on the contrary, infinite’s art style represents the halo universe well and is very good for a 2021 game.
Nice to see that you like this style but Halo is a pre-existing franchise which until recently 343i has completely ignored
Using their Art style in its purest form would turn so many ppl off. The main reason they’re getting away with generic mechanics and lack luster map design that wer say is because it at least gives off the artistic flare of Halo.
> 2533274902469708;182:
> Nice to see that you like this style but Halo is a pre-existing franchise which until recently 343i has completely ignored.
No, they have not. Everything has retained the same design, and has remained recognizable as what they are despite a difference in art style.
> 2533274804813082;183:
> > 2533274902469708;182:
> > Nice to see that you like this style but Halo is a pre-existing franchise which until recently 343i has completely ignored.
>
> No, they have not. Everything has retained the same design, and has remained recognizable as what they are despite a difference in art style.
Umm H4? The Drastic design changes and then lore excuses as to why majority of the Armors, characters, and factions look different? Idk if you played H4 and H5 but they dont look Halo games nor play like Halo games
> 2535441307847473;177:
> Again I strongly disagree with the idea that it follows the Covenant aesthetic, the digital screen is very much a human design element, Covenant weapons have always used symbols or lines that gradually light up to indicate heat rather than screens. Also the Type 51 only has a stock because it actually produces recoil due to its use of solid projectiles rather than plasma projectiles like most Covenant weapons. Since the Storm rifle uses pure plasma, it definitely should not have a stock.
Any dispersal of energy will produce recoil. With projectile weapons it’s not quite that it’s a solid projectile, but the explosion necessary to propel the projectile. For the Covenant plasma weapons like the Plasma Rifle and the Plasma Repeater, the gas is shot through the sustained beam of electricity, causing the globule of plasma that travels forward. Since it’s an external event, I imagine it’d be able to disperse that energy off into the open air, causing less recoil, though there was still some. For both the Plasma Rifle and the Plasma Repeater.
The second video has the Storm Rifle as well, so it’s easier to compare the designs of the Plasma Repeater (which followed the Plasma Rifle) to that of the Storm Rifle (which followed the Plasma Repeater. The aesthetics are still very Covenant, and so far as the digital screen, this is an element that’s also been seen on the Type-51 Carbine (Halo 2, Halo 3), the Type-31 Needle Rifle, the Type-52 Focus Rifle, the Type-50 Concussion Rifle, the Type-52 Plasma Launcher, and even the elements on the Plasma Rifle and Plasma Pistol are of similar function. They don’t use numbers, but they do display battery level (on some weapons) and heat gradient.
> 2535441307847473;177:
> It may look like a UNSC gun but it shouldn’t have replaced either of the older variants, rather it should have been a new one that served alongside them or have not been designed at all.
From what I can find it was only stated that the M45 Shotgun won’t be in at launch (similar to Assassinations), but that doesn’t mean it’s totally out. As a couple others have mentioned, apparently the Bulldog does fill a different role; I’m assuming similar to a UNSC version of the Mauler.
> 2535441307847473;177:
> Thank you! I was worried that I was the only one who hated how they look, which is again a shame because I liked their dynamic in Awakening the Nightmare and I hope we can see them again as more than just some throw away bosses or something.
Awaken the Nightmare was also the first game, I think, to truly make the Flood terrifying. It was more than just an ammo dump, there was a heavy sense of desperation to forced retreats while watching your numbers dwindle…
But yes, I hope Pavium and Voridus remain. Perhaps they defect from the Banished, fearing for their lives. They were enjoyable protagonists, and I think they were intelligent enough to know that Humanity isn’t some “unholy blight”.
> 2535441307847473;177:
> See but again those armor effects were never canonical, unlike the FOTUS which at least partially is,
Only in Halo 5, where it was designated as Forerunner design and tech. Which while impractical for Human wars, does somewhat make sense for them. Also design-wise (though we never see it), the “horn” can angle backwards. In Halo 4, FOTUS was presented as a very obvious, tongue-in-cheek metafictional joke, making obvious reference to 343 Industries and the development process. Kind of like the Mister Chief visor that was added for Halo Reach; we can use it in-game, playing out canonical events, but it’s clearly not actually a thing.
I do understand what you’re saying on the canonical inclusion, though. Given that the “horn” is canonically an implementation of baffler technology, I imagine that the FOTUS-class use would be for infiltration and extreme black ops, not so much direct combat where it would provide a hazard.
> 2535441307847473;177:
> Some of those behaviors you mentioned sometimes happened on-duty as well which is what really annoys me.
When?
> 2535441307847473;177:
> The other issue with the Spartan IVs is that the franchise made us very accustomed to much more grim and stoic Spartans who all had tragic backstories, and I personally think that it should have stayed that way.
Yes and no. Tragic backstories, yes, but that we’ve always known to be designed. The Spartan-III’s truly had tragic backstories, and the IV’s are a product of quite literally a lifetime of war. As well, even the Spartan-II’s had a ton of “unorthodox” character. Fred was always a cheeky [REDACTED]. Kelly always had an attitude, and even in Ghosts of Onyx flipped off a Sentinel. Sam was a wise-[REDACTED]. The banter between Jorge and Emile, as well Jun’s attitude (two for the Spartan-III’s). John-117 and Linda-058 are really the only “stoic” Spartans that we’ve seen.
> 2535441307847473;177:
> I just miss how serious Reach took things, even in multiplayer.
In the campaign, certainly. However I disagree in regards to the multiplayer; that’s when we got the armor effects that a lot of people used. I distinctly remember confetti and hearts everywhere. As well, with the introduction of Forge we had a ton of goofy gametypes (Griffball, for a big example) with golf balls and golf clubs. While the “canon” element does add some level of complexity, there’s been a degree and presence of ridiculousness for some time.
The way I see it, War Games is canon in that Spartans train in that manner, and the various modes (Slayer, Warzone, etc) are present for them to hone various skills. Things like armor effects, weapon skins, etc aren’t so much canon, even though they’re present in the game, and certain armor configurations in the past - such as FOTUS - are more exceptionally rare prototypes and not something that would commonly be seen, as opposed to suites like the WARRIOR-class and RECRUIT-class. And now, with Infinite, we’ve got the “Fractures” area to sort away all the stuff that’s Halo, but not a true and present part of the Canonical Universe.
And as well, I do prefer the more dark and gritty narrative as well. At least when it comes to the story.
> 2535441307847473;178:
> See but the thing about Ripa 'Moramee is that he was as Sergeant Forge put it a “massive Elite,” being significantly bulkier than an average Elite, this in my opinion explains his slower movements.
It still indicates a difference in Sangheili. He also wasn’t too bulky, and as far as being “massive”, he’s really not that much bigger than others. For comparison:
- Ripa ‘Moramee: 8’1”, 382lb - Thel ‘Vadam: 7’10”, 319lb - Jul ‘Mdama: 7’10”, 327lb - Rtas ‘Vadum: 7’11”, 323lbHe is the biggest, yes, but only by 2 inches and 55 pounds, not something that would really be noticeable by a soldier’s observation.
> 2535441307847473;178:
> Its not just the shoulders and brow, the scales (they look way more likes scales than ridges) are also on their forearms and hands like you can see here
Oh, okay, I see what you mean there. We’ll have to disagree on how well it works (I think it fits quite well), however a couple things to point out is that they’re absent on Thel in Halo 5 (a bit hard to see on that one), and they’re present on the back of his neck in Halo 2 Anniversary.
I think it should also be noted that Grim Brother One addressed canonical appearance and the limitations of game media, and how what we see isn’t necessarily the whole picture.
> 2535441307847473;178:
> One has to wonder then how he managed to attain the rank of Shipmaster even before the Great Schism, such a rank doesn’t get bestowed upon average Elites.
This is going to sound bad. I know already how this sounds, but Jul attained Shipmaster because Karen Traviss wrote him that way. In her problematic fashion of Glasslands, many canonical elements are just flat-out ignored. Jul begins his life on Sanghelios, marrying Raia and siring two sons (one of whom un-traditionally knows who Jul is), and it’s only in the “later third” of the war did he join the Covenant (when as a male Sangheili he would have already been conscripted), and took up the ”-ee” suffix of military service. He inexplicably is a Shipmaster in a startlingly short time (rivaling the service of Thel ‘Vadamee with nothing to show for it), though he is never demonstrated as having any sort of skill. He relies on guile and underlings to win battles, rather than fighting himself. My opinion, yes, but it very much seems to just be Traviss writing ”look how awesome my antagonist is” with no regard for the terms she’s using.
Addressing your dissatisfaction with literature-based information, in-game dialogue (not even idle dialogue) does paint a clear image of just who Jul is:
Locke: “Jul 'Mdama is an opportunist, not a leader. It was only a matter of time before his version of the Covenant started to break.”
Halsey: “Mmmm, seems your fingers are in open rebellion, Hand.”
Linda: “Jul 'Mdama is a lot of things, but he’s no Prophet.”
> 2535441307847473;178:
> Coming back to my statement earlier about how its not good to see so many things from the books, the problem is that a very large number (or probably the majority) of Halo fans have not read the books, certainly not all of the books, and thus they cannot be expected to understand these kinds of things in Halo 4 and 5 given that they rely so much on information from the books.
Halo 4 and 5 give benefit in that things that are necessary to know, they present in-game. There is enough in the visual narrative so that players can follow and have the plot make sense. This doesn’t mean all will, but it’s there.
However, as I’ve mentioned before and elsewhere, this is something that has always been present. In fact, in the Original Trilogy, reading the books is almost a necessity to know what happened in-between.
With Halo: CE, we have no in-game knowledge of what is going on. No clue what Reach is, what kind of threat the Covenant pose, who and what Spartans are, etc. Way back in 2001 I had no real clue what was going on until I was able to get my hands on the books.
For Halo 2, First Strike is a necessity to understand just how John-117 got back to Earth from being stranded in the middle of nowhere, and more importantly how Johnson was able to survive the events of Halo: CE.
A bit more minimally, but Halo: Uprising bridges Halo 2 and Halo 3, explaining why the game didn’t start on the Anodyne Spirit with an assault on Truth, since last we saw in Halo 2 John was right there. Without Uprising, it makes little sense for him to escape the Dreadnought so suddenly.
> 2533274902469708;184:
> Idk if you played H4 and H5 but they dont look Halo games nor play like Halo games
Nope not a day in my life.
Please, do elaborate what Halo games look like. What they play like.
I have to agree halo infinite looks more cartoonish and 4 and 5 looked realistic but its not that bad i would still play it
> 2535441307847473;178:
> How do you link images like you did in your post? I’m not that good at this forum stuff
I’m sorry man, I must have cut this out by accident.
So, I type most my replies out on Google Docs. The way I do it is (minus the periods): [.url=.the link you want to use.]the text you want to be a link here[./url].
Additionally, there’s a hyperlink tool in between the “Spoiler” and “Player” buttons above. Highlight the text you want to be a link, then paste the link in.
TheKiltdHeathen
I’m sorry this is so long, I have a lot to say.
> Any dispersal of energy will produce recoil. With projectile weapons it’s not quite that it’s a solid projectile, but the explosion necessary to propel the projectile. For the Covenant plasma weapons like the Plasma Rifle and the Plasma Repeater, the gas is shot through the sustained beam of electricity, causing the globule of plasma that travels forward. Since it’s an external event, I imagine it’d be able to disperse that energy off into the open air, causing less recoil, though there was still some. For both the Plasma Rifle and the Plasma Repeater.
Ok so even if the recoil is less rather than absent the Plasma rifle still managed to function just fine without a stock and the Plasma repeater’s stock was both stubby and not usually used when fired if you look closely at the character models firing it. It should also be mentioned that the sheer extra weight from the larger size of the storm rifle should more than make up for whatever small amount of recoil may have been added during its redesign from the Plasma rifle.
> The aesthetics are still very Covenant, and so far as the digital screen, this is an element that’s also been seen on the Type-51 Carbine (Halo 2, Halo 3), the Type-31 Needle Rifle, the Type-52 Focus Rifle, the Type-50 Concussion Rifle, the Type-52 Plasma Launcher, and even the elements on the Plasma Rifle and Plasma Pistol are of similar function. They don’t use numbers, but they do display battery level (on some weapons) and heat gradient.
The Carbine didn’t actually get a screen until Halo 4, before then it simply had two curved lights to indicate ammo levels which was far better in my opinion, the Needle rifle only has three glowing symbols rather than a screen, the Plasma launcher and Focus rifle’s “screens” are actually scopes and I’m not quite sure what the concussion rifle’s screen is supposed to be, it does look a lot like the Focus rifle’s scope though. In any case all of those examples are either much more subtle or look more alien through the use of colors and symbols.
> From what I can find it was only stated that the M45 Shotgun won’t be in at launch (similar to Assassinations), but that doesn’t mean it’s totally out. As a couple others have mentioned, apparently the Bulldog does fill a different role; I’m assuming similar to a UNSC version of the Mauler.
Its been a while but I thought they said that the M45 was totally out, it would certainly be cool if it wasn’t. Also I didn’t realize that the Bulldog was as weak as the Mauler, I guess that could make it interesting as a more common pickup weapon.
> Awaken the Nightmare was also the first game, I think, to truly make the Flood terrifying. It was more than just an ammo dump, there was a heavy sense of desperation to forced retreats while watching your numbers dwindle…
Awaken the Nightmare was awesome but didn’t Halo CE originally do this during 343 Guilty Spark? You flee from the Flood storage facility and then you have to watch as the marines slowly get picked off as you flee into the jungle only for the Monitor to teleport you away when you have nowhere else to run. Halo 2 also made the flood scary with its much more liberal use of dark areas and much more terrifying flood roars in the distance, not to mention the radio chatter of humans getting surrounded. Halo 3 definitely was a step down in terms of horror though.
> I do understand what you’re saying on the canonical inclusion, though. Given that the “horn” is canonically an implementation of baffler technology, I imagine that the FOTUS-class use would be for infiltration and extreme black ops, not so much direct combat where it would provide a hazard.
I figured it’s best use would be on planets with lots of predators since its supposed to be able to distract them with the torque node component.
> When?
Well, you see I intentionally avoided using examples since you clearly didn’t want to talk about the biggest one, but I was referring largely to Palmer and how even during Spartan Ops missions where the primary objective is often to save/protect scientists she continually calls them “Eggheads” and belittles their work. She does this while directing missions in full uniform while people’s lives are at stake.
In addition to insulting scientists she makes jabs at Spartan Miller during Spartan ops and sometimes straight up disregards the safety of Fireteam Crimson, such as in The VIP (which I just replayed) when Miller calls out “Commander snipers!” Palmer responds with “I think Crimson has noticed Miller” And its like…are you serious?! I don’t care if you were 99.9% sure that Crimson saw those snipers, the fact is that if they didn’t see them, then they might die at any moment you pathetic excuse for something that vaguely resembles an officer! Palmer really is just a petty, arrogant, [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED]!!! Also, while I’m at it with Palmer, why does she think she can just casually use the slur Hingeheads? (she did in The VIP) Like does nobody on the Infinity or in the UNSC in general care to regulate that sort of language despite the fact that humanity is aligned with the Swords of Sanghelios? Or is Palmer literally so arrogant that she doesn’t care if she damages the still somewhat fragile relations between humanity and the Swords of Sanghelios? And just to be clear, I can totally understand why Spartans especially would have a lot of resentment towards the Sangheili, but as protectors of humanity and out of respect for the integrity of the UNSC, all Spartans should keep that garbage to themselves, especially while they’re in uniform and commanding forces in the field.
Speaking of Spartan Miller though, he’s pretty much the textbook definition of unprofessional, early on in The VIP, Parg Vol flies away in his Phantom, and Miller’s response to this is “Hey, no fair!” and again I must ask are you serious?! You’re supposedly a Spartan, a member of the most skilled and experienced soldiers that humanity has to offer and you’re literally whining about the enemy evacuating an important officer from a battle like its a game that’s supposed to be fair? Are you yoinking 8 years old?! This isn’t an isolated incident either, Spartan Miller regularly acts like a panicky child during Spartan ops, you can hear him fumbling with his controls, not being sure of his directions, constantly being worried about the appearance of even a small number of enemies and generally being incompetent. I wouldn’t trust Miller to handle an outpost job as a Marine, so the idea that somebody like him is both a Spartan and is involved with important operations is beyond absurd.
The other example that comes to mind is right after Gek 'Lhar’s death when fireteam Majestic start to play with Gek’s energy sword, active camo device, and his holographic map like they are toys or something. Like these genuinely seem like a bunch of gamers gawking at the new loot they just earned as if they aren’t still in uniform and in the field, and besides, that kind of tech shouldn’t even be new to them.
> John-117 and Linda-058 are really the only “stoic” Spartans that we’ve seen.
I don’t know, I always thought that Carter and Jorge were pretty stoic as well, especially Carter.
TheKiltdHeathen
> In the campaign, certainly. However I disagree in regards to the multiplayer; that’s when we got the armor effects that a lot of people used. I distinctly remember confetti and hearts everywhere. As well, with the introduction of Forge we had a ton of goofy gametypes (Griffball, for a big example) with golf balls and golf clubs. While the “canon” element does add some level of complexity, there’s been a degree and presence of ridiculousness for some time.
Yeah you’re right, I guess its just hard for me to get over certain things that I find particularly ridiculous, that and I was also referring to how the armor in Reach looked more discolored and weathered unlike in Halo 4 and 5 where all of the armor looks like it just got freshly power washed and then polished.
> The way I see it, War Games is canon in that Spartans train in that manner, and the various modes (Slayer, Warzone, etc) are present for them to hone various skills. Things like armor effects, weapon skins, etc aren’t so much canon, even though they’re present in the game, and certain armor configurations in the past - such as FOTUS - are more exceptionally rare prototypes and not something that would commonly be seen, as opposed to suites like the WARRIOR-class and RECRUIT-class. And now, with Infinite, we’ve got the “Fractures” area to sort away all the stuff that’s Halo, but not a true and present part of the Canonical Universe.
I think the “Fractures” idea is definitely the way to go, it allows for a wider degree of creativity without forcing everything to be at least slightly canonical.
> He is the biggest, yes, but only by 2 inches and 55 pounds, not something that would really be noticeable by a soldier’s observation.
Hold on but…I literally just quoted Sergeant Forge in my last post, obviously the difference was big enough for him to notice. He says that right after Anders gets captured before he Returns to the Spirit of Fire.
> Oh, okay, I see what you mean there. We’ll have to disagree on how well it works (I think it fits quite well), however a couple things to point out is that they’re absent on Thel in Halo 5 (a bit hard to see on that one), and they’re present on the back of his neck in Halo 2 Anniversary.
>
> I think it should also be noted that Grim Brother One addressed canonical appearance and the limitations of game media, and how what we see isn’t necessarily the whole picture.
You know they could simultaneously satisfy both of our ascetic preferences and represent the variance in species appearance by simply including multiple designs in one game instead of continuing to have one be uniform. They could for example have the bad Elites consist of 40% “bulky” Halo 4 and 5 Elites, 30% “classic” Halo 3 Elites and 30% “animalistic” Reach Elites. The Arbiter and Rtas (I hope we get to see them again, especially Rtas since he hasn’t shown up ingame again yet) could then be changed back to looking like classic Elites (because that’s what they are) while the Elites who follow him could consist of 50% Classic Elites, 30% Reach Elites and 20% Bulky Elites. That, or they could have them be randomized to make each playthrough feel more unique. Another thing they could try is mixing Elites who can speak English with those who can’t since they’ve only ever spoken one or the other in the past. It would make sense if the Classic Elites spoke mostly English while the Bulky Elites mostly didn’t, and the Reach Elites could be mostly alien speaking as well. It would also be interesting if some of the Elites only spoke broken English.
The only problem with this approach is that you know people would complain about having to shoot at different Elite models due to how much people complained about playable Elites despite how minorly different the hitboxes were.
Also while we’re at it can we please make the Energy sword a rare weapon again? One that commands respect because of its cultural significance and representation of honor and prowess that is only wielded by a minority of Spec ops Elites, Generals, Zealots, and Ultras. 343 likes to hand Energy swords out to dang near every Elite during cutscenes and they show up pretty often during gameplay to, and unfortunately the exact same thing is true when it comes to Gravity hammers in the Banished, instead of just some Chieftains and captains having them Gravity hammers now seem to be extremely common. 343 really need to understand that less is more when it comes to these kinds of things, both of those weapons were cool in large part because of how rare they were and because you knew that the aliens wielding them were a big deal.
> This is going to sound bad. I know already how this sounds, but Jul attained Shipmaster because Karen Traviss wrote him that way.
Well, that’s disappointing, and even if his backstory made complete sense it wouldn’t matter all that much since we don’t see any of it in game.
> Addressing your dissatisfaction with literature-based information, in-game dialogue (not even idle dialogue) does paint a clear image of just who Jul is:
>
> Locke: “Jul 'Mdama is an opportunist, not a leader. It was only a matter of time before his version of the Covenant started to break.”
> Halsey: “Mmmm, seems your fingers are in open rebellion, Hand.”
> Linda: “Jul 'Mdama is a lot of things, but he’s no Prophet.”
These quotes address Mdama’s lack of leadership, not his lack of skill or strategic knowledge which is also important and otherwise unknown to those who don’t read the books.
Please bury this thread so 343 doesnt get any stupid ideas.
TheKiltdHeathen
> Halo 4 and 5 give benefit in that things that are necessary to know, they present in-game. There is enough in the visual narrative so that players can follow and have the plot make sense. This doesn’t mean all will, but it’s there.
its followable in the sense that you won’t be totally lost but there are so many holes that need to be filled in with outside knowledge, and yes, that includes Spartan ops, Spartan ops is not part of the campaign, nobody should ever need to play 50 extremely repetitive missions in order to understand the next game’s campaign, a Halo marathon should not require one to awkwardly play through 50 mini missions, most of which don’t even have cutscenes.
First off, there’s the Covenant, all that we learn in Halo 4 is that they are more disorganized and that they worship the Forerunners, but we never find out how exactly such a large force became so unified in this sort of belief right after discovering that they had been lied to for thousand of years about their last set of beliefs, and we also never hear a single thing about Jul 'Mdama in Halo 4’s campaign, all we get about him are a few lines in Halo 5 and then he gets killed in the first mission, that’s literally it. Contrast this with Thel 'Vadam, Tartarus and the Prophets who all get fleshed out in Halo 2 despite us not hearing about them in Halo CE.
Next there’s the Didact, and ancient humanity. We learn through the Librarian cutscene that he was an ancient Forerunner general who defeated Humanity after they unexpectedly attacked the Forerunners, and that in a state of desperation to defeat the Flood, he created the Prometheans in an attempt to combat the Flood, which proved unsuccessful. What’s not explained however, is why Humanity decided to attack the Forerunners while they were running from the Flood and more surprisingly, how they never, not once during a 1000 year war found out that the Flood existed or that Humanity was running. The Librarian just says “we had no way of knowing” but that’s complete bull, there is no way that an entire millennia could go by without as much as a single transmission from the Humans about the Flood, or the discovery about the Flood through the stealing of information from the Humans. Also the Flood would never have been so passive as to allow a 1000 year war to occur without expanding rapidly and making their existence even more obvious in the process, at the very least signs of a different and very powerful threat affecting the Humans must have been noticeable. The Librarian then talks about how the mechanical nature of the Prometheans made them excellent for fighting the Flood…as if Sentinels and other Forerunner machines didn’t already exist.
I’m going to move on from that since the whole ancient war plotline is a total mess. Anyways, another problem with the Didact is that we never learn about the source or nature of his powers and probably the worst part about him is that they make it seem like he dies at the end of Halo 4 when in reality he dies in a comic, so they managed to give the player both a false ending, and put the villain’s true defeat in a comic, thus disallowing the player from ever getting any actual payoff (and don’t even get me started on how he isn’t actually dead, its going to be absolutely absurd if they bring him back) I remember thinking that we killed the Didact in Halo 4 and being totally shocked at how he survived just to “die” in a comic, I mean come on.
Halo 5’s campaign is packed full of problems, so I’ll just mention how the starting point for everyone is a total mess. At the end of Halo 4 we saw the Master Chief having his armor taken off surrounded by UNSC personnel who were all looking at him in awe, and then at the start of Halo 5 the Master Chief is suddenly doing a ton of missions and it just so happens that his old Spartan 2 buddies (who we’ve never met or even heard of in the games before) are here to help him out with these sudden new missions. And all of that doesn’t even touch on fireteam Osiris, (“Buck’s a Spartan now? Wait a minute Halsey’s back? How and when did Halsey end up with those Elites? What happened to her arm?”-Person who thought they could just play the campaigns in order) who we also know nothing about from Halo 4’s campaign. The amount of questions that this starting point raises for Chief, Osiris and his friends who we have again never seen or heard of in game is completely absurd, like, did they even think about continuity?!
> With Halo: CE, we have no in-game knowledge of what is going on. No clue what Reach is, what kind of threat the Covenant pose, who and what Spartans are Way back in 2001 I had no real clue what was going on until I was able to get my hands on the books
CE definitely has the most questions but its also the first game, so it had nothing to build on, the way the franchise started was pretty strange compared to a lot of other franchises, but I still think there was enough to go off of in game, and a lot more got filled in as the series when on.
“No clue what Reach is”
Knowing what Reach is wouldn’t have changed what happened in CE, other than just having escaped from it at the start of the game Reach doesn’t really play any role.
“what kind of threat the Covenant pose”
We may not have been told much about what the Covenant was but we did know based on Captain Keys’ comments about keeping Earth’s location a secret and the fact that the Pillar of Autumn just tried to run from the Covenant that the Covenant pose an exisistential threat to humanity. We also know this based on their desire to activate the Halo rings.
“Who and what Spartans are”
At the very least we could tell through the Master Chief that they were super soldiers with advanced power armor that was compatible with AI who were tasked with extremely important missions and were considered extremely capable. Ironically using the books to learn more about Spartans might make one more confused as Spartans are capable of many feats in the books that players cannot perform in game, basically Spartans are insanely powerful in the books, and they aren’t the only things that the books portray differently.
Important questions to be sure, but at least the next games filled a lot in.
> For Halo 2, First Strike is a necessity to understand just how John-117 got back to Earth from being stranded in the middle of nowhere, and more importantly how Johnson was able to survive the events of Halo: CE
For Johnson yes, his survival was a mystery, but the Master Chief was literally on a ship with an AI that had coordinates to Earth at the end of CE, I can’t imagine how anybody would have wondered how Chief got back to Earth from there. Also the way that Chief said “I think we’re just getting started” made it clear that they weren’t doomed to drift in space forever or anything like that.
> A bit more minimally, but Halo: Uprising bridges Halo 2 and Halo 3, explaining why the game didn’t start on the Anodyne Spirit with an assault on Truth, since last we saw in Halo 2 John was right there. Without Uprising, it makes little sense for him to escape the Dreadnought so suddenly
I assumed that it was either always Chief’s priority to get back to Earth first or that he simply wasn’t able to access the inside of Truth’s ship from where he was, that or he wasn’t able to survive much longer out of atmosphere. In any case we do at least see his fall back to Earth, so there’s no confusion as to how he got where he ended up.
> 2533274817345506;3:
> Shame you feel this way. Halo 5 MP is good, but Halo 3 / Halo Reach were the prime of the series. Halo 4 / Halo 5 art was not well received because was too clunky and abstract. Halo Infinite is trying to find a balance between modern and classic, and they did this because the majority wanted this. I think they did a great job.
>
> In comparison on MP experience, Halo 5 is currently complete. While Halo 5 is a very good experience; you can’t compare Halo Infinite quite yet just based on a slice in a technical preview. In terms of feel Halo Infinite is more Halo 3 / Reach era.
Well said.
To OP, best reserve some opinions to yourself. Everyone has them but I think we’ve really appreciated a balance of everything going forward and explanation too.
There’s a lot of hate for 343, and has been since Bungie decided to dip. They were left with a salty fan base expecting them to shoulder the burden of being in Bungie’s shadow that was trying to carry on a legacy while simultaneously finding their own identity.
Some of those salty fans despise it when 343 receives any sort of acknowledgment or praise for what they have done to keep Halo alive. H5 wasn’t perfect, but -Yoink- was it fun and I loved every moment of it.
The art/ design of 343 era Halo being compared to Power Rangers is asinine. Honestly it’s an insult. H4/5 has a great aesthetic, and seems more in line with a futuristic soldier than the dirty, industrial soldier. People need to remember this is a work of fiction and imposing real world logic is going to always cause a conflict of interest. I love Halo no matter what, but these purists are so toxic that they make the fandom a joke.
Nuss902928 I’ve got your reply in a Google Doc, going to work on it inbetween work. A lot of good points, some clear direction for confusing parts, but I will say preemptively here that Halo 4: Spartan Ops is a game - despite the different method of delivery- as well the Terminals should be considered in-game sources, as they are encountered in gameplay and play as cutscenes in gameplay.
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> To OP, best reserve some opinions to yourself.
Not how forums work, bud.
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> Nuss902928 I’ve got your reply in a Google Doc, going to work on it inbetween work. A lot of good points, some clear direction for confusing parts, but I will say preemptively here that Halo 4: Spartan Ops is a game - despite the different method of delivery- as well the Terminals should be considered in-game sources, as they are encountered in gameplay and play as cutscenes in gameplay.
Thanks for the heads up, I know that Spartan ops is in game, I just don’t think it should be counted as the campaign for a number of reasons. Firstly it came out in seasons, meaning that in order to play through all of them one would have had to keep playing Halo 4 for a few months until they were all out, and not everybody plays new games for that long. Secondly you don’t even play as Chief or any previously known character, so it generally feels like its own thing rather than a direct continuation of the story, and thirdly, I simply don’t think that one should need to play anything else besides the campaigns during a Halo marathon. I mean think about it, imagine that you have a friend who hasn’t played Halo before and you want to introduce them to the games, you would probably tell them to start with Reach since its a prequel and then to play the games in order. (with ODST being somewhat optional) How do you think they would feel about having to play through 10 seasons of Spartan ops before being able to move onto the next game? Because I think they would get burned out pretty fast by the repetitive nature of Spartan ops and also by the shear length of Spartan ops, and I can’t imagine that they would think highly of the storytelling of a series that makes you take such a long “detour” on a marathon.
As for terminals, a lot of them are pretty well hidden, and many players don’t want to stop and read during missions, especially if its on their first playthrough.
Edit: Just remembered that terminals are cutscenes in the newer games rather than text like they were in the older games
First off, OP, I want to apologize for your exposure to an incredible toxic side of the Halo community. You just posted an honest opinion on this site, and a very unpopular one at that, and you have my respect.
Personally, I really liked Halo Infinite’s art direction. It took armor designs that felt new and fresh like some of the better armors from 4/5, gave us customization capabilities that surpassed even Reach, and refreshed them so that they looked like a true modernization of Halo 3. Also, these weapons look so familiar and so respectful of their early designs while still evolving and looking “2021.”
Don’t listen to anybody saying that your opinion is objectively bad, especially when it comes to art direction. Personal preferences are 100% subjective, and art is literally the most subjective thing on the planet. You can point out reasons why some aspects appeal to you more than others, and that provides objective grounds from which you draw your conclusion, but ultimately that conclusion is subjective.
I think that the halo infinite art style is too much like H5. In the campaign trailer chief looked amazing, but in multiplayer everyone looked too different than what it did in the campaign trailer.
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> Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But Halo 4 and 5s art styles were objectively bad and if 343 had stuck with it then infinite would have failed… HARD.
What do you mean by objectively bad? What is the metric you are basing that off of?