Finally! Someone who’s not just a hater. I thought Halo 5 had done a great job updating the way weapons worked from Halo 4 and while the story was NOT what was marketed, and I was disappointed, the cliffhanger really left me interested in the narrative direction. I wish they had just knuckled down and finished the story. A trilogy around Cortana was a great idea imo
Yeah, it would have been super interesting to at least see where they were planning to go with, and resolve the storyline. I mean, I really like Halo Infinite's "return to form", don't get me wrong. But I still can't help but wonder if we were all a bit too hard on these games....
Halo 5 's gameplay felt refreshing. It gave you abilities that were cannon and made sense to the universe. Halo 5's story feels like it was suddenly rewritten or something.
Was i the only one who adored halo 5's weapon pad glitch? It was left in the game because 343 LISTENED to its audience, they knew we thought it was cool, so they kept it! *I have never had as much fun in a halo game as I did using a sentinel beam that fired infinite rockets that split into five mini-rockets...*
In Halo 4 when the librarian gives Chief special powers to "speed up his evolution" she is making him immune to being composed, that's why he survives when everyone else is composed in Ivanoff station
Yep, I totally messed that up in my script/recording. It was after the fact I went back into the game for footage and actually re-watched that cutscene and it became clearer. I guess I wished it had a somewhat larger canonical purpose beyond that one use within the game.
I wish 343 had stuck to their guns with H4 in terms of narrative. I've always said they were cooking with that game, that if they'd continued that story it would've made for an incredible trilogy.
The story was good yes (except for retconning the Forerunners to not be ancient humans), but they went too far. By that I mean, the story of Halo 4 should have been the trilogy. The Didact could have filled the role in the trilogy similar to the Prophets, with the Warden being something like Tartarus. The Librarian scene could have instead been explained to us slowly over the entire trilogy, rather than a single plot dump as it was in Halo 4. And turning Cortana into the bad guy was always a stupid idea.
I never had a problem with halo 4. I think the story had a lot of heart and potential (including spartan ops). I do understand the problems people have with the gameplay but it still felt like halo. Halo 5 was a mess, but the sandbox was wonderful and the multiplayer was a lot of fun
Playing Halo 5, I was glad that I had at least read "The Fall Of Reach". Without that I would have been COMPLETELY lost as to what the hell was going on 🤣
I have a very strong feeling this video is about to get a serious amount of traction and will cause a bit of a larger rift or even wave in the community. Whether it blows up over night or not i don't know. However I see it causing somewhat of a needed talk between fans on this topic because in every way i believe you're right about over saturated heavily influenced opinions derivative from what big UA-camrs or Community members have said and not from actual non reactionary critically-thought takes. On top of you referencing how his comments were trying to enforce an opinion on Rofl and how not only did they all try to point to his video and even admitting how you also were very shaped by reactionary content is something very evident of the current community and fanbase. Every talking point i see nowadays instantly cites multiple reactionary talking points word for word from these UA-camrs.
Yeah, I very much appreciate people who will at least mention some of the nuance and context within whatever topic they are discussion with an audience. A little biased coming from me, but I hope you're on to something with your thought that this video will catch a good amount of traction. If it does, I happily welcome the debate and conversation. I just hope people find it possible/ acceptable that I'll be in the comments saying both that I think these games were treated unfairly as well as understanding how they are flawed and why people hate them so much.
The timing of this video is wild. As a lifetime Halo fan, I've recently been watching people play Halo for the first time and I drew the same conclusion that "maybe H4 and H5 isn't as bad as I remember" haha. Solid video dawg
Honestly the only thing they did wrong with Halo 4 was the art style and the MP being to much like cod. If Halo 4 had classic artstyle and the MP was more in line with either H3 or H5 it would have been a completely different outcome for 343/Halo
Yep. But they didn't... so it ended up flopping. HARD! and it would have been fine if they learned from their mistake and corrected themselves in Halo 5. But they didn't! They just made it worse.. so no I have NO remorse to this company.
@@ToaDrakua yeah, luckily out here in the real world "commercial metrics" are not all that matters. H4 died faster than any other game in the series up to that point, by a long shot and for a reason.
I'm a newcomer to the Halo franchise. Only becoming interested when I got into wanting to play games with the premise of "interstellar humans being the underdog against another interstellar species wanting to wipe us out" I've enjoyed all of them 🤷♀️
So I like tid bits from each 343 halo game personally I’m a fan of the design from infinite of armor, characters, and the campaign is amazing. A continual open world concept would’ve been awesome and maybe an open world spartan fireteam concept would’ve been cool where you have a base and conduct mini-ops. With 4, I loved the armor camo pattern concept, that definitely should’ve been retained. With 5, the weapons were spectacular, I think they should’ve kept the weapons customization as that seemed like a small but necessary evolution.
'Detailed' seems accurate - the art style was overdone (weapons, Chief's armor, Forerunner architecture), as was the story of Halo 4 which really had enough to make an entire trilogy.
i love Halo through and through don't think a lot of people respect 343 for a lotta reasons not just out of their control but also for things the fans caused as well with the amount of hate they got
I actually enjoy infinites art style, bit of both. halo 4 I really like it did a pretty good job halo 5 did have some pretty good aspect but I didn't really get along with the story but my thoughts on it changed quite alot for the better after seeing the story of what happened during infinite
@@ahsoka_polo sure.... a half ass game on opening day, zero campaign support, full of empty promises that still let's people down to this day and full of the most volatile Microsoft "micro" transactions ever seen to date. Good choice lol
@@ahsoka_polo Ai in forge isn't anything special. People like me have been sending letters to 343 to get them to add it to Halo since 2012 lol They had the ability just never did it. Those updates in multiplayer aren't exactly saving the game as far as I can see .. years later? Oh well, too little too late lmao. New weapons (to supposedly come) after years of no new weapons or anything ahahah I hate halo 5 but shit even they did that part better... And a campaign that leaves you COMPLETELY in the dark as to what the hell happened between Halo 5 and 6... yeah. Fucking brilliant lmao You have great taste. For shit
Hey man, just wanted to give you a little feedback as I did really enjoy this video! In hindsight, I agree that the games were treated rather harshly, but they are still very deserving of most of their criticisms, and I do have a few gripes with your retrospective. I did find your art style debate to be somewhat flawed. You state that even in the Bungie trilogy there were constant art style changes. However, it never actually changed. The buildings, structures, ships, armour, and weapons always maintained the same overall designs, shapes, textures, colours, etc... Rather the style seemed to change because of graphical and software development - details that wouldn't have otherwise been possible to add in CE were added in 2 and 3, naturally, as new technology became available. Whereas in Halo 4 and 5, very unnecessary noise was added to most of what was previously stated - most notably forerunner structures. These were rather drastic art style changes, rightfully criticized. Same thing with Chiefs armour. I know you were clearly exaggerating about it being changed "a billion times" in the Bungie trilogy, but it was changed only once... Mark V in CE, and Mark VI in 2 and 3. The armour changes from 2-3 were very minor, and most of the perceived changes were just graphical updates. The armour was basically solidified in Halo 2 with its high praise and favour over the Mark V. It became iconic in not only halo games, but video games as a whole, hence why it was kept in Halo 3. So why make major changes in 4 and 5? Your point of 343's changes being justified by their thirst to create a unique "mark" in the halo universe is a major (and valid) issue that Halo fans have. It is understandable that they would want to separate themselves at least a bit from Bungie to leave their own mark, but the moral of the story is; "if it ain't broke don't fix it". They did learn this with Halo Infinite, which is why there was so much hype leading up to it and with initial launch. They returned to form with art style and such, adding their own flare in smaller ways. They just forgot about the rest of the game lol... Which is why Infinite failed where 4 and 5 didn't.
I appreciate the comment and feedback! I see what you mean about the consistency between the bungie games. And I can for sure understand why people lump those games together in the discussion about art style. And I agree that 343 had the most drastic, and for the most part unnecessary changes. I just wanted to introduce a perspective of looking at every game's style individually and noticing the changes between each one. It's at that point where I believe the art style discussion becomes more trivial and about each person's personal preferences rather than objective "bad" vs "good". and if ifs personal preferences we are talking about, then everyone is entitled to theirs without the possibility of being wrong in their opinions.
@@DeadBeat_Dave Agreed! I think at the end of the day 343 took a gamble shaking things up more than a majority of fans were hoping for. Halo 4 is definitely the game I personally look back on through a more positive lens in regards to its story. Halo 5s story however… That’s nobodies fault but 343s. Though its multiplayer was quite well-received. It’s very common to see even die hard Bungie era fans admit they liked its change of pace!
Well done video about a topic I and alot of people are passionate about. Halo is a universe beloved by many, but that universe has been split through many changes in it's gameplay, art, story and business model over the past two decades. Some points I think worth mentioning in response to your video: 2:30 - It's not about subjectivity as to whether someone 'prefers' bungie or 343 art style. It's about the objective fact that they completely changed the look of an already established world. In bungies games, we knew what Spartans looked like. the covenant, Forerunner structures, a Battle Rifle, their recognizability was cemented already. 343 suddenly showed us things that looked completely different but demanded that we accept them as the same things. This is the problem. Not just 'I prefer bungies look'. 3:05 - No this debate wasn't a prominent debate at all. I would know as I was active within halo forums and communities in the 2000's. There may have been the occasional person who claimed he didn't like the way chiefs armor looks in 2 compared to CE, but this was rare. Bungie never had any drastic changes in looks between their games other than graphical fidelity. Reach had a more militarized look, yes, but still very recognizable as Halo. 343 had a total art-style change. 5:20 - This, is, the problem. They are trying to make Halo 'theirs'. Halo already had an established story, vibe, look, feel and vision. 343 taking the brand and using it as a puppet for THEIR stories and THEIR vision is disrespectful to Bungie, to Halo fans, and to Halo. It's the same thing Paramount is doing with Halo right now too: They want to use the halo title to tell their cringey generic bland scifi tv show. 6:00 - The lore changes are the most devastating for me personally. Joe Staten very much intended the Forerunners to be ancient humanity and I loved the poetic irony layered into the narrative. The big reveal in Halo 3 that the trilogy had been building to "You ARE Forerunner" was such an incredible moment for me. But Frank O Connor very much did NOT think Forerunners should be ancient humanity, or that there should be any poetic depth to the human covenant war. No, instead Halo 4 told us that the forerunners are just ugly vampire fish people. This completely killed the entire story of Halo 4 for me, setting cortanas new annoying personality aside. Also a side note: the opening of the game where chief claims there was a truce between the humans and covenant to fight the flood, is a pretty clear line in the sand between the lore continuity between bungie and 343 halo. They are not the same timeline and have almost zero relation to each other. 6:40 - no disrespect, but during this portion you claim you don't understand quite of few things the game throws at you but still that you think this isn't necessarily mean it's done poorly and I just want to challenge you to think maybe this is in fact a fault of the game itself. If a games narrative confuses me I should always examine if it is my inattentiveness, or the game not properly telling it's story. Halo 4 I believe is the latter. The 8 min long exposition dump was tedious and sloppy, Del Rio's character has 0 reason to be mad at chief, and the covenant have 0 motivation at all. These are all left up in the air by 343 6:45 - They pulled the 'chosen one' trope into halo. According to this cutscene, the 343 version of the forerunners predestined and throughout all of history genetically engineered chief to be a savior... which I hate. It's stupid, lazy and takes all of the cool factor out of the character. 8:35 - I hard disagree. The tedious level design and sloppy plotline do not shout 'good halo game' to me. "Halo 4 explores alot of themes from the bungie games" I only kind of agree... the original trilogy focused on things like the humanity embracing their legacy, the covenants manipulation and betrayal of the arbiter/elites, and loyalty of the chief to his friends. 4 really only touches on the last one, his loyalty to cortana 9:05 - I agree. Theyre not that memorable, atmosphere is unnoticeable and music is forgettable. And for this to be in the same franchise as Bungies halo games, where the level design IS memorable, atmosphere is palpable and the music is legendary, halo 4 doesn't get away with just being "fine" for me. It fell below the bar that was set. 9:22 - "Is it fair to compare halo 4 to the bungie games" Yes. lol yes it absolutely is. They're all claiming to be Halo games, halo is on the front of the box, they have the same characters, guns, same fps genre, yes they are comparable. 9:38 - So Mr Roflwaffles, person you watched play through all the halo titles for the first time I also watched. I'd recommend checking out his other lets plays because he kind of has the same positive reaction to literally everything he plays which comes across as disingenuous. I think its fair that his reaction to 4/5 caused you to rethink your position on them, totally fair, but I will say I personally wouldn't take his reaction as genuine. Regarding the comparison of Halo 2 and Halo 5's story I just want to get out of the way: Halo 5 sees master chief having a dream about cortana being alive so he convinces 3 other spartans to commit treason with him to go search for his dream girl while a blue spartan chases him so he can punch him. Also the game starts with this line: "I figure if god can hear how scared I am so can anyone else"... Meanwhile Halo 2 is a tale of the arbiters slow realization that he and his entire race has been manipulated into following a belief system that it's prophets know will lead to his/their demise, forcing him to abandon all he knows and join forces with those he once slaughtered in order to find redemption. Also the game has this line "I am a monument to all your sins." 12:52 - No it's not at all the same scenerio. Halo 2 innovated, Halo 5 followed trends. Halo 2 built on what came before, Halo 5 took away and replaced with modern trends. Halo 2 wanted to build halo up, Halo 5 wanted to change what halo was. Halo 2 wanted to be different than other shooters, Halo 5 wanted to BE other shooters. 18:48 - Well, I can't speak for others but for me, no. I had no notion of anyone elses feelings on halo 5 before I played it and was thoroughly disappointed by its bland repetitive missions, obnoxious reuse of the boss, nonsensical storyline, call of duty-esc gameplay tropes, and dozens of missing features. I did find out about Act Man in 2016 when he made his halo 5 video, but I had already hated halo 4 and 5. Act man just showed that he wasn't afraid to stand up and say 'hey. this is not up to par with what halo should be'. And you're other point about unfairly comparing halo 5 to bungie halo... ITS HALO lol it absolutely should be held up to the standards set by those who came before it. 20:02 - Just want you to remember, this is the same company that when people complained about the absurd prices of the Req pack system and how you can purchase weapons and armor and stuff, their response was "Grow up". Don't think from my comment I don't appreciate this video and hearing a different approach and opinion on the topic of Halo. I enjoy being challenged in the way I view this game series that I love but have witnessed go in a direction I despise. But I there are alot more critiques of 343's games than what you covered in this video, and thats the main takeaway of my comment. We aren't upset at 343 because youtubers told us to, we aren't upset because they're not carbon copies of bungies games. We're upset because of many things, but ultimately because they want to make games that are NOT halo IN the halo franchise. They took what I loved about the old bungie games, gameplay/lore/art/etc. and changed ALL of that.
100% Love the commitment! Easy to tell you're someone who truly loves Halo. I greatly appreciate the comment and totally don't take offense to your disagreements. I would not want to come across as someone who shoots down or even disagrees with the common criticisms about 343's handling of the franchise. I think criticisms should be welcomed and heard, and I think many (if not most of them) leveled at 343i are fair and valid. I was kind of trying to explore the possibility that the serious "Hate" and loathing of this company and its games are completely warranted. And I think I gravitated towards Milo and his opinions and didn't question them too much because I am naturally pretty positive, optimistic and forgiving. (for better or worse) Which certainly plays a role in the way I look at the halo franchise. I'm the type where I'll always find something to enjoy about a Halo game. But want to stay cautious of blind optimism. Meaning yeah, I don't have stark disagreements with your points on what you and other fans found frustrating from 343. And that I love seeing fair criticism come from folks like you as we all have the same hope of nudging 343 in the direction of hopefully getting to the point where they make a great Halo game someday with all the lessons learned.
About Halo 4: I agree that the art change isn't a bad thing but the two main things I and people like me don't like about H4 is the bad level design, the COD copy of a multi-player and the identity of what Halo is. The AI is a huge step down from the Bungie games, not to mention the weapons all act like the famine skull is on. The enemy design isn't bad (other than Elites acting like brutes), some BS here and there but Reach, H3 and H2 had that too. The main problem I have with 343i is what they are doing with Halo's identity, Bungie always made Halo feel like a "Sci-fi Military Shooter" but what 343i has done across all there games is turn it into more of a "super hero shooter", you rarely fight with marines and especially in Halo Infinite there is no command structure. Hope that made sense :) Love your vids, Keep up the good work!
I would appreciate hearing more about what, in your opinion, made 343's approach successful and what changes they implemented that you found favorable. While you mostly talked about 343's new narrative direction, which I mostly agree with, there's little mention of the changes in art style and gameplay, among other aspects. You touched on the art style, but didn't elaborate on what you thought was positive about the change. Though I may never fully comprehend the reasons behind the admiration for 343's work, I recognize that there are many fans who appreciate the direction they've taken the franchise. However, I believe it's crucial to acknowledge the valid criticisms directed at 343. It's important to delve into why a significant portion of the fanbase has voiced discontent with 343's interpretation of Halo and the specific aspects they're criticizing. Halo was not merely a game series but a cultural phenomenon with a devoted fanbase, characterized by a distinctive art style, a rich universe, and Marty O'Donnell's unforgettable soundtrack. Given this established legacy, some question the wisdom of 343 Industries deviating too far from the path laid out by Bungie. Was it prudent for a new studio to make such significant departures from the established formula?
One: I can't fully tell from your comment, but I wanted to just be clear. I did not mean to give the impression that I liked the 343 games better than the Bungie games. As well as I didn't mean to insinuate that the 343 games are above criticism and that issues people had with the games aren't valid. Personally I like the bungie games better when comparing the two groups of games. Two: I appreciate your comment and the want to understand those who don't share your views on something. That is kind of rare when on the internet. Three: I appreciate 343's attempt and doing something as monumental as picking up where Bungie had left off. I don't find the undertaking of that task (Yes, even with Microsoft's funding, because that certainly came with negatives) Yes there were missteps and huge fumbles (God MCC's launch was a train wreck) The most notable things that stand out to me when asked what I liked about Halos 4 and 5 were the graphical improvements found in the transition from reach to 4. Halo 4 is visually stunning even now 12 years later and 5 was similar though not as big of a leap. Halo 4 gameplay wise is definitely the weakest in the franchise, I would never deny that lol and its story was, like I said in the video, and interesting and (mostly, at least where it mattered) well done narritive that continues from Halo 3 pretty well. Halo 5, I find the gameplay, even in the campaign to be enjoyable. Grabbing footage for this video I would load up a level just to grab a quick segment and would find myself getting the footage and then continuing the level as it was pretty fun to shoot stuff. (Though I do wish it still had more ammo, and less annoying boss fights) and I mention in the video that the MP of Halo 5 was very enjoyable for me. Other than it now being beat by Halo Infinite, Halo 5 is the Halo multiplayer that I have sunk the most time into out of the whole series (Although kind of unfortunately due to me missing out on the Halo 3 hay-day, not having internet or a 360 like a loser) Halo 5's narrative with yes, pretty messy and overly reliant on lore from the novels, if you try and understand what was being set up with Cortana and the "created" and Halsey, Chief, Arbiter and Locke all with their backs against the wall to this crazy threat, has me very interested in where THAT sequel was planning to go. In my opinion, while getting to that cliffhanger was confusing and trivial at times, its resolution had the potential to make a pretty cool trilogy ender had Halo 5 received a better reception. And that is not to say I'm upset about Infinite. I very much appreciate the return to form and am even more excited for where they take the franchise in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to reply! Your insights have helped me better understand your perspective. I understood that you didn't intend to convey a preference for the 343 games over Bungie's work on Halo. My disagreement stemmed more from your statement regarding Halo 4 being a 'solid first attempt' by 343 on such a monumental franchise. It's a bold statement in my opinion, and I was genuinely curious about the reasoning behind it. I can definitely relate to your point about being molded by others' opinions, it's important to engage in conversations like this to avoid falling into echo chambers. It's refreshing to have an open exchange of ideas. It's interesting to hear differing viewpoints on 343's take on the Halo franchise. While some didn't find the art style change to be a significant issue, others, including myself, found it to be a substantial obstacle to fully enjoying the games. The unique identity crafted by Bungie for Halo resonated deeply with many fans, and the departure from that established style was a disappointment for us. It's very sad to see a beloved franchise deviate from what initially drew us all in. As fans, our connection to the series often lies in its original essence, and it can be disheartening when the direction shifts away from that. While it's natural for studios to aim for broader appeal, it's equally important to respect and honor the legacy and loyal fanbase that built the franchise. @@DeadBeat_Dave
Halo 4 multiplayer was ass good story halo 5 story bad good multi and warzone first to have a 12v12 with ai involved ranked champion in swat halo infinite havent started campaign because its iffy but multiplayer has come a long way since it dropped
I didn’t hate Halo 4 or 5. I do have one issue with it in terms of Chiefs armor change. It’s not that his armor changed at all, I thought it looked really cool.😳😅 My issue is that it changes so drastically at the beginning of Halo 4 given that he was inside a sealed cryo-pod. An armor change would have made more sense after he linked back up with the Infinity. 🤔😕
I loved the Halo 4 and 5 stories. I just felt we needed less Locke and more Chief. In fact it would have been better if you didn't play Locke at all and he just showed up as a hunter. Then, later, release an expansion playing his side of the story.
I actually like halo 4 and believed if they stuck with the aestheitc of halo 3 and did not include custom load outs, halo 4 could have been one of the best. The story of halo 4 was really good imo
Fantastic video! I liked Halo 4 overall, my only issue with it was the Promethean dog things, just thought they were so unbelievably boring to fight, Prometheans overall were cool just kinda boring in combat. halo 5 I just didn't care for but never absolutely hated either of them
Halo 4 feels like it’s played in fast forward and 343 wasn’t smart enough to expand the multiplayer maps to account for the extra speed. Didn’t feel like halo, I could live with the aesthetics although they corrected it with infinite. Halo 5 MP was fun, the story was an atrocious DEI attempt at replacing Master chief with Lock, and that is unforgivable. Infinites on the right track
100% disagree with the "DEI" attempt comment, I wanted to make sure that was said. I think the idea with Locke was originally going to be the badass hunt for a misunderstood chief that was marketed in the trailer, but was cut for whatever reason. Which is probably a shame because that could have been really cool. But so much work was done as Locke as a character that is was too late to fully course correct once the cuts took place.
@@DeadBeat_Dave no, lock is to chief as miles morales is to spider man except the fans of halo wouldn’t accept it. Thankfully they didn’t kill chief off for Lock like they did with peter in the comics, but nonetheless they were trying to hand the franchise lead to a black dude because he’s black, and take it from John because he’s white. DEI in practice. Objectively.
Halsey lost her arm when palmer shot it when she had jul and the promotheans hijacked the infinity and helped her escape. This is only shown in spartan ops in h4
Yeah, I knew it was explained somewhere. Just using that joke to kind of highlight the way H5 included stuff that basic players wouldn't have known just by playing the main games. Things from the books, spartan ops ect...
I see where you’re coming from with this video but there’s just a few things I want to add. Firstly, the most important part of a game is that it is entertaining and fun to play. That’s why we play games to start. I remember doing a legendary run of all halos coop with my friend, had a blast until halo 4. It was just… boring to be honest. And this could be for many reasons, like how many bullets the Prometheun knights take, I swear I spent a quarter of that game finding ammo. The story was not completely terrible but not particularly good either, I don’t think saying that a studio making their first halo, with a budget majorly different than previous halos is an excuse for that. Speaking of story, I don’t know what they were thinking when they killed cortana at the end of 4 just for her to come back and try to murder everyone in 5? Also master chief being known as a traitor?? I mean cmon, he has shown time again that he’s loyal to humanity and is their most important asset. It’s just bad screen writing tbh, in infinite they pretty much try to ignore 5, which I think is damage control for that dumpster fire. Halo infinite is going in the right direction, honestly started to have fun with that one. Art style was good and the story started to make sense again. Anyways that’s a long rant but there’s just so much to say
Halos story went from an alien alliance which would dominate humanity, with its main goal to ascend to greatness in a religious journey. But that journey was misunderstood and is actually a ring that will kill everyone. Then there’s flood which is why the rings were made, and so humans and covenant are fighting across the galaxy, and then flood is fighting both of them aswell, which created combat triangles, etc. I mean there was also a major fall of the covenant with the civil war and then flood wiping out high charity. And so we go from that to people that have been uploaded as dna in prometheun knights, and a failing cortana, then cortana goes on a murder spree and master chief is a traitor because he’s obsessed with her? Then infinite is chief being stuck on the 5th halo ring, finds out cortana killed herself and the leader of the banished and so the whole game is taking out their outposts. When you look at the difference, bungies halos were much more grand and had so much more substance to them. I’d prefer to see a story about the power vacuum left behind after the fall of the covenant. But these stories just makes the galaxy seem empty.
All great points. I definitely know there is a larger debate on if any of the changes and story arks 343 implemented were "good" or "bad". And to be honest, I don't really know where I fall on that debate. I was just saying here that I felt that parts were compelling / interesting. More than I feel most people give them credit for. And at least interesting enough to where I wouldn't have minded seeing its intended ending before making a FINAL conclusion. But don't think that means I don't agree with your criticisms with these games. 👍
@@DeadBeat_Dave Watch the video “we were forerunner.” The incompetency required to torpedo halos narrative the way that 343 did is mind boggling. All spearheaded by a guy that thought halo CE opens with a Star Wars style prophecy. Under Frank O Conner, guilty spark became a literal digital caveman, humanity were reclaimers but we were actually claiming since it wasn’t our stuff, and the covenant had no reason to ever attack humanity. I respect where you’re trying to come from, but it’s clear that from a narrative and gameplay perspective that’s 343 never knew what halo was. It only became fun like old halo when Joe Staten came back for Infinite and you can clearly tell he overhauled it HARD.
@@calebreynolds9183i'm going to ask you too.... if the forerunners 'killed' themselves because of what they had to do, how can humans have been forerunners? so are we like prometheus made from their dna after they were 'dusted'? they indexed many species but as far as i remember 'from the games' they did not index themselves. so did the goop left behind mix with the water from earth and recreate a second evolution of forerunners known as 'humans' ? how does this work?
I find that more often than not, people only hate on the new Halo direction because the Halo content creators tell them to with their overly criticising videos. I can admit that Halo has it flaws on some business aspects, such as this whole LIVE SERVICE attitude for Infinite, and leaving out important aspects of story telling and mission design. But i honestly like its refreshing take on itself. All i could wish for was for 343 to connect their games more. 4, 5 and Infinite seem to have very little to do with one another in terms of the overall plot. All original Halos are still as replayable and fun to me as they were when they came out, but i sure as hell would be dissapointed if 343 just copied them and did little to nothing else new. The games would be too simple as new titles by todays standards.
Honestly, I think my problem with 343 is that they never really seem to prioritize the things that kept people playing halo during the 2000's. Each of the games will have some random collection of these things, but not all of them. It feels like when we gain one of the things, we necessarily have to lose another. We always take one step forward and one step back, and therefore, it never feels like they're improving. And because of this, i feel like halo has gotten less popular. I'll make a list of a few basic things just to illustrate my point. This definitely isn't extensive, but it'll show what i mean. Things that keep people playing halo (in my opinion): Forge and custom games Armor customization unlocked through gameplay Fair starts A basic set of intrinsic abilities with any advanced mechanics being things you pick up on the map. Good playlist variety The ability to self insert yourself into the story. Split screen Halo 4 had forge at launch, split screen, good playlist variety (if i remember right), and armor unlocked through gameplay. Halo 5 had fair starts, and as far as i remember, good playlist variety at launch. Infinite has the basic set of intrinsic abilities thing, fair starts, and the ability to self insert. (To be clear, i'm focused on what the game was like at launch because i think a lot of people wont return if you dont hook them at launch) All this to say, I want halo 7 to launch with all these things. I want them to take what they had in infinite and add what they didn't have. You dont have to trade one improvement for another.
Very true. I have definitely previously mentioned my dislike of these games releasing essentially half complete in comparison to games decades older and expecting a large, dopamine-driven player base to just wait for it to be updated over months or even years.
I actually did like H4 and H5 the first time I played them way back on release. Every time I try to play them again it’s just painful, especially H4. Gameplay wise, the stupid ammo hunting in H4 was agonising, and fighting the Prometheuns was also annoying. H5 gameplay was pretty standard in my opinion, ok but just a little bland
Ive been honestly having more of a open mind with the current run of the franchise to now not saying the current criticisms were warrent along with Microsoft being the one that's trying to screw with the franchise but i see it as yet another case of companies sucking but the consumers suck mire donkey butt to
No. We're not too harsh. We gave them chance after chance after chance!! They never could get it right and in interviews PROVED how they dont give a shit to get it right. They acknowledge their mistakes and then just blatantly ignore it and push forward doing the same exact thing as before. Thus not learning anything from their mistakes, and being too arrogant to learn and fix their mistakes it. Halo Wars 2 & Halo infinite finally was them realizing "the fans dont like OUR version of Halo so lets bring it back to a more classic version the way it was always meant to be". So no, as much as 343 did some things pretty cool over the year's, over all they just suck and after a decade our patience wore thin & we collectively finally just came to that realization. Do we come off harsh?? Nah its just reality. Modders do Halo better than this shitty arrogant company. Edit: they finally got it right with Halo Wars 2 !! But then.. as usual they abandon it and leave it broken and half functional constantly kicking people.
Halo 5 definitely had my favorite multiplayer, and i dont hate tram Osiris as characters themselves, but the pacing and structure of all of 343's games leaves something to be desired. And not sticking to their stories and instead finishing them out in books is the biggest turn off. Bungie had a complete streamlined story through the original trilogy. Even broke Odst and Reach smoothly in to that narrative. The books told completely different stories and just added some more world lore. You didnt HAVE to read them to finish one games story. And i cant stand that they turned away from Humans being Forerunners. It makes no sense to why they're the only ones who could interact with the tech. Guilty Spark straight up tells you, "you are forerunner". Why else would the prophets hate them so much. If the covenant knew the ones they worshipped were humans, it would break their rule.
Personally I enjoy the 343 art design. I only quarrel with how disjointed the story feels. The Bungie games seem to just make more sense from game to game.
aside from the monetization, halo 5 wasnt that bad and generalizing it to just being bad doesn't really add anything to the conversation nor is it really fair
I personally try to be as objective as possible about 343’s games. Art style is a dumb argument because some of my favorite games and shows had art styles that weren’t exactly appealing. I personally loved Halo 4. The race to try to save Cortana kept me going throughout the whole game. The music was phenomenal. Halo 5 is a whole different beast. The story was not compelling. I rushed through the game in hopes it would get better, but it didn’t. None of the levels are memorable. They had great concepts, but were executed poorly. The places you visited were cool, but sometimes less is more. There was so much to look at, it almost became a chore. Story wise, the game was very much shotgunned. Cortana should’ve stayed dead. Halo 5 should’ve been more focused on Chief cleaning up the remnants of the Sangheli extremists and introducing a new big bad while coping with being paired with a new AI. What we got, was a very forgettable story that left fans wanting something with more substance. Halo 5 was very hollow in its story telling. They tried to make Locke this super interesting character and he just wasn’t. Nobody really cared about Locke. What’s funny is that we cared more about the Arbiter than we do Locke.
Hmmm, I’d have to disagree. I kinda just avoided anything Halo that 343 made on the principle of it being not bungie, I let that go and gave it an honest shot. I generally liked Halo 4, the story and tone, the graphics, it was awesome. Halo 5 royally messed that up, everything was pointless in the story, it was a mess. Infinite I enjoyed for the most part. That guy is absolutely insane for liking Halo 5 that much, I wouldn’t believe a word that guy says after that.
The story of H5 was pretty terrible though. “Let’s feature the person who has previously been the face of Halo in three of the of 12 missions” Seriously what was that thought process?! They didn’t even make the new character any good, I found Loch very boring. They didn’t try to develop his character, kinda the opposite of what Chief got in H4 🤔
Halo 4 There’s a lot of issues in 343 with halo Majority of halo fans are casuals and not hardcore halo fans like reading the lore etc so when they 1st play halo 4 and hear about the domain and the didact, they are confused on wtf is going on etc. Making a halo 4 mp that plays like cod with loadouts kills the mood because halo has always been about map control and outsmarting or killing them by skill to gain a better weapon like the rocket launcher to help win a game or defend a teammate with a flag for example. halo 4 customisation was damn right awful and they look like they are from destiny etc. The art style of halo 4 made the covenant look like dinosaurs and lastly of halo 4, the lack of game modes helped kill it of as well Halo 5 Halo 5 like 4 had a lack of gamemodes The art style like 4 was still making the covenant look like dinosaurs The prometheans were boring to fight and are nowhere as fun to fight like the covenant The story was absolutely bad and had fake advertising for it like hunt the truth Cortana should of stayed dead The multiplayer was made for esports and not casual fans Halo infinite Halo infinite has terrible customisation since u have to pay for colours and armour just to play with it Halo infinite has a more exciting campaign then 4 and 5 but felt too short and at times was kinda boring and repetitive The multiplayer was some of the best fun I’ve had in yrs since after halo reach The art style looks like actual halo
Halo 2 has a bit of a better written story than Halo 5. The understatement of the year. Alot better written story, like immensely better. Yeah, but Halo 2 made sense. And most of what happened was relevant to the story line. Stuff can't be just blurted out. Explain it to us, explain whats going on so we can understand it
1) Halo 4 and 5's art style is objectively worse. Your image of Chief's armor design from CE - 4 clearly shows the ugly color (or lack of color and contrast) used in 4. CE's is a bit comedically green I think, but it's not ugly. And the only reason the art style overall in Infinite is as good as it is, is because 343 harked back to the OG trilogy's art style. Also, we all know the change in art style overall between CE and 3 is not as dramatic as 3 to 4. This is especially clear when looking at the change in Forerunner architecture between the Halos - 4 and 5 is dramatically different to any of the OG Halos (CE, 2 and 3). @3:49 - No, 4 was a terrible attempt. You ask "what do you (343) do?" The correct answer is not 'change everything' that's for sure. The correct answer is 'mostly replicate the previous installment', which was 3 (4 was not a continuation of Reach). This is the philosophy The Coalition had when they took over Gears Of War, with the lead dev specifically stating in an interview that they wanted to change as little as possible while they grew used to this franchise. And yes some will respond by pointing out that Halo is still much more popular than Gears, but 1) Halo always was and 2) at least almost no one hates The Coalition and overall, every Gears Of War game is well received, especially with the trailer for the new upcoming E-Day. I agree with some of what you said, such as the complaints over Chief's armor changing in 4 being over the top. Cheif's armor always changed as you pointed out. My issue is that it's ugly, atleast the color choice is.
Finally somebody gets it. To add to it, a good chunk of halo 4s story and other aspects of the game was done by BUNGIE all 343 did was put it together. Furthermore most of the original developers for Halo 4,5,&infinite.
The most objective take I’ve ever seen. I love when people are able to take off the nostalgia goggles and see the 343 games as the actually pretty good games that they are
Halo 4 and 5 had a trash art style and story. In short 343 isn't profound they just suck. Probably one of the worst and useless game studios out there. Halo 1 2 and 3 were the best. Halo 4 and 5 did not have different art styles. I don't mind people who like halo 4 and 5 i even like infinite now. halo 4 and 5 have terrible impossible to enjoy playing on legendary because of terrible ai all you can do the entire game is use the light riffle and shoot from far away and pray you don't run out of a already abysmally brutal ammo system. The multiplayer in 4 was just a cod clone and 5 was a sweary comp high mobility shooter. At least with infinite they actually use the better art style but only now after 5 years do we have a complete game. You can't not say 343 sucks at their job lol they literally fired everyone and have temp workers barely holding on the the ip and can only release trash half baked microtransactions and seasons. With little to no new content i might add. The writing in halo 4 and 5 is really bad especially in 5 infinite tho might be a return to form tho if 343 can survive long enough to make a new game.....
Finally! Someone who’s not just a hater. I thought Halo 5 had done a great job updating the way weapons worked from Halo 4 and while the story was NOT what was marketed, and I was disappointed, the cliffhanger really left me interested in the narrative direction. I wish they had just knuckled down and finished the story. A trilogy around Cortana was a great idea imo
Yeah, it would have been super interesting to at least see where they were planning to go with, and resolve the storyline.
I mean, I really like Halo Infinite's "return to form", don't get me wrong.
But I still can't help but wonder if we were all a bit too hard on these games....
Halo 5 's gameplay felt refreshing. It gave you abilities that were cannon and made sense to the universe. Halo 5's story feels like it was suddenly rewritten or something.
Was i the only one who adored halo 5's weapon pad glitch? It was left in the game because 343 LISTENED to its audience, they knew we thought it was cool, so they kept it!
*I have never had as much fun in a halo game as I did using a sentinel beam that fired infinite rockets that split into five mini-rockets...*
In Halo 4 when the librarian gives Chief special powers to "speed up his evolution" she is making him immune to being composed, that's why he survives when everyone else is composed in Ivanoff station
Yep, I totally messed that up in my script/recording. It was after the fact I went back into the game for footage and actually re-watched that cutscene and it became clearer. I guess I wished it had a somewhat larger canonical purpose beyond that one use within the game.
@@DeadBeat_Dave thanks for replying! Fair enough man! Great video I really enjoyed the positivity!
I wish 343 had stuck to their guns with H4 in terms of narrative. I've always said they were cooking with that game, that if they'd continued that story it would've made for an incredible trilogy.
The story was good yes (except for retconning the Forerunners to not be ancient humans), but they went too far. By that I mean, the story of Halo 4 should have been the trilogy. The Didact could have filled the role in the trilogy similar to the Prophets, with the Warden being something like Tartarus. The Librarian scene could have instead been explained to us slowly over the entire trilogy, rather than a single plot dump as it was in Halo 4. And turning Cortana into the bad guy was always a stupid idea.
@@Mystery-m7p pretty balanced take, making Halo 4 the whole trilogy is a great idea.
You want your favorite restaurant to change your favorite recipes? No?
Alright.
not the same......
I never had a problem with halo 4. I think the story had a lot of heart and potential (including spartan ops). I do understand the problems people have with the gameplay but it still felt like halo.
Halo 5 was a mess, but the sandbox was wonderful and the multiplayer was a lot of fun
Playing Halo 5, I was glad that I had at least read "The Fall Of Reach". Without that I would have been COMPLETELY lost as to what the hell was going on 🤣
@@DeadBeat_Dave They did blue team so dirty man 😭
@@lucasmaia8315 That's pretty true, I bet most people hardly knew who tf they were lol
I have a very strong feeling this video is about to get a serious amount of traction and will cause a bit of a larger rift or even wave in the community. Whether it blows up over night or not i don't know.
However I see it causing somewhat of a needed talk between fans on this topic because in every way i believe you're right about over saturated heavily influenced opinions derivative from what big UA-camrs or Community members have said and not from actual non reactionary critically-thought takes.
On top of you referencing how his comments were trying to enforce an opinion on Rofl and how not only did they all try to point to his video and even admitting how you also were very shaped by reactionary content is something very evident of the current community and fanbase.
Every talking point i see nowadays instantly cites multiple reactionary talking points word for word from these UA-camrs.
Yeah, I very much appreciate people who will at least mention some of the nuance and context within whatever topic they are discussion with an audience.
A little biased coming from me, but I hope you're on to something with your thought that this video will catch a good amount of traction. If it does, I happily welcome the debate and conversation.
I just hope people find it possible/ acceptable that I'll be in the comments saying both that I think these games were treated unfairly as well as understanding how they are flawed and why people hate them so much.
The timing of this video is wild. As a lifetime Halo fan, I've recently been watching people play Halo for the first time and I drew the same conclusion that "maybe H4 and H5 isn't as bad as I remember" haha. Solid video dawg
Appreciate the comment! Glad you liked it!
And yeah, if you haven’t yet, MrRoflWaffles playthrough of Halo: CE is a great watch! 👍
Honestly the only thing they did wrong with Halo 4 was the art style and the MP being to much like cod. If Halo 4 had classic artstyle and the MP was more in line with either H3 or H5 it would have been a completely different outcome for 343/Halo
Yep. But they didn't... so it ended up flopping. HARD! and it would have been fine if they learned from their mistake and corrected themselves in Halo 5.
But they didn't! They just made it worse.. so no I have NO remorse to this company.
@@Wuunderboy It didn't flop by any commercial metric.
@@ToaDrakua yeah, luckily out here in the real world "commercial metrics" are not all that matters. H4 died faster than any other game in the series up to that point, by a long shot and for a reason.
I'm a newcomer to the Halo franchise. Only becoming interested when I got into wanting to play games with the premise of "interstellar humans being the underdog against another interstellar species wanting to wipe us out" I've enjoyed all of them 🤷♀️
They're definitely a blast to play through. Glad you're liking them! We could always use more halo fans 🤣
@@DeadBeat_Davemore *chill* halo fans is what we really need
Halo was so good under 343, that I went out and bought a PlayStation and never looked back.
So I like tid bits from each 343 halo game personally I’m a fan of the design from infinite of armor, characters, and the campaign is amazing. A continual open world concept would’ve been awesome and maybe an open world spartan fireteam concept would’ve been cool where you have a base and conduct mini-ops.
With 4, I loved the armor camo pattern concept, that definitely should’ve been retained.
With 5, the weapons were spectacular, I think they should’ve kept the weapons customization as that seemed like a small but necessary evolution.
Halo 5 has an amazing multiplayer experience
I heard someone say that 343 made their games “too detailed” like tf?
It's not about being too detailed. It's that they focus more on the detailing then the game actually functioning right half of the time.
They mean the details make it to busy to understand what going on when u have to process things.
'Detailed' seems accurate - the art style was overdone (weapons, Chief's armor, Forerunner architecture), as was the story of Halo 4 which really had enough to make an entire trilogy.
i love Halo through and through
don't think a lot of people respect 343 for a lotta reasons not just out of their control but also for things the fans caused as well with the amount of hate they got
I actually enjoy infinites art style, bit of both.
halo 4 I really like it did a pretty good job
halo 5 did have some pretty good aspect but I didn't really get along with the story but my thoughts on it changed quite alot for the better after seeing the story of what happened during infinite
Halo Wars 2 is 343s best Halo game. All the others fall short
@@Wuunderboy in my opinion it's Infinite
@@ahsoka_polo sure.... a half ass game on opening day, zero campaign support, full of empty promises that still let's people down to this day and full of the most volatile Microsoft "micro" transactions ever seen to date. Good choice lol
@@Wuunderboy excellent choice, Ai in forge, updates in multiplayer, getting new weapons to add to sandbox soon, and great campaign. 👍🏿
@@ahsoka_polo Ai in forge isn't anything special. People like me have been sending letters to 343 to get them to add it to Halo since 2012 lol
They had the ability just never did it. Those updates in multiplayer aren't exactly saving the game as far as I can see .. years later? Oh well, too little too late lmao. New weapons (to supposedly come) after years of no new weapons or anything ahahah I hate halo 5 but shit even they did that part better...
And a campaign that leaves you COMPLETELY in the dark as to what the hell happened between Halo 5 and 6... yeah. Fucking brilliant lmao
You have great taste.
For shit
Fw the vid, gonna watch more. Great start buddy!
13:50 In Halo Reach's game. They say it in the first level, they tell you that Jun cut her arm off
Hey man, just wanted to give you a little feedback as I did really enjoy this video! In hindsight, I agree that the games were treated rather harshly, but they are still very deserving of most of their criticisms, and I do have a few gripes with your retrospective. I did find your art style debate to be somewhat flawed. You state that even in the Bungie trilogy there were constant art style changes. However, it never actually changed. The buildings, structures, ships, armour, and weapons always maintained the same overall designs, shapes, textures, colours, etc... Rather the style seemed to change because of graphical and software development - details that wouldn't have otherwise been possible to add in CE were added in 2 and 3, naturally, as new technology became available. Whereas in Halo 4 and 5, very unnecessary noise was added to most of what was previously stated - most notably forerunner structures. These were rather drastic art style changes, rightfully criticized. Same thing with Chiefs armour. I know you were clearly exaggerating about it being changed "a billion times" in the Bungie trilogy, but it was changed only once... Mark V in CE, and Mark VI in 2 and 3. The armour changes from 2-3 were very minor, and most of the perceived changes were just graphical updates. The armour was basically solidified in Halo 2 with its high praise and favour over the Mark V. It became iconic in not only halo games, but video games as a whole, hence why it was kept in Halo 3. So why make major changes in 4 and 5? Your point of 343's changes being justified by their thirst to create a unique "mark" in the halo universe is a major (and valid) issue that Halo fans have. It is understandable that they would want to separate themselves at least a bit from Bungie to leave their own mark, but the moral of the story is; "if it ain't broke don't fix it". They did learn this with Halo Infinite, which is why there was so much hype leading up to it and with initial launch. They returned to form with art style and such, adding their own flare in smaller ways. They just forgot about the rest of the game lol... Which is why Infinite failed where 4 and 5 didn't.
I appreciate the comment and feedback!
I see what you mean about the consistency between the bungie games. And I can for sure understand why people lump those games together in the discussion about art style. And I agree that 343 had the most drastic, and for the most part unnecessary changes.
I just wanted to introduce a perspective of looking at every game's style individually and noticing the changes between each one. It's at that point where I believe the art style discussion becomes more trivial and about each person's personal preferences rather than objective "bad" vs "good".
and if ifs personal preferences we are talking about, then everyone is entitled to theirs without the possibility of being wrong in their opinions.
@@DeadBeat_Dave Agreed! I think at the end of the day 343 took a gamble shaking things up more than a majority of fans were hoping for. Halo 4 is definitely the game I personally look back on through a more positive lens in regards to its story. Halo 5s story however… That’s nobodies fault but 343s. Though its multiplayer was quite well-received. It’s very common to see even die hard Bungie era fans admit they liked its change of pace!
Well done video about a topic I and alot of people are passionate about. Halo is a universe beloved by many, but that universe has been split through many changes in it's gameplay, art, story and business model over the past two decades. Some points I think worth mentioning in response to your video:
2:30 - It's not about subjectivity as to whether someone 'prefers' bungie or 343 art style. It's about the objective fact that they completely changed the look of an already established world. In bungies games, we knew what Spartans looked like. the covenant, Forerunner structures, a Battle Rifle, their recognizability was cemented already. 343 suddenly showed us things that looked completely different but demanded that we accept them as the same things. This is the problem. Not just 'I prefer bungies look'.
3:05 - No this debate wasn't a prominent debate at all. I would know as I was active within halo forums and communities in the 2000's. There may have been the occasional person who claimed he didn't like the way chiefs armor looks in 2 compared to CE, but this was rare. Bungie never had any drastic changes in looks between their games other than graphical fidelity. Reach had a more militarized look, yes, but still very recognizable as Halo. 343 had a total art-style change.
5:20 - This, is, the problem. They are trying to make Halo 'theirs'. Halo already had an established story, vibe, look, feel and vision. 343 taking the brand and using it as a puppet for THEIR stories and THEIR vision is disrespectful to Bungie, to Halo fans, and to Halo. It's the same thing Paramount is doing with Halo right now too: They want to use the halo title to tell their cringey generic bland scifi tv show.
6:00 - The lore changes are the most devastating for me personally. Joe Staten very much intended the Forerunners to be ancient humanity and I loved the poetic irony layered into the narrative. The big reveal in Halo 3 that the trilogy had been building to "You ARE Forerunner" was such an incredible moment for me. But Frank O Connor very much did NOT think Forerunners should be ancient humanity, or that there should be any poetic depth to the human covenant war. No, instead Halo 4 told us that the forerunners are just ugly vampire fish people. This completely killed the entire story of Halo 4 for me, setting cortanas new annoying personality aside.
Also a side note: the opening of the game where chief claims there was a truce between the humans and covenant to fight the flood, is a pretty clear line in the sand between the lore continuity between bungie and 343 halo. They are not the same timeline and have almost zero relation to each other.
6:40 - no disrespect, but during this portion you claim you don't understand quite of few things the game throws at you but still that you think this isn't necessarily mean it's done poorly and I just want to challenge you to think maybe this is in fact a fault of the game itself. If a games narrative confuses me I should always examine if it is my inattentiveness, or the game not properly telling it's story. Halo 4 I believe is the latter. The 8 min long exposition dump was tedious and sloppy, Del Rio's character has 0 reason to be mad at chief, and the covenant have 0 motivation at all. These are all left up in the air by 343
6:45 - They pulled the 'chosen one' trope into halo. According to this cutscene, the 343 version of the forerunners predestined and throughout all of history genetically engineered chief to be a savior... which I hate. It's stupid, lazy and takes all of the cool factor out of the character.
8:35 - I hard disagree. The tedious level design and sloppy plotline do not shout 'good halo game' to me.
"Halo 4 explores alot of themes from the bungie games" I only kind of agree... the original trilogy focused on things like the humanity embracing their legacy, the covenants manipulation and betrayal of the arbiter/elites, and loyalty of the chief to his friends. 4 really only touches on the last one, his loyalty to cortana
9:05 - I agree. Theyre not that memorable, atmosphere is unnoticeable and music is forgettable. And for this to be in the same franchise as Bungies halo games, where the level design IS memorable, atmosphere is palpable and the music is legendary, halo 4 doesn't get away with just being "fine" for me. It fell below the bar that was set.
9:22 - "Is it fair to compare halo 4 to the bungie games" Yes. lol yes it absolutely is. They're all claiming to be Halo games, halo is on the front of the box, they have the same characters, guns, same fps genre, yes they are comparable.
9:38 - So Mr Roflwaffles, person you watched play through all the halo titles for the first time I also watched. I'd recommend checking out his other lets plays because he kind of has the same positive reaction to literally everything he plays which comes across as disingenuous. I think its fair that his reaction to 4/5 caused you to rethink your position on them, totally fair, but I will say I personally wouldn't take his reaction as genuine.
Regarding the comparison of Halo 2 and Halo 5's story I just want to get out of the way:
Halo 5 sees master chief having a dream about cortana being alive so he convinces 3 other spartans to commit treason with him to go search for his dream girl while a blue spartan chases him so he can punch him. Also the game starts with this line: "I figure if god can hear how scared I am so can anyone else"...
Meanwhile Halo 2 is a tale of the arbiters slow realization that he and his entire race has been manipulated into following a belief system that it's prophets know will lead to his/their demise, forcing him to abandon all he knows and join forces with those he once slaughtered in order to find redemption. Also the game has this line "I am a monument to all your sins."
12:52 - No it's not at all the same scenerio. Halo 2 innovated, Halo 5 followed trends. Halo 2 built on what came before, Halo 5 took away and replaced with modern trends. Halo 2 wanted to build halo up, Halo 5 wanted to change what halo was. Halo 2 wanted to be different than other shooters, Halo 5 wanted to BE other shooters.
18:48 - Well, I can't speak for others but for me, no. I had no notion of anyone elses feelings on halo 5 before I played it and was thoroughly disappointed by its bland repetitive missions, obnoxious reuse of the boss, nonsensical storyline, call of duty-esc gameplay tropes, and dozens of missing features. I did find out about Act Man in 2016 when he made his halo 5 video, but I had already hated halo 4 and 5. Act man just showed that he wasn't afraid to stand up and say 'hey. this is not up to par with what halo should be'.
And you're other point about unfairly comparing halo 5 to bungie halo... ITS HALO lol it absolutely should be held up to the standards set by those who came before it.
20:02 - Just want you to remember, this is the same company that when people complained about the absurd prices of the Req pack system and how you can purchase weapons and armor and stuff, their response was "Grow up".
Don't think from my comment I don't appreciate this video and hearing a different approach and opinion on the topic of Halo. I enjoy being challenged in the way I view this game series that I love but have witnessed go in a direction I despise. But I there are alot more critiques of 343's games than what you covered in this video, and thats the main takeaway of my comment. We aren't upset at 343 because youtubers told us to, we aren't upset because they're not carbon copies of bungies games. We're upset because of many things, but ultimately because they want to make games that are NOT halo IN the halo franchise. They took what I loved about the old bungie games, gameplay/lore/art/etc. and changed ALL of that.
100% Love the commitment! Easy to tell you're someone who truly loves Halo.
I greatly appreciate the comment and totally don't take offense to your disagreements.
I would not want to come across as someone who shoots down or even disagrees with the common criticisms about 343's handling of the franchise. I think criticisms should be welcomed and heard, and I think many (if not most of them) leveled at 343i are fair and valid. I was kind of trying to explore the possibility that the serious "Hate" and loathing of this company and its games are completely warranted.
And I think I gravitated towards Milo and his opinions and didn't question them too much because I am naturally pretty positive, optimistic and forgiving. (for better or worse) Which certainly plays a role in the way I look at the halo franchise. I'm the type where I'll always find something to enjoy about a Halo game. But want to stay cautious of blind optimism. Meaning yeah, I don't have stark disagreements with your points on what you and other fans found frustrating from 343.
And that I love seeing fair criticism come from folks like you as we all have the same hope of nudging 343 in the direction of hopefully getting to the point where they make a great Halo game someday with all the lessons learned.
@@DeadBeat_Dave Love to hear your passion for Halo as well man. Hope you keep up your solid content 👊
About Halo 4: I agree that the art change isn't a bad thing but the two main things I and people like me don't like about H4 is the bad level design, the COD copy of a multi-player and the identity of what Halo is. The AI is a huge step down from the Bungie games, not to mention the weapons all act like the famine skull is on. The enemy design isn't bad (other than Elites acting like brutes), some BS here and there but Reach, H3 and H2 had that too. The main problem I have with 343i is what they are doing with Halo's identity, Bungie always made Halo feel like a "Sci-fi Military Shooter" but what 343i has done across all there games is turn it into more of a "super hero shooter", you rarely fight with marines and especially in Halo Infinite there is no command structure.
Hope that made sense :) Love your vids, Keep up the good work!
I would appreciate hearing more about what, in your opinion, made 343's approach successful and what changes they implemented that you found favorable. While you mostly talked about 343's new narrative direction, which I mostly agree with, there's little mention of the changes in art style and gameplay, among other aspects. You touched on the art style, but didn't elaborate on what you thought was positive about the change.
Though I may never fully comprehend the reasons behind the admiration for 343's work, I recognize that there are many fans who appreciate the direction they've taken the franchise. However, I believe it's crucial to acknowledge the valid criticisms directed at 343.
It's important to delve into why a significant portion of the fanbase has voiced discontent with 343's interpretation of Halo and the specific aspects they're criticizing. Halo was not merely a game series but a cultural phenomenon with a devoted fanbase, characterized by a distinctive art style, a rich universe, and Marty O'Donnell's unforgettable soundtrack. Given this established legacy, some question the wisdom of 343 Industries deviating too far from the path laid out by Bungie. Was it prudent for a new studio to make such significant departures from the established formula?
One: I can't fully tell from your comment, but I wanted to just be clear. I did not mean to give the impression that I liked the 343 games better than the Bungie games. As well as I didn't mean to insinuate that the 343 games are above criticism and that issues people had with the games aren't valid. Personally I like the bungie games better when comparing the two groups of games.
Two: I appreciate your comment and the want to understand those who don't share your views on something. That is kind of rare when on the internet.
Three: I appreciate 343's attempt and doing something as monumental as picking up where Bungie had left off. I don't find the undertaking of that task (Yes, even with Microsoft's funding, because that certainly came with negatives) Yes there were missteps and huge fumbles (God MCC's launch was a train wreck)
The most notable things that stand out to me when asked what I liked about Halos 4 and 5 were the graphical improvements found in the transition from reach to 4. Halo 4 is visually stunning even now 12 years later and 5 was similar though not as big of a leap. Halo 4 gameplay wise is definitely the weakest in the franchise, I would never deny that lol and its story was, like I said in the video, and interesting and (mostly, at least where it mattered) well done narritive that continues from Halo 3 pretty well.
Halo 5, I find the gameplay, even in the campaign to be enjoyable. Grabbing footage for this video I would load up a level just to grab a quick segment and would find myself getting the footage and then continuing the level as it was pretty fun to shoot stuff. (Though I do wish it still had more ammo, and less annoying boss fights) and I mention in the video that the MP of Halo 5 was very enjoyable for me. Other than it now being beat by Halo Infinite, Halo 5 is the Halo multiplayer that I have sunk the most time into out of the whole series (Although kind of unfortunately due to me missing out on the Halo 3 hay-day, not having internet or a 360 like a loser)
Halo 5's narrative with yes, pretty messy and overly reliant on lore from the novels, if you try and understand what was being set up with Cortana and the "created" and Halsey, Chief, Arbiter and Locke all with their backs against the wall to this crazy threat, has me very interested in where THAT sequel was planning to go. In my opinion, while getting to that cliffhanger was confusing and trivial at times, its resolution had the potential to make a pretty cool trilogy ender had Halo 5 received a better reception.
And that is not to say I'm upset about Infinite. I very much appreciate the return to form and am even more excited for where they take the franchise in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to reply! Your insights have helped me better understand your perspective.
I understood that you didn't intend to convey a preference for the 343 games over Bungie's work on Halo. My disagreement stemmed more from your statement regarding Halo 4 being a 'solid first attempt' by 343 on such a monumental franchise. It's a bold statement in my opinion, and I was genuinely curious about the reasoning behind it.
I can definitely relate to your point about being molded by others' opinions, it's important to engage in conversations like this to avoid falling into echo chambers. It's refreshing to have an open exchange of ideas.
It's interesting to hear differing viewpoints on 343's take on the Halo franchise. While some didn't find the art style change to be a significant issue, others, including myself, found it to be a substantial obstacle to fully enjoying the games. The unique identity crafted by Bungie for Halo resonated deeply with many fans, and the departure from that established style was a disappointment for us.
It's very sad to see a beloved franchise deviate from what initially drew us all in. As fans, our connection to the series often lies in its original essence, and it can be disheartening when the direction shifts away from that. While it's natural for studios to aim for broader appeal, it's equally important to respect and honor the legacy and loyal fanbase that built the franchise.
@@DeadBeat_Dave
Halo 4 multiplayer was ass good story halo 5 story bad good multi and warzone first to have a 12v12 with ai involved ranked champion in swat halo infinite havent started campaign because its iffy but multiplayer has come a long way since it dropped
I'm coding, I shalln't step away from my keyboard.
I didn’t hate Halo 4 or 5. I do have one issue with it in terms of Chiefs armor change. It’s not that his armor changed at all, I thought it looked really cool.😳😅
My issue is that it changes so drastically at the beginning of Halo 4 given that he was inside a sealed cryo-pod. An armor change would have made more sense after he linked back up with the Infinity. 🤔😕
I loved the Halo 4 and 5 stories. I just felt we needed less Locke and more Chief. In fact it would have been better if you didn't play Locke at all and he just showed up as a hunter. Then, later, release an expansion playing his side of the story.
Great vid bro
Glad you liked it!
idk i really like halo 4 its my favorite Halo other than Reach
I actually like halo 4 and believed if they stuck with the aestheitc of halo 3 and did not include custom load outs, halo 4 could have been one of the best. The story of halo 4 was really good imo
18:55 group think
Fantastic video! I liked Halo 4 overall, my only issue with it was the Promethean dog things, just thought they were so unbelievably boring to fight, Prometheans overall were cool just kinda boring in combat. halo 5 I just didn't care for but never absolutely hated either of them
Halo 4 feels like it’s played in fast forward and 343 wasn’t smart enough to expand the multiplayer maps to account for the extra speed.
Didn’t feel like halo, I could live with the aesthetics although they corrected it with infinite.
Halo 5 MP was fun, the story was an atrocious DEI attempt at replacing Master chief with Lock, and that is unforgivable.
Infinites on the right track
100% disagree with the "DEI" attempt comment, I wanted to make sure that was said.
I think the idea with Locke was originally going to be the badass hunt for a misunderstood chief that was marketed in the trailer, but was cut for whatever reason. Which is probably a shame because that could have been really cool. But so much work was done as Locke as a character that is was too late to fully course correct once the cuts took place.
@@DeadBeat_Dave no, lock is to chief as miles morales is to spider man except the fans of halo wouldn’t accept it. Thankfully they didn’t kill chief off for Lock like they did with peter in the comics, but nonetheless they were trying to hand the franchise lead to a black dude because he’s black, and take it from John because he’s white.
DEI in practice. Objectively.
4:13 Making the franchise “their own” is what got us into this mess 🫤🤦♂️
Halsey lost her arm when palmer shot it when she had jul and the promotheans hijacked the infinity and helped her escape. This is only shown in spartan ops in h4
Yeah, I knew it was explained somewhere. Just using that joke to kind of highlight the way H5 included stuff that basic players wouldn't have known just by playing the main games. Things from the books, spartan ops ect...
LOVED Halo 4, all the way through.
I see where you’re coming from with this video but there’s just a few things I want to add.
Firstly, the most important part of a game is that it is entertaining and fun to play. That’s why we play games to start. I remember doing a legendary run of all halos coop with my friend, had a blast until halo 4. It was just… boring to be honest.
And this could be for many reasons, like how many bullets the Prometheun knights take, I swear I spent a quarter of that game finding ammo.
The story was not completely terrible but not particularly good either, I don’t think saying that a studio making their first halo, with a budget majorly different than previous halos is an excuse for that.
Speaking of story, I don’t know what they were thinking when they killed cortana at the end of 4 just for her to come back and try to murder everyone in 5?
Also master chief being known as a traitor??
I mean cmon, he has shown time again that he’s loyal to humanity and is their most important asset.
It’s just bad screen writing tbh, in infinite they pretty much try to ignore 5, which I think is damage control for that dumpster fire.
Halo infinite is going in the right direction, honestly started to have fun with that one. Art style was good and the story started to make sense again.
Anyways that’s a long rant but there’s just so much to say
Halos story went from an alien alliance which would dominate humanity, with its main goal to ascend to greatness in a religious journey. But that journey was misunderstood and is actually a ring that will kill everyone. Then there’s flood which is why the rings were made, and so humans and covenant are fighting across the galaxy, and then flood is fighting both of them aswell, which created combat triangles, etc. I mean there was also a major fall of the covenant with the civil war and then flood wiping out high charity.
And so we go from that to people that have been uploaded as dna in prometheun knights, and a failing cortana, then cortana goes on a murder spree and master chief is a traitor because he’s obsessed with her?
Then infinite is chief being stuck on the 5th halo ring, finds out cortana killed herself and the leader of the banished and so the whole game is taking out their outposts.
When you look at the difference, bungies halos were much more grand and had so much more substance to them. I’d prefer to see a story about the power vacuum left behind after the fall of the covenant. But these stories just makes the galaxy seem empty.
All great points. I definitely know there is a larger debate on if any of the changes and story arks 343 implemented were "good" or "bad". And to be honest, I don't really know where I fall on that debate. I was just saying here that I felt that parts were compelling / interesting. More than I feel most people give them credit for. And at least interesting enough to where I wouldn't have minded seeing its intended ending before making a FINAL conclusion.
But don't think that means I don't agree with your criticisms with these games. 👍
@@DeadBeat_Dave
Watch the video “we were forerunner.”
The incompetency required to torpedo halos narrative the way that 343 did is mind boggling. All spearheaded by a guy that thought halo CE opens with a Star Wars style prophecy. Under Frank O Conner, guilty spark became a literal digital caveman, humanity were reclaimers but we were actually claiming since it wasn’t our stuff, and the covenant had no reason to ever attack humanity.
I respect where you’re trying to come from, but it’s clear that from a narrative and gameplay perspective that’s 343 never knew what halo was. It only became fun like old halo when Joe Staten came back for Infinite and you can clearly tell he overhauled it HARD.
@@DeadBeat_Dave ua-cam.com/video/_P-uOCKDTAA/v-deo.htmlsi=NMssZH-7H_frtqPt
@@calebreynolds9183i'm going to ask you too.... if the forerunners 'killed' themselves because of what they had to do, how can humans have been forerunners?
so are we like prometheus made from their dna after they were 'dusted'? they indexed many species but as far as i remember 'from the games' they did not index themselves. so did the goop left behind mix with the water from earth and recreate a second evolution of forerunners known as 'humans' ?
how does this work?
The librarian gave the Chief the genetic update to not be composed
Yeah, getting footage while editing the video, that became much clearer for me. But it was a bit late for me to back track at that point. 💀
Chief composed
I find that more often than not, people only hate on the new Halo direction because the Halo content creators tell them to with their overly criticising videos.
I can admit that Halo has it flaws on some business aspects, such as this whole LIVE SERVICE attitude for Infinite, and leaving out important aspects of story telling and mission design. But i honestly like its refreshing take on itself. All i could wish for was for 343 to connect their games more. 4, 5 and Infinite seem to have very little to do with one another in terms of the overall plot.
All original Halos are still as replayable and fun to me as they were when they came out, but i sure as hell would be dissapointed if 343 just copied them and did little to nothing else new. The games would be too simple as new titles by todays standards.
Honestly, I think my problem with 343 is that they never really seem to prioritize the things that kept people playing halo during the 2000's. Each of the games will have some random collection of these things, but not all of them. It feels like when we gain one of the things, we necessarily have to lose another. We always take one step forward and one step back, and therefore, it never feels like they're improving. And because of this, i feel like halo has gotten less popular.
I'll make a list of a few basic things just to illustrate my point. This definitely isn't extensive, but it'll show what i mean.
Things that keep people playing halo (in my opinion):
Forge and custom games
Armor customization unlocked through gameplay
Fair starts
A basic set of intrinsic abilities with any advanced mechanics being things you pick up on the map.
Good playlist variety
The ability to self insert yourself into the story.
Split screen
Halo 4 had forge at launch, split screen, good playlist variety (if i remember right), and armor unlocked through gameplay.
Halo 5 had fair starts, and as far as i remember, good playlist variety at launch.
Infinite has the basic set of intrinsic abilities thing, fair starts, and the ability to self insert.
(To be clear, i'm focused on what the game was like at launch because i think a lot of people wont return if you dont hook them at launch)
All this to say, I want halo 7 to launch with all these things. I want them to take what they had in infinite and add what they didn't have. You dont have to trade one improvement for another.
Very true. I have definitely previously mentioned my dislike of these games releasing essentially half complete in comparison to games decades older and expecting a large, dopamine-driven player base to just wait for it to be updated over months or even years.
loving it!,
Not my favorite but a shot clock after entering the zone
I don't hate these games, I enjoy playing 5 in particular, however I hate them as HALO games if that makes sense
I'm old, I never jumped out of halo 2😢
I actually did like H4 and H5 the first time I played them way back on release.
Every time I try to play them again it’s just painful, especially H4.
Gameplay wise, the stupid ammo hunting in H4 was agonising, and fighting the Prometheuns was also annoying.
H5 gameplay was pretty standard in my opinion, ok but just a little bland
Ive been honestly having more of a open mind with the current run of the franchise to now not saying the current criticisms were warrent along with Microsoft being the one that's trying to screw with the franchise but i see it as yet another case of companies sucking but the consumers suck mire donkey butt to
DAVEEE Maybe we should be finish our play through of halo 4 now....
But Halo: CE is just SO FUN.....
No. We're not too harsh. We gave them chance after chance after chance!! They never could get it right and in interviews PROVED how they dont give a shit to get it right. They acknowledge their mistakes and then just blatantly ignore it and push forward doing the same exact thing as before. Thus not learning anything from their mistakes, and being too arrogant to learn and fix their mistakes it. Halo Wars 2 & Halo infinite finally was them realizing "the fans dont like OUR version of Halo so lets bring it back to a more classic version the way it was always meant to be".
So no, as much as 343 did some things pretty cool over the year's, over all they just suck and after a decade our patience wore thin & we collectively finally just came to that realization. Do we come off harsh?? Nah its just reality.
Modders do Halo better than this shitty arrogant company.
Edit: they finally got it right with Halo Wars 2 !! But then.. as usual they abandon it and leave it broken and half functional constantly kicking people.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions
@@ahsoka_polo well clearly we're NOT when people criticize us... for our "harsh opinions".
@@Wuunderboy and yet you shit on my opinions for being differentfrom yours, how hypocritical.
@@ahsoka_polo I'm just showing you the facts. If you don't like it... that's not my problem
@@Wuunderboy opinions, nothing more.
A lot of genuine complaints I’ve seen from some people is just hating it simply cus it’s not Bungie made which always irritates me
Game purists always ruin games for genuine fans
that also includes the rage people who keep forcing inclusiveness, but then exclude what made the games great; being fun.
Halo 5 definitely had my favorite multiplayer, and i dont hate tram Osiris as characters themselves, but the pacing and structure of all of 343's games leaves something to be desired. And not sticking to their stories and instead finishing them out in books is the biggest turn off. Bungie had a complete streamlined story through the original trilogy. Even broke Odst and Reach smoothly in to that narrative. The books told completely different stories and just added some more world lore. You didnt HAVE to read them to finish one games story.
And i cant stand that they turned away from Humans being Forerunners. It makes no sense to why they're the only ones who could interact with the tech. Guilty Spark straight up tells you, "you are forerunner". Why else would the prophets hate them so much. If the covenant knew the ones they worshipped were humans, it would break their rule.
If your wandering to what happened to Halsey left arm play halo 4 spartan ops you can thank palmer for that one
fkn Palmer.... 🤣
I actually loved halo 4 tbh
Personally I enjoy the 343 art design. I only quarrel with how disjointed the story feels. The Bungie games seem to just make more sense from game to game.
No. 5 was a shitty bait and switch cash grab.
aside from the monetization,
halo 5 wasnt that bad and generalizing it to just being bad doesn't really add anything to the conversation nor is it really fair
@@omni6982 Bro missed the whole point of the video 🤣
No one likes 343, the best they can do, is make a "not terrible" Halo... Bungie only made global winners
I like 343's work to an extent. There's a lot Bungie does nowadays is honestly far worse too.
I agree and thats why so many people shit on them. "not terrible" isn't necessarily bad but its far from what we have had
I like 343s games adds a new vibe to halo I prefer change
Yeah, they definitely have their fun moments. There is bound to be at least some fun to be had with any new Halo content.
6:50 what your describing is the exposition dump that most ppl didn’t fully understand unless they read the books 🤦♂️
I personally try to be as objective as possible about 343’s games. Art style is a dumb argument because some of my favorite games and shows had art styles that weren’t exactly appealing. I personally loved Halo 4. The race to try to save Cortana kept me going throughout the whole game. The music was phenomenal. Halo 5 is a whole different beast. The story was not compelling. I rushed through the game in hopes it would get better, but it didn’t. None of the levels are memorable. They had great concepts, but were executed poorly. The places you visited were cool, but sometimes less is more. There was so much to look at, it almost became a chore. Story wise, the game was very much shotgunned. Cortana should’ve stayed dead. Halo 5 should’ve been more focused on Chief cleaning up the remnants of the Sangheli extremists and introducing a new big bad while coping with being paired with a new AI. What we got, was a very forgettable story that left fans wanting something with more substance. Halo 5 was very hollow in its story telling. They tried to make Locke this super interesting character and he just wasn’t. Nobody really cared about Locke. What’s funny is that we cared more about the Arbiter than we do Locke.
Nice try 343 Plant! I almost fell for it! Number company bad!!!
DUDE!! You weren't supposed to know that!!! 😬😬
Hmmm, I’d have to disagree. I kinda just avoided anything Halo that 343 made on the principle of it being not bungie, I let that go and gave it an honest shot. I generally liked Halo 4, the story and tone, the graphics, it was awesome. Halo 5 royally messed that up, everything was pointless in the story, it was a mess. Infinite I enjoyed for the most part. That guy is absolutely insane for liking Halo 5 that much, I wouldn’t believe a word that guy says after that.
343 only juat finished all of the halo 5 plot threads
I just hated the way they looked and sounded. The arstyle of halo is a huge thing for me.
The story of H5 was pretty terrible though.
“Let’s feature the person who has previously been the face of Halo in three of the of 12 missions”
Seriously what was that thought process?! They didn’t even make the new character any good, I found Loch very boring. They didn’t try to develop his character, kinda the opposite of what Chief got in H4 🤔
3:57 halo 4 was a carbon copy of COD 🫤
5:26 an identity already existed… it was called halo 🤦♂️
Am I a piece of human sheet for still liking and playing Halo, yes or no?
Depends on who you ask 😂😂😂
Halo 4
There’s a lot of issues in 343 with halo
Majority of halo fans are casuals and not hardcore halo fans like reading the lore etc so when they 1st play halo 4 and hear about the domain and the didact, they are confused on wtf is going on etc.
Making a halo 4 mp that plays like cod with loadouts kills the mood because halo has always been about map control and outsmarting or killing them by skill to gain a better weapon like the rocket launcher to help win a game or defend a teammate with a flag for example.
halo 4 customisation was damn right awful and they look like they are from destiny etc.
The art style of halo 4 made the covenant look like dinosaurs and lastly of halo 4, the lack of game modes helped kill it of as well
Halo 5
Halo 5 like 4 had a lack of gamemodes
The art style like 4 was still making the covenant look like dinosaurs
The prometheans were boring to fight and are nowhere as fun to fight like the covenant
The story was absolutely bad and had fake advertising for it like hunt the truth
Cortana should of stayed dead
The multiplayer was made for esports and not casual fans
Halo infinite
Halo infinite has terrible customisation since u have to pay for colours and armour just to play with it
Halo infinite has a more exciting campaign then 4 and 5 but felt too short and at times was kinda boring and repetitive
The multiplayer was some of the best fun I’ve had in yrs since after halo reach
The art style looks like actual halo
Halo 2 has a bit of a better written story than Halo 5. The understatement of the year. Alot better written story, like immensely better. Yeah, but Halo 2 made sense. And most of what happened was relevant to the story line. Stuff can't be just blurted out. Explain it to us, explain whats going on so we can understand it
1) Halo 4 and 5's art style is objectively worse. Your image of Chief's armor design from CE - 4 clearly shows the ugly color (or lack of color and contrast) used in 4. CE's is a bit comedically green I think, but it's not ugly. And the only reason the art style overall in Infinite is as good as it is, is because 343 harked back to the OG trilogy's art style. Also, we all know the change in art style overall between CE and 3 is not as dramatic as 3 to 4. This is especially clear when looking at the change in Forerunner architecture between the Halos - 4 and 5 is dramatically different to any of the OG Halos (CE, 2 and 3).
@3:49 - No, 4 was a terrible attempt. You ask "what do you (343) do?" The correct answer is not 'change everything' that's for sure. The correct answer is 'mostly replicate the previous installment', which was 3 (4 was not a continuation of Reach). This is the philosophy The Coalition had when they took over Gears Of War, with the lead dev specifically stating in an interview that they wanted to change as little as possible while they grew used to this franchise. And yes some will respond by pointing out that Halo is still much more popular than Gears, but 1) Halo always was and 2) at least almost no one hates The Coalition and overall, every Gears Of War game is well received, especially with the trailer for the new upcoming E-Day.
I agree with some of what you said, such as the complaints over Chief's armor changing in 4 being over the top. Cheif's armor always changed as you pointed out. My issue is that it's ugly, atleast the color choice is.
Finally somebody gets it. To add to it, a good chunk of halo 4s story and other aspects of the game was done by BUNGIE all 343 did was put it together. Furthermore most of the original developers for Halo 4,5,&infinite.
The most objective take I’ve ever seen. I love when people are able to take off the nostalgia goggles and see the 343 games as the actually pretty good games that they are
I'm glad you think so! I did my best lol
Halo 4 and 5 had a trash art style and story. In short 343 isn't profound they just suck. Probably one of the worst and useless game studios out there. Halo 1 2 and 3 were the best. Halo 4 and 5 did not have different art styles. I don't mind people who like halo 4 and 5 i even like infinite now. halo 4 and 5 have terrible impossible to enjoy playing on legendary because of terrible ai all you can do the entire game is use the light riffle and shoot from far away and pray you don't run out of a already abysmally brutal ammo system. The multiplayer in 4 was just a cod clone and 5 was a sweary comp high mobility shooter. At least with infinite they actually use the better art style but only now after 5 years do we have a complete game. You can't not say 343 sucks at their job lol they literally fired everyone and have temp workers barely holding on the the ip and can only release trash half baked microtransactions and seasons. With little to no new content i might add.
The writing in halo 4 and 5 is really bad especially in 5 infinite tho might be a return to form tho if 343 can survive long enough to make a new game.....
Nah i loved halo 4's story and ima a life long halo fan.