Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot that I did not like about how that story was told. But I could kind of see the general thing 343 were going for and didn’t get why LNG had this dismissive and negative opinion of it.
Iam specifically referring to him saying that he thought the Chief/Cortana stuff was cringe worthy and he didn’t get why they play sad music at the end.
Now, if he was saying Brian Reed did that scene wrong or it was OTT/melodramatic; fine. But I think hes actually referring to the general narrative as opposed to its execution. It’s an opinion echoed by a lot of commentators so I think it’s worth bringing up. Basically he’s implying that even a great writer could not have told that story well.
Firstly, if it’s the whole love story angle and how that’s “fanfic”. Okay, but then why did that not bother him in Halo 4? Kind of hypocritical to start calling that silly and fanfic now.
Second, Halo 5 has that emotional scene because both characters want to reunite after losing the other in Halo 4 and are forced apart again. Could Brian Reed have stressed that better before launching into that scene, certainly, and it speaks volumes about the games complete failure to put us in Chiefs shoes for a lot of gamers. But the Chief is obviously having a “Khaleesi I have loved you” Moment and as I noted in point one it’s hypocritical to start bashing that aspect of the story.
As for the music at the end being sad. Well, yeah it’s the Halo 4 end music. It echoes that the Chief has lost Cortana a second time and that the game has ended on a sour note. Iam not even sure what he expected.
There seems to be this general sentiment, reflected by LNG that Cortana is being set up as this monster we and the Chief are meant to hate. I don’t get that impression. They seem to be pushing ambivalence, sorrow, the Chief and Cortana being torn over the conflict etc etc. I mean in the final scene he asks after Cortana and he tries to talk her down. It’s just that Brian Reed can’t tell that story very well IMHO.