Random Gaming Thoughts

[Xeogred]

Superior writing for sure.

[BoneSnapDeez]

There are a lot of really good games on a website called Steam.

[noiseredux]

Saw you playing Vanguard Princess.

[mas]

Well for me guys and most of you know my history. The everdrives are perfect for me because all I want to do is play the game. Plus now that I'm a homeowner I don't have any funds like the past and I can't spend like I used to on games. I would be in deep trouble if I tell my wife I can't pay the mortgage because I bought games.
Also love the fact I see the infalation of games and the carts doesn't effect me anymore

[BoneSnapDeez]

Saw you playing Vanguard Princess.

Yeah.

I enter a little VP competition every summer at a con I go to. Trying to work on my skillz.

(I still suck at it.)

[Fragems]

The storyline in the Halo games baffles me. Portentous nonsense, seemingly designed so that Halo superfans and only Halo superfans will have the slightest idea of what the hell is going on.

The first game is pretty nice and self contained.

Definitely went overboard after that with the Elites magically speaking English in SOME of the next games, then not later on again, Spartans becoming GI Joe's, Elites teaming up with humans overnight even though they're some insane intergalactic race that enslaves galaxies, giant overmind jabba monster thing that teleports you to places, suddenly there's more than one Halo ring, Forerunners were basically humans, wtfffffffffffff.

And then 343 took over and made it 20x worse. Halo 4-5's plot is beyond bad and not even Halo anymore.

The issue with Halo is there is a lot of stuff that is never explained in the games, but is covered in the novels. The novels are actually pretty good, but can be confusing since there are multiple writers and some have overlaping events that play out differently so the canon can be confusing as hell. For instance Sergeant Major Avery Johnson. In the first game he very clearly should have died and the legendary ending was a scene with him hugging an elite as the halo blew . However there are two different novels covering the first game. In one he gets infected by the flood goes crazy, and in the other he is infected but due to a neurological disease the flood don't effect him and he is then able to escape.

As for the Elites I think the games explain it kind of okay. The grunts, hunters, and elite were all from planets conquered by the prophets & brutes and they were put into a kind of convert or die scenario. The only other race that I think is always covenant is the Jackal but they are probably the least intelligent race in the group and are housed in cages. The second game kind of covers the whole rebellion with a faction of the elites breaking away from the covenant along with a few of the other races. The Halo Legends anime actually has a chapter devoted to the covenant attacking the Elite homeworld.

Currently the games blow story wise though because 343 really loves the novels and is releasing the games alongside even more novels as well as pretty crappy live action series . So essentially they expect you to read 3-4 books between each games just so you know whats going on. Kind of sad but merchandising has been a thing with halo ever since the success of the first game they essentially want it to be the Star Wars of the gaming world and after 343 took over things only got worse.

[ElkinFencer10]

I loved the story in Halo 1-3+Reach/Wars (though I agree about the magically English speaking Elites despite not having lips or even a remotely similar jaw shape).

But yeah, 343 is a garbage studio. Halo 5 wasn't as bad as Halo 4, but they're both fucking rubbish.

[Sload Soap]

Gameplay wise, I very much enjoy Halo 4 + 5. Story wise though, not so much. From what I remember, Halo 4 made the boneheaded decision to have the backstory, and thus the motivation of the main badguy, relegated to optional data terminals.

When I saw the one with the prehistoric superhumans floating around on a spaceship I was flabbergasted. Never mind skipping a few pages, it was like skipping a few novels. Which apparently is what I did, because no way I'm reading any of those Halo books.

[Fragems]

The books especially those focusing on the other Spartans are actually really good it's just confusing figuring out which ones are canon and in which order you are supposed to read them.

Halo Legends anime is also kind of fun it's a compilation of mixed stories that cover quite a few of interesting details about the universe. It's very similar to the AniMatrix.

[Xeogred]

I read Fall of Reach and First Strike, both of which I very much enjoyed. Eric Nylund I think?

But yes, Bungie handled it way better and still went along with the main canon still being within the games. Which can make things confusing, but that doesn't seem wrong to me since the games were first. It was easy for me to approach the novels as something different. But now as Fragems explains, 343 basically requires you to read the novels to get any plot out of their installments.

There's just way too much Halo material for me to care anymore. The exposition has completely killed the mysteries and interesting things about its world. And 343 made it jump ship even more with far worse Deus Ex Machina elements going on. I absolutely HATE everything about the Prometheans, from the awful looks that don't fit in with Bungie's art design (including the weapons), to the gameplay. They are boring to fight and I think most of us were all ready for the Covenant to be done with, yet they continue to recycle those enemies in and that'll probably be forever. Which I can accept, I guess it's the series goombas now. But it doesn't help hold my interest at all.

So 343 messed up on literally everything to me. Didn't do anything new or interesting, inconsistent art design changes with enemies and level design, horrible plot direction, completely forgettable music, uncreative new weapons that are basically just reskins, etc. 4-5 are as generic as it gets.

Anyways, this is all coming from a guy that saved up a summer worth of lawn mowing money to buy an OXbox specifically for Halo. I had a fun run with the series for a few years there and really cared, so it's disappointing that I can't find myself interested in it at all anymore.

Would love to play the Halo 2 remake, but I still don't see any reason to own an Xbone anytime soon.