: I would rephrase it as: As more time passed, I realized what I loved about
: Halo, the things that drew me in at first, were not necessarily the simple
: facts of what Halo is, but apparently how Bungie presented it. I just
: wasn't aware of it because they were joined at the hip for 10 years. So,
: the more Bungie designs and audio that went away, the less it felt like
: 'Halo' to me.

: For example, if you had a read a cold script of Halo CE to me, I may not
: care. But if you visualized it with intense colors and
: simplistic-but-iconic designs and coupled it with open gameplay and fun
: combat put to Marty's music... then the story and the universe would
: become appealing. I could then go read Eric Nylund as I listened to the
: Halo soundtrack and have a blast. I could go sketch the visual designs and
: try to come up with my own.

: If 343i had preserved more of those styles, themes, and designs, like say the
: Star Wars EU did when I was growing up, I would have loved everything they
: produced. But instead they've brought in new focuses and art direction and
: rewrote many of the visual designs and musical themes. Some people have
: loved these new directions, and perhaps others find the core layout of
: Halo's universe interesting no matter how it is presented.

: So when I say I loved 'Halo', it wasn't just that I loved a game about a
: cyborg running across the galaxy, it was that I loved the approach to this
: cyborg. That's probably why Destiny feels more 'Halo' than Halo does now,
: for me.

Maybe.

But candidly speaking, my opinion of you is that you love Bungie more than you do Halo.

It's not that Destiny feels like Halo, its that Destiny feels like Bungie.

They just gel with what *you* like.

You like Bungie's Halo because its been around enough that its cemented what Halo should be to you- there were no other alternatives. Your art and writing style are very Bungie-esq, they are a huge influence on you. It's a style that you fit and that fits you.

When the torch was passed the new alternative was familiar and yet fundamentally different to your core outline of Bungies Halo. Its a style that while not necessarily bad, doesn't fit you.

At least that's how I see it as it applies to you individually.

Loftus would be my counter example- he has stated many, many times that he likes Halo because Halo.

Agree to disagree I suppose? I'm not claiming to know you better than you know you (that would be foolish) I just know that sometime what we think we see and know about ourselves gets....blurred because of ourselves haha. Forrest for the trees kinda thing ;)

TL;DR

Bungie could slap Marty's music on just about anything and tease a blurry napkin sketch and you'd be hooked :P