Memory fragments?

: eBut I think, especially with a T-rated game, there's a hard limit to how far
: they can go with it, not to mention I think there's an overriding gameplay
: reason they're not interested in having us fight humans, because it's
: going to be relatively boring compared to interesting aliens with
: interesting alien weapons. The choice they've made with the character also
: limits that kind of story in that Chief is ultimately a-okay with being a
: child soldier because it's all he's known, and he'd probably be dead
: otherwise. You'd really need another character to cover that, and I'm not
: sure you'd ever be able to get more than glancing blows at the problem in
: a game medium where you have to make shooting other living things fun.

Chief really was the standout in terms of accepting his destiny as a Spartan right out the gate. Because FoR was told from his perspective, the impact on the rest of the kids wasn't seen until later. Chief really was the oddity among a lot of other children that were traumatized, brutalized, scared, and just wanting to go home... until the indoctrination did its work. But even then, you've got the kids who waited until after their augmentations to escape, all the suicides, etc.

I agree the games won't ever go into it in more than a cursory way, because it's more fun to embody a super soldier without moral ambiguity. But I still hope 343 doesn't abandon that thread of John reclaiming his humanity. I feel Infinite did a good job of including just enough of his emotional progress to continue that narrative.