This is like the Kirby thing i said in another thread.
Bungie Halo and 343 Halo are basically 2 different Halos. I would say they are borderline incompatible together in the same video game universe as 343 changes so much of Chief. Cortana, the Covenant, and the Forerunners not to mention how Halo 4 isn’t even an Arena Shooter anymore and Halo 5 has advanced movement.
I theorize that Halo 5 would have been better off as a new IP. Advanced movement just doesn’t appeal to Halo fans as a whole similar to how it doesn’t to COD fans. But the advanced movement in COD didn’t work but for Titanfall it did. Titanfall was a new IP so it had no standard have to conform to.
The reason i am fine with sprint and mantling in Halo is because it those 2 mechanics just replaced smaller map sizes (slow movement made those maps feel bigger than they were) and crazy high jumping (now you mantle onto the object instead of jumping clear above it and landing on it). Halo not having sprint was not a key feature of Halo but more of a byproduct of its time. Older games used to not have spring in many franchises but as newer releases came out they added sprint. Same thing with Halo.
I feel a game series should appeal to the core audience first then expand from there. Not forget the core audience to go after new players. So:
-The changing of the Art style by 343 was just bad. Halo had an iconic art style that didn’t need to change and they just did it soley to stick out from Bungie but have since had to go back on it.
-343 changing the characters from what they had been shown as in previous games was also bad. Sure characters can grow but to instantly become the opposite of what you were just doesn’t happen.
-Gameplay needs to grow but not drastically shift either. Halo is an arena shooter so making a Halo thats not that means its not really Halo. It may have the Halo name but it is not the same Halo that came before.
I would say Halo 4 and Halo 5 fans are not “real” Halo fans (don’t get me wrong i enjoyed the multiplayer but it’s not what all Halo’s should be like). They fell in love with a Halo that is counter to what already existed. Similarly i used to consider myself a big Kirby fan. My favorite Kirby was Kirby and the Amazing Mirror. Well after buying one on my Switch recently i figured out not all Kirby games are like that one. I was shocked when i researched and not a single other Kirby is like it either. Turns out i fell in love with a one off Kirby experience as its the only metroid-vania style Kirby game. While i loved that experience i would never argue that future Kirby games should play that way as that is not what “real” Kirby plays like. It would not be fair to the established Kirby fans to do so as thats not the experience they want. Same thing with Halo 4 and Halo 5.
I know it sucks but Halo was not meant to be like Halo 4 and 5. Thats why those games have seen their playerbase drop way faster than all those that came before it.
For a franchise i determine which one was actually the best not by sales numbers alone but by which game was the last to have relatively large sales and hold the playerbase. This is because if game 1 is near perfect and everyone loves it but game 2 sells more but can’t hold a playerbase then game 2 is living off the success of game 1 in the franchise.
I would also argue Infinite would/should be doing way bettwe but due to very poor project management it had way too much dev time to release like it has so people left not due to poor quality but rather lack of quantity. (Gameplay wise, now stability issues are also rampant so that hurts the game too).
Elden Ring is the best example of appealing to the base first then expanding and having massive success. From didn’t cave and add an easy mode or make its quests easier to follow like non From fans wanted and now Elden Ring is considered one of the best open world games ever made.
TLDR: Halo does best when it presents itself as it originally did and trying to go against it like Halo 4 and 5 did brings nothing but fans who don’t want Halo to be Halo into the mix and now 343 has 2 opposite sides of fans who will never agree.
Now if 343 wanted to make Halo experiences like that but make them spin offs i am totally fine with that and i would think most Halo fans would be. The problem comes in when its the mainline Halo.
