The reclamation has only just begun
I think the actual magic of the Forerunner mystique was that they were, in reality, generic. A long vanished, advanced alien race? That had been done hundreds of times before, Hell, Bungie did it in their previous game, Marathon. Naturally, we made up our own visions of what the Forerunners were like and nothing could top it. Obviously, I love what they did with them.
> <mark>I was disappointed when I realized they looked just like humans.</mark> I was hoping that they would be designed to look a lot more alien with interesting features instead of them just looking like Voldemort. I would of liked them to at least have some sort of head that fits these concept art pieces. 1
> Nevermind the humanoid looking body I think they look more alien.
They were originally humans, but Bungie changed that during development around Halo 2 & 3.
> I think the actual magic of the Forerunner mystique was that they were, in reality, generic. A long vanished, advanced alien race? That had been done hundreds of times before, Hell, Bungie did it in their previous game, Marathon. Naturally, we made up our own visions of what the Forerunners were like and nothing could top it. Obviously, I love what they did with them.
Finally, something that I can actually agree with.
Part of the reason they were a mystery is because halo 1-3 focused on the human covie war. Which is a small section of the halo universe. Secondly there is a whole series of books that go into more detail about it then the games do.
But to answer your question no. I feel the forunners were done beautifully.
Not trying to steer this thread off-topic but shouldn’t this be in the halo universe section of the forums?
And to answer your question I liked it and disliked it.
On the one hand I loved learning all about them but on the other I miss the sense of mystery surrounding them, but in the end I feel like it was a necessary plot line to explore.
> Part of the reason they were a mystery is because halo 1-3 focused on the human covie war. Which is a small section of the halo universe. Secondly there is a whole series of books that go into more detail about it then the games do.
>
> But to answer your question no. I feel the Forerunners were done beautifully.
I agree with this also. 
I thought 343i did a great job with them and the precursors are much more interesting imho.
IMHO 343 kinda botched it
> Sorry what I meant by descendants is the Promethean’s, they are a class of Forerunner after all
The Prometheans from H4 weren’t the soldiers of the warrior caste. They were humans digitized by the composer.
The Prometheans were human.
We have actually met one physical forerunner (Ur-Didact), spoken to the VI of another (Librarian), and been helped by a Forerunner AI (Mendicant Bias).
~ Duck.
343i did not botch anything.
They merely created detail to a idea that was ambiguous to start off with.
We have seen this in other fiction, most notably Star Wars. Every loved it when they knew little about the Force. Once Lucas fleshed it out a little… then mass hysteria ensued.
We have also seen this with the Forerunners. Halo CE introduces them as a god-like race that ascended to another plane…
The truth was something else…
Now we are seeing the same thing with the Precursors…
I never felt there was much mystery there to begin with. I find the Precursors to be a much better example of a mysterious force - being able to “mutate” space-time to allow for their ships to traverse easily, controlling evolution, making near-indestructible objects from Living Time (like the galaxy-spanning star-roads), turning themselves into the Flood who were then able to corrupt AIs like MB and Cortana just by talking to them(!); it’s all very mysterious. It’s all a bit BDO, certainly, but the same is true of the Forerunners.
Anyway, you can’t hold a mystery for over ten years. It gets old. Fighting Jul 'Mdama would have made for a seriously boring Halo 4.
> Fighting Jul 'Mdama would have made for a seriously boring Halo 4.
Not if they had bothered to actually flesh him out.
> 343i did not botch anything.
>
> They merely created detail to a idea that was ambiguous to start off with.
>
> We have seen this in other fiction, most notably Star Wars. Every loved it when they knew little about the Force. Once Lucas fleshed it out a little… then mass hysteria ensued.
>
> We have also seen this with the Forerunners. Halo CE introduces them as a god-like race that ascended to another plane…
>
> The truth was something else…
>
> Now we are seeing the same thing with the Precursors…
Some things work better if they remain a mistery
I love star wars, but I really really hate what George did to it. If I could, I would punch him in the face. I have no respect for him, as I have no respect for 343i.
I HATE when people mess up my things!!!
As a culture/society/civilization I feel I don’t know enough to really render judgment. The Bear novels were great but left me a little disappointed in their rituals, mysticism, biology, interactions, and culture.
Sometimes things don’t need to be explained or colored in. That’s my two cents, anyway. But the Forerunners were always going get more detail, so there’s not point complaining about it. I just want something else mysterious to take their place.
If they replace the now less-mysterious Forerunner structures with unknowable Precursor star roads, filaments, or citadels… then a big part of the mystery that Halo so intriguing will have come back.
> > <mark>343i did not botch anything</mark>.
> >
> > They merely created detail to a idea that was ambiguous to start off with.
> >
> > We have seen this in other fiction, most notably Star Wars. Every loved it when they knew little about the Force. Once Lucas fleshed it out a little… then mass hysteria ensued.
> >
> > We have also seen this with the Forerunners. Halo CE introduces them as a god-like race that ascended to another plane…
> >
> > The truth was something else…
> >
> > Now we are seeing the same thing with the Precursors…
>
> Some things work better if they remain a mistery
>
> I love star wars, but I really really hate what George did to it. If I could, I would punch him in the face. I have no respect for him, as I have no respect for 343i.
>
> I HATE when people mess up my things!!!
Like Ryo said, 343i didn’t botch anything.
> Some things work better if they remain a mystery.
I agree. So much of the allure of the Halo Universe came from the unanswered questions.
Who were the Forerunners? What were they like? What are the Flood and where did they come from?
Answering any of these questions, while temporarily satisfying, cheapens the mystery and excitement of the whole story, making it trite and ordinary. There is nothing wrong with giving insight into these mysteries or exploring characters (Such as with Halo 3’s terminals), but I think it was allowed to go way too far. The origins of the Flood, for example, should never have been revealed.
> > Some things work better if they remain a mystery.
>
> I agree. So much of the allure of the Halo Universe came from the unanswered questions.
> Who were the Forerunners? What were they like? What are the Flood and where did they come from?
> Answering any of these questions, while temporarily satisfying, cheapens the mystery and excitement of the whole story, making it trite and ordinary. There is nothing wrong with giving insight into these mysteries or exploring characters (Such as with Halo 3’s terminals), but I think it was allowed to go way too far. The origins of the Flood, for example, should never have been revealed.
The origin of the Flood is anything but trite and ordinary. Instead of the generic space parasite that plagues science-fiction in general, we have come to find out they are a corrupted form of the the proverbial gods of Halo that seek to unite the galaxy in bondage of pain and misery so that they will never rise up again.
Way more interesting and yet still mysterious than their previous NOM NOM NOM WE HUNGRY! nature.
> > > Some things work better if they remain a mystery.
> >
> > I agree. So much of the allure of the Halo Universe came from the unanswered questions.
> > Who were the Forerunners? What were they like? What are the Flood and where did they come from?
> > Answering any of these questions, while temporarily satisfying, cheapens the mystery and excitement of the whole story, making it trite and ordinary. There is nothing wrong with giving insight into these mysteries or exploring characters (Such as with Halo 3’s terminals), but I think it was allowed to go way too far. The origins of the Flood, for example, should never have been revealed.
>
> The origin of the Flood is anything but trite and ordinary. Instead of the generic space parasite that plagues science-fiction in general, we have come to find out they are a corrupted form of the the proverbial gods of Halo that seek to unite the galaxy in bondage of pain and misery so that they will never rise up again.
>
> Way more interesting and yet still mysterious than their previous NOM NOM NOM WE HUNGRY! nature.
Completely agree with Cobra here.
I used to dislike that the background of the Forerunners and their story had been fleshed out as I loved the mystery as well. However approaching Halo 4’s launch, when we were told we were going to see the Didact in the flesh I was really excited to see what an actual Forerunner looked like (Albeit he is a mutated one). I can’t wait to meet more Forerunners, and perhaps Precursors and evolved forms of the Flood in Halo 5/6.
My point is that the flood was this terrifying galactic threat, made all the more dangerous by it enigmatic existence. Where did it come from, what does it want? Who created it?
Revealing it’s origins makes it much less dangerous and intimidating: a mutanigenic powder used to domesticate animals which later got out of hand; an unstoppable viral outbreak; zombie sprinkles. Where have I heard that before?
What I’m getting at is that the flood was originally meant to be frightening; frightening not just because of their power, but because they were unknowable and unpredictable.