Is John necessary for you to play Halo?

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I posted this on a poll, but I’ve decided to start a thread on it.

Chief is undoubtedly a huge part of what made Halo. I could also remind you that the game isn’t called John 117. It is called Halo, and it now has a massive expanded universe. I love my time spent with John, from CE all the way through to 5, including books, action figures, and even posters. But he is only a part of a massive fictional universe, and at some point must die, with or without the series dying with him. When he does die (since he’s not immortal), I would prefer that someone continue the series, with games, books, comics, etc. Is Locke the person that I would be happy with taking up the mantle (pun not intended)? Maybe, maybe not. I’m undecided. If they go the way with the series that I think they are (I’m not gonna say, because I think personal speculation is fun and won’t ruin it for anyone else), I certainly think he and Osiris have potential.

The problem with any franchise that kills its main character is doing it in a classy way, and doing it well. If Chief had gone out in 3, I’d have been fine with it. If he’d gone out in 4, rather than Cortana’s sacrifice for him, I’d have been fine with it. I wouldn’t have been fine with him being put to sleep for 10,000 years in 5. It all depends on how you do it. If John dies in Halo 9, I’d still want the universe to live on, as long as it’s done well (which is mostly subjective, but still).

We have also had 3 main games without Chief (2 FPS), and the stories of those three were arguably some of the better of the series. I don’t know about the majority of the community, but I loved Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and even, yes, Halo Wars.

So my question is this: Will you leave when the Chief does? Or will you stay on and try something new?

TL;DR: I think that the universe of Halo is too large to say that the games should die with Master Chief. I wanted to know what people thought about my thoughts.

2

My love for the Halo franchise is heavily influenced by the impact left by it’s primary protagonist John-117. But it is not a requirement by far. In fact, if he were to die, depending on the circumstances and story behind it, it could further my love.

Heck, my favorite Halo was Reach, and Chief was only in it as an easter egg.

What will kill the series for me is the bad game design choices that are being made. The Requisition System is terrible.

3

I honestly don’t know how I would react if they killed off Chief. I would still play multiplayer I suppose and just no longer care about the campaign.

4

No, but don’t advertise a game about John and only have him there for 3 missions.

5

Master Chief died in H3. He’s a very different person in H4 and beyond, he talks more than he used to.

6

> 2533274887968151;2:
> My love for the Halo franchise is heavily influenced by the impact left by it’s primary protagonist John-117. But it is not a requirement by far. In fact, if he were to die, depending on the circumstances and story behind it, it could further my love.
>
> Heck, my favorite Halo was Reach, and Chief was only in it as an easter egg.
>
> What will kill the series for me is the bad game design choices that are being made. The Requisition System is terrible.

> 2533274881491558;4:
> No, but don’t advertise a game about John and only have him there for 3 missions.

Both valid points. I think the opinion is split on the REQ system and gameplay elements (sprint, SC, SAs, etc.) because that’s mostly subjective as to what you like in a game. The community looks about 60/40 split in 343’s favor, based on the poll results I’ve seen. I’m ambivalent about REQs, and like the new movement, but those are my opinions. I know they don’t represent everyone.

And gr8 r8 m8, I agree. The story was not my favorite. But if done right, I think that 343 can easily make a recovery with this plotline. Lots of potential.

7

> 2535449076192416;5:
> Master Chief died in H3. He’s a very different person in H4 and beyond, he talks more than he used to.

Is it not good for a character to reveal different sides of himself? I thought seeing him break away from being Halsey and ONI’s brainwashed war machine was a great way of humanizing him. Which he is. A human.

8

You’re right, the universe is simply too large for the franchise/games to die with John. I know Reach got a lot of hate because John wasn’t in it, but I LOVED that game. I very much enjoyed ODST as well, especially the story it told. I even liked the story in Wars, though I didn’t like the actual gameplay(I’d rather an FPS type game, no hate intended). John is by no means a requirement for the games. I will stick with the series for as long as it lives. A game about the forerunners fighting the flood, and their inevitable fall could be quite interesting…

9

According to my time in ODST, Halo Wars, and Reach: no. I like halo games without Chief.

10

You know, thinking deeply on it, I don’t think I would need the Chief to continue with Halo for me to continue playing. We had Reach (my favorite in the series), ODST, and Wars. But this new game design, paired with poor handling of the different game aspects (like the MCC launch) and lower levels of content and poor story writing? NO. I dare say that as of right now, Chief is the reason a lot of us are still here. If 343 can make a great game with good gameplay, good storytelling, interesting characters (the opposite of Locke) and good art/design in all those areas, then yeah Chief doesn’t matter to me. I’d love some more spinoff games. They just have to be better than the somewhat average/below average FPS that Halo has been since 2010.

11

Doesn’t matter to me.

12

> 2535449076192416;5:
> Master Chief died in H3. He’s a very different person in H4 and beyond, he talks more than he used to.

See, this is somewhat how I feel on it. Thus, I really just want a good Halo, regardless of Chief at this point.

13

The only way we are going to see if the series will die or not when Chief dies, is when it happens.

Obviously this will be the biggest part of the series simply for the fact that he’s been in NEARLY every Halo game. 343 really needs to make sure that they have to do it in the right moment, at the right time, in the right place. If Chief no longer becomes a character in Halo, it’s either because he’s dead, he retired (which I doubt, but then again Cortana) or he disappears…again.

So other then all that rambling on about, whatever I just said, I don’t think the series will die. As long as they don’t screw up that moment (along with the story of the game itself) it should still run smoothly. Besides a game about Contact Harvest might be interesting to see.

14

The REAL question: is 343 necessary for me to enjoy Halo? The answer is no.

On topic though no he is not, Halo Reach is my favorite game and it only had a Masterchief cameo

15

I was almost rooting for John to die when the trailers were being released. I also expected a much darker game. Much darker than reach. That is the big problem with this game. They had the perfect set up for John to wrap up his story. He should have started to unravel at a tremendous rate in this story since he lost cortana. I would have loved to see him become the enemy before ending himself or Locke being forced to end him. I would have loved to play as Locke and having to kill John. Kill the hero we love. It would have been an amazing ending to his story, it would have finally made him human. He lost the one thing he loved. You can argue he saved the universe by coincidence, since he was more focused on cortana.

To to finish johns story, you need to make him human, make him vulnerable, and either make him , go out in amazing glory sacrificing himself, or a psycopath hungry for revenge that needs to be taken out by a well developed character.

Make the arbiter have to kill him, and when he finally stabs him, he just holds him, says sorry my dear friend, and leaves. Dark screen. Nothing else. That is how you end John.

16

I’ll gladly play Halo sans Chief. Even if the campaign had its meh writing moments, it definitely had lots of entertaining gameplay segments. Capture that goodness, wrap a neat story around it, and create a solid multiplayer experience and I’m in.

17

Ive loved all the campaigns, chief or not but I’ve mostly been about multiplayer so it wouldn’t bother me too much as long as they did it right, the only reason I’m against it is one of the biggest quotes, a spartan never dies

18

> 2533274974802290;8:
> You’re right, the universe is simply too large for the franchise/games to die with John. I know Reach got a lot of hate because John wasn’t in it, but I LOVED that game. I very much enjoyed ODST as well, especially the story it told. I even liked the story in Wars, though I didn’t like the actual gameplay(I’d rather an FPS type game, no hate intended). John is by no means a requirement for the games. I will stick with the series for as long as it lives. A game about the forerunners fighting the flood, and their inevitable fall could be quite interesting…

I’ve actually pondered this for a long time. A Forerunner game, akin to the Forerunner Saga books (but separate), could be very interesting.

19

Halo is about master chief and his journey, him, Cortana, Reach… Halo, and John discovering his humanity.

"Your mistake is seeing Spartans as military hardware. My Spartans are humanity’s next step, our destiny as a species. Do not underestimate them. But most of all, do not underestimate… him."

20

> 2533275050532363;19:
> Halo is about master chief and his journey, him, Cortana, Reach… Halo, and John discovering his humanity.
>
> "Your mistake is seeing Spartans as military hardware. My Spartans are humanity’s next step, our destiny as a species. Do not underestimate them. But most of all, do not underestimate… him."

I guess I don’t understand your position. Are you saying that the only topics used should be those? That it should end with John’s death?