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Destiny

Discuss all things Destiny.

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Edited by linkdude64: 1/25/2013 6:35:56 PM
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Moderate departures from the "Halo Formula" of the trilogy in ODST and Reach

With the last two Halo games Bungie made, ODST and Reach, it was apparent to me that they [Edit: Bungie] were ready to try very new and different things than what they were doing with Halos 1-3. People who call Halo 3 the "last Halo" are exactly right. The issue is that many seem to assume "If it doesn't fit the established Halo formula, it's bad." Taken on their own merits, ODST and Reach were very creative. A departure from the "Formula." One essential part of what made Halo great was the sense of ownership of the character. Not seeing Master Chiefs/Noble 6/The Rookie's faces; then of course armor permutations going from solid color options in Halo CE to full armor customization in Reach. Seeing as their expansion of these themes was more or less linear, and given the extremely fast evolution of the Halo universe (H3>ODST>Reach are drastically different), Destiny is likely going to be something of an exponential increase in many areas. As for my topic, in terms of customization. I expect there will be a whole lot. This is pretty obvious, but it's the easiest to type about at 12am. If anyone feels like sounding brainy on the internet, I'd love to hear any other themes or trends you have noticed throughout Bungie games, or even just the Halo series. I'm pointing out just one - the theme of personalization and ownership of the player character. Many other possibilities include weapon balance trends, UI trends, HUD trends, anything!

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  • ODST was well crafted with dedication, but Reach felt like Bungie were forced to do it and had no time to make it better. My opinion, I may be wrong... but still that's how I felt it.

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    • Edited by Malfar: 1/27/2013 2:22:47 AM
      [quote]...If anyone feels like sounding brainy on the internet, I'd love to hear any other themes or trends you have noticed throughout Bungie games, or even just the Halo series...[/quote]One theme I noticed about Bungie, and being true to their motto, they seem to make games that they want to play. This in of it's self is an attribute I greatly respect about Bungie. You can see this with all the games Bungie has produced. There is a sense of love and respect that has been put into their games that shows in every frame.

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      • Edited by kappus 000: 1/27/2013 12:00:56 AM
        what i've noticed most in bungie's evolution is their approach to narrative: making the game (the thing you [u]play[/u]) immerse you in a personal story. just read an [url=http://gropingtheelephant.com/blog/?p=1933]article[/url] today RT by Clint Hocking that sort of expresses some of this. Bungie's move towards 'sandbox' has made the stories richer. ODST used one different story-telling technique - the flashback, but still had the linearity to make it fit the player into a pre-constructed narrative. i'll be interested to see whether they are looking to open this experience in Destiny or whether, like 343, they've got a grand plan for the next 10 years that we'll all be contained within. i would like the new universe even more adaptable to the personal/community stories that it is likely to stimulate. sounding brainy on the internet?

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        • Edited by ash: 1/26/2013 1:37:24 AM
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          Um, I think Halo Reach was the last (Bungie) Halo. I don't think Reach was a major departure from the Halo formula at all. To me it was a full-blooded Halo bursting at the seams with every feature from the previous games. It had a linear campaign, it had online multiplayer, it had forge, it had theatre and it also added ODST's Firefight for good measure. There was no Master Chief of course, but that doesn't really impact how the gameplay evolves. The most significant change was Armour Abilities, but they were kind of an evolution of equipment. Everything was just incremental improvement. The most significant departure was ODST, yes. It was more experimental. The structure of the campaign was quite different (and I loved it). Obviously, swapping competitive multiplayer for Firefight was another big departure from the Halo norm. But it makes sense that it would be different as it was a smaller project.

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          • Well, building off what you were saying, Armor Abillities themselves are a form of player personalizations. While some of the Armor Abillities in Reach were pretty poorly implemented, the idea itself is pretty sound: it gives all players a way of specializing their role on the battlefield a little bit. Some people saw armor abillities as a violation of Halo's cherished "Everyone starts on a level and even playing field" thing, but in a way it doesn't really, no more so than choosing to run to the rockets at the beginning of a match rather than snipers. Another trend I definitely think we're going to see more of is an evolution upon user created content. In every interview about Forge, Theatre, and the like, Bungie Employees say over and over again how they are amazed and sometimes horrified at what the community is able to do given very limited tools. Giving us better tools so that our creativity can blossom is in their best interests. I feel Destiny is going to break a lot of ground, but those are two areas in particular I think they might invest some of their focus into.

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            • ODST was the first Halo game where Bungie was not owned by Microsoft. The Halo formula you're talking about is from Microsoft.

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              • Edited by Steel Assassin: 1/25/2013 8:33:54 AM
                Halo 2, dual wielding. Departure from the formula. All games had something that made them incredibly unique. ALL of them. Shoudn't this be under the gaming forum? I know it was created just hours ago, but still..

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