Is anyone else concerned over future Halo lore?

Community Halo Universe
#1

I’ll start with some background:

I was entering my teenage years when the 20-year anniversary release of the original Star Wars trilogy hit theaters. I knew nothing about the films prior to that, but they blew me away. Never before had I been so enthralled by anything. I immediately became a fan, and over time, a completely obsessed individual. I lived and breathed and ate up anything that was a part of the Star Wars franchise.

As I grew older, I didn’t deny that certain aspects of the Star Wars lore were of a far lesser quality than others, but I tried not to let it distract me from the parts that I loved. The Expanded Universe was where the largest portion of the “good stuff” was found, in my opinion, and I grew increasingly agitated as this content was slowly disregarded and retconned. After Disney acquired the Star Wars license, they finished what George Lucas had started and axed the entire Expanded Universe. The parts of the Star Wars franchise that had held my interest for years is now officially viewed as obsolete fan fiction. Yes, I know they are within their rights to do so. Yes, I know they wanted a clean slate. Yes, I saw Star Wars VII and was disappointed.

I had plenty of other interests/fandoms that I enjoyed over the years, but none that I immersed myself in like Star Wars. At least, not until I started to play Halo. I fell in love all over again.

I’m making it a point to play all of the games, read all of the literature, and find out everything there is to know about Halo. I feel like I did twenty years ago, but with a more grown-up story for a more grown-up me. However, I just can’t shake this unsettling feeling in the back of my head that I’ll watch the downfall of another captivating story after playing Halo 5.

I won’t repeat what’s already been said regarding the campaign – I’m sure most are well aware. I won’t comment on the writing, beyond the fact of searching for the name I kept hearing tossed around, and seeing half of the results are discussions about Halo fans’ dismay as a result. I won’t criticize the story we were given, because I’m trying to be optimistic and hope that the rest of the story to come will satisfy the loose ends. I understand that any franchise, especially one in which multiple sources contribute to it, will have its high and low points of storytelling, so I’m hoping this is the case with Halo 5. I honestly don’t hate it, but it’s been that “low point” thus far, in my opinion.

I know that I’m likely being neurotic, but I’m curious if anyone else (especially long-time Halo fans) is concerned that Halo may be steering in a direction of storytelling that may start disregarding what came before in order to make room for what will come, or are you confident that future installments of Halo lore will pan out more cohesively?

#2

I can see where your coming from, but regarding the cannon, I am 100% positive none of the books or any other from of media besides the games will be just thrown out. If you think about it, the whole basis of the story started with one book then it expanded with a game. Looking at halo 5, yes there were plenty more opportunities for storytelling but the game is starting something that will most likely be finished in future games. After all, it is the Reclaimer Saga.

#3

No, I have faith that the 343 know what they are doing and the direction the story is heading, considering how they are professionals I have more faith in them then if anyone else here on the forums were to write the story.

But with faith, one must have doubts.

#4

It depends on what you mean.

I think whats going on with Cortana is a repeat of what happened between Mendicant Bias and the Forerunners. Its the Reclaimer saga and its about how humanity must succeed where the Forerunners failed. Part of that is making peace with their AI and keeping them on side. Bias having doubts and betraying them is a major reason why the Forerunners lost. I think (hope) that this is what going on with Cortana and they are simply keeping that as a plot twist for Halo 6 because “OMG Chief has to kill Cortana shes far too gone” and you can have Chief be the only one who ever believed in Cortana whilst all of humanity wants her dead; redemption arc etc etc. So, we kind of don’t really know the direction they are going yet. I can’t for sure say we know what their game is exactly and if we are being told half truths.

But yeah, I think all the stuff with the Covenant, the Forerunners, the Flood and the Master Chief is all going to continue to be relevant and drive the narrative. I like that they are going more in the direction of it being a big galactic stakes space opera and having a war to background everything. I think raising the stakes like that is quite good.

I must admit I really liked Halo 4, but after this game I am very sceptical of the quality of the writers and the ability to tell a compelling story. I also find some ridiculous decisions like the focus on Locke in Halo 5 almost impossible to understand. So I guess I am not that confident even though I am sort of okay with the direction I think (must stress that word) they are going.

#5

Not all that concerned with canon. Frankie and 343 still have the original Halo Bibles and I can’t imagine they’ve scrapped (or plan to scrap) anything canon-related.

Where I am concerned, similar as to what total war1402 mentioned above, is the writer’s ability to adequately tell the story in an engaging way…or in a way that doesn’t require reading 13 books and watching 4 miniseries to understand what’s going on in the game.
coughHalo 5cough

#6

> 2718244060817008;5:
> Not all that concerned with canon. Frankie and 343 still have the original Halo Bibles and I can’t imagine they’ve scrapped (or plan to scrap) anything canon-related.
>
> Where I am concerned, similar as to what total war1402 mentioned above, is the writer’s ability to adequately tell the story in an engaging way…or in a way that doesn’t require reading 13 books and watching 4 miniseries to understand what’s going on in the game.
> coughHalo 5cough

Do not forget about playing 9 games, considering how long Halo has been around it would make sense if they thought some people who do not know the game would do research into it instead of rushing in and saying “I do not know these characters!”

#7

I just can’t read such long forum post.

#8

> 2533274829152751;3:
> No, I have faith that the 343 know what they are doing and the direction the story is heading, considering how they are professionals I have more faith in them then if anyone else here on the forums were to write the story.
>
> But with faith, one must have doubts.

Yeah, they totally know what they’re doing…that’s why they retconned 'Halo 4’s ending //in a forum post//, lied about practically everything pertaining to 'Halo5’s story and themes and have continued to lie since the game’s release, completely dropped every single important plot thread and character development from the last 5 years, and have straight-up refused to discuss the campaign in the wake of all the backlash since October while simultaneously insulting fans and critics alike.

Real professionals.

#9

> 2533274920039666;8:
> > 2533274829152751;3:
> > No, I have faith that the 343 know what they are doing and the direction the story is heading, considering how they are professionals I have more faith in them then if anyone else here on the forums were to write the story.
> >
> > But with faith, one must have doubts.
>
>
> Yeah, they totally know what they’re doing…that’s why they retconned 'Halo 4’s ending //in a forum post//, lied about practically everything pertaining to 'Halo5’s story and themes and have continued to lie since the game’s release, comoletely dropped every single important plot thread and character development from the last 5 years, and have straight-up refused to discuss the campaign in the wake of all the backlash since October while simultaneously insulting fans and critics alike.
>
> Real professionals.

These are a few of the points in which my concern stems from. When I see things like this happening, it makes me nervous, but I’m definitely riding it out to see what happens. My fear is – sticking with the Star Wars analogy in my OP – something like when the prequel trilogy was revealed, massively retconned a chunk of the EU at the time, and then wound up being terribly disappointing.

However, I don’t want to discount the more positive responses thus far. I’m rooting for 343 to wow us with Halo 6 and beyond.

#10

I get how you feel concerning Halo. For me, I grew up with the original Halo trilogy, and loved many things about it. I’ve been playing Halo 4 recently and it’s not too bad. I still wish that Master Chief could have been the “last Spartan”, since that’s the image that was given to us solely through HCE to 3…but that’s just my personal opinion. With so many Spartans being introduced through books and now the games, the very name “Spartan” seems to have lost all meaning to me, and John-117 has lost status as well, somehow. Again, this could just be me. I also grew up seeing those Forerunner buildings on the original Halo and feeling an air of mystery about them, and the Forerunners’ supposed disappearance being left as a cautionary tale to the galaxy. But now real, living Forerunners are out and about, and more of their technology is awakening, so they have lost their mystique to me as well… For me, there is such a thing as telling and showing TOO much - the Forerunners should have remained a relative mystery, told to the player only through what remnants of their technology and architecture remained. I worry that Halo is getting too big for it’s britches, especially with, say, Halo 5 requiring the player to read books and comics and so forth to fully understand the confusing disconnect between the end of H4 and the beginning of H5. To me, H4 was a good ending as far as endings go, but now all that is retconned and the story is just getting weird. sigh

(Btw, in terms of Star Wars, I was very nervous about Disney’s appropriation of the series, but The Force Awakens was very enjoyable to me. I only now worry about them “Marvelizing” the series, with all of the spin-off movies they are making and planning, ugh! Also don’t care for the animated shows that have been going on for the past few years… In regards to the EU: The books still exist, so there is nothing stopping us from continuing to read those stories.)

#11

I understand what you’re saying, BlitzGirl41. The introduction of additional Spartans and the exploration of the Forerunners has actually been intriguing for me, but I’ve come to the Halo story much later than you have, so I imagine I might have felt differently if I grew up with the original games. I also like the idea of books, comics, and shows fleshing out more of the story we get from the games, but I understand that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I suppose I just prefer having an abundance of content to sink my teeth in to! I concur with the retcon of Halo 4’s ending; I hope we don’t see more of that in the future.

In regards to Star Wars, I know many folks like the new direction Disney is taking the series, and that’s perfectly fine. Personally, I dont, but I’m not going to ruin it for others. I owned most of the books that were the old EU, so I know they’re still out there. Even though they’ve been written off as non-canon, they’re certainly still available for people to spend money on.

#12

> 2535431987356199;11:
> I understand what you’re saying, BlitzGirl41. The introduction of additional Spartans and the exploration of the Forerunners has actually been intriguing for me, but I’ve come to the Halo story much later than you have, so I imagine I might have felt differently if I grew up with the original games. I also like the idea of books, comics, and shows fleshing out more of the story we get from the games, but I understand that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I suppose I just prefer having an abundance of content to sink my teeth in to! I concur with the retcon of Halo 4’s ending; I hope we don’t see more of that in the future.
>
> In regards to Star Wars, I know many folks like the new direction Disney is taking the series, and that’s perfectly fine. Personally, I dont, but I’m not going to ruin it for others. I owned most of the books that were the old EU, so I know they’re still out there. Even though they’ve been written off as non-canon, they’re certainly still available for people to spend money on.

Yeah, I really feel that most opinions can be shaped on at what point and what age one was introduced to the Halo series, as is the case with every entertainment series out there. I just grew up with a certain level of information with Halo, and I feel that it’s a series where too much being revealed may kill the fun of it, since even up through Halo 3 there were still so many mysteries left about the Forerunners, the Flood, and the Halo Array - and I was fine with that. In terms of the novels and comics and so forth, I prefer if those be portrayed as they were during Bungie’s days, where you can look into them if you want more information, but they won’t be mandatory for understanding the main title games in the series. It makes it easier that way - you don’t force people to do a lot of research, but then you have plenty of material available to people who deliberately want to learn more. I myself do love to read, and I believe in the power of literacy, but I don’t want to feel like I must read a book that a may or may not even like (I had enough of that in school! XD).

(Yeah, I was pretty nervous about Disney’s take on Star Wars and deliberately did not watch the trailers (unless it was in a theater) or read any rumors or anything. So then I went into the movie with very few expectations. I still am angry that Diseny bought SW at all, after buying out and milking Marvel, and still am worried that the same will happen. But I at least like how the introductory film of this new trilogy went, and am excited for the next two movies. I just don’t care for the spin-off films (milking!), or SW being in Disneyland (feels kind of…odd, IMO). I still find the original movies to be my favorite, though.
But I digress!)

#13

It won’t. If 343 Industries hasn’t blatantly disregarded what Bungie did, chances are they aren’t going to blatantly disregard Bungie’s or their stuff. After all, Halo is the prime example of a lively, consistent, story-driven universe in a video game. While themes will change, everything will continue to fit together.

#14

My worry comes from how much Microsoft is interfearing with 343’s creative direction.

It is my belief that MS stepped in and told 343 to wrap up everything that had started with Halo 4 because of Halo 4’s less-than-great reception. Hense why the Didact, Janus Key/Absolute Record and Jul 'Mdama just ‘went away’. MS clearly saw how good Destiny was doing and told 343 to make Halo 5 more like that. Emblem banners and bullet sponge enemy bosses.

Questionably, 343 took a sticky situation and made it worse, they arn’t exactly blameless. However, I think that Halo 5 could have been much better without MS pulling strings.

#15

Wait I know almost everything about the lore and I have never heard of halo 4s ending being retconned wtf u talking bout bro?

#16

> 2533274909119758;15:
> Wait I know almost everything about the lore and I have never heard of halo 4s ending being retconned wtf u talking bout bro?

Remember how Cortana died at the end of Halo 4? And how Frank O’Connor and other individuals within 343i kept repeating for months that she really was dead? And then suddenly in Halo 5 decided she came back via - as some people call it here - “space magic”? And to come back “evil”, to boot. That is what many of us are referring to.

#17

I am very excited to see what 343 brings us next. I joined the universe when it seemed everyone was playing Reach and H3 was dyeing out(so it seemed to me at least). With that being said, I’ve loved every halo game they’ve produced. I’ve read 90% of the books as well. I’m still obsessed with Halo. But I never knew about them retconning H4’s ending and H5 was a bit different the rest of the games, in a lot of areas.

#18

> 2533274810945725;14:
> My worry comes from how much Microsoft is interfearing with 343’s creative direction.
>
> It is my belief that MS stepped in and told 343 to wrap up everything that had started with Halo 4 because of Halo 4’s less-than-great reception. Hense why the Didact, Janus Key/Absolute Record and Jul 'Mdama just ‘went away’. MS clearly saw how good Destiny was doing and told 343 to make Halo 5 more like that. Emblem banners and bullet sponge enemy bosses.
>
> Questionably, 343 took a sticky situation and made it worse, they arn’t exactly blameless. However, I think that Halo 5 could have been much better without MS pulling strings.

This is a fair assumption to make. Its just a shame that the big-wigs weren’t paying attention to the fact that the STORY for ‘Halo 4’ got great reception, and that there was absolutely no need to derail 5+ years of narrative build-up.

#19

> 2533274920039666;18:
> > 2533274810945725;14:
> > My worry comes from how much Microsoft is interfearing with 343’s creative direction.
> >
> > It is my belief that MS stepped in and told 343 to wrap up everything that had started with Halo 4 because of Halo 4’s less-than-great reception. Hense why the Didact, Janus Key/Absolute Record and Jul 'Mdama just ‘went away’. MS clearly saw how good Destiny was doing and told 343 to make Halo 5 more like that. Emblem banners and bullet sponge enemy bosses.
> >
> > Questionably, 343 took a sticky situation and made it worse, they arn’t exactly blameless. However, I think that Halo 5 could have been much better without MS pulling strings.
>
>
> This is a fair assumption to make. Its just a shame that the big-wigs weren’t paying attention to the fact that the STORY for ‘Halo 4’ got great reception, and that there was absolutely no need to derail 5+ years of narrative build-up.

It makes you think that between now and Halo 6 we are going to get several book and comics telling stories about the UNSC surviving under the rule of the Created, then in the first mission of Halo 6 we will kill Cortana off!

343 have given us no cause to believe that this won’t happen…

#20

I’m a little concerned because I wasn’t a huge fan of the whole “Cortana gone bad” plot device in Halo 5. I feel the possible ways this situation can conclude are all cliches.