Is Halo 5's Story Going...Too Fast? [SPOILERS!]

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I know it sounds like I’m just whining incessantly about 5. Trust me, there are things that I like and I plan on getting the game, reserving full judgement until I’ve finished. However, bear with me on this.

I’m not really feeling the way the story is being presented thus far. The cutscenes are too jarring and and the pacing just feels very off and rushed; They’re not taking time to breathe or build atmosphere and it worries me.

For instance, Mission 2. At the very end of the level, Chief contacts Infinity about scuttling Argent Moon and encountering Cortana. Random Extra #1 tells them there’s no need, and Chief instantly expresses his distaste for this and decides to ignore RE#1 and go anyway in the span of like two seconds.

Then the team proceeds to have a casual “we’re not leaving you” conversation as Argent Moon is literally falling apart around them. NOT ONE bothers questioning Chief about disobeying in the slightest, and everyone’s immediately cool with it, as well as having the urgency of a fat sloth with arthritis as a giant reactor goes nuclear right on top of them. They then fly off and go AWOL just…on a whim.

Then in the intro for Mission 3, we see Lasky, Halsey, and Palmer chatting about Cortana, which piques the interest of Roland. He gets angry because he perceives their conversation as throwing shade at Cortana and loses it. Then the scene just…ends. No reaction from the human characters.

Random cut to Buck and Locke. Not even a minute after Chief goes AWOL (to the player), Osiris has already been tasked with hunting him down. We don’t see them receive the order or from whom it came, it’s just there.

It bothers the hell out of me that these scenes are going so fast thus far, none of them appear to be longer than a minute, and they jump from point to point in a chaotic fashion. Not to mention they all end in “awkward silence/blank stare, fade to black.”

How do you feel about the pacing up to this point?

2

> 2533274832335336;1:
> I know it sounds like I’m just whining incessantly about 5. Trust me, there are things that I like and I plan on getting the game, reserving full judgement until I’ve finished. However, bear with me on this.
>
> I’m not really feeling the way the story is being presented thus far. The cutscenes are too jarring and and the pacing just feels very off and rushed; They’re not taking time to breathe or build atmosphere and it worries me.
>
> For instance, Mission 2. At the very end of the level, Chief contacts Infinity about scuttling Argent Moon and encountering Cortana. Random Extra #1 tells them there’s no need, and Chief instantly expresses his distaste for this and decides to ignore RE#1 and go anyway in the span of like two seconds.
>
> Then the team proceeds to have a casual “we’re not leaving you” conversation as Argent Moon is literally falling apart around them. NOT ONE bothers questioning Chief about disobeying in the slightest, and everyone’s immediately cool with it, as well as having the urgency of a fat sloth with arthritis as a giant reactor goes nuclear right on top of them. They then fly off and go AWOL just…on a whim.
>
> Then in the intro for Mission 3, we see Lasky, Halsey, and Palmer chatting about Cortana, which piques the interest of Roland. He gets angry because he perceives their conversation as throwing shade at Cortana and loses it. Then the scene just…ends. No reaction from the human characters.
> Random cut to Buck and Locke. Not even a minute after Chief goes AWOL (to the player), Osiris has already been tasked with hunting him down. We don’t see them receive the order or from whom it came, it’s just there.
>
> It bothers the hell out of me that these scenes are going so fast thus far, none of them appear to be longer than a minute, and they jump from point to point in a chaotic fashion. Not to mention they all end in “awkward silence/blank stare, fade to black.”
> How do you feel about the pacing up to this point?

Bro, you might want to put a spoiler tag on this. Yeah, its officially released, but not everyone wants to see it yet

3

Yeah dude i almost read this. Spolier tag needed

4

Felt the same way, but if I voiced my opinion on this, Waypoint would just call me crazy because reasons, and then proceed to tell me to go read the lore.

5

I agree it is fast paced.

But who cares when you’ve got fast paced arena multiplayer because that’s all Halo fans give a damn about./s

We can just hide behind a giant casual mode that’ll only be fun for the first maybe 6-10 times on each map and claim we actually care about every part of Halo instead of being a CoD clone.

6

> 2533274832335336;1:
> I know it sounds like I’m just whining incessantly about 5. Trust me, there are things that I like and I plan on getting the game, reserving full judgement until I’ve finished. However, bear with me on this.
>
> I’m not really feeling the way the story is being presented thus far. The cutscenes are too jarring and and the pacing just feels very off and rushed; They’re not taking time to breathe or build atmosphere and it worries me.
>
> For instance, Mission 2. At the very end of the level, Chief contacts Infinity about scuttling Argent Moon and encountering Cortana. Random Extra #1 tells them there’s no need, and Chief instantly expresses his distaste for this and decides to ignore RE#1 and go anyway in the span of like two seconds.
>
> Then the team proceeds to have a casual “we’re not leaving you” conversation as Argent Moon is literally falling apart around them. NOT ONE bothers questioning Chief about disobeying in the slightest, and everyone’s immediately cool with it, as well as having the urgency of a fat sloth with arthritis as a giant reactor goes nuclear right on top of them. They then fly off and go AWOL just…on a whim.
>
> Then in the intro for Mission 3, we see Lasky, Halsey, and Palmer chatting about Cortana, which piques the interest of Roland. He gets angry because he perceives their conversation as throwing shade at Cortana and loses it. Then the scene just…ends. No reaction from the human characters.
>
> Random cut to Buck and Locke. Not even a minute after Chief goes AWOL (to the player), Osiris has already been tasked with hunting him down. We don’t see them receive the order or from whom it came, it’s just there.
>
> It bothers the hell out of me that these scenes are going so fast thus far, none of them appear to be longer than a minute, and they jump from point to point in a chaotic fashion. Not to mention they all end in “awkward silence/blank stare, fade to black.”
>
> How do you feel about the pacing up to this point?

Seems quick, for sure. But you need a Spoiler Tag in the name bud.

7

> 2533274856792412;2:
> > 2533274832335336;1:
> > I know it sounds like I’m just whining incessantly about 5. Trust me, there are things that I like and I plan on getting the game, reserving full judgement until I’ve finished. However, bear with me on this.
> >
> > I’m not really feeling the way the story is being presented thus far. The cutscenes are too jarring and and the pacing just feels very off and rushed; They’re not taking time to breathe or build atmosphere and it worries me.
> >
> > For instance, Mission 2. At the very end of the level, Chief contacts Infinity about scuttling Argent Moon and encountering Cortana. Random Extra #1 tells them there’s no need, and Chief instantly expresses his distaste for this and decides to ignore RE#1 and go anyway in the span of like two seconds.
> >
> > Then the team proceeds to have a casual “we’re not leaving you” conversation as Argent Moon is literally falling apart around them. NOT ONE bothers questioning Chief about disobeying in the slightest, and everyone’s immediately cool with it, as well as having the urgency of a fat sloth with arthritis as a giant reactor goes nuclear right on top of them. They then fly off and go AWOL just…on a whim.
> >
> > Then in the intro for Mission 3, we see Lasky, Halsey, and Palmer chatting about Cortana, which piques the interest of Roland. He gets angry because he perceives their conversation as throwing shade at Cortana and loses it. Then the scene just…ends. No reaction from the human characters.
> > Random cut to Buck and Locke. Not even a minute after Chief goes AWOL (to the player), Osiris has already been tasked with hunting him down. We don’t see them receive the order or from whom it came, it’s just there.
> >
> > It bothers the hell out of me that these scenes are going so fast thus far, none of them appear to be longer than a minute, and they jump from point to point in a chaotic fashion. Not to mention they all end in “awkward silence/blank stare, fade to black.”
> > How do you feel about the pacing up to this point?
>
>
> Bro, you might want to put a spoiler tag on this. Yeah, its officially released, but not everyone wants to see it yet

Holy crap, thanks. Sorry, I tagged my last post but I forgot that the game hasn’t launched yet for this one lol.

8

I agree to a point. The scenes do seem rather short and sudden. Especially with that last one you talked about. As well as the first missions ending cutscene. Im hoping that it has something to do with it being review copies but idk…

9

I know what you mean, it’s just like modern movies being released. They don’t take time to build tension/atmosphere etc. Everything is at a breathless pace. I am very afraid the upcoming Star Wars film will also suffer from this. I chalk it up to the modern ADD generation, who is used to multitasking heavily/w phone in hand and BS. Everything has to be at a hectic pace/hectic -Yoink- taking place at all moments to keep their attention. There isn’t any moment to process what you’re seeing, it’s just jammed right down your throat.

10

> 2533274832335336;7:
> > 2533274856792412;2:
> > > 2533274832335336;1:
> > > I know it sounds like I’m just whining incessantly about 5. Trust me, there are things that I like and I plan on getting the game, reserving full judgement until I’ve finished. However, bear with me on this.
> > >
> > > I’m not really feeling the way the story is being presented thus far. The cutscenes are too jarring and and the pacing just feels very off and rushed; They’re not taking time to breathe or build atmosphere and it worries me.
> > >
> > > For instance, Mission 2. At the very end of the level, Chief contacts Infinity about scuttling Argent Moon and encountering Cortana. Random Extra #1 tells them there’s no need, and Chief instantly expresses his distaste for this and decides to ignore RE#1 and go anyway in the span of like two seconds.
> > >
> > > Then the team proceeds to have a casual “we’re not leaving you” conversation as Argent Moon is literally falling apart around them. NOT ONE bothers questioning Chief about disobeying in the slightest, and everyone’s immediately cool with it, as well as having the urgency of a fat sloth with arthritis as a giant reactor goes nuclear right on top of them. They then fly off and go AWOL just…on a whim.
> > >
> > > Then in the intro for Mission 3, we see Lasky, Halsey, and Palmer chatting about Cortana, which piques the interest of Roland. He gets angry because he perceives their conversation as throwing shade at Cortana and loses it. Then the scene just…ends. No reaction from the human characters.
> > > Random cut to Buck and Locke. Not even a minute after Chief goes AWOL (to the player), Osiris has already been tasked with hunting him down. We don’t see them receive the order or from whom it came, it’s just there.
> > >
> > > It bothers the hell out of me that these scenes are going so fast thus far, none of them appear to be longer than a minute, and they jump from point to point in a chaotic fashion. Not to mention they all end in “awkward silence/blank stare, fade to black.”
> > > How do you feel about the pacing up to this point?
> >
> >
> > Bro, you might want to put a spoiler tag on this. Yeah, its officially released, but not everyone wants to see it yet
>
>
> Holy crap, thanks. Sorry, I tagged my last post but I forgot that the game hasn’t launched yet for this one lol.

No worries. And yeah, I did feel a little rush when it came to the opening trailer for the third mission.

I would like to see more exploration with Roland’s explosion and everyone else’s reaction to it

11

> 2533274856792412;10:
> > 2533274832335336;7:
> > > 2533274856792412;2:
> > > > 2533274832335336;1:
> > > > I know it sounds like I’m just whining incessantly about 5. Trust me, there are things that I like and I plan on getting the game, reserving full judgement until I’ve finished. However, bear with me on this.
> > > >
> > > > I’m not really feeling the way the story is being presented thus far. The cutscenes are too jarring and and the pacing just feels very off and rushed; They’re not taking time to breathe or build atmosphere and it worries me.
> > > >
> > > > For instance, Mission 2. At the very end of the level, Chief contacts Infinity about scuttling Argent Moon and encountering Cortana. Random Extra #1 tells them there’s no need, and Chief instantly expresses his distaste for this and decides to ignore RE#1 and go anyway in the span of like two seconds.
> > > >
> > > > Then the team proceeds to have a casual “we’re not leaving you” conversation as Argent Moon is literally falling apart around them. NOT ONE bothers questioning Chief about disobeying in the slightest, and everyone’s immediately cool with it, as well as having the urgency of a fat sloth with arthritis as a giant reactor goes nuclear right on top of them. They then fly off and go AWOL just…on a whim.
> > > >
> > > > Then in the intro for Mission 3, we see Lasky, Halsey, and Palmer chatting about Cortana, which piques the interest of Roland. He gets angry because he perceives their conversation as throwing shade at Cortana and loses it. Then the scene just…ends. No reaction from the human characters.
> > > > Random cut to Buck and Locke. Not even a minute after Chief goes AWOL (to the player), Osiris has already been tasked with hunting him down. We don’t see them receive the order or from whom it came, it’s just there.
> > > >
> > > > It bothers the hell out of me that these scenes are going so fast thus far, none of them appear to be longer than a minute, and they jump from point to point in a chaotic fashion. Not to mention they all end in “awkward silence/blank stare, fade to black.”
> > > > How do you feel about the pacing up to this point?
>
>
> No worries. And yeah, I did feel a little rush when it came to the opening trailer for the third mission.
> I would like to see more exploration with Roland’s explosion and everyone else’s reaction to it

Exactly! I was expecting bewilderment from the three (or perhaps passive intrigue from Halsey). Imagine my shock when I got a black screen instead.

12

> 2533274832335336;11:
> > 2533274856792412;10:
> > > 2533274832335336;7:
> > > > 2533274856792412;2:
> > > > > 2533274832335336;1:
> > > > > I know it sounds like I’m just whining incessantly about 5. Trust me, there are things that I like and I plan on getting the game, reserving full judgement until I’ve finished. However, bear with me on this.
> > > > >
> > > > > I’m not really feeling the way the story is being presented thus far. The cutscenes are too jarring and and the pacing just feels very off and rushed; They’re not taking time to breathe or build atmosphere and it worries me.
> > > > >
> > > > > For instance, Mission 2. At the very end of the level, Chief contacts Infinity about scuttling Argent Moon and encountering Cortana. Random Extra #1 tells them there’s no need, and Chief instantly expresses his distaste for this and decides to ignore RE#1 and go anyway in the span of like two seconds.
> > > > >
> > > > > Then the team proceeds to have a casual “we’re not leaving you” conversation as Argent Moon is literally falling apart around them. NOT ONE bothers questioning Chief about disobeying in the slightest, and everyone’s immediately cool with it, as well as having the urgency of a fat sloth with arthritis as a giant reactor goes nuclear right on top of them. They then fly off and go AWOL just…on a whim.
> > > > >
> > > > > Then in the intro for Mission 3, we see Lasky, Halsey, and Palmer chatting about Cortana, which piques the interest of Roland. He gets angry because he perceives their conversation as throwing shade at Cortana and loses it. Then the scene just…ends. No reaction from the human characters.
> > > > > Random cut to Buck and Locke. Not even a minute after Chief goes AWOL (to the player), Osiris has already been tasked with hunting him down. We don’t see them receive the order or from whom it came, it’s just there.
> > > > >
> > > > > It bothers the hell out of me that these scenes are going so fast thus far, none of them appear to be longer than a minute, and they jump from point to point in a chaotic fashion. Not to mention they all end in “awkward silence/blank stare, fade to black.”
> > > > > How do you feel about the pacing up to this point?
> >
> >
> > No worries. And yeah, I did feel a little rush when it came to the opening trailer for the third mission.
> > I would like to see more exploration with Roland’s explosion and everyone else’s reaction to it
>
>
> Exactly! I was expecting bewilderment from the three (or perhaps passive intrigue from Halsey). Imagine my shock when I got a black screen instead.

Also, Jul’s “death” was super abrupt. Blink and you miss it. And then never revisited. They go back to Infinity and you would expect some sort of acknowledgment that Buck had just killed Jul and possibly ended the Covenant once and for all

13

Yes… it feels very “Hollywood action movie” from what’s been shown.

14

Yeah, i dont like how now 117 ignores orders in the drop of a dime because he has to do what he has to do.
I also doesnt help that Palmer straight up says that no one tells 117 what to do. It appears that Chief is now a super hero, the freaking Batman, instead of a soldier in the military. Some one shines the 117 signal and he pops in if he wants.

The Roland scene was there to drop a bit of info and to clearly tell you a story element that is going to happen.
That part where he says

"because she didn’t choose to die"aaaaaaaaand end scene. That was mega cheesy, i actually laughed.

The quick pace is because Lasky and Palmer OBVIOUSLY know what is going on and are not telling anyone.
So there is a story happening that will slowly be revealed as the game happens.

15

Maybe to an extent, but given we haven’t seen the rest of the story and the playable sections of the game are seemingly doing some heavy-lifting of their own relay bits of the story, I’m not particularly worried. And with things like Intel on the map, I think it will be a lot clearer and coherent than Halo 4 was.

16

Honestly, from what I’ve seen so far, I’m loving it. Very intriguing as well as good characterization to all the characters.

17

I just want to play Arena. I’ll play the campaign, but only when my kid is there, and I need to be able to pause.

18

I am not seeing it. The story seems to have a good pace.

19

Maybe a bit of fast-pacing to throw you into the action, but I really disliked the Roland cutscene. They better redeem Roland and they better have Black-Box somewhere.

20

> 2533274812652989;15:
> Maybe to an extent, but given we haven’t seen the rest of the story and the playable sections of the game are seemingly doing some heavy-lifting of their own relay bits of the story, I’m not particularly worried. And with things like Intel on the map, I think it will be a lot clearer and coherent than Halo 4 was.

Perhaps. That’s my hope at least.

As of now I’m attributing all this to having to set up a fairly complex plot in a short period of time, and they’ll slow down a bit once the ball is rolling.