What went wrong with the Halo 5 story? The story was almost nothing to what they advertised in Hunt The Truth. I heard originally Halo 5 had a story that was scrapped and it had what was advertised but Microsoft made 343 change it. I wonder what the original story would’ve been like. Could Hunt The Truth still be Hunt The Truth? Maybe we haven’t found the truth yet, maybe we will discover it in Halo Infinite. Who knows…
I think that the story was ok, but some of the levels seemed pointless in what you had to do. Blue Team had good missions, which dealt with them looking for answers, but the missions in which Osiris just followed Blue Team had no real sense of purpose. However, the Elite Home World with the Arbiter was a great mission, if they had one from the Chief’s view and maybe another mission with Locke (on top of what is already there) that would have been much better. The whole aesthetic of that mission was amazing, and it would be fantastic to see Cheif and Arbiter back in the fight.
I think they got caught up trying to imitate the Halo 2 campaign formula. In addition, game devs these days seem to want to imitate movies, and I don’t think I need to explain the point that games and movies don’t mix.
I also think the story tries wayy too hard. The story in the original trilogy was just interesting enough to keep you invested while you enjoyed that 30 second repeating gameplay loop. They were good games and the story was decent, but I think they get wayyy too much credit. They aren’t these perfect, brilliant masterpieces where nothing was done wrong and everything after should just repeat the same thing.
Halo suffers from the same problem as the Star Wars movies. No matter how hard you try, nothing will ever be as good as the originals, because people have built them up in their mind to be better than they actually ever were. The only thing you can do as a game dev is stick to the original game formula, and make the story interesting enough to be enjoyable, but safe enough so as to not piss off the fan base. I think 343 had delusions of grandeur with this title and tried to do the opposite of that.
/opinion
Overall I do feel halo 5’s campaign was actually a good campaign, contained in itself. I feel the problem most people really had was we were told x, but we got y. While comparing it to other halo campaigns, I do feel it is probably the weakest of the series so far, but as I already stated, its not a bad campaign in and of itself.
This is coming from someone who has played every halo game day of launch(minus halo CE, was the following day). I had my expectations due to Hunt the Truth, but it seemed to have little to nothing to do with Halo 5. Hunt the truth to me seemed like a sorta prequel event, part of the campaign when it was coming out in '15. But post launch hunt the truth felt like a really cool, well done fan fiction to me. This isn’t to say i didn’t like Hunt the Truth either! I really did enjoy it, and neither HtT or H5 to me take away the enjoyment out of each other.
Is it a great game, yeah its a great game. Solid mechanics, not too glitchy, and rock solid performance. Is it a great halo game, eh its a decent halo game. I didn’t hate it thought! I really enjoy it for what it is.
I thought this was going to be an old thread, heh. I don’t know exactly, but probably a combination of things. From my distant memory of the campaign, it had misleading advertising, barely any Chief, too much Warden, barely any character development, I didn’t like Locke, the Chief and Locke fight was laughably bad, the squad thing was more annoying than good, Prometheans just aren’t interesting to me*,* the Cortana plot was ehh, there were a few interesting levels, but most were meh and the alternate routes you could take weren’t even interesting.
On of the big factors that made halo 5’s story feel so out of place is that the story was indeed scrapped and rewritten halfway through development. Originally Fireteam Osiris was composed of 2 of the characters we know now, and 2 members of Fireteam majestic from halo 4’s spartan ops. A couple youtubers have covered the story in full if you’d like to know more.
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> On of the big factors that made halo 5’s story feel so out of place is that the story was indeed scrapped and rewritten halfway through development. Originally Fireteam Osiris was composed of 2 of the characters we know now, and 2 members of Fireteam majestic from halo 4’s spartan ops. A couple youtubers have covered the story in full if you’d like to know more.
I’ve heard that they used to have Locke, Tanaka, Vale, and a guy from Majestic, but never that they had two from Majestic.
Really, the problem with 5 is that it threw everything away.
Halo 4 Legendary ending: Didact might not be dead? That got explored in a comic, where he came back and got sealed away again.
Spartan Ops: Janus Key is a thing, what does it do? Comics explore it, then throw it away.
Spartan Ops: Jul’s becoming a threat. Halo 5 he’s killed in the first mission and there’s no explanation of who leads the remaining Covenant.
Halo 4: Cortana’s dead, what will Chief do without her? Halo 5: Surprise, -Yoink-.
The problem comes from the fact that it doesn’t feel like part of a trilogy, because it doesn’t really connect to Halo 4.
What I think happened was 343 thought the majority hated H4 so they wanted to distance themselves from it that is why most events were wrapped up in outside media and not in game. But what they failed to realize is majority didn’t like H4 because of the multiplayer, not so much the campaign. H4 campaign wasn’t that bad. Unfortunately their side step away from H4 took them down a cliff and not on a better path. I also think that Microsoft wasn’t happy with the thought of Cortana being dead since they were using her in other products like cell phones and laptops.
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> > 2533274950960631;6:
> > On of the big factors that made halo 5’s story feel so out of place is that the story was indeed scrapped and rewritten halfway through development. Originally Fireteam Osiris was composed of 2 of the characters we know now, and 2 members of Fireteam majestic from halo 4’s spartan ops. A couple youtubers have covered the story in full if you’d like to know more.
>
> I’ve heard that they used to have Locke, Tanaka, Vale, and a guy from Majestic, but never that they had two from Majestic.
>
> Really, the problem with 5 is that it threw everything away.
> Halo 4 Legendary ending: Didact might not be dead? That got explored in a comic, where he came back and got sealed away again.
> Spartan Ops: Janus Key is a thing, what does it do? Comics explore it, then throw it away.
> Spartan Ops: Jul’s becoming a threat. Halo 5 he’s killed in the first mission and there’s no explanation of who leads the remaining Covenant.
> Halo 4: Cortana’s dead, what will Chief do without her? Halo 5: Surprise, -Yoink-.
>
> The problem comes from the fact that it doesn’t feel like part of a trilogy, because it doesn’t really connect to Halo 4.
This really syncs with my feelings as well: too much allusion to the transmedia universe of Halo at the expense of Halo 5: Guardian’s story. I know the story team very much believes in the vast scope of the world they’re building, but the fact remains that a focused story–not a succession of allusions to terminals, books, etc.–is what grips the audience when most of the players do not explore the lore outside of the numbered Halo sequels. Cryptically worded dialogue used once by a character lends mystique; the same as a matter of course for an entire cutscene is annoying.
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> > 2535422386455449;7:
> > > 2533274950960631;6:
> > > On of the big factors that made halo 5’s story feel so out of place is that the story was indeed scrapped and rewritten halfway through development. Originally Fireteam Osiris was composed of 2 of the characters we know now, and 2 members of Fireteam majestic from halo 4’s spartan ops. A couple youtubers have covered the story in full if you’d like to know more.
> >
> > I’ve heard that they used to have Locke, Tanaka, Vale, and a guy from Majestic, but never that they had two from Majestic.
> >
> > Really, the problem with 5 is that it threw everything away.
> > Halo 4 Legendary ending: Didact might not be dead? That got explored in a comic, where he came back and got sealed away again.
> > Spartan Ops: Janus Key is a thing, what does it do? Comics explore it, then throw it away.
> > Spartan Ops: Jul’s becoming a threat. Halo 5 he’s killed in the first mission and there’s no explanation of who leads the remaining Covenant.
> > Halo 4: Cortana’s dead, what will Chief do without her? Halo 5: Surprise, -Yoink-.
> >
> > The problem comes from the fact that it doesn’t feel like part of a trilogy, because it doesn’t really connect to Halo 4.
>
> This really syncs with my feelings as well: too much allusion to the transmedia universe of Halo at the expense of Halo 5: Guardian’s story. I know the story team very much believes in the vast scope of the world they’re building, but the fact remains that a focused story–not a succession of allusions to terminals, books, etc.–is what grips the audience when most of the players do not explore the lore outside of the numbered Halo sequels. Cryptically worded dialogue used once by a character lends mystique; the same as a matter of course for an entire cutscene is annoying.
For instance: even though Spartan Ops was in Halo 4, I’m sure that most didn’t play it. Since that would leave people confused as to why Halsey didn’t have an arm, they address this in Halo 5:
“I noticed in the briefing that Dr. Halsey lost her left arm.”
“Jul did it. Don’t know why or when.”
“Wasn’t an argument, or he’d have cut her head off.”
Notice how I say ‘address’, because that’s vague and unhelpful as -Yoink-.
Honestly, I think more time spent playing as blue team and less time playing as Osiris would have quelled most of the complaints. I really never saw it as being bad. The one thing that I though was kinda weird was that level (I think 4) where you had to eavesdrop on Governor Sloan’s citizens for 5 minutes… And that was basically the whole mission.
Horrible story, horrible art style, horrible gameplay, horrible dialogues, I personally don’t like the soundtracks, annoying characters, the enemy AI, the revival system, not at one point I’ve cared for any of the characters, horrible boss fights, the worst decisions (storywise) I’ve ever seen. As if killing the didact (who could’ve been the villain for more than just 1 game) in a QTE was not enough, they’ve somehow managed to make it even worse by killing the second villain in the first cutscene of the next game.
I think that’s it. When I think about it, there’s not one thing I liked about it. The Kraken scene was promising, but they somehow managed to ruin even this scene. I’ve always liked the campaign and the lore (as a whole), but Guardians was just awful.
I’m glad, that Atriox and the banished made their way into the Franchise now. They look promising, hopefully they won’t get killed in Infinite.
Easy, they revived Cortana and made her the villain.
Then they explained in outside material that she has complete control over the Warden.
Terrible story telling at its finest.
> 2535422386455449;7:
> > 2533274950960631;6:
> > On of the big factors that made halo 5’s story feel so out of place is that the story was indeed scrapped and rewritten halfway through development. Originally Fireteam Osiris was composed of 2 of the characters we know now, and 2 members of Fireteam majestic from halo 4’s spartan ops. A couple youtubers have covered the story in full if you’d like to know more.
>
> I’ve heard that they used to have Locke, Tanaka, Vale, and a guy from Majestic, but never that they had two from Majestic.
>
> Really, the problem with 5 is that it threw everything away.
> Halo 4 Legendary ending: Didact might not be dead? That got explored in a comic, where he came back and got sealed away again.
> Spartan Ops: Janus Key is a thing, what does it do? Comics explore it, then throw it away.
> Spartan Ops: Jul’s becoming a threat. Halo 5 he’s killed in the first mission and there’s no explanation of who leads the remaining Covenant.
> Halo 4: Cortana’s dead, what will Chief do without her? Halo 5: Surprise, -Yoink-.
>
> The problem comes from the fact that it doesn’t feel like part of a trilogy, because it doesn’t really connect to Halo 4.
This comment best describes how I feel as well, Halo 4 planted all these seeds and plotlines that Halo 5 either did not address or poorly executed. Can’t say the new characters are well-defined either, what you’re doing never feels important, the plot is expository rather than event-driven, no individual character gets enough screentime to shine etc.
The butchering of Cortana’s character, repetitive boss fights, dumbed down AI, lack of memorable dialogue and total change of theme and tone from Halo 4 makes Halo 5’s narrative feel disjointed and unengaging.
Others have pointed out pretty much everything.
Though I want to add something.
Remember the first time we see Locke? In a teaser for Halo 2 Anniversary, when he’s talking with the Arbiter. Then the Phantom scene in MCC.
There was something going deep there.
“The seeds of our future are sown in his past”
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> I think that’s it. When I think about it, there’s not one thing I liked about it. The Kraken scene was promising, but they somehow managed to ruin even this scene. I’ve always liked the campaign and the lore (as a whole), but Guardians was just awful.
I’mma have to disagree with you there. Making certain scenes awesome was one of the few things H5 had going for it. The opening cutscene, while unbearably long, is quite interesting to watch. When you make it to Sangheilios, it strikes you how beautiful the place is, and you finally get the chance to visit the Elite homeworld. The Kraken is a nice homage to the Scarab fights of 2 and 3, while revamping it to fit modern Halo, and still keeping it interesting. And, to me, finding and destroying the cores like it’s WZFF in Guardians is one of the best parts of the campaign.
That is, if you ignore the fact that it makes no sense for Cortana to leave the Cryptum with so little guard, and that she should’ve taken off much earlier.But that’s just the terrible story getting in the way of a visually breathtaking campaign, with many fun parts.
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> “The seeds of our future are sown in his past”
Time carries away all things.
The past shapes the future.
Hope is in the past.
The Act Man has a really good series on it - Why is Halo 5's Campaign SO BAD?! - YouTube
A lot of the inconsistencies from advertising to actual game are probably due to Microsoft stepping in and changing things whether 343 liked it or not. The campaign is a collection of good ideas but executed poorly. Like the scene when you are told that Guardians are destroying colonies. I didn’t really know what a Guardian was or how it would destroy a colony, and 343 didn’t show me. Osiris says they’re dropping behind enemy lines but drops into the middle of combat. Also, the heavy emphasis on Locke was not a good idea. The Arbiter worked because we knew what happened in Halo CE and we were SHOWN the consequences of the losing side. In Halo 5, you’re just thrown into this character’s shoes with no explanation of why I should care about what he’s doing. Who are all these other Spartans? Why are we dropping here?
A lot of those points are from Act Man’s videos. I think Infinite will be a major improvement.
To be honest I think the story would be totally fine if hunt the truth didn’t happen. Subjectively we were told to expect one thing but got another.
Objectively it’s not a bad campaign though. Not the best halo campaign but contained in itself it’s not bad at all.
To me the campaign is not bad, it’s just a terrible continuation after Halo 4’s strong start with the campaign. Not to mention it has literally nothing to do with Halo 4’s story at all which is the main reason why I hate it apart from it’s flaws as a story. It also didn’t help the campaign wasn’t that fun on Legendary gameplay