: I don't think "true" realism should be major goals in what is
: really a quite soft "soft sci-fi" series, and I agree that both
: gameplay and rule of cool largely trump fictional considerations. However,
: I do think it should be internally consistent, both in terms of not
: breaking continuity and in adhering to its own "rules." Sure,
: occasional plot holes will crop up in any work of fiction, but what should
: be far easier is, say, making sure certain designs are consistent with
: what came before, especially for specific things. I'd expect a loose
: approach to continuity in, say, the average Western animated series (esp.
: comedic and/or episodic series). Halo is fairly serious series, and while
: not "hard sci-fi" it is "realistic" in the sense that
: it is at least intended to be a single continuity with a definite timeline
: and where something that happens in the story should stick (i.e., no
: "snap-backs" a la most animated comedies). That applies to
: visual assets as well.

: I don't have a problem with art design choices that can be explained away at
: least semi-rationally. New weapon designs can be chalked up to new models
: or variants of older weapons, for example. Also, I can excuse the
: Prometheans looking like humanoids or beasts as them being the Didact's
: own personal designs. Fictional supervillains do nonsensical and
: outlandish things all the time. But where I do draw the line are things
: like the shifts in the design of the Chief's armor or the Forward Unto
: Dawn. Those changes are severe breaks in visual continuity and serve to
: draw one out of the story. It's immersion-breaking. It'd be like the USS
: Enterprise suddenly changing in design from a Constitution-class ship to a
: Miranda-class ship in between Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock but
: still being treated both in-universe and by the producers as the exact
: same vessel we saw in WoK. On the visual front at least, Star Trek and
: Star Wars are far more consistent than Halo.

: I also draw the line on flagrant disregard of story continuity. Minor plot
: holes are one thing, but then you have something like Halo: Reach
: intentionally discarding the entire last third of The Fall of Reach for no
: good reason. There are good retcons, there are bad retcons, and then there
: are instances of "they just didn't care." Halo's producers
: should try its best to make minimal use of the first but try to avoid the
: second and especially third at all costs.

Good post. Couldn't have said it better. :)