How Halo 5's story should have been (IN-DEPTH)

Community Halo Universe
1

We know how a lot of us did not like the story cause it barely fit anything of how it was marketed. It was rushed, not well executed or just plain confusing. So, I will write down how it should have been with detail, but still summarized.

Osiris: The mission stays the same. Everything fine…maybe make it longer so it can have more replay value. And have the fight with the Covenant leader better.

Blue Team: Same thing until the little vision he was given of Cortana and the Guardian. Then at the end when Chief says “Contact with Cortana” and the INFINITY goes “We got another team already on it” it makes Chief actually get mad and go on leave to find out what Cortana was talking about.

Glassed: At first order by Lasky and ONI was to extract Chief. Force if necessary. During the cutscene with Buck and Locke, they talk and stuff as Buck gives his points on leadership back then to Locke but then was shut down as Locke didn’t need to know that stuff… causing conflict between Buck and Locke. When Buck goes “When they find out what we are doing they going to hate us” and Locke goes “You are not the only one here because of him” making Buck think what Locke might plan to do. Then the mission starts. The gameplay and movement can stay the same to the end. AI Sloan stays the same too.

Meridian Station: Really nothing here. Maybe add Buck to tell Locke like “What do you plan to say when we see Chief?” Locke goes “Not much of say, but do.”

Unconfirmed: This one, they hunt Chief down in the caves and face through treacherous fights until they reach Warden Eternal to fight. By then, Warden tells false information as what Chief is doing like “The other human’s passage is given through his support on Cortana’s campaign on Peace”. Warden then attacks Locke’s team and Locke believes Chief just switched through another side with Warden (Which isn’t the case as it is false belief). They beat Warden and go through gates and sees Blue team. Locke says stuff like 'Stand Down! You have committed treason and associated with the enemy Warden Eternal and you will be taken in custody back to the INFINITY" as Chief looks confused, sends team through teleporter and Chief goes “I don’t know what you are talking about, I got a job to do.” and Locke says stuff that pissed Chief… leads to fight… then at the end, Locke pulls magnum to shoot Chief and Buck goes in surprise but Chief already planted the armor lock before Locke could fire. And Chief goes through portal. Locke’s team escapes cave (Id rather ignore the part where Buck almost died. It was kinda unnecessary as it just lead to little humor little on).

Evacuation: Beginning Buck goes “Locke what were you thinking?? That wasn’t the order.” and Vale agrees but Tanaka disagrees. Locke just ignores and says “Settle that later we need to get back to the pelican”. Then they leave and stuff. Cutscene is about Buck telling Lasky and Palmer tried to do. Locke told them what Chief has become and then was stated that Chief was a traitor. Lasky and Palmer believed if it was that firing only if necessary. After that, they continued the search on how to get to Chief…Covenant…Sanghelios…Arbiter…civil war…boom. Continued on.

Reunion: First part of blue team is normal. But when they meet Warden, he tells Blue team that Cortana is alive… but he plans they dont see her as he knows that Chief was actually planning on “taking her home”. So he fights blue team and loses. Still, no sign of Cortana but Warden telling Chief was Cortana is and what she has become over the months. However, even though Cortana cant speak to Chief, she stilled open doors and bridges to show him the way he wants him to go to (Kinda like in ODST). Then boom, end of mission.

Swords of Sanghelios: Everything is fine on the mission.

Alliance: Nothing really but what Arbiter tells Locke what to expect from Chief and Locke ignores it.

Enemy Alliance: Right when Osiris was in the cave trying to get through the hiddin wall, Arbiter talks about Chief and how he experienced fighting with him and how Chief cares for others and responsibility and stuff. Like he says “Locke, I know what you really plan on facing the Chief. Yet you need to know… when I fought along side the Chief, we had our disagreements. But when I learned how he is, and what he has been through in our fight against the parasite and Covenant. Locke, I dont know what the Chief plans, but I know it isn’t how we believe it is” and stuff. Then they get to fight the Kraken…end scene…pickup.

Before the Storm: Nothing really happens but going to Arbiter and Arbiter talks about his journey and life change because of Chief. And if you stay around the area long enough, the each Osiris once in a while talks about the past on what they seen Chief do or what Chief has done for them. It just builds nostalgia of the past Halo games.

Battle of Sunaion: They fight, maybe add more dialog to the Arbiter like “I never battled like this since _____!”. And Buck was saved by Locke; making Buck trust Locke more. Then boom. mission end.

Genesis: Everything is fine from the start Warden talks to Osiris. And he believes that they can’t stop her and from taking Chief. he says stuff about Chief what Chief was doing the whole time. Like “Chief keeps resisting. But when we fully understands her work, I assure you he will soon join Cortana”. Then Osiris realizes that Chief was just being played. And THAT… is when the plan changed from custody to a rescue mission. Same thing Exuberant…tank…wardens…the Answer… mission over.

The Breaking: Everything is fine from here. Warden is sending troopers to stop Chief from meeting Cortana, Warden fails because how limited he can do when Cortana was trying to stop the Warden… cutscene… Warden clones to 100… and Cortana goes “ENOUGH” and meets Chief… bad things happen… Blue team gets imprisoned… sad… “Goodbye… John…” and mission done.

Guardians: Locke still kinda has a “Change of heart” but knows that Chief does not deserve what Cortana plans. Cortana smack talks Osiris. Locke must save Chief… yeah… bombs… mantis… Orb… save Chief… “Shes gone, sir” and end mission.

How this all plays in the end is that Cortana is lying to the UNSC/ONI/Others that Osiris betrayed as well. This makes the governors and leaders of other planets put Osiris and Blue team on KOS. ONI did that, some UNSC leaders did that. But Lasky dont really believe what Cortana is saying… but their orders was to put them on KOS by higher ranks. Even thought Lasky doesn’t want to do it, he does not have a choice.

That means Osiris and Blue team must work with Arbiter and the Swords of Sanghelios to stop Cortana in Halo 6; which it gives more fights with the Arbiter. And Palmer is with them too but since she is with Osiris and Blue team, she was considered ‘Communicating’ with the enemy and was not safe to go back to the INFINITY. Halsey as well.

How it should play in Halo 6 is Locke still has a grudge on Chief and both still had problems fighting alongside each other. But as the game goes on, they learn and adapt with each other and their beliefs (Belief trailer). So, it gives Locke more character development and more chances on being liked by the fans.

Concluding, this is how the story should have went. Has character development, matches the marketing, story is good, it is easy to understand, #HuntTheTruth, and is well executed. This is 7472 letters. Thank you for reading if you gotten this far.

2

I would’ve much preferred this story to the one we got. Why aren’t you working at 343 yet?

3

How is any of this different than what actually happened in the game? The only thing you would really change is you would make Locke irrational and a -Yoink-.

4

> 2535408102032171;3:
> How is any of this different than what actually happened in the game? The only thing you would really change is you would make Locke irrational and a -Yoink-.

This.

…I genuinely don’t see much different in your version except some additional dialogue that, to be honest, wouldn’t really effect the main plot. And a lot of the things you mention as setting up for Halo 6 more or less already appear to be the plan.

5

> 2535408102032171;3:
> How is any of this different than what actually happened in the game? The only thing you would really change is you would make Locke irrational and a -Yoink-.

Locke’s part: In #HuntTheTruth, it made Locke look like he hated Chief. In the game, it was more like a “Follow orders… idgaf what he did im just following orders… I now know what he did, time to follow more orders”. My version is more like he is trying to go through more personal intentions with Master Chief. And throughout the story, he learns to put his grudges aside for the fate of Humanity.

Chief’s side: Chief in the beginning was “Im taking you home. No more, no less.” through all his missions. My version, it is more like Warden was saying all these great things but also has a negative effect. Making Chief having two choices on what he should do. And when he finally sees Cortana again, him choosing to evade her plan is more logical than just having one objective from the start to the finish… it is like Chief behing human knowing he has choices too. But still chooses the choice his life put him as the Spartan II.

Marketing’s side: The whole thing was like “Uh oh, Chief done bad things. Locke hunting him down… wonder why… SUSPENSE” And #HuntTheTruth was like “Chief I hate you, you going down. Sincerely, Agent Locke”. But in the game, it completely ignores those marketing ideas and just goes for “Sorry, I miss understood what you were trying to do in the first place. Carry on”. The idea I brought in brings the marketing real, making Locke hated at first but then likable in the end. Even if he still isn’t liked, he still shown to be a cool, well developed character.

Character’s side: It makes Warden look like he actually has intentions on defending Cortana by not letting her comm with others (Until the last mission) and trying to stop whom ever blocks the way. And on Cortana, we loved her to death…while some people like her a little too deep. So knowing she is alive half way through the mission is good. Seeing her alive on the second to last mission is even better… a lot better than knowing she is alive and just bringing her back through a comms channel. (We watched her die listening to Green and Blue on Halo. let us just ignore that and put her back on the fifth mission through a comm channel, right?).

Arbiter’s side: Honestly, seeing him was great. But first, he was more like “I dont like you Locke, but the fate of all hangs in the balance without the Chief” to “When you see the Chief, tell him I send my greetings” when he doesn’t even mention the Chief at all after the first cutscene with him. Making him talk about what he saw the Chief been through and what Chief did for the Arbiter that lead him on his past right now shows how Arbiter has changed and he doesn’t want to see a wrong in Chief. And trying to tell Locke that there could be other explanations.

Story wise: They had to find a way to make Chief sound much as a traitor. Why not make Warden lie to Osiris of what Blue team has become? Then later on finds the truth over villain’s ignorance. But then lied that Osiris, Palmer and Halsey have betrayed as well. It leads to a better ‘To be continued’ part. Blue team, Osiris and others are labels as KOS, they need help from the Arbiter, and Locke and Chief are still having troubles with each other that lead to more development on both characters.

Instead, we got a misunderstanding what we actually wanted to see.

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> 2533274864701588;4:
> > 2535408102032171;3:
> > How is any of this different than what actually happened in the game? The only thing you would really change is you would make Locke irrational and a -Yoink-.
>
>
> This.
>
> …I genuinely don’t see much different in your version except some additional dialogue that, to be honest, wouldn’t really effect the main plot. And a lot of the things you mention as setting up for Halo 6 more or less already appear to be the plan.

If that was the case to have the same lead to Halo 6, there is not point on hating on Halo 5’s campaign then if they both going to end the same (Mine ends with the UNSC still against Blue team and now Osiris. 343i doesn’t).

You either have a misleading story with barely any knowledge of the character you play, who the Arbiter is, who the other characters are before Halo 5 and what happens to Chief or have a leading marketing campaign, an old character that makes an impact on the story, how Master Chief is evolving and a better ‘To be continued’ ending?

7

If you were one of the writers but not the head writer, this is probably what we would’ve got. Now, if you or someone else was head writer, I personally would change the entire story.

8

Personally the story felt rushed just like you said, this is so much more refined to what it should have been.
I really wanted to give Halo 5 at least an 8/10 but doing this to the campaign really brings it down to a 6 or a 5.

9

> 2535419166122192;1:
> Osiris: The mission stays the same. Everything fine…maybe make it longer so it can have more replay value. And have the fight with the Covenant leader better.

No meaningful narrative changes.

> Blue Team: Same thing until the little vision he was given of Cortana and the Guardian. Then at the end when Chief says “Contact with Cortana” and the INFINITY goes “We got another team already on it” it makes Chief actually get mad and go on leave to find out what Cortana was talking about.

So your change here is… Chief has a more emotional reaction than “Negative, Infinity. I don’t like it”? It’d be more of a character break than people are already complaining about being in H5:G. He does exactly what you say. No meaningful narrative changes.

> Glassed: At first order by Lasky and ONI was to extract Chief. Force if necessary. During the cutscene with Buck and Locke, they talk and stuff as Buck gives his points on leadership back then to Locke but then was shut down as Locke didn’t need to know that stuff… causing conflict between Buck and Locke. When Buck goes “When they find out what we are doing they going to hate us” and Locke goes “You are not the only one here because of him” making Buck think what Locke might plan to do. Then the mission starts. The gameplay and movement can stay the same to the end. AI Sloan stays the same too.

So now Buck is a nostalgic leader who feels the need to give advice (character break), Locke is easily agitated (making him even less likeable), they have unnecessary drama that does not make a meaningful impact on the larger plot… and nothing else changes. No meaningful narrative changes.

> Meridian Station: Really nothing here. Maybe add Buck to tell Locke like “What do you plan to say when we see Chief?” Locke goes “Not much of say, but do.”

Extra banter like in SoS levels. No meaningful narrative changes.

> Unconfirmed: This one, they hunt Chief down in the caves and face through treacherous fights until they reach Warden Eternal to fight. By then, Warden tells false information as what Chief is doing like “The other human’s passage is given through his support on Cortana’s campaign on Peace”. Warden then attacks Locke’s team and Locke believes Chief just switched through another side with Warden (Which isn’t the case as it is false belief). They beat Warden and go through gates and sees Blue team. Locke says stuff like 'Stand Down! You have committed treason and associated with the enemy Warden Eternal and you will be taken in custody back to the INFINITY" as Chief looks confused, sends team through teleporter and Chief goes “I don’t know what you are talking about, I got a job to do.” and Locke says stuff that pissed Chief… leads to fight… then at the end, Locke pulls magnum to shoot Chief and Buck goes in surprise but Chief already planted the armor lock before Locke could fire. And Chief goes through portal. Locke’s team escapes cave (Id rather ignore the part where Buck almost died. It was kinda unnecessary as it just lead to little humor little on).

Warden Eternal already says the gist of this without saying that John’s already on board with Cortana’s plan. Given that Halsey later tells Osiris John would be tricked into helping her anyway, this changes nothing. You change what Osiris does in the fight barely by having Buck try and get Chief in a very unprofessional manner. Do you know why they didn’t shoot? Locke was in a melee with John. Spartans move incredibly fast. By the time you fire you could be shooting your own guy. Nothing Osiris could have done differently here. And yet again… No meaningful narrative changes in this level.

> Evacuation: Beginning Buck goes “Locke what were you thinking?? That wasn’t the order.” and Vale agrees but Tanaka disagrees. Locke just ignores and says “Settle that later we need to get back to the pelican”. Then they leave and stuff. Cutscene is about Buck telling Lasky and Palmer tried to do. Locke told them what Chief has become and then was stated that Chief was a traitor. Lasky and Palmer believed if it was that firing only if necessary. After that, they continued the search on how to get to Chief…Covenant…Sanghelios…Arbiter…civil war…boom. Continued on.

It was in Locke’s orders to use lethal force if necessary - ONI’s invested too much secrecy in the S-II program to let their best fireteam run amok. If push comes to shove, yes they were given the leniency to kill Blue Team. It was last resort, mind. You throw in some banter about the orders, but does it really develop the characters in a meaningful way that the game already hasn’t? Moreover, at this point Halsey tells them straight up that Chief’s being led into a trap if he trusts Cortana - so for all intents and purposes John is still a target if he resists Osiris. No meaningful narrative changes here beyond creating a plot hole by trying to make a plot over attempting to kill John when it was a valid order from the get-go.

> Reunion: First part of blue team is normal. But when they meet Warden, he tells Blue team that Cortana is alive… but he plans they dont see her as he knows that Chief was actually planning on “taking her home”. So he fights blue team and loses. Still, no sign of Cortana but Warden telling Chief was Cortana is and what she has become over the months. However, even though Cortana cant speak to Chief, she stilled open doors and bridges to show him the way he wants him to go to (Kinda like in ODST). Then boom, end of mission.

So… everything remains the same except it’s not Cortana talking? Alright, Chief is more suspicious earlier on than he was in the actual campaign. Nothing is really accomplished by having Warden do all the talking except make him sound immediately like a bad guy. While in the original campaign we “fought” him several times, it wasn’t immediately clear whether he’d continue to do so or if he was just testing Blue Team before letting them work with Cortana. We had to play a couple more levels with Warden before we knew he was absolutely against Cortana and Blue Team meeting. Yet again, no meaningful narrative changes - Cortana not talking but having the exact same information delivered (including her being alive) hardly changes the circumstances of the campaign.

> Swords of Sanghelios: Everything is fine on the mission.

No meaningful narrative changes.

> Alliance: Nothing really but what Arbiter tells Locke what to expect from Chief and Locke ignores it.

So now we’re making Locke more detestable and arrogant, leading Halo fans to hate yet another new 343i character more than some already do. No meaningful narrative changes.

10

> Enemy Alliance: Right when Osiris was in the cave trying to get through the hiddin wall, Arbiter talks about Chief and how he experienced fighting with him and how Chief cares for others and responsibility and stuff. Like he says “Locke, I know what you really plan on facing the Chief. Yet you need to know… when I fought along side the Chief, we had our disagreements. But when I learned how he is, and what he has been through in our fight against the parasite and Covenant. Locke, I dont know what the Chief plans, but I know it isn’t how we believe it is” and stuff. Then they get to fight the Kraken…end scene…pickup.

This is incredibly ooey-gooey mushy in my opinion. Thel and John only worked together for a few days at most in person. They weren’t the best of pals. They were together long enough to build a camaraderie that Arbiter respects (and thus mentions in Halo 5), but not enough for him to be talking about their “disagreements” and knowing how John is as a person. So basically just more Arbiter fanboying about John in a way more excessive than the actual campaign handled (which I think the actual campaign handled it well). Still, dialogue aside, no meaningful narrative changes.

> Before the Storm: Nothing really happens but going to Arbiter and Arbiter talks about his journey and life change because of Chief. And if you stay around the area long enough, the each Osiris once in a while talks about the past on what they seen Chief do or what Chief has done for them. It just builds nostalgia of the past Halo games.

Again, I’m going to say it again: John and Thel only personally worked together for a few days at most. Literally Halo 3’s beginning to end. That’s it. So there’s just more dialogue about John as if Locke doesn’t already know about John’s accomplishments. I don’t really understand what this accomplishes narratively except make the game have some gag-worthy fanboying in itself about John. No meaningful narrative changes.

> Battle of Sunaion: They fight, maybe add more dialog to the Arbiter like “I never battled like this since _____!”. And Buck was saved by Locke; making Buck trust Locke more. Then boom. mission end.

So more Arbiter in-mission, that’s it. Conclusion of arbitrary and generally unprofessional confrontation between Buck and Locke. No meaningful narrative changes.

> Genesis: Everything is fine from the start Warden talks to Osiris. And he believes that they can’t stop her and from taking Chief. he says stuff about Chief what Chief was doing the whole time. Like “Chief keeps resisting. But when we fully understands her work, I assure you he will soon join Cortana”. Then Osiris realizes that Chief was just being played. And THAT… is when the plan changed from custody to a rescue mission. Same thing Exuberant…tank…wardens…the Answer… mission over.

So now Warden straight up tells Osiris that he’s been lying to them? Why even have him mislead them about John in the beginning of the campaign if he’s going to tell them here and now that John’s resisting? This is honestly a worse mess than what actually occurs in the campaign (again, in my opinion). That’s a plot hole where there wasn’t one before. At least Osiris changed it to a rescue op on Halsey’s authority that John would be lured into a trap - that actually makes some semblance of sense. Why would Osiris trust this Forerunner ancilla who’s actively trying to kill them, first tells them John is on board with Cortana’s plan, and now tells them he’s not? It just doesn’t make sense to me. I should also note at this point the plot has remained virtually unchanged. No meaningful narrative changes.

> The Breaking: Everything is fine from here. Warden is sending troopers to stop Chief from meeting Cortana, Warden fails because how limited he can do when Cortana was trying to stop the Warden… cutscene… Warden clones to 100… and Cortana goes “ENOUGH” and meets Chief… bad things happen… Blue team gets imprisoned… sad… “Goodbye… John…” and mission done.

No meaningful narrative changes.

> Guardians: Locke still kinda has a “Change of heart” but knows that Chief does not deserve what Cortana plans. Cortana smack talks Osiris. Locke must save Chief… yeah… bombs… mantis… Orb… save Chief… “Shes gone, sir” and end mission.

No meaningful narrative changes.

11

> How this all plays in the end is that Cortana is lying to the UNSC/ONI/Others that Osiris betrayed as well. This makes the governors and leaders of other planets put Osiris and Blue team on KOS. ONI did that, some UNSC leaders did that. But Lasky dont really believe what Cortana is saying… but their orders was to put them on KOS by higher ranks. Even thought Lasky doesn’t want to do it, he does not have a choice.
>
> That means Osiris and Blue team must work with Arbiter and the Swords of Sanghelios to stop Cortana in Halo 6; which it gives more fights with the Arbiter. And Palmer is with them too but since she is with Osiris and Blue team, she was considered ‘Communicating’ with the enemy and was not safe to go back to the INFINITY. Halsey as well.
>
> How it should play in Halo 6 is Locke still has a grudge on Chief and both still had problems fighting alongside each other. But as the game goes on, they learn and adapt with each other and their beliefs (Belief trailer). So, it gives Locke more character development and more chances on being liked by the fans.
>
> Concluding, this is how the story should have went. Has character development, matches the marketing, story is good, it is easy to understand, #HuntTheTruth, and is well executed. This is 7472 letters. Thank you for reading if you gotten this far.

A few things here, then:

  1. Why would ONI or the UNSC believe Cortana? She’s been reported KIA previously; she’s the one in control of Forerunner technology and they know it. Even if you rewrite that they don’t know it, Osiris was actively reporting back to Infinity/Halsey/Palmer up until they left Sunaion. There’s absolutely no credible reason ONI or the UNSC would just go “Well darn, they betrayed us too? Kill switch.”

  2. Lasky has proven more than once he has no problem disobeying orders.

  3. If Blue Team, Osiris, SoS, and Palmer are working together it’s quite apparent that they’re not the bad guys. Especially once the Guardians are unleashed (and assuming there aren’t a million plot holes relating to the UNSC somehow not “knowing” that they’re controlled by someone other than Blue Team/Osiris), it’s going to become pretty apparent that a few potentially rogue Spartans are no longer the worst problem.

  4. John has had to deal with a lot of people. Navy, Marines, his fellow Spartans, ONI, many, many people. And people far less trusting of him than Locke is portrayed in your version (Remember Silva from William C. Dietz’ “The Flood”?). There’s no reason he’d have a particular grudge against Locke for trying to hunt him following orders. John’s put up with a lot worse. He had difficulty trusting Arbiter at first because they were locked in a genocidal war against one another mere days before.

  5. I absolutely disagree that this would make Locke more “likeable”. It makes him arrogant, not-trusting, petty for holding grudges, and so forth. While I do agree Jameson Locke is an overly compliant and neutral character, the proposed characterizations turn him from a flat character into a downright unlikeable one.

I promise I’m not trying to crush your dreams or anything. And I’m not irate. But I hope you can now understand why I don’t see how this makes any meaningful changes to the narrative. This version literally just has Warden lie to us and then decide to tell the truth (plot hole), has Buck and Locke get grouchy for no good reason, has the UNSC/UEG/ONI demonize 8 of their best Spartans for no good reason except that the real bad guy said so (See: Warden lying to Osiris), and the story in the end has not changed whatsoever.

Moreover, it provides no real reason why we get more Arbiter, Locke, and John gameplay together in Halo 6 than the current Halo 5 campaign does. They all ended up together at the end, right? Right. I can speak confidently that if 343i had shipped the campaign with these subtle changes, I’d have liked it less. There’s only a few places where you add more flavor text that is interesting, and yet again those do not change the narrative in a meaningful way. It’s just that: flavor text.
I do commend you for trying to critique the plot of Halo 5, because it’s far from the best in the series, but I do not think this is the answer.

12

> 2533274864701588;11:
> > How this all plays in the end is that Cortana is lying to the UNSC/ONI/Others that Osiris betrayed as well. This makes the governors and leaders of other planets put Osiris and Blue team on KOS. ONI did that, some UNSC leaders did that. But Lasky dont really believe what Cortana is saying… but their orders was to put them on KOS by higher ranks. Even thought Lasky doesn’t want to do it, he does not have a choice.
> >
> > That means Osiris and Blue team must work with Arbiter and the Swords of Sanghelios to stop Cortana in Halo 6; which it gives more fights with the Arbiter. And Palmer is with them too but since she is with Osiris and Blue team, she was considered ‘Communicating’ with the enemy and was not safe to go back to the INFINITY. Halsey as well.
> >
> > How it should play in Halo 6 is Locke still has a grudge on Chief and both still had problems fighting alongside each other. But as the game goes on, they learn and adapt with each other and their beliefs (Belief trailer). So, it gives Locke more character development and more chances on being liked by the fans.
> >
> > Concluding, this is how the story should have went. Has character development, matches the marketing, story is good, it is easy to understand, #HuntTheTruth, and is well executed. This is 7472 letters. Thank you for reading if you gotten this far.
>
>
> A few things here, then:
>
> 1) Why would ONI or the UNSC believe Cortana? She’s been reported KIA previously; she’s the one in control of Forerunner technology and they know it. Even if you rewrite that they don’t know it, Osiris was actively reporting back to Infinity/Halsey/Palmer up until they left Sunaion. There’s absolutely no credible reason ONI or the UNSC would just go “Well darn, they betrayed us too? Kill switch.”
>
> 2) Lasky has proven more than once he has no problem disobeying orders.
>
> 3) If Blue Team, Osiris, SoS, and Palmer are working together it’s quite apparent that they’re not the bad guys. Especially once the Guardians are unleashed (and assuming there aren’t a million plot holes relating to the UNSC somehow not “knowing” that they’re controlled by someone other than Blue Team/Osiris), it’s going to become pretty apparent that a few potentially rogue Spartans are no longer the worst problem.
>
> 4) John has had to deal with a lot of people. Navy, Marines, his fellow Spartans, ONI, many, many people. And people far less trusting of him than Locke is portrayed in your version (Remember Silva from William C. Dietz’ “The Flood”?). There’s no reason he’d have a particular grudge against Locke for trying to hunt him following orders. John’s put up with a lot worse. He had difficulty trusting Arbiter at first because they were locked in a genocidal war against one another mere days before.
>
> 5) I absolutely disagree that this would make Locke more “likeable”. It makes him arrogant, not-trusting, petty for holding grudges, and so forth. While I do agree Jameson Locke is an overly compliant and neutral character, the proposed characterizations turn him from a flat character into a downright unlikeable one.
>
> I promise I’m not trying to crush your dreams or anything. And I’m not irate. But I hope you can now understand why I don’t see how this makes any meaningful changes to the narrative. This version literally just has Warden lie to us and then decide to tell the truth (plot hole), has Buck and Locke get grouchy for no good reason, has the UNSC/UEG/ONI demonize 8 of their best Spartans for no good reason except that the real bad guy said so (See: Warden lying to Osiris), and the story in the end has not changed whatsoever.
>
> Moreover, it provides no real reason why we get more Arbiter, Locke, and John gameplay together in Halo 6 than the current Halo 5 campaign does. They all ended up together at the end, right? Right. I can speak confidently that if 343i had shipped the campaign with these subtle changes, I’d have liked it less. There’s only a few places where you add more flavor text that is interesting, and yet again those do not change the narrative in a meaningful way. It’s just that: flavor text.
> I do commend you for trying to critique the plot of Halo 5, because it’s far from the best in the series, but I do not think this is the answer.

I wrote a big thing explaining why I like my idea. But then i realized that my plot twist was good, but the beginning of the campaign sucked… Ill just remake another forum to see if I can change it somehow (I know it wont happen but at least we know that there were better ideas in making the campaign).

13

> 2535419166122192;12:
> > 2533274864701588;11:
> > > How this all plays in the end is that Cortana is lying to the UNSC/ONI/Others that Osiris betrayed as well. This makes the governors and leaders of other planets put Osiris and Blue team on KOS. ONI did that, some UNSC leaders did that. But Lasky dont really believe what Cortana is saying… but their orders was to put them on KOS by higher ranks. Even thought Lasky doesn’t want to do it, he does not have a choice.
> > >
> > > That means Osiris and Blue team must work with Arbiter and the Swords of Sanghelios to stop Cortana in Halo 6; which it gives more fights with the Arbiter. And Palmer is with them too but since she is with Osiris and Blue team, she was considered ‘Communicating’ with the enemy and was not safe to go back to the INFINITY. Halsey as well.
> > >
> > > How it should play in Halo 6 is Locke still has a grudge on Chief and both still had problems fighting alongside each other. But as the game goes on, they learn and adapt with each other and their beliefs (Belief trailer). So, it gives Locke more character development and more chances on being liked by the fans.
> > >
> > > Concluding, this is how the story should have went. Has character development, matches the marketing, story is good, it is easy to understand, #HuntTheTruth, and is well executed. This is 7472 letters. Thank you for reading if you gotten this far.
> >
> >
> > A few things here, then:
> >
> > 1) Why would ONI or the UNSC believe Cortana? She’s been reported KIA previously; she’s the one in control of Forerunner technology and they know it. Even if you rewrite that they don’t know it, Osiris was actively reporting back to Infinity/Halsey/Palmer up until they left Sunaion. There’s absolutely no credible reason ONI or the UNSC would just go “Well darn, they betrayed us too? Kill switch.”
> >
> > 2) Lasky has proven more than once he has no problem disobeying orders.
> >
> > 3) If Blue Team, Osiris, SoS, and Palmer are working together it’s quite apparent that they’re not the bad guys. Especially once the Guardians are unleashed (and assuming there aren’t a million plot holes relating to the UNSC somehow not “knowing” that they’re controlled by someone other than Blue Team/Osiris), it’s going to become pretty apparent that a few potentially rogue Spartans are no longer the worst problem.
> >
> > 4) John has had to deal with a lot of people. Navy, Marines, his fellow Spartans, ONI, many, many people. And people far less trusting of him than Locke is portrayed in your version (Remember Silva from William C. Dietz’ “The Flood”?). There’s no reason he’d have a particular grudge against Locke for trying to hunt him following orders. John’s put up with a lot worse. He had difficulty trusting Arbiter at first because they were locked in a genocidal war against one another mere days before.
> >
> > 5) I absolutely disagree that this would make Locke more “likeable”. It makes him arrogant, not-trusting, petty for holding grudges, and so forth. While I do agree Jameson Locke is an overly compliant and neutral character, the proposed characterizations turn him from a flat character into a downright unlikeable one.
> >
> > I promise I’m not trying to crush your dreams or anything. And I’m not irate. But I hope you can now understand why I don’t see how this makes any meaningful changes to the narrative. This version literally just has Warden lie to us and then decide to tell the truth (plot hole), has Buck and Locke get grouchy for no good reason, has the UNSC/UEG/ONI demonize 8 of their best Spartans for no good reason except that the real bad guy said so (See: Warden lying to Osiris), and the story in the end has not changed whatsoever.
> >
> > Moreover, it provides no real reason why we get more Arbiter, Locke, and John gameplay together in Halo 6 than the current Halo 5 campaign does. They all ended up together at the end, right? Right. I can speak confidently that if 343i had shipped the campaign with these subtle changes, I’d have liked it less. There’s only a few places where you add more flavor text that is interesting, and yet again those do not change the narrative in a meaningful way. It’s just that: flavor text.
> > I do commend you for trying to critique the plot of Halo 5, because it’s far from the best in the series, but I do not think this is the answer.
>
>
> I wrote a big thing explaining why I like my idea. But then i realized that my plot twist was good, but the beginning of the campaign sucked… Ill just remake another forum to see if I can change it somehow (I know it wont happen but at least we know that there were better ideas in making the campaign).

But that’s just it - if your plot twist was in here… it wasn’t that good. There’s not a single thing I’ve read here that I would choose over the campaign as it’s currently presented. That’s not meant to discourage you, but I’m just giving my honest opinion and critique. If you can go point by point and lay out, like I have, why your version is better. Because I just don’t see it. I don’t see what’s different in terms of actual plot or plot twist, and I especially don’t see what makes it better.

14

> 2533274864701588;13:
> > 2535419166122192;12:
> > > 2533274864701588;11:
> > > > How this all plays in the end is that Cortana is lying to the UNSC/ONI/Others that Osiris betrayed as well. This makes the governors and leaders of other planets put Osiris and Blue team on KOS. ONI did that, some UNSC leaders did that. But Lasky dont really believe what Cortana is saying… but their orders was to put them on KOS by higher ranks. Even thought Lasky doesn’t want to do it, he does not have a choice.
> > > >
> > > > That means Osiris and Blue team must work with Arbiter and the Swords of Sanghelios to stop Cortana in Halo 6; which it gives more fights with the Arbiter. And Palmer is with them too but since she is with Osiris and Blue team, she was considered ‘Communicating’ with the enemy and was not safe to go back to the INFINITY. Halsey as well.
> > > >
> > > > How it should play in Halo 6 is Locke still has a grudge on Chief and both still had problems fighting alongside each other. But as the game goes on, they learn and adapt with each other and their beliefs (Belief trailer). So, it gives Locke more character development and more chances on being liked by the fans.
> > > >
> > > > Concluding, this is how the story should have went. Has character development, matches the marketing, story is good, it is easy to understand, #HuntTheTruth, and is well executed. This is 7472 letters. Thank you for reading if you gotten this far.
> > >
> > >
> > > A few things here, then:
> > >
> > > 1) Why would ONI or the UNSC believe Cortana? She’s been reported KIA previously; she’s the one in control of Forerunner technology and they know it. Even if you rewrite that they don’t know it, Osiris was actively reporting back to Infinity/Halsey/Palmer up until they left Sunaion. There’s absolutely no credible reason ONI or the UNSC would just go “Well darn, they betrayed us too? Kill switch.”
> > >
> > > 2) Lasky has proven more than once he has no problem disobeying orders.
> > >
> > > 3) If Blue Team, Osiris, SoS, and Palmer are working together it’s quite apparent that they’re not the bad guys. Especially once the Guardians are unleashed (and assuming there aren’t a million plot holes relating to the UNSC somehow not “knowing” that they’re controlled by someone other than Blue Team/Osiris), it’s going to become pretty apparent that a few potentially rogue Spartans are no longer the worst problem.
> > >
> > > 4) John has had to deal with a lot of people. Navy, Marines, his fellow Spartans, ONI, many, many people. And people far less trusting of him than Locke is portrayed in your version (Remember Silva from William C. Dietz’ “The Flood”?). There’s no reason he’d have a particular grudge against Locke for trying to hunt him following orders. John’s put up with a lot worse. He had difficulty trusting Arbiter at first because they were locked in a genocidal war against one another mere days before.
> > >
> > > 5) I absolutely disagree that this would make Locke more “likeable”. It makes him arrogant, not-trusting, petty for holding grudges, and so forth. While I do agree Jameson Locke is an overly compliant and neutral character, the proposed characterizations turn him from a flat character into a downright unlikeable one.
> > >
> > > I promise I’m not trying to crush your dreams or anything. And I’m not irate. But I hope you can now understand why I don’t see how this makes any meaningful changes to the narrative. This version literally just has Warden lie to us and then decide to tell the truth (plot hole), has Buck and Locke get grouchy for no good reason, has the UNSC/UEG/ONI demonize 8 of their best Spartans for no good reason except that the real bad guy said so (See: Warden lying to Osiris), and the story in the end has not changed whatsoever.
> > >
> > > Moreover, it provides no real reason why we get more Arbiter, Locke, and John gameplay together in Halo 6 than the current Halo 5 campaign does. They all ended up together at the end, right? Right. I can speak confidently that if 343i had shipped the campaign with these subtle changes, I’d have liked it less. There’s only a few places where you add more flavor text that is interesting, and yet again those do not change the narrative in a meaningful way. It’s just that: flavor text.
> > > I do commend you for trying to critique the plot of Halo 5, because it’s far from the best in the series, but I do not think this is the answer.
> >
> >
> > I wrote a big thing explaining why I like my idea. But then i realized that my plot twist was good, but the beginning of the campaign sucked… Ill just remake another forum to see if I can change it somehow (I know it wont happen but at least we know that there were better ideas in making the campaign).
>
>
> But that’s just it - if your plot twist was in here… it wasn’t that good. There’s not a single thing I’ve read here that I would choose over the campaign as it’s currently presented. That’s not meant to discourage you, but I’m just giving my honest opinion and critique. If you can go point by point and lay out, like I have, why your version is better. Because I just don’t see it. I don’t see what’s different in terms of actual plot or plot twist, and I especially don’t see what makes it better.

Yeah yeah yeah, ill be rewriting it again some point if I take interest. It wont matter but it will make me happy if I can do better.

15

Well that’s what I encourage, friend! Keep working at it, make it better! That’s what the professionals have to do :wink: They rewrite a plot at least 5 times minimum, I’m sure. Do what makes you happy - that’s definitely the most important! Like I said I don’t want to discourage you, but it’s a dangerous game to suggest that you are certain your version is better or would be better received.

16

I’d be much better if it was just Master Chief and Locke. Make Chief someone that the player can be, not a character. The other 6 spartans are pointless and make the game already boring campaign worse. Also, Master Chief was supposed to be ‘the last spartan’ and Linda was one of his friends in the expanded universe, so why is she a spartan? I hope that theres a malfunction in the Spartan 4 armour because it looks awful and should go back to the not so fricking skinny, Spartan 3 armour, which looks badass. Also, I think that Cortana shouldn’t be evil, because that is just so different to what were used to; a fun relationship between Chief and her which make them both more interesting. In addition to that, 343 needs to go back to Bungie’s art style becuase it looks more realistic and looks cooler.

As a lover of Halo (not fan because I still havent completed ODST and Halo 2, which I seriously need to complete, and dont by books or stuff like that) I am thoroughly dissappointed with 343 Industries, these are just a few major problems;
-They have made Master Chief a much less interesting protagonist- he isn’t supposed to be played for you.
-Locke, Tanaka, Vale, Fredrick, Kelly and Linda are usesless, pointless and boring ‘characters’.
-The art style is really, really bad (just compare 343’s UNSC ships to Bungies UNSC ships, Bungie’s look more bulky and more rustic, which looks way better than 343’s covanent looking ships) the Spartan 4 armour looks very skinny and doesnt look very protective, the Forerunner structures are supposed to me 100s of 1,000s of years old, but they look like really shiny and recently constructed, the Covanent Vehicles, Weapons, Enimies look horrific.
-What happened to Lord Hood?
-What happened to the Arbiter? He’s not a cool character anymore!
-What happened to Cortana? EVIL??!?!?
-Bungie has made some badass, memorable and engaging characters;
Master Chief up to Halo 3, Cortana up to Halo 3, Captain Keyes, Miranda Keyes, Prophets or Regret/Truth, Sergant Johnson, 343 Guilty Spark, The Gravemind, Noble Team, Lord Hood, The Arbiter, Doctor Halsey (Halo Reach), Buck, the Shipmaster…
But 343? Thomas Lasky…? Sarah Palmer…??? She is irritating… Captain Del Rio? The only 2 cool characters made in Halo 4 by 343 are the Libraian and The Didact, but Bungie wrote the story for Halo 4 and 343 somewhat poorly executed it.

To summarise, 343 Industries, you have ruined the series, completely ruined and changed the community/fan base. Stop trying to change things because you think its cool, stop appealing to non-Halo fans, stick with what Bungie did, hire good writers, hire Bungie members, fire incompetent workers (most of 343 pretty much) and make a good Halo game like Halo CE, 2, 3, ODST or Reach. Focus on the Artwork, Story, Characters. Go back to the old, better art style. Make a story that makes sense and links to previous games. Make the characters interesting, make Master Chief cool again. Make Halo, as a franchise, cool again, otherwise you’ll just get taken over by a better, more passionate company (which is probably better, but this is a summary of what you need to do to improve.)

17

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