So I heard they’re going to be releasing a novel that takes place between the time Chief was missing this is basically Halo 5 all over again I don’t want this stuff to be a novels I don’t want it to be in TV series I don’t want it to be an anime I want this to be actual freaking gameplay I don’t know who in the heck is making these decisions at this point I could do a better job at running Halo
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Welcome to the multi-media storytelling “future,” where the organization decides that you must purchase and consume all of the extra content, or you won’t understand anything that’s going on.
There’s very little benefit to the consumer - I would guessetimate that around 10% (and that’s being generous) of everyone who plays a Halo campaign also reads all of the books. Of course, the suits like this because it necessitates extra purchases, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Halo and 343i, the out-of-touch suits at the top love their added purchases.
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Yeah its the Games Work Shop table top RPG tactic, tale as old as time. Maybe they’ll turn the “CRITICAL POINTS” from the novels into LTM passes when they run out of “universe” again.
Bungie does this as well that it’s actually quite stupid that a game is missing a story, and they tell you to read it. Um, I buy games to play the story, not read about it.
The more I read about what 343 is doing to infinite the more it literally shows they are trying to treat Halo as a Destiny game. That is just wrong in so many ways.
Member when Bungue released Halo Reach that took place before the events of Halo CE… I member…
Well halo infinite narrative also takes place during infinity and chief, spartans and zeta halo went missing of basically 6 months earlier before chiefs is even rewaken
Transmedia (yes, THAT is the actual term for it) is something that 343 has greatly mishandled.
Lets look at numbers real quick.
Bungie’s list of Transmedia, stories only. Lets exclude encyclopedias and such -
NOVELS -
- Halo: The Fall of Reach
- Halo: The Flood
- Halo: First Strike
- Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
- Halo: Contact Harvest
- Halo: The Cole Protocol
COMICS -
- Halo: The Graphic Novel - 4 Short-Stories
- Halo Wars: Genesis - 1 Issue
- Halo: Helljumper - 5 Issues
- Halo: Uprising - 4 Issues
- Halo: Bloodline - 5 Issues
- Halo 3: The Cradle of Life
ANTHOLOGIES -
- Halo: Evolutions - 11 Short-Stories in Three Separate Novels
Now . . . lets see what Transmedia that 343 has produced in their decade with Halo -
NOVELS -
- Halo: Cryptum
- Halo: Primordium
- Halo: Silentium
- Halo: Glasslands
- Halo: The Thursday War
- Halo: Mortal Dictata
- Halo: New Blood
- Halo: Bad Blood
- Halo: Last Light
- Halo: Retribution
- Halo: Divine Wind
- Halo: Smoke & Shadow
- Halo: Renegades
- Halo: Point of Light
- Halo: Silent Storm
- Halo: Battle Born
- Halo: Battle Born - Meridian Divide
- Halo: Broken Circle
- Halo: Shadow of Intent
- Halo: Hunters in the Dark
- Halo: Saint’s Testimony
- Halo: Legacy of Onyx
- Halo: Rubicon Protocol
- Halo: Outcasts
COMICS -
- Halo: Fall of Reach - 3 Parts separated in 12 Issues
- Halo: Initiation - 3 Issues
- Halo: Escalation - 24 Issues
- Halo: Tales From Slipspace - 7 Short-Stories
- Halo: Rise of Atriox - 5 Issues
- Halo: Lone Wolf - 4 Issues
ANTHOLOGIES -
- Halo: Fractures - 14 Short-Stories
That is A LOT of transmedia.
But why is it that Bungie’s transmedia isn’t as much of a problem as 343 Industries’?
Well, here is the explanation.
Bungie’s games take place all within ONE YEAR.
And each game’s story is self-contained enough that you do not require the other books and comics to understand what is going on.
You can play Halo CE and hear the line “as for tracking us all the way from Reach” and not bat an eye because the story of Halo CE is not about Reach, nor does it require the reading of The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund to understand the story.
Bungie’s transmedia are optional snippets of extra lore that help you further understand the universe at hand. But by playing the games and not reading the books, your experience is not diminished if you play the Campaign for the story.
Only ONE of the books is arguably required and that is the Halo: First Strike; which details how Chief, Cortana, and Johnson got from Alpha Halo to Earth.
Now.
Lets take a look at 343’s transmedia.
Some of it is just extra fluff.
Other stuff is there to solidify a deep-lore retcon perpetuated by Frank O’Connor.
BUT all of it is interwoven rather beautifully to connect to every other part of the franchise.
And that is problematic.
Take a look at the chart that was made prior to the launch of Halo 5 Gorbians.
- https://i0.wp.com/news.xbox.com/en-us/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/sdcc-halo5-transmedia-infographic-png1.png?ssl=1
According to this chart you have to -
- Read all 24 Issues of Halo Escalations
- Read Halo: New Blood
- Watch the Animated Series of Halo: Fall of Reach
- Play Halo 2 Anniversary to see those two Locke scenes and play the Terminals to see what kind of man Locke is
- Pay attention to the Marketing Campaign
- Listen to all SIX HOURS of Halo: Hunt the Truth
- Read Halo: Hunters in the Dark
- Read Halo: Last Light
- Watch Halo Nightfall to gain more insight on Locke.
That is a LOT of time and money to sink in for players to gain UNDERSTANDING of the narrative of Halo 5 Gorgbians. Except, due to rewrites by Brian Reed during H5’s development, the Marketing Campaign and the SIX HOUR PODCAST of Hunt The Truth are now non-canon; so enjoy knowing that you wasted your time with those.
Add onto this whole list of NINE things you gotta read, YOU ALSO have to have read Halo: Cryptum, Primordium, and Silentium to understand why Cortana went nuts by simply contating something known as “The Domain” and why she won’t stop spouting off about “The Mantle of Responsibility”.
This is a major issue.
343 requires players to acquire books to read in order to understand what is going on in the franchise.
Because unlike Bungie’s games, 343’s games have a TWO YEAR GAP between them.
Because they are written like that, you cannot just pick up where the last one left off from.
You HAVE to absorb multiple different sources of media.
A better way to have done it is make it into movies, or at least, animated comics.
Which is something 343 has done before.
Four stories of Halo Evolutions were converted into motion-comic movies.
The Mona Lisa
Headhunters
Midnight Aboard The Heart Of Midlothian
The Return
I am willing to wager that far more of the fanbase has WATCHED rather than READ these stories.
343 doesn’t understand their target audience, that has been apparent since they made so many unnecessary changes to the series. Halo 4 showed this with how many things were redesigned for no reason and the gameplay being just a generic-sci-fi shooter of Humans vs. Aliens.
Because if 343 understood that Halo is a videogame series with GAMERS as the main target audience, they would’ve gone with animations.
Gamers are buy-&-large not known for being the bookish type of people.
Books are a form of media that require you to sit down and sit still for hours as you absorb the narrative. They are a good method of telling a story; but because it lacks the actual visual stimulus and cannot be absorbed passively it deters gamers.
Movies, Animations, and Comics on the other hand are something that you will see gamers pick up easily and read through.
Had the transmedia for what is going on between the games had been simply restricted to comic book form or serialized animations as they had done with The Mona Lisa, this would be very much a non-issue.
The only problem people would have with it is how much the cost would stack up.
Because as it stands right now, all the story bits one needs to buy in order to understand these game stories that are no longer independent narratives that you can pick up one-after-the-other in sequence; the cost to obtain the entire series now costs as much as a high-end gaming PC.
I have severe ADHD and had to force myself it sit still and read these books that I had a genuine interest in.
It was not as enjoyable as it should’ve been.
It ended up feeling like a chore or homework that took up my free time.
Were the stories enjoyable?
For the most part yes.
But it felt like a chore or assignment none-the-less.
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I think the point of OP is that they want all that information to be compiled into a playable experience. Or 343 could have written their game in such a way that none of what you mentioned would have happened and the game could pick up where 5 left off.
The point is, we are being told a story, and that story is exceptionally less compelling and interesting when we are forced to do our homework in order to understand it and fill in all of the blanks that the writers, for some reason, intentionally left out. Why cant we just get all this information from the story in the game? Why cant there be missions that focus on those aspects of the story? Why does 343 feel the need to create a pretty on-the-nose problem and then sell us such a roundabout and niche solution to that problem?
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I think the most important point to focus on is one you touched on:
Understanding the games that Bungie made was not incumbent upon reading the novels that they made alongside them. The novels were supplemental and only served to expand that universe. They werent there so that you could understand the games. They were there so you could understand what happened in the background of the games.
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100% of my point.
I mentioned that in my previous post how the games were back-to-back and had stories that could stand on their own without requiring books to be read in order to understand something in the plot.
The only book that could be noted as essential is First Strike, since it solidifies that Johnson is alive somehow and shows how we made our way from Alpha Halo back to Earth.
Other than this one outlier, the games are all back-to-back.
Reach leads into CE
2 leads into 3
ODST was a bonus within the events of Halo 2’s time period and shows a clear direct connection.
343’s transmedia on the other hand . . .
Imagine watch a TV show and between two episodes there was a sudden skip of events so now you are confused as to what just happened? We ended with a slight cliffhanger on Episode 4 and then Episode 5 introduces a new cast of characters, the main character is a traitor, and so much has suddenly shifted.
And then you go online and find that you have to read three novels, a comic book series, watch two movies, listen to a SIX HOUR LONG podcast, and a couple of bonus-feature episodes in order to understand what just happened between your episodes.
Literally what happened with Halo 4 to Halo 5
https://i0.wp.com/news.xbox.com/en-us/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/sdcc-halo5-transmedia-infographic-png1.png?ssl=1
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Perfect example of how Bungie, when faced with fans’ questions about an aspect of their story, delivered a great product. Instead of just saying, “Oh you guys were upset that we just kind of left you hanging on earth in the middle of 2 and didnt tell you its fate? Well here’s a novel to answer all your questions,” Bungie made a whole spin off game to address those questions.
And personally, its one of my favorite Halo campaigns.
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I suppose that’s the part about H:INF what I found to be the hurdle that infinite couldnt/didnt clear upon my play through of its campaign. As I found more and more logs I kinda accepted that the intro was about the closest we’ll get to any of the aftermath of Guardians play out. Agelosophy’s recent point, also yes.
Well.
We do have a Crashed Guardian in the vista of Halo Infinite.
I wonder how it got there or if it was responsible for the destruction of part of Zeta Halo.
Knowing 343 we will see a book about it.
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Also players who don’t speak English are completely gatekeeped from understanding the story since these multi-media BS doesn’t publish and translate globally.
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This is actually an example of the books being used right. As supplementary material to tell stories that, while hinted to exist in the game, aren’t actually integral to the plot of the series as a whole.
Fall of Reach, First Strike, and Contact Harvest were all excellent books because this is what they did. Supplemented the games without being required reading for anyone who just wants to go from one game to the next.
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Sadly most of 343’s books are required content.
That’s more an issue of their game story design than the books themselves. 343 has a really bad habit directly using objects and characters established in books in their games without giving them a proper re-introduction or writing the story in a way that you don’t need to know what happened in the book to understand the significance.
Thankfully Halo Infinite mostly leaned on actual game lore for its story, which was very refreshing. The only real requirement to fully grasp the story was to play Halo 5. With an argument to be made for Halo Wars 2, but I think they re-introduced the Banished pretty gracefully so you can also argue HW2 is only supplementary for Infinite.
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Entirely my point.
The classic games stand on their own pretty well.
Halo Reach has you as the new guy on the team and most things are explained with light exposition.
Halo CE has Cortana explain things to you, but with a manner that doesn’t have you treated like some six-year-old.
Halo 2 picks up with Master Chief being rewarded and an invasion of Earth.
Halo 3 has characters bring you up-to-speed as you begin the game.
ODST has a scroll before the first cutscene begins, giving you a basic rundown of the war’s context.
Halo Wars has Captain Cutter give a prologue speech about 5 long years of hell to get Harvest back.
Halo 4 starts off with Chief in cryo at the end of Halo 3 and even gives you a terminal below the cryo bay that can be used to gain a quick run-over of the series from Chief’s perspective.
But Halo 5 starts off with a new cast of characters that have no actual in-game introduction to give us context. So for those weirdos who start with the newest game in the franchise, they get hardly anything.
CE you are a big-deal guy who was in stasis until needed.
Halo 2 you are clearly a hero revered by many.
Halo 3 everyone is hesitant because the thought of you dead is a bad thing. And when you are confirmed alive, the Marines in Crow’s Nest get a sudden morale boost from your appearance alone.
ODST settles the characters with their personalities and sets the mood. Romeo is brash and sarcastic. Mickey is a bit cautious and wary. Dutch is gruff and stubborn. Buck is the leader who tries to keep the team together. Dare is the ONI spook who had a past with Buck. And Rookie is you, but he does have some character in how he emotes in cutscenes and does that whistle IF you obtained all of the terminals.
Reach has you introduced visually to your teammates. Jun is the sniper who isolates himself from the team. Kat is the tech expert. Emile is stab happy and possibly the most sociopathic man alive. Jorge is the guy who is working the big guns. Carter is the team leader. And Six is clearly reliable since his/her file is practically dipped in black ink.
But Halo 5?
No introduction of Vale, Tanaka, Locke, Buck, John, Fred, Kelly, and Linda.
If you don’t read the books, you don’t have any sort of clue as to how there are suddenly three more Classic Spartans because the games stated that Chief is the Last Spartan.
If you only played the games, you know John, Buck, and barely know Locke thanks to Halo 2 Anniversary’s bonus cutscenes and early terminals.
When I was younger, I didn’t know about the books until I entered High School and found them in my library and realized HOLY CRAP THERE ARE BOOKS ABOUT HALO !!! ???
Okay, but Halo Infinite’s story doesn’t rely on any books. Because it resets the universe in a lot of ways.
So why is a new book coming out an issue?
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Shadows of Reach - explains Master Chief’s new armor and the origin of The Weapon. Not exactly a required read.
Rubicon Protocol - sheds more light on what has been going on in the six months Chief was absent in space and will likely set up either some tertiary characters or plot-centric items in the next part of the Chief story, hence why it is slated to release after the game released the first part of the campaign and established some of the Spartan-IV characters through the audiologs.
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