THIS IS PART 2!
There was not enough dialogue yet alone interesting dialogue:
I found myself thinking to myself “is that it?” way too often in this game. During cut scenes (especially the big ones which i’ll discuss in depth in the spoiler thing"), not enough was said between characters. For instance, the scene in Halo 4 where Del Rio tries to take Cortana from Chief and when Chief says no, Del Rio tells Palmer to arrest Chief and she’s just like “um, what? lol no” is probably one of the most memorable cut scenes. The dialogue was emotional, dramatic, and almost comical but most of, the whole scene was flushed out. Everything that could have been said in that scene was said, leaving us, the audience satisfied with the way it went down for the most part. In Halo 5, that never happened. I have three very big examples:
- During any of the Warden Eternal boss fights, but more specifically, the last one. The entire time, the Warden is talking to Cortana and the Chief and NO ONE is talking back except for ONE SINGLE TIME when the Warden asks Chief a question and Chief says “she knows”. All of those questions and statements that the Warden was making were REALLY GOOD QUESTIONS AND STATEMENTS and would have made an incredible dialogue between Chief, the Warden, and Cortana. We would have gotten a glimpse of Chief or Cortana defending their bond as the Warden criticized it. But no, what would have been a very emotional section of gameplay was reduced to unanswered stuff spouted off by the boss.
2.This one is a big one. When Blue team finally made it to Cortana, so much more could have been said. Now of course Chief wasn’t going to start crying but after seeing how her death had affected him and seeing him be introspective at the end of Halo 4, you would think he’d have a lot more to say or at least have some kind of reaction to seeing her. He did sound emotional when he asked her to come home but that was about the extent of it. Worst of all, his body language was non-existent. At the end of Halo 4 when they were in the hard light bubble, was stepping towards her, reaching out to her as he pleaded for her to stay. He just kind of stood there as if he didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of Blue team. (I’m kidding lol) Again, another scene with so much emotional potential wasted. - Finally, this is the worst offender of them all. At the very end when Chief sees the Arbiter and Halsey, there is so much wrong with this scene. First off, again, you would imagine that after not seeing each other FOR YEARS, Halsey (Chief’s pseudo-mother) and the Chief would have SOME IF NOT ANY -Yoinking!- DIALOGUE BETWEEN THEM AT ALL! But no, we simply get “took you long enough”. The lack of body language there is understandable because it’s been so long and they’re both hurting that it can be seen that they would just stand there like that but they would say more than that. I’ve been waiting for a conversation between those two since they last saw each other when Halsey kidnapped Kelly but I digress. I was really hoping to see a conversation between them, especially since Halsey reacted so violently towards Lasky when she found out that Chief was on Infinity and no one told her. Anything would have been ok. To discuss Cortana, his wellbeing, her wellbeing, ANY CONVERSATION AT ALL would have been emotional because of the relationship between Halsey and the Chief. AGAIN, a very HUGE emotional moment simply wasted. And then of course, there the Arbiter. Friends forged in combat and we don’t even see them acknowledge each other. I can understand the no conversation there based on the relationship Chief and the Arbiter have but honestly, not even a nod? In Halo 3, at the end where they had just made it into the hangar bay of the Forward Unto Dawn, the two looked at each other and nodded. That simple gesture spoke VOLUMES, especially compared to the barely existent interactions between characters in Halo 5. Of course, 343i probably expects us to use our imagination to imagine how the moments after the curtain was drawn went but honestly, I see it as laziness. There was so much potential there and in many other scenes where this game could have sucked us in emotionally and displayed itself like Halo 4 did. I mean, come on. how hard would have been to just show the Arbiter and Chief nodding to each other when he stepped off the pelican?
Lastly, for now, the legendary ending cut scene:
Now, I know this is going to seem trivial at first but once I explain it, I hope you’ll see what I mean. Now, as we know, at least in Halo 1-3, the final cut scene serves a purpose. It’s to show us, the audience that it simply isn’t over and it gives us the slightest nudge in the direction that the next game may go. Halo (We’re just getting started) Halo 2 (The rings are on standby) Halo 3 (Forward Unto Dawn in orbit of Requiem). Now in Halo 4, the LEGENDARY treat was that we got a glimpse of Chief’s eyes but the final cut scene was a monologue from the Didact basically saying “The Forerunners aren’t done yet”. Now halo 5’s final cut scene is of a Halo ring lighting up with what sounds like Cortana humming a tune. With that said, I’m not entirely sure what direction that’s pointing us in, if it is at all. There’s small chance that it’s simply a homage to a Halo ring because well the game IS Halo and there wasn’t a single Halo in it. Of course, there are going to be countless theories and I’m sure that it’s nudging us somewhere. I just wish they were a bit more clear like perhaps words instead of humming or perhaps humming something that meant something like the oxen-free tune that Cortana used to get Blue team to activate access to the gateway (Which was really neat, by the way.)Overall, I enjoyed the game but it was severely lacking and I try to be an optimist when it comes to the Halo Universe because I love I dearly. Of course, the counter argument could be that this is simply setting up the next one in a big way which is completely fine but that doesn’t excuse the absence of the small things like bland characters, missing plot, and nowhere to emotionally invest. I just hope 343i realizes this and remembers why Halo 4 had such a meaningful plot and try to recapture that. Oh, and also to not falsely -Yoinking!- advertise their game (I’m SUPER annoyed with that!)
Anyway, please, vent, make counter points or simply discuss with me your thoughts on the game guys!
-Avm14