The Gravemind is supposed to be this huge embodiment of the thing-that-should-not-be.

It's supposed to be grotesque. Did Blur do that? I think they did.

It's certainly more fearsome looking than it's more plant-like appearance in Halo 2, which compared to everything else was animated horribly.

Bungie had high ambitions for it. Do you recall the one interview where they wanted to give it a slit for a "mouth" and use skulls as "teeth" when it talked? Compare that to how it came out. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the technology at the time, but even in Halo 3, they just opted to not show him at all!

Some people will chime in and say that clearly, they wanted you, the player to imagine what he looked like blah blah leave it up to interpretation blah blah and that's well and good, except that since they showed him in Halo 2, they set an image you can't take back. In Halo 3, they just called it a day and showed a tentacle.

Through all of this, I'm trying to think back to how I was 10 years ago.

10 years ago, little Rev was 16.

At that time, Rev was satisfied and amazed at how everything looked.

So I think to myself (while others continue to nit-pick every little thing incessantly), "If 16 year old Rev was seeing this re-mastered stuff for the first time, what would he think?"

And I think, that 16 year old me would be even more amazed, and impressed, and engrossed than before.

That makes me happy. That keeps me excited.

At the end of the day, I don't want it to be exactly the same. I can't go back and relive that, in that context, in that era. I can't get the old subtleties. That's ok.

I'm about to get a lot of new ones to love.

16 year old me, would tell 26 year old me to shut the hell up because he's too busy enjoying himself.

Good thing 26 year old me agrees with him.