lol... (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Wednesday, November 25, 2015, 22:27 (3289 days ago) @ Korny

I was going to post "inb4 CheapLEY's 343i apologist post", but you had already posted when I refreshed the page. :P

Heh, I'll give you that. I really try not to come off as an apologist, but I guess that's sort of what it is. Maybe I'm just not as invested in Halo as I used to be, so it doesn't bug me, or . . . hell, I don't actually know.

I get that you liked Halo 5, because the gameplay was polished, and the storytelling was a step up from 343's previous works, but as someone who has followed the Halo story since I was 12, 343i has brought a massive quality drop to the Halo name, and a vast number of folks who post here and over at HBO have similar investment into the franchise, whether it's Snipe's love of the gameplay, Levi's love of the art direction, Bluerunner's love of the custom games, or Rev's love of the LAN games, 343i has fallen short for all of us in different ways where Bungie shone; but for me, personally, the story is where Halo has fallen from grace.

I can't even disagree with that. I absolutely like the story of Bungie's Halos better. That was sort of the point of my first post. I realize I didn't actually get around to making that point, but that was part of the thought behind it. Like I said, I think 343i would have been much better off to stick to a smaller scale, personal story. I don't think Halo HAS to be a galaxy-wide space opera. Reach and ODST showed us that, and I'd love to see more of that direction from Halo.

That said, I still follow the Halo universe with hope. Who knows, I might even get Halo 5 after xmas, and I'm sure that Halo 6 will address a number of 343's weaknesses, but the damage they've done so far has been deep and permanent, and even though the thought of it shocks you, some of us are resentful towards 343 for that, even if Halo 5 is a step up from Halo 4.

It doesn't shock me. This part of the discussion always makes me feel like a dick, and I don't intend to. I understand where everyone is coming from, whether they dislike the story direction, or the art direction and design changes, or gameplay changes. I don't like plenty about the changes they've made (I hate the new focus on Forerunners, and that Forerunners are separate from Humans, directly contradicting Guilty Spark in Halo 3). I'm just accepting of it. It's not Bungie's Halo anymore. I know that's painfully obvious to a lot of folks, but I just think after what we saw in Halo 4, it was naive to expect it anything else. By this point, I think folks pretty know whether they like 343i's Halo or not, and if you don't, what's the point of continuing trying to be invested in it? I mean, I guess I get that it would be hard to just admit that I didn't like Halo anymore and disconnect from it when I've loved it for so long . . . but at the same time, why stay invested in something I know longer enjoy?

That said, I would love to see 343 answer a lot of discussion about stuff like this. Grim posted over at HBO a week or so ago about different models of tanks and aircraft and whatnot, and I guess that works as an explanation for the new Wraith and Ghost and Banshee and Pelican, etc. designs. But it really doesn't cut it when you talk about things like the Forward Unto Dawn change, or the Master Chief's armor change. In that context, it just seems like a half-assed justification, so I get the concern for things like that.