READ THE DAMN POST BEFORE ENTERING FAN BOY MODE! The Halo community has become so cancerous. -_-
[b]Be aware that not all the options listed are my opinion. I merely compiled some of the main reasons people dislike 343i's Halo.[/b]
While I don't believe halo is truly dead, what it once was will never be again. Personally, the two biggest issues I have with 343i's Halo are with the lore and the art aesthetic. I care little for gameplay changes. Story and design are my favorite aspects of a game.
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The extended universe of Halo used to be, as the name suggests, just an extension of Halo's lore. However, with the addition of various Forerunner novels, it quickly went from being an [b]extension[/b] to being an [b]editor[/b] of established lore. Hell, with the release of Halo 5 many people, newcomers and veterans alike, were confused as to what happened between Halo 4 and the new game.
Most were left scratching their heads at the situation presented to them as they began the campaign. Only those who kept up with the extended universe truly understood the events that led up to Halo 5. This alone is an extreme change to the franchise, considering that Bungie's Halo trilogy was, chronological and continuous in its narrative.
If that wasn't enough, the extended universe brought another change to Halo, one that I will never forgive the developers for. That change was the demystification of the Forerunners.
Prior to the creation of novels like Primordium and Cryptum, the Forerunners were merely a long dead civilization of space-faring aliens. The mysteriousness of the Forerunners and the interactions made between their technology and human characters helped drive the Halo narrative. When the novels eliminated that mysteriousness, the Halo franchise diverged from creating an interesting narrative to appeasing the continuity of lore.
Now, it seems that the lore of the extended universe has taken president over the lore of the games themselves. [b]Instead of pertaining to humanity's struggle and topics like religious extremism, we have a Halo story muddled by convoluted lore. [/b]
The use of a Forerunner-based narrative has set aside the once meaningful narrative and rugged aesthetic of past Halo games and, subsequently, has changed both to fit that Forerunner vibe.
Where once we saw the foreign ring-world of Halo, the cramped city streets of New Mombasa, or the muddy forests of Earth; we now see the borderline copy/paste aesthetic of Forerunner shield worlds. Where once we saw rugged military hardware and lived-in environments; we now see shiny metal and sci-fi scenery. Where once we saw sickening and dilapidated space-zombies; we now see over the top robot men. Where we once saw colorful and badass religious aliens, we now see wort-covered lizard men and grunts with no masks. [b]The rugged Halo of the past has become a sleek and polished world of science fiction rather than the once believable world we were exposed to during Bungie's time.[/b]
All in all, the Halo I grew up on is gone. The issues that many long time fans have are a result of bad decision making on part of the developers. What we see now regarding both the story and aesthetic of Halo is a result of Halo's developers abandoning their old player-base for a newer, younger generation of gamers.
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[quote]Edit: I feel that Reach best depicted the rugged atmosphere of Halo. You can dislike the gameplay or the way it contradicted the EU, but that doesn't detract from my point. That said, I find the new aesthetic less real and more science fiction than what was originally intended for the franchise. The same goes with the lore and narrative of 343i's Halo games. I don't dislike Halo 5 or Halo 4 for that matter, they're fun games, but what I consider the [i]old[/i] Halo - is dead[/quote]
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2 RepliesHave you seen the halo 5 ending