When I see a lot of people saying that Halo no longer interests them, I think it really helps to examine why. There can be many reasons why someone could lose interest in a series of stories, but in this case I really do believe that a large part of the reason lies with 343. I can only speak from what I experience, but what I’m about to say is general enough that I think it’s worth examining. Halo right now has the same problem as Destiny:

It’s no longer really about anything.

Stuff happens in Halo 5. A lot of stuff. So when HP posted that nothing really happens in the story, he is right but not in the way I think he meant it. Plenty of events happen, and I would even say they are connected in a fairly logical fashion. The plot of Halo 5 is pretty solid on paper. This happens, therefore that happens, etc. As many people have pointed out, lore wise, it offers some of the most dramatic changes of any Halo game.

But that’s just lore and plot. There is no story in Halo 5. Take one of your favorite stories, and break it down into one sentence simple sentence. Not what happens, but what it’s about:

Moby Dick - Revenge can destroy a man.

For everything that happens in Moby Dick, this is what the book is actually about. For every good story, you can boil it down to one simple sentence. It can be something profound, or something very simple and whimsical. But it’s something. The plot, characters, and happenings are just things with which to communicate that one simple sentence to you. As the audience you are meant to go on a journey, which leads you to this one simple theme. This is not to say it’s the only thing, but the stronger that one thing is, the better it will be.

Reach’s story sucked, but it was at least about something: Courage in the face of certain death.

So for all that happens in Halo 5, what is it actually about? What’s that one simple sentence? Having trouble? Yeah, me too. I feel as if THAT is really the problem. It’s not that nothing happens event wise, but nothing happens emotionally. We see action and events happening but we do not go on a journey which leads to any sort of emotional conclusion.

As seemingly nonsensical as it was logically, I felt that Halo 4 at least got that part down, and is what held it together so it wasn’t completely off-putting. The game still took you on that journey, even if it hammered it home a little too bluntly sometimes.

Why do we have characters? They take us on the journey. I can tell you that “True love conquers all”, but seeing that happen to Wesley and Buttercup is a much more effective (and entertaining) way to deliver that message. Your characters do not have to change. Did Wesley change? Not really. But YOU did. You came to that realization, “True love conquers all” by watching that film. Characters usually change though, since that’s generally a really effective way to hammer home a point. Racism is wrong? Have your racist realize that, and change his ways. The whys and hows of that really move the audience to that point.

So your characters aren’t just people who are there to advance the plot; they are there to guide the audience on an emotional journey, and so must themselves stand for something in relation to that. If your characters stand for something, and you give them principles, then not only can they guide the audience, but they have desires and wants, which can manifest on screen as a conflict.

Not only do the characters stand for little in Halo 5, they are often completely inconsistent with how I know them. Lasky is the most obvious example. It’s pretty obvious that Lasky respects and trusts the Chief. The Chief saved his ass at the academy, and when the Chief decided to defy Del Rio, Lasky helped him do it by giving him a pelican. Even though you know, Cortana was completely glitching out and behaving strangely. Lasky did this because he believed in the Chief.

Given that, and given their history, you are going to tell me that the following exchange is what puts them at odds?

Chief: Cortana’s on Meridian. I want to go find her.
Lasky: Naw man, we got people on it already.
Chief: I don’t care I”m still going.

REALLY?! After all they’ve been through THAT does it? That’s the weakest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. If anything, he’d HELP him find Cortana!

Halsey - After ONI tried to have her killed and took her arm, she’s just buddy buddy now? Didn’t Spartan Ops end with her saying she wanted revenge? What the fuck happened?

Arbiter - There’s so much wrong I don’t even know where to begin. It was like I was looking at a totally different character. Maybe he’s the new arbiter?

Cortana - As many people have pointed out, her behavior is completely out of character, and he obsession with protecting the galaxy using force is never been a part of her personality. If 343 wanted her to change, they need to give her reasons to change, and show that happening! Remember in the 5th Element when Leeloo is flipping through human history, and sees cruelty, war, genocide? She asks why she should save a species who does such savage things. Maybe when Cortana enters the domain, she sees all the shit that ancient humanity pulled (which I only know because I read online summaries, it’s not in the game), and realizes they’re actually the threat to the galaxy, and that’s why she wants the guardians? You know, make it motivated somehow?

These principal characters in the Halo story aren’t acting like themselves, and are just doing shit to move the plot. But it doesn’t make emotional sense. The new characters are no better.

I know that the blue team characters aren’t technically new, but they are new if you’ve just played the game. And in terms of emotional investment, they actually are new the previous games gave no indication the Chief had those friends or cared about other people in that way. When you write a story, you pretty much have to establish everything in the very beginning. You can’t just later decide to introduce characters and shoehorn in some kind of relationship. We never see it before, and there’s no evidence of it. These things color the affect of your character, so if the Chief had these relationships that would manifest in his personality even if they are not present in the current story. You cannot do emotional retcons. This is not to say you can’t introduce these characters later, but before that the rest of your characters have to be written with them in mind later to maintain emotional continuity.

Even if we somehow accept this relationship between the Chief and blue team that we are TOLD exists (but not shown), then it is still pointless because it doesn’t manifest during the story. If you are going to establish a strong relationship like that, it needs to be in service of the story. The relationship needs to be tested or utilized in service of the theme. It needs to be there for a reason. The reason in Halo 5 is so that your co-op partners have someone to play as, and probably as fan service as well (which will be covered later). Basically, not only are we not shown the relationship, it doesn’t really have an effect on anything either.

We have the same problem with the rest of Osiris. Buck is the most perplexing, since no explanation is given as to why he’s here, why he became a spartan, or what his stake in all this is. Did the comic books or whatever cover it? Too bad, I don’t give a shit, and now I’m drawn out of the story wondering why he’s here. You could have exactly two characters and still have the plot and story be the same: Locke and Chief. The rest of Osiris and blue team does nothing. Having them back is what people mean when they say Halo 5 feels like fanfiction.

With regards to Locke, I think it goes without saying that the story that was marketed to us would have been much better than what we got. Locke is a no nonsense, by the book, follows orders kinda guy who did some nasty stuff for ONI, or so I’m TOLD (not shown). So right there that’s in direct opposition to “No Sir” Master Chief. Groundwork laid for a great conflict. The major problem in the game was that there really wasn’t a conflict. Locke and the Chief are basically on the same side throughout the entire game. This of course makes their fight completely baffling and off emotionally. Sure his mission is to bring the Chief back, but why is that? Why didn’t Lasky just tell Locke to warn the Chief and make sure he’s okay? That’s what the old Lasky would have done.

The marketing was on the right track. Imagine if the Chief discovered something, either about ONI (what they really did to him), or some other big threat that only Cortana can stop. Knowing this put him in opposition to the UNSC, and because he wants to do what is right, he betrays or defies them in some way. Not the first time right? Just ask Del Rio. Right okay, so now Locke has to hunt him down because he’s an actual threat to the UNSC. If you wanted to be all cliche about it, Locke could find out the Chief is morally right, and Locke changes his stance, and sacrifices his life to help the chief or whatever. Right? Not shakespeare, but at least it’d take emotionally and be about something. There’d be way more going on than what we have now. Leave the particulars up to 343.

Here’s Halo 5:

Locke: “Stop what you’re doing Chief!”
Chief: “No.”

Later -

Chief: ”Okay I’ve stopped what I was doing, but not because you told me”
Locke: “Cool”.

So what did we get? The story centers around Cortana grabbing the mantle of responsibility. Now, as SchoolyD or NartFOpc or whoever pointed out, the Mantle as a concept is very strange. What does it mean? Why is it important? What does having it actually gain you? Is it power? What? The huge problem is that as a concept, I can’t process what it means. If you have two parents fighting for a custody battle over their kids, we understand that comes from love. Maybe it comes from hatred of the other parent. Either way, a story about that will make emotional sense as to why each parent would want to care for the child. But why would Cortana, or even the Forerunners for that matter, want to handle the wellbeing of life in the galaxy? Why is that concept important? It’s completely foreign, and I just don’t understand its importance. What emotion does it boil down to? It’s just a word devoid of any real meaning for me. This is also why, reading summaries of the expanded universe stuff and the stories dealign with the forerunner, none of it appeals to me. It’s just stuff happening.

Which brings us back to the problem of Halo 5 not being about anything. The game is literally just a series of events, all strung together. There is no character continuity, no appeal to any real concepts or emotions in the storytelling, and the audience doesn’t go on any sort of meaningful journey. If you can identify that one sentence of what Halo 5 is about, I’d be all ears. That one sentence that feeds into every action and every relationship in the story.

So, what is it?