There’s almost nothing 343i can do with Halo that’s going to satisfy fans which is my issue with a lot of the “whining”. If Halo tries to innovate fans will hate it. If it goes back to its roots fans will hate it. If it stays how it’s been under 343i with 4-5 fans will hate it. If it has the name “Halo” on the box, fans will find a reason to hate it.
There’s always a group of people complaining and unwilling to understand that 1) not every game is going to be your goty and that’s ok, 2) making games in this climate is very hard and not just because of COVID, and 3) nostalgia is a hell of a drug and creates unfair expectations on whatever that thing is.
I don’t think many people are saying that we shouldn’t want great things, but rather that to demand them and never be satisfied with any result that isn’t 100% what you wanted to the nth degree is just immature/selfish/dull or whatever. I just want a game that looks pretty decent and is fun to play.
A true success to me is, it does good in reviews (yes I know the normal hang ups with that) and even better in word of mouth, discussion etc. And most importantly a lot of people play and enjoy the things it has to offer for years. Wouldn’t hurt either if it carried a strong presence on Youtube and Twitch as that can be a powerful factor in longevity
All that said, there will ALWAYS be negative voices. The loud minority. Always. Whether it’s the super hardcore nostalgia peeps, or the the Angry Joe wanna-be drama seekers who cater to most miserable among us. And of course Halo has the added factor of being a giant Xbox exclusive franchise. So you will also have all the wonderful Sony fanboys pretending to be life long Halo fans who will have a whole suite of reasons they hate the game…even though they hadn’t played a second of it, or any of the previous ones in many cases
Those assholes will be there, regardless and can be easily ignored once the game is out and is good to great. Mainly because we’ll be playing non-stop and won’t have time to get caught up in that petty shit
I just hope that Xbox Studios has a big show worthy of momentum that the Xbox is having now. the 2020 show(Xbox Games Showcase), heavily bombed by Covid, pandemic, etc. did not represent that. I hope they have prepared something good for Xbox fans and customers.
I’ve said this very thing on our You Had Me At Halo podcast. People also need to realize that because the fandom isn’t a monolith you will have people that are fans that may not like everything about the game, that doesn’t mean the game is bad. But I know some will say “look x Twitch personality says it sucks because y, and I must think the same”…
Huh? I thought last year’s showcase was one of the better shows we got in the COVID era. Tons of great games were showcased, some of which we’ve gotten our hands on now, and others that are going to be what to look forward to in the next couple years.
I agree, but unfortunaly the Halo Infinite showing downfall overshadowed everything else in many many people eyes. It’s for this reason that 343 must not fail this time.
Yeah, the fanbase is just too broad to satisfy everybody. For that, litteral gods should have developed the game, with a perfect development in every way. But devs are also humans, and you can only do so much. SOME will be disappointed and that’s just the way it is for every games. Nothing is perfect.
Discussing Halo is always an annoying thing because the fandom doesn’t agree on anything.
You’ve got people calling Halo 5 trash yet have never touched an Xbox One in their life
You’ve got the people who spend 2000 hours on an entry like Halo 5 and say its trash because its boring now (they have almost every skin unlocked and constantly complain about how the armor is trash)
You’ve got the people saying Halo should end because it’s old
There are a lot of these types on the internet who want to budge in on any conversation about the franchise. For me? I like all the Halo games for different reasons.
However, when I went to Halo Outpost Discovery in Philadelphia I saw none of this pessimism among the attendees, and there were a lot of them. I got to hang out with Frank O’Conner in person and he signed my copy of Halo 2 for the Original Xbox, I also got to speak with Kiki Wolfkill briefly. 343 industries is ran by normal chill people, the internet loves to demonize this company but at the end of the day its ran by people who just happen to love Halo.
Much like with Crackdown 3, it’s pretty much an open secret that Halo Infinite has run into development issues. Those issues will bring in certain challenges, either within or from the top. Best we can hope for now is that changes made last year have addressed these issues enough to make a better work environment for the team. I’m sure the management at 343i know that on going reports of issues at the studio could hinder interest from talent around the industry. As large as it is, the game industry is still a close-knit industry and people do talk. I’m confident they’ll do what’s best for the studio and the game in the end. I’m also sure Halo will be a great game in the end. Looking forward to seeing it next month.
As long as they don’t rely so much on CGI, they’ll be fine. Last year’s show would have been amazing but they showed off too much too early. So while they had some awesome announcements, there was little of substance to grab onto. I think this year’s show will be great and give us plenty to be excited about.
With regards to Halo, I hear the phrases “God of War style reboot” and “Breath of Wild moment” thrown at Infinite for how the game should be but rarely do people actually elaborate on what they mean and how they relate to how they think Halo Infinite should turn out in terms of gameplay.
I’ve not played either (seen bits of GoW gameplay) so I am curious what folks who use this phrase want from Halo Infinite? Is it a more darker story? Change of gameplay loop and objectives? Etc. For example from what I understand GoW still does feature third person combat at it’s core, how did ND manage to differentiate the core gameplay loop from its predecessors that a lot of people want 343 to do similar with Infinite? (Apologies if this is the wrong topic and mention of non XGS games)
I think God of War BOTW comparisons are for these three points
Simple entry point for new players
fan service for old fans
New direction for the franchise
Everything we’ve heard about Halo Infinite sounds like its pointing in this direction. I own both God of War 2018 and BOTW, these are three points I’ve noticed while playing the games. Aside from that its kinda just more God of War and Zelda regardless of what others might say.
Literally haven’t seen ANY mentions of this title on Xbox Game Studios topic threas
As Dusk Falls
I think could be a contender for this year as a release title. It’s been in development for a long time. Sega was the original publisher but they backed out.
This is exactly what I’ve been trying to get across for months about the fandom, and of the larger Halo/gaming audience overall. Much of the hot takes and vitriol you see online, and even here, towards Halo/343 isn’t reflected by the majority of the fanbase; your experience at Outpost Discovery is largely the same that I had at PAX a few years back, both with the Halo fans there and members of 343 (seriously jealous that you were able to meet Kiki - she’s a badass). People tend to extrapolate the views of a vocal few to an unrepresented mass, and it skews the truth to fit whatever narrative they’re seeking to propagate.
haha, I actually ran into Kiki multiple times on the show-floor. I asked her about the Halo Television Series and while she said she couldn’t give me any details she said development was going great. Tons of back and fourt chatter between her and Showtime executives.
People also seem to forget that Halo 4 had raving reviews from critics upon release. IGN gave the game a 9.8 out of 10. Most of the criticism came down from old time Halo youtubers like TheActMan and LateNightGaming and its been pushed around on forum comments ever since. It’s insane how beautiful of a game Halo 4 was on Xbox 360.
Go around and search what the comments were saying about Hal
