How to improve on H4’s story-telling

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I know that story is very important for a lot of the people in this board and for many Halo fans in general. If you’re interested who is in charge of H5’s narrative, you can check my investigation on 343i’s narrative team.

The focus of this thread however is to discuss what worked and what didn’t work in terms of H4’s story.
The question is: What can 343i do to improve it’s story-telling in H5? What do you hope for?

What worked:
+ For me it was obvious that the fiction and narrative was (in general) more important for 343i than it was for Bungie. The will was definitely there to shift up a gear and I really appreciate that. I would like to see an even greater emphasis on the narrative as that would be a key differentiator and growth opportunity for the franchise.

+ Respect for the overall lore including the stories told in other media, especially the books. Unlike previous Halo games (cough Reach cough) H4 honored it’s transmedia connections.

+ Improved presentation: H4 offered for the first time in the franchise believable looking (human) characters (faces!), which offered new opportunities to transport emotions independent from dialog. From a cinematic point of view H4 was a huge step forward.

+ More mature and multi-layered narrative/characters.
What makes us human?
Is it morally justifiable to turn children into super-soldiers for the ‘greater good’?
What is more important – duty or friendship?
Is a hero able to achieve the impossible because he is ‘at his core broken’?
While Bungie had a good hand for likeable characters 343i really dared (for the first time in the franchise) to explore the multiple facets of the universe and it’s characters, adding long-needed depth. Regardless of it’s mixed implementation in the game this is a huge step forward.

+ SPOILER: MC refusing Del Rio’s orders is one of the most powerful moments in the games for me:

> Del Rio: Commander Lasky, Pursuant to Article 55 of UNSC Regulation 12-145-72. I am ordering you to remove that AI’s data chip and retire it for final dispensation.
> Cortana: Don’t Please please, I don’t want to You don’t want me to please
> Del Rio: REMOVE THAT CHIP NOW, COMMANDER.
> Cortana: Please I don’t want to
> Del Rio: Give. Me. That. Chip.
> Master Chief: The Didact has to be stopped. If you won’t do that I will.
> Del Rio: I am ordering you TO SURRENDER THAT AI!!!Master Chief: No, Sir.

To this point Master Chief has been depicted as the perfect soldier. Brave, fearless and obedient – almost machine-like. So what we’re actually seeing is an enormous transformation. A transformation from a faceless machine-like soldier to an actual human being.
Master Chief rejecting a command is a wonderful symbol for that. He both stands up for what he cares for (Cortana) and what he believes is the right thing to do. With a near rampant AI that’s potentially endagering the whole crew of the Infinity it’s not a rational decision it’s an emotional one.

Other brilliant scenes include the MC – Lasky dialog at the end of the game, and – of course! – the ‘I’ve waited so long to do that.’ MC – Cortana moment (still gives me chills thinking about that).

What didn’t work (what needs to improve):
- H4’s story was almost impossible to understand for people who aren’t into the fiction – and unnecessary nebulous even for people who have at least played all the games.
H5’s story must be self-contained (self-explanatory) enough to not completely confuse new-comers while offering something for the people who are deep into the fiction at the same time.

- The terminals being played through Waypoint/ Halo Channel destroyed immersion in that it pulled you completely out of the game both in H4 and in the MCC. I understand that this had to do with disc space but 343i must find a better way in H5.
While the terminals per se are a good way to offer additional story snacks for those hungry enough they should never be necessary to understand the core plot of the game.

- Wasted potential: Both the concepts of a strong female character in opposition of Dr. Halsey (Sarah Palmer) and that of a tragic villain (Didact) have not been put to good use.
What’s interesting is that 343i added a lot of depth to some characters (Chief, Cortana, Dr. Halsey) while introducing one-dimensional characters (Didact is actually a complex character in the books) at the same time.
The problem with Palmer is not that she hates Dr. Halsey, the problem is that her motives are not fully fleshed out and there isn’t enough of her human side shining through.

- While H5 felt more mature overall that does not necessarily have to mean that there can’t be any kind of humor anymore. While 343i got the drama-side right H4 lacked exhilarant moments.
I think it wouldn’t fit the tone of the narrative if 343i went back to childlike Grunts and joking Marines but an intelligent and mature humor would actually strengthen the player’s connection with the characters.

- NPC chatter was always something Bungie did exceptionally well and something that I missed in H4. There needs to be more interaction between the player character and NPCs and between NPCs and a given situation. This is also a great tool to give the player more information regarding what’s happening right now without the need for another cut scene or Terminal.
One of the reasons why I always wanted to protect the Marines in previous games was that they felt more alive because of their reactions.

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I’m just hoping, that final boss in Halo 5 G won’t be trough -Yoinking!- QTE. I hate them for bosses.
And fact. that you need to understand lore to get most from Halo 4 story was plus for me. Without that “lore touch” Halo 4 story will be generic “save the world” story

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> 2533274854395005;2:
> I’m just hoping, that final boss in Halo 5 G won’t be trough -Yoinking!- QTE. I hate them for bosses.
> And fact. that you need to understand lore to get most from Halo 4 story was plus for me. Without that “lore touch” Halo 4 story will be generic “save the world” story

The problem is not that you need to know the lore – the problem is that the game doesn’t give you the essential information without further effort.

It just can’t be expected that everyone who’s interested in what’s going on has to read the Forerunner saga or find all of the Terminals in advance.

But that’s not the sole problem of H4. I think that other Halo games were as bad if not worse (especially Halo 3).
I’ve read all the Halo books yet I had troubles following the narrative with all of the changes in location.

What I loved was that H4 focused more on the characters while previous Halo games focused more on actions and locations.

I just wonder if I’m in the minority if I can’t get enough narrative input in the Halo games or in other FPS too for that matter.
It always makes me sad to see that so much background is cut compared to the books.

Would that be too much for other players?
Would a Halo game with a deep and sophisticated narrative not sell in the shooter market?

I always have the feeling that developers take gamers for a fool. Here is your good and your bad guy, enjoy yourself!

It’s sad because videogames are a very unique medium to tell amazing stories. And I would love to see so many facets of the Halo universe not only in the books but also in the games.

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> 2533274793332039;1:
> What didn’t work (what needs to improve):
> - H4’s story was almost impossible to understand for people who aren’t into the fiction – and unnecessary nebulous even for people who have at least played all the games.
> H5’s story must be self-contained (self-explanatory) enough to not completely confuse new-comers while offering something for the people who are deep into the fiction at the same time.
>
> - The terminals being played through Waypoint/ Halo Channel destroyed immersion in that it pulled you completely out of the game both in H4 and in the MCC. I understand that this had to do with disc space but 343i must find a better way in H5.
> While the terminals per se are a good way to offer additional story snacks for those hungry enough they should never be necessary to understand the core plot of the game.
>
> - Wasted potential: Both the concepts of a strong female character in opposition of Dr. Halsey (Sarah Palmer) and that of a tragic villain (Didact) have not been put to good use.
> What’s interesting is that 343i added a lot of depth to some characters (Chief, Cortana, Dr. Halsey) while introducing one-dimensional characters (Didact is actually a complex character in the books) at the same time.
> The problem with Palmer is not that she hates Dr. Halsey, the problem is that her motives are not fully fleshed out and there isn’t enough of her human side shining through.
>
> - While H5 felt more mature overall that does not necessarily have to mean that there can’t be any kind of humor anymore. While 343i got the drama-side right H4 lacked exhilarant moments.
> I think it wouldn’t fit the tone of the narrative if 343i went back to childlike Grunts and joking Marines but an intelligent and mature humor would actually strengthen the player’s connection with the characters.
>
> - NPC chatter was always something Bungie did exceptionally well and something that I missed in H4. There needs to be more interaction between the player character and NPCs and between NPCs and a given situation. This is also a great tool to give the player more information regarding what’s happening right now without the need for another cut scene or Terminal.
> One of the reasons why I always wanted to protect the Marines in previous games was that they felt more alive because of their reactions.

  1. It really wasn’t. Every major and important plot point in the game was covered and explained, The only exception being the Covenant, which seems to be addressed in Halo 5 and was covered extensively in Spops, all but explaining their situation point blank. Otherwise, the Didact’s motives, Librarian, the Prometheans and the Mantle, all were explained. Not in detail, but covered all the same.

  2. Agreed

  3. Didact had more depth to him than either Truth or Gravemind in the original games; instead of being evil for the lulz he actually had a motive explained in-game. He deserved better, and I hope that Halo 5 continues to flesh him out, but it was still an improvement for the games.

  4. Could certainly use some more humor, but Halo 4 still had good positive moments like when Lasky gave us a Pelican. In fact any scene with Lasky in them was done well and broke the mold of dark, overtly serious tension in the other segments.

  5. I agree entirely.

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> 2533274798011936;4:
> 4) Could certainly use some more humor, but Halo 4 still had good positive moments like when Lasky gave us a Pelican. In fact any scene with Lasky in them was done well and broke the mold of dark, overtly serious tension in the other segments.

I love Lasky’s character. Even in FuD I loved him. He cares and worries about Chief while at the same time has the Infinity to worry about. Lot on his plate and he can still crack a few jokes, not as good as Johnson but the “You don’t talk much do you?” make me chuckle

6

I like majority of everything OP, I just strictly disagree that everything has to be told in the game now as the series ages with time and becomes larger. I get when Halo was in its infant stages of course pertaining strictly to the game plot, but we’re over that now. Many games have expanded lore and plots do make it into the game that some individuals who don’t read or know about the other media lore won’t ever know unless they find out or read forums-see World of Warcraft (WoW). Of course, many games do sum up good plots in campaign time (see the Didact thread many other games mentioned in that), but I don’t think Halo in the FPS format can do that anymore if they include the ancient enemies.

There will always be questions to almost every character now that essentially comes from the book, not to mention it could possibly not do justice for that individual character not including what they were in the books-see the Didact. Of course, a longer campaign by 1 level even could have improved his character, or an earlier 1 that mentioned Forerunners in depth. I’m not exactly sure how it could of been done but writing for it could of been better too I suppose, idk. That’s just what I think, I was pretty satisfied with the Halo 4 campaign. But I do understand the questions of the others.

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And if there’s a nice, dark little hole where we can stick Brian Reed for the remainder of his existance and give his job to Eric Nylund, all the better.