout the Universe. I am completely open to the fact that many of these questions could have answers in the pipeline, that we as players outside of 343 are currently as of yet unaware. Here are a few thoughts:
- What is the status of the Ur-Didact following composition during Halo Escalation - What is the status of the remaining Forerunners, including the Iso-Didact, following Halo Silentium/Rebirth - What became of 343 Guilty Spark following his abduction of the UNSC Rubicon in Primordium - Will we learn more about the Primordial/Ancient One - Did 343 Guilty Spark find out more of the possible survival of the Librarian - What is the current status of Mendicant Bias/Offensive Bias - What is the current status of the Absolute record - Which of the Metarch Class Ancillias was present in the latter issues of Escalation - Why has Cortana suddenly become less caring in regards to her purpose and Human life - Why has the Mantle of Responsibility been revealed to be desired for the “Created” (AI’s) as opposed to Humanity, as we as fans, have believed for so long - What is the status of the Precursors/Flood - How did the Forerunners originally defeat the Precursors during the Forerunner/Precursor war - Will we see the revealing of any pre-planted “Geas” by the Librarian during the devolution of Humanity, for example, the Bornstellar Theory - What is the intention of the creation of Genesis and what is Genesis - What is the origin of the Warden Eternal - Will we see more of the Bio-weapon that appeared on the shards of Alpha Halo and how did this come to be - How did the Domain survive the original Halo array activation and how did Cortana access thisWhile I am sure some in the community may be able to answer some of these questions, or indeed theorise, this is not the purpose of the thread, so please do not post speculation below. The purpose of this post is to highlight some of the open questions and unfinished story-lines that are currently in place and have been for some time.
While I applaud the efforts of 343 to expand upon the Extended Universe and character base, I am uncomfortable with this lack of resolution. Halo fans new and old need to know that they will gain some sort of “reward” for picking up the latest game/novel/comic etc… Currently, all we really end with are more questions unanswered.
I can certainly say that I would never expect all of these questions to be answered at once, or even in the short term, but the Halo 5 story would have been improved for me if even one of these long standing questions would have been answered or even involved in the plot. In fact, I would go as far as to say that if a couple of these questions would have been addressed, it would have likely been the best Halo 5 Campaign so far for me personally. Unfortunately however, it felt as though more questions were asked of the lore as opposed to them being answered.
I personally would like to see some of these stories resolved to maintain the fan interest in the franchise and to avoid people becoming disillusioned with Halo as a whole.
I feel even the release of a date for new material, such as a comic or novel, that will explain some of these events would be wonderful to keep us all going. Please understand, this is not me complaining about the lack of material, as we have been blessed with a large amount of Halo related media recently, it is simply a polite request for resolution, or even a new date to put in my diary.
Thank you all for reading, I appreciate this is a convoluted post, but all thoughts would be very welcome. In the mean-time, keep playing Halo, avoid the trolls and keep the faith.