Halo 2. The arbiter and the gravemind are two of the most interesting characters in halo from a story standpoint. The unfolding of the great schism is probably my favorite storyline from all the halo games and bungie does a fantastic job of making you feel like you’re in it and part of it rather than just seeing it or hearing about it.
However, the remastered versions also skip some pretty cool shots or recreates them with some changes that take away from the ~~symbolism~~ shot composition of the classic.
Sorry, symbolism was the wrong word to use here (fucking sleep deprivation). I wanted to write shot compositions.
[Classic cutscenes](https://youtu.be/Fwn6h6vofOE)
[Remastered cutscenes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F7OgOCzph4)
There are plenty of noticeable differences in the first 10 minutes alone. Classic shows you a massive escort fleet for High Charity whereas anniversary has a handful. In Classic, the Elite councilors are calmer and more in control of their emotions as opposed to the riled up Sanshyuum while the Anniversary shows both groups in uproar. In Classic, Truth's speech ends with the camera focusing on his headpiece which segues into Earth's moon for the next cutscene in a beautiful transition.
Anniversary cinematics are gorgeous to look at, but Classic has some of the best details in video game cinematics.
Oooh yeah my son and I were just playing the Uprising level and the Jirahalne are firing into the Sangheli corpses, I was really struck, thinking about what just happened in Israel/Palestine. Heavy shit
I think having the ability to play as master chief and the arbiter made co-op more cinematic and significant. For two players to both be the MC took away from the story. I hope they bring back that type of play.
Yep, my only complaint is that you weren’t allowed to pick which character you wanted to play or at least switched between the 2 in different levels for singleplayer. I would have much preferred playing the arbiter on the level the covenant in halo 3 because its the culmination of his story from halo 2 killing truth.
Hard agree. The Arbiter has such a compelling and interesting character/story and it's a crime that he and the Swords of Sangheilios were basically a footnote in H5.
The fact that every success you achieved as a player was met swiftly with tragedy greater than whatever you just achieved was oddly satisfying. By the last mission I genuinely felt hopeless, and that is exactly how I expected it considering we knew Reach was lost before the game even began.
The ironic thing is that Noble team were sent to deal with a human rebellion, not to fight the Covenant. The game really makes you have a last minute change of plans at the start.
My problem with Reach is that you never really get any decent character development. Jun is basically a mystery the entire game and he's one of the only ones out of noble team that survives. They're all too stereotypical. Jorge is strong and silent with a soft side. Carter is the stoic leader. Kat is girl with tech skills. Emile is the badass.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great game with great mechanics that still hold up 13 years later. I just think it's overall weak in the character department.
Maybe Reach was a fan-service game and a goodbye note from Bungie.
One thing I felt more about Reach and ODST that I didn't feel about the numbered games, is that they feel like more of a grounded, down-to-earth vibe, while the numbered games feel very sci-fi almost fantasy-like.
> Jun is basically a mystery the entire game and he's one of the only ones out of noble team that survives.
Honestly though, this is why the decision by 343 to confirm he survived was better for the overall story. Bungie never explicitly killed him off, but it seems like he was intended to be dead given he exits the story at one of few points where Reach connects with the books, and he obviously isn't in First Strike (and Marty at one point made a joke about him being with Halsey that kinda suggests they thought he just died at some point.)
He went from being one of the least fleshed out and interesting members to now arguably the most engaging one, since he's the sole survivor of Noble's regular team and has to carry that weight on his shoulders.
Honestly most characters in the franchise don’t have much development. I’d say the first character with an arc would be Arbiter. Other than that most of that stuff really starts with Halo 4.
I mean... you're talking about a franchise whose main protagonist has less dialogue than the song tequila. All the heavy lifting in H1 and to a lesser extent all of the games is a reliance on cortana or other characters to do the heavy lifting when it comes to world building.
I would counter this with the realistic proposition that the story is about highly professional soldiers, and we only ever get to see them in active theater in uniform. While they are operating these soldiers will only have one personality tone, the: "I am a soldier on a mission" personality . No room for character progression.
Lol I can hear him saying that with pride to mask his own insecurities "Hyper-lethal my ass. Yo Six, you better not get in my way out there. The covies won't know what hit 'em. ONI doesn't call me a 'walking war crime generator' for nothin"
>My problem with Reach is that you never really get any decent character development.
Funnily enough, this is actually one of my favorite things about Halo Reach's story. Noble Team isn't the main focus. The story isn't about them. The story is about Reach. Everyone else is essentially a background character, even the "main character." At the time, I had never seen a story told that way, kind of a 'setting as the main character' type of storytelling, and they pulled it off so well.
That's just not true. My brother and I went through great character arcs in Halo 3 when we decided to stop firing missiles at each other from hornets and complete the missions
Halo 2, an inside view of the covenant was so good, paired with the Arbiter and his overall character arc.
You had truth and the gravemind being well written villains that we got more info and lore out of them.
The missions were all really great to me, I think I didn’t like the gravemind only due to it being a mess on legendary but that was about it.
Master chief is kinda there to be our human protagonist.
After that I would say Halo 4 then Halo infinite
Especially with spartan ops. Like it wasnt ground breaking but it was fun to see how the universe was developing, what the next game was gonna be.
But nope, 343 had to redcon the universe not just once but fucking twice. It would have been 1000 times better if they didnt just ignore the story of halo 4 and spartan ops and build upon it with halo 5, maybe a other spartan ops like story board and then halo infitine.
Hell even the destruction of the infinity would have been fine, atleast show us how.
I was really hoping in 5 the Warden was a fragment of the Didact, or the Didact became the Warden and the visions of Cortana was Cheif getting fucked with again. He keeps asking to see her and every time Cortana goes “teehee soon but first go do this next thing”. But instead of the reveal being it’s actually Cortana it was gonna be the Didact. Then you can use the whole “how can we trust an aging spartan” and all that
Exactly. But also all the shit that happend to halsey just kinda didnt matter any more? UNSC rebuilding after a devastating conflict and not instantly being destroyed by covenant remants was possible. Mainly because infinity and all that shit.
But apperently the banished could have easily wiped us all but didnt because a planet full of materials to plunder, ancient artifacts and a portal to the ark doesnt matter.
Yea I’m much more disappointed the Janus Key was apparently handled in a comic after being set up as the next big thing in Spartan Ops. I’m actually more bummed about that than Jul getting domed in a cutscene. Like yea he’s a big player in the books, but my recollection of Spartan Ops he wasn’t as big a player
Halo 4 was practically thrumming with future plot potential, the only problem is that they involved the Ur-Didact too early. He should have been a revived at the end of 5, final boss of 6 kind of enemy. Still loved it though, second to Reach in my opinion.
True, but remember how it all began. If you've never read the books, which is a big part of the fan base, you were thrown into a game where everything looked different. The enemies that were once defeated (Covenant) came back, and we didn't know who they were or why we were fighting them. Also, there's the return of an ancient advanced civilization, but it's just one superpowered guy who can't beat a single Spartan. The story is nice, and I liked the development of Cortana and Chief, but it got a bit cheesy at times.
The art style changes, I get. Definitely confusing. The Didact, I also get. If you weren't reading terminals and shit, None of this would make sense to you.
*However*. I refuse to accept that people would be unable to determine that the Covenant who look different, Act different, Use older equipment, Etc. are not the same faction as the guys. Were the Covenant remnant particularly well done as a faction? Not extremely. But it seems pretty obvious to me that these are not the same guys you were fighting in 3. Asking why we're fighting them is a valid question. But I just can't comprehend thinking they're literally the same faction.
I see your point, but I also feel like you can’t have your cake and eat it. The Halo campaigns are ultimately FPSes with a handful of story moments interspersed throughout. If you want a dense story, you either need to sacrifice gameplay or change mediums.
I’d say you can have a compelling story, it’s just Halo doesn’t really do this very often in games. Other FPS’s seem to manage it. The first Resistance for example. Or the Killzone series. Or Titanfall.
It’s just Halo’s always been about those in the moment badass scenes, with the story always secondary.
Yeah, I don’t mean to say that FPS as a genre is incapable of delivering a compelling story, just that it’s difficult when implemented in the “style” of Halo
As someone that didn't read the books, I was completely confused for a lot of the story in Halo 4, and when the Librarian casually mentioned that ancient humans were running from the flood and that is what started the war with the forerunners, I thought, wtf is she talking about? I had to go on halopedia and read what happened in the books to learn about all the retcons, and when I asked my friends that played the game if they liked the retcons, none of them had any idea what I was talking about and that conversation with the Librarian flew over their heads. I personally don't think they did a good job of explaining the modified story to people that didn't read the books.
While I don't know about the worst story (Halo 5 isn't winning me over any time soon), I do think it isn't the strongest either, but its campaign overall is so much fun. And because of that, I love Halo 3 much more than 2. In fact, while I think 2's story has grown on me over the years, I still think the levels themselves are pretty lackluster and a slog to actually play. I think Halo 3's levels are far more dynamic and interesting.
I feel like 5 is the worst because of plot points, dialogue, and gameplay. Halo Infinite just feels like it’s unfinished and was meant to have expansions that probably won’t happen now.
Which is why Infinite is pretty weak, forgettable, dull, etc. Halo 3's campaign actually tied up the trilogy pretty well. Infinite did nothing but create more questions than answers.
Like others have said, Halo 2 takes the cake for me. It just feels like an actual story with a proper arc for the characters, mainly Thel.
I think Halo 4 would be up there, but it has some glaring issues in its execution that leave it as a good idea but a bad story narratively. The Cortana moments with John were great, but otherwise it flounders on basically everything else.
H3 needs no explaining, it’s probably the worst of the bunch narratively and has some of the worst character writing and moments in the series. That said, it also has my favourite cutscene bar Infinite.
Infinite meanwhile has great bones but doesn’t go far enough. It’s got quite a few inconsistencies due to gameplay and overall has the best John in the series, but it’s hampered by just how desolate it is. The short timeframe of the game doesn’t help matters.
Reach I think succeeds due to its expanded material for me, but overall I don’t know that its story or characters really hold up. I will fully admit I might be biased here, as my biggest point of comparison to Reach is *Resistance Fall of Man*, which might be one of the bleakest FPS’s I’ve ever played and depicts the same scenario far more depressingly than Reach ever does, though it comes close in a few parts.
5 is a weird one because like Halo 4 I think it has okay ideas, but it’s execution isn’t the greatest and there’s a lot of moments that just don’t make sense.
ODST I think I appreciate more for its atmosphere than its story, which isn’t really “there” in truth.
Halo 2 hands down. The duality of Chief/Arbiter as archnemesis, the pace, the tone, the epicness, the screenwriting, the character writing. It is just like a movie.
I know some folks aren't so fond of the cliffhanger, but for me, it is just the perfect set up and hype feeder for Halo 3
I think Halo 2 did the story the best. Probably a hot take here but I think the Arbiter was a better protagonist than the Chief due to MC being an almost silent protagonist. Halo Reach comes next but I also like ODST and the back and forth between the Squad.
Reach
Edit: I’m convinced some people are reading this as ‘most fun campaign’ or something. In my opinion it’s crazy to put the stories of Halo 4 or Infinite above anything in the original trilogy/ODST/Reach
Probably get downvoted, but when looking at the full scope of the series, I'd go with Halo 4. To me, it was a more human story for MC and Cortana and much more personal than the preceding trilogy. Taking that step back in this vast universe to "get on the ground and in the barracks" with \*the\* soldier did something for me.
Looking at standalone regardless of the other titles Halo 2.
The point of the thread is to give our opinion as to which Halo game has the best story. It doesn't say to tell other people their opinion(s) are incorrect because it's not mine or I don't agree with it, silly goose.
Infinite is just CE except better with more character history and depth. I loved it as a soft reboot for the franchise. Pretty disappointed that it may not be continued.
4 was a great attempt at adding new elements to how the story of Halo is told, but I did find that it got overly complicated at times. The stuff with the Librarian and Geas for instance. Not enough to make it bad, but I appreciate that Infinite feels more “classic”, if that makes sense.
You are crazy for putting infinites story higher than halo ce's and 4's story, hell even reach! And reaches story was epic! Are you taking stupid pills?
Reach. It was just a perfect storm. The tones of despair, the loss of teammates, the music.... it was everything I wanted.
While I have good memories about CE, it just feels out of place now that we have an extended universe.
While I loved the idea of the schism in 2, going back to another Halo really ruined the story for me. I hate repetition, and it felt like CE was pointless because of it.
While 3 was a good game, I hated the idea of going back to Earth and that Earth was till under covenant control when there was so much Earth military present, and it didnt make sense with how we left earth in 2 and the disarray High Charity was in at this point.
Thats kinda the entire reason and overarching theme of the whole franchise. That humanity no matter what it did was helpless to stop the covenant from grinding them down. Even after the loss of the main city and the entire fleet being cut up the small amount that remained was more than enough to still beat humanity.
H2. It opened up the story on all sides with lore and maps. Each level ramped up and that is saying something cos in the first level MC flew a bomb through space. Being a playable character and learning of the hierarchs treachery was awesome.
3 was the greatest way to finish the fight.
ODST had a great feel but the rookies powers of touching something and learning how it came to be was a little…..odd.
Reach was great through and through but the story was only hampered by the fact we all knew they were doomed from the start.
5 and infinite were the worst story. Literally feels like they just threw darts at a board to try and make sense of them. I enjoyed the marines interaction in Infinite though
Reach did an excellent job in showing that Spartans aren't just immune to everything, it also did an excellent job of showing how fucked humanity was at the very beginning of the human-covenant war.
Halo 2 is clearly the consensus winner, but as someone who enjoyed H2 in part because of getting all the inside looks at the internal politics of the Covenant, I’ll vaguely defend H5’s attempt to expand on the view we get of USNC politics and I’ll never say no to seeing more Arbiter
I would probably say Halo 2 for the actual development of characters and the main plot, however Reach has the best emotional impact.
All that said though, Halo 3 is my favourite campaign
ODST and 4.
ODST is about a squad of relative strangers who do their best to survive the siege of New Mombasa and come out the other side. Plus the noir themes and flashback storytelling was fun.
4, obviously has some of the best teeming, what it means to be human or machine, the line between that, and the lengths Chief would go to to protect Cortana. It's the only Halo game to make me cry.
I am going to throw my hat in the ring with CE. Its story is mostly straightforward but has some good twists. Overall it is very well crafted but very importantly it is the only Halo game that can truly stand on its own narratively since the story is self contained.
Halo 2 and Halo 3 greatly suffer on that front if you look at them by themselves since Halo 3 is truly the last act of Halo 2.
Halo 2's plot was interesting, but I think 4 was a better story. It really humanized two central characters: one everyone considers to be a machine, and the other who is literally a machine.
I did also like Infinite's campaign, but I think it could have been so much better if 5 hadn't done... whatever it did.
Toss-up between the leader being mentioned and my choice, so ODST.
Best example of Halo relationships being explored without in-your-face explanations. That's what Bungie did best. Mixed with the many themes from loneliness to squad family, it's all a chef's kiss.
2 and 3. CE was a Great beginning, it set the tone, shows the player the threat that the covenant and eventually the flood poses, and then two continued that plus adding to the relationship between the chief and Cortana, plus giving us an introduction to the arbiter and how he and a large portion of his people came to hate the covenant And 3 drops it home with the MC being obsessive about getting Cortana back, the arbiter getting revenge for the betrayal of the prophets as well and the brutes.
For me a toss up between Reach and halo 2. Other folks have addressed the reasons for H2 better than I can.
I’m mostly still stuck on the final mission in reach. Their marketing was fantastic: “from the beginning, you know the end.”
That’s what made that final objective, “survive,” hit like a ton of bricks. I’m not sure that any other game has slapped me in the face like that.
Halo 2 without a shadow of a doubt.
CE told a very rigid "start and end" Story which while that makes sense considering they never expected a sequel, it does limit how much the story can really say.
Halo 3 has a couple moments that are a bit dumb and a couple lines that just... Aint it. (tO wAr)
Halo 4, while I love to give it all the leeway and credit that I can, really just isn't as good as the original 3
Halo Reach was trying to tell a character driven story with extremely basic characters and it failed so bad that people have gaslit themselves into thinking it isn't a character driven story despite Bungie literally saying it was. That and Cortana being created on Reach makes a few lines from CE not make any sense.
Halo 5 just sucks. Plain and simple there are no redeeming qualities about that story.
ODST has a couple pointless bits in it but my only real complaint is how short it was. Honestly a really solid Expansion, just a bit short and over priced.
Infinite's B plot is probably the best Halo Campaign story ever written and id argue is also better than almost all of, if not ALL the books. However its main plot with the villains is super weak because the Villains themselves are super weak characters.
Halo 2 is just... Perfect. I can think of literally 0 flaws with the story. Good expanding, adequate length (if anything, TOO long), plenty of time with chief but also plenty with Arbiter, two stories that let us see the different sides of the war, its genuinely perfect.
Halo 2 by far
Although not for story, I wanna give a shout-out to Halo Reach for having the most unique form of visual storytelling. The cinematography in that game was just unmatched.
Halo 2 has the best story
Halo: Infinite has the best Chief. The interactions with the Pilot, The weapon and Escharum was the best I've attempt to humanize him since Halo 4.
2 for sure. Arbiter added a whole new level to the lore; someone used as a pawn, but realizes everything he fought for was a lie. Instead of shattering him, it makes him stronger and a true legend. Plus Chief moments ("Boo") , and him leaving Cortana behind, where pretty heavy. (And Johnson is a gem whenever he opens his mouth).
It also transformed the story from: " humans vs aliens" to "humans AND aliens vs. lying aliens, while the true galaxy wide horror awakens to enact vengeance".
While not the best, I like Halo Infinites story. The mid to late game cutscene when Echo 416 is having a break down, and Chief Takes a Knee next to him... i loved that. Hell i liked the gameplay. Unlocking new areas, saving squads, etc. granted the story had its issues. Mainly the opening, with Infinity going from one of the baddest ships around to getting bodied mostly off screen.
CE
I like simple stories, and I never needed to see the Covenant’s POV. The more we learn about the Covenant and the Forerunners, the less I care about the lore.
Reach was good as an attempt at more cinematic storytelling, but I was never going to care about the deaths of Noble Team when I had just barely met them. If the AI Spartans had been more useful during the campaign missions, maybe their deaths would have held a little more weight.
I actually liked the first Halo a lot -
Randomly coming across this game changing artifact while being chased by hostile aliens
Shockingly learn that the artifact will kill all life as we know it
Simultaneously learning that the aliens chasing you intend to use it
Then racing against those same aliens to beat them from firing it - opting instead to destroy the thing and potentially yourself in the process.
Doesn’t get more dramatic and thrilling than that IMO
Halo: Reach was a masterpiece from the story to the characters and the small details.
Halo:ODST definitely had the best soulcrushing vibes but can’t say I ever paid too much attention to the actual story. I was caught up in the jazz and rain.
Halo 3 and ODST. The battle of Earth told from the perspective of both the Hero in the limelight, and the unsung heroes of the ordinary man just trying to survive a truly apocalyptic conflict. Honestly the story should have ended there.
I think it peaked at 2. Anything after that tried to loop in a bunch of outside writing. I’m sorry but Joseph Staten is not a good writer. He’s just plainly not good.
Wait what? Joseph Staten was the main reason why Halo 2 was good because he was the one who pushed for having the separate arbiter storyline while everyone else wanted just master chief. Joseph Staten took a sabbatical during halo 3 that's why the story was worse and just focused on the chief. I agree with you that it peaked at 2 but if anything I would say that Joseph Staten is the main reason for most of the good writing in the halo series. If there's anyone to blame for halo 3 it's marty o'donnell because he didn't want to focus on arbiter and wanted to add some deaths so added miranda and johnson's deaths.
Halo 2.
"Dear Humanity. We regret being alien bastards. We regret coming to Earth, and we most definitely regret that the Corp just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!"
Halo 3 is getting trashed, and I can understand some of the reasons why. But I won't agree with all of them. Characters assassinated? The only real difference in character I recall is in Truth, who gets sloppy toward the end thinking he'll win, despite the Gravemind and the Human-Elite alliance temporarily teaming up to finish him.
Miranda was reckless in Halo 2 as well, jumping to follow Regret, and going herself (with Johnson and two other marines only) to get the Index, do I don't understand why people think her character was "ruined" in 3.
Halo 3 is full of sacrifice to stop the Gravemind or the Halo Array being fired. It's moving and powerful to see, imo.
For cinematics and environment visual style and world, Halo 3 (on the Ark, at least) is closer to Halo CE's liminal vibes. It's an interesting parallel to Installation 04.
It definitely would have benefited from one or two more levels around the Ark or the Keyship to better show what was happening. And, I agree, the overall narrative in Halo 2 is stronger. But Halo 3 doesn't deserve to be called "the worst". I say it's at least as good as CE. Better in some ways.
Personally, I love it. Love the fragile Human-Elite alliance, love the hopeless sacrifice of East Africa to contain the only Flood ship to ever reach Earth, love the destruction of the Covenant.
Halo 2. The arbiter and the gravemind are two of the most interesting characters in halo from a story standpoint. The unfolding of the great schism is probably my favorite storyline from all the halo games and bungie does a fantastic job of making you feel like you’re in it and part of it rather than just seeing it or hearing about it.
I agree! I really like the Remastered version. I think it added so many visuals that, combined with what you stated, formed a great storyline.
However, the remastered versions also skip some pretty cool shots or recreates them with some changes that take away from the ~~symbolism~~ shot composition of the classic.
could you please give out examples? I haven't seen a side by side comparison so I have no idea which symbolism you're referring to.
Sorry, symbolism was the wrong word to use here (fucking sleep deprivation). I wanted to write shot compositions. [Classic cutscenes](https://youtu.be/Fwn6h6vofOE) [Remastered cutscenes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F7OgOCzph4) There are plenty of noticeable differences in the first 10 minutes alone. Classic shows you a massive escort fleet for High Charity whereas anniversary has a handful. In Classic, the Elite councilors are calmer and more in control of their emotions as opposed to the riled up Sanshyuum while the Anniversary shows both groups in uproar. In Classic, Truth's speech ends with the camera focusing on his headpiece which segues into Earth's moon for the next cutscene in a beautiful transition. Anniversary cinematics are gorgeous to look at, but Classic has some of the best details in video game cinematics.
wow, thanks! Gotta replay the game with the classic cutscenes then!
Same, man
Thanks for the info. I knew some things were different, but not that much. Guess it's time to play the original cutscenes.
I guess it's one of those double-bladed swords.
In uprising when you spawn in i remember being shook. like these monkeys are really trying to genocide us right now huh,
I, a Sangheli, am about to be genocides by a primate. What did I ever do to deserve this????
Oooh yeah my son and I were just playing the Uprising level and the Jirahalne are firing into the Sangheli corpses, I was really struck, thinking about what just happened in Israel/Palestine. Heavy shit
The plotline of Halo 2 is what got me to convince my high school girlfriend that video games weren't just mindless drivel and murder simulation.
I think having the ability to play as master chief and the arbiter made co-op more cinematic and significant. For two players to both be the MC took away from the story. I hope they bring back that type of play.
Yep, my only complaint is that you weren’t allowed to pick which character you wanted to play or at least switched between the 2 in different levels for singleplayer. I would have much preferred playing the arbiter on the level the covenant in halo 3 because its the culmination of his story from halo 2 killing truth.
Hard agree. The Arbiter has such a compelling and interesting character/story and it's a crime that he and the Swords of Sangheilios were basically a footnote in H5.
Just finished H2 remastered with my seven-year-old and can't agree more
Halo 2, most definitely.
Halo 2. I don’t need to explain myself.
Halo Reach. It is such a gripping story of tragic sacrifice. Also a very good example of how to write a story with an unhappy ending.
The fact that every success you achieved as a player was met swiftly with tragedy greater than whatever you just achieved was oddly satisfying. By the last mission I genuinely felt hopeless, and that is exactly how I expected it considering we knew Reach was lost before the game even began.
The ironic thing is that Noble team were sent to deal with a human rebellion, not to fight the Covenant. The game really makes you have a last minute change of plans at the start.
I cried over that last scene. I was really drunk, but still.
Respect. It was hard not to cry after Jorge sacrificed himself to destroy 1 carrier and then an entire armada of carriers came in.
My problem with Reach is that you never really get any decent character development. Jun is basically a mystery the entire game and he's one of the only ones out of noble team that survives. They're all too stereotypical. Jorge is strong and silent with a soft side. Carter is the stoic leader. Kat is girl with tech skills. Emile is the badass. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game with great mechanics that still hold up 13 years later. I just think it's overall weak in the character department.
Maybe Reach was a fan-service game and a goodbye note from Bungie. One thing I felt more about Reach and ODST that I didn't feel about the numbered games, is that they feel like more of a grounded, down-to-earth vibe, while the numbered games feel very sci-fi almost fantasy-like.
I love odst. Bungie decided to tell a smaller more intimate story in franchise known for being a space opera.
Reach was a multifranchise songbird. It was their send off after everything from Marathon and Halo
Halo Reach is the Rogue One of the Halo universe. A gritty military direct legacy prequel, sans any of the mysticism
> Jun is basically a mystery the entire game and he's one of the only ones out of noble team that survives. Honestly though, this is why the decision by 343 to confirm he survived was better for the overall story. Bungie never explicitly killed him off, but it seems like he was intended to be dead given he exits the story at one of few points where Reach connects with the books, and he obviously isn't in First Strike (and Marty at one point made a joke about him being with Halsey that kinda suggests they thought he just died at some point.) He went from being one of the least fleshed out and interesting members to now arguably the most engaging one, since he's the sole survivor of Noble's regular team and has to carry that weight on his shoulders.
Well, lets be honest here. Chief had zero character development until mid Halo 3.
Honestly most characters in the franchise don’t have much development. I’d say the first character with an arc would be Arbiter. Other than that most of that stuff really starts with Halo 4.
I mean... you're talking about a franchise whose main protagonist has less dialogue than the song tequila. All the heavy lifting in H1 and to a lesser extent all of the games is a reliance on cortana or other characters to do the heavy lifting when it comes to world building.
I would counter this with the realistic proposition that the story is about highly professional soldiers, and we only ever get to see them in active theater in uniform. While they are operating these soldiers will only have one personality tone, the: "I am a soldier on a mission" personality . No room for character progression.
Jun's a fucking psychopath, Emile is just really edgy. Jun enjoys murder.
Emile was typically sidelined for operations against Innies because he's basically a walking war crime generator.
Lol I can hear him saying that with pride to mask his own insecurities "Hyper-lethal my ass. Yo Six, you better not get in my way out there. The covies won't know what hit 'em. ONI doesn't call me a 'walking war crime generator' for nothin"
>My problem with Reach is that you never really get any decent character development. Funnily enough, this is actually one of my favorite things about Halo Reach's story. Noble Team isn't the main focus. The story isn't about them. The story is about Reach. Everyone else is essentially a background character, even the "main character." At the time, I had never seen a story told that way, kind of a 'setting as the main character' type of storytelling, and they pulled it off so well.
I read the book as a kid, and man, what a ride.
The ending of Halo Reach is probably one of the greatest video game endings of all time.
Halo 2. Had excellent worldbuilding and was the only game with a genuinely good character arc.
That's just not true. My brother and I went through great character arcs in Halo 3 when we decided to stop firing missiles at each other from hornets and complete the missions
Halo 4 the way it intertwines cortana and master chiefs relationship with the books and games is nothing short of remarkable.
Halo 2, an inside view of the covenant was so good, paired with the Arbiter and his overall character arc. You had truth and the gravemind being well written villains that we got more info and lore out of them. The missions were all really great to me, I think I didn’t like the gravemind only due to it being a mess on legendary but that was about it. Master chief is kinda there to be our human protagonist. After that I would say Halo 4 then Halo infinite
Halo 2 for plot. Halo 4 for themes, morals, and meaning.
I really love they told a deeper story for 4. And then hate that they kinda ripped it up in 5
Especially with spartan ops. Like it wasnt ground breaking but it was fun to see how the universe was developing, what the next game was gonna be. But nope, 343 had to redcon the universe not just once but fucking twice. It would have been 1000 times better if they didnt just ignore the story of halo 4 and spartan ops and build upon it with halo 5, maybe a other spartan ops like story board and then halo infitine. Hell even the destruction of the infinity would have been fine, atleast show us how.
I was really hoping in 5 the Warden was a fragment of the Didact, or the Didact became the Warden and the visions of Cortana was Cheif getting fucked with again. He keeps asking to see her and every time Cortana goes “teehee soon but first go do this next thing”. But instead of the reveal being it’s actually Cortana it was gonna be the Didact. Then you can use the whole “how can we trust an aging spartan” and all that
Exactly. But also all the shit that happend to halsey just kinda didnt matter any more? UNSC rebuilding after a devastating conflict and not instantly being destroyed by covenant remants was possible. Mainly because infinity and all that shit. But apperently the banished could have easily wiped us all but didnt because a planet full of materials to plunder, ancient artifacts and a portal to the ark doesnt matter.
Yea I’m much more disappointed the Janus Key was apparently handled in a comic after being set up as the next big thing in Spartan Ops. I’m actually more bummed about that than Jul getting domed in a cutscene. Like yea he’s a big player in the books, but my recollection of Spartan Ops he wasn’t as big a player
Wait they resolved the key? Damm must have been a great story, to bad they didnt care to tell us.
Halo 4 was practically thrumming with future plot potential, the only problem is that they involved the Ur-Didact too early. He should have been a revived at the end of 5, final boss of 6 kind of enemy. Still loved it though, second to Reach in my opinion.
I think, gameplay aside: Halo 4. I’m generally more of a book person, and H4 is probably the only game where the story didn’t feel “bolted on”.
True, but remember how it all began. If you've never read the books, which is a big part of the fan base, you were thrown into a game where everything looked different. The enemies that were once defeated (Covenant) came back, and we didn't know who they were or why we were fighting them. Also, there's the return of an ancient advanced civilization, but it's just one superpowered guy who can't beat a single Spartan. The story is nice, and I liked the development of Cortana and Chief, but it got a bit cheesy at times.
The art style changes, I get. Definitely confusing. The Didact, I also get. If you weren't reading terminals and shit, None of this would make sense to you. *However*. I refuse to accept that people would be unable to determine that the Covenant who look different, Act different, Use older equipment, Etc. are not the same faction as the guys. Were the Covenant remnant particularly well done as a faction? Not extremely. But it seems pretty obvious to me that these are not the same guys you were fighting in 3. Asking why we're fighting them is a valid question. But I just can't comprehend thinking they're literally the same faction.
Note that 95% of the playerbase doesn’t really mind and the gameplay was still extremely halo
Halo 4 had to be one of the most controversial Halo games, with many criticisms. What do you mean by 95% didn't mind?
I see your point, but I also feel like you can’t have your cake and eat it. The Halo campaigns are ultimately FPSes with a handful of story moments interspersed throughout. If you want a dense story, you either need to sacrifice gameplay or change mediums.
I’d say you can have a compelling story, it’s just Halo doesn’t really do this very often in games. Other FPS’s seem to manage it. The first Resistance for example. Or the Killzone series. Or Titanfall. It’s just Halo’s always been about those in the moment badass scenes, with the story always secondary.
Yeah, I don’t mean to say that FPS as a genre is incapable of delivering a compelling story, just that it’s difficult when implemented in the “style” of Halo
Killzone and Resistance. Damn those take me back.
> If you want a dense story, you either need to sacrifice gameplay or change mediums. Or play Marathon.
you find yourself starting back
As someone that didn't read the books, I was completely confused for a lot of the story in Halo 4, and when the Librarian casually mentioned that ancient humans were running from the flood and that is what started the war with the forerunners, I thought, wtf is she talking about? I had to go on halopedia and read what happened in the books to learn about all the retcons, and when I asked my friends that played the game if they liked the retcons, none of them had any idea what I was talking about and that conversation with the Librarian flew over their heads. I personally don't think they did a good job of explaining the modified story to people that didn't read the books.
Low key insane take
Halo 3 has the weakest story out of all the Halo games. With that out of the way, in my opinion, Halo 2 is the best.
Halo 3 a whole spectacle, a whole final chapter. Ain't nothing left but to finish the fight.
imo it’s the worst story but the most fun campaign
While I don't know about the worst story (Halo 5 isn't winning me over any time soon), I do think it isn't the strongest either, but its campaign overall is so much fun. And because of that, I love Halo 3 much more than 2. In fact, while I think 2's story has grown on me over the years, I still think the levels themselves are pretty lackluster and a slog to actually play. I think Halo 3's levels are far more dynamic and interesting.
Then again, going back to ANOTHER Halo in 2 was a really lazy choice imo. Felt like all the pain in CE was pretty worthless.
Eh I mean you need to for the index and the ark storyline, but I can see how it is lazy
>Halo 3 has the weakest story out of all the Halo games No that'd be Infinite.
That would be Halo 5 imo
Halo 5 was the worst. Weakest is different imo.
I feel like 5 is the worst because of plot points, dialogue, and gameplay. Halo Infinite just feels like it’s unfinished and was meant to have expansions that probably won’t happen now.
Which is why Infinite is pretty weak, forgettable, dull, etc. Halo 3's campaign actually tied up the trilogy pretty well. Infinite did nothing but create more questions than answers.
Halo 5 would like a word with you.
Someone had to say it.
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Not even close.
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Nah bruh u right, CE was best imo too
CE is the 🐐 for story. When the Flood show up and it suddenly becomes a horror/sci-fi story? They've been trying to recreate that feeling ever since
I'm with you on this one.
Like others have said, Halo 2 takes the cake for me. It just feels like an actual story with a proper arc for the characters, mainly Thel. I think Halo 4 would be up there, but it has some glaring issues in its execution that leave it as a good idea but a bad story narratively. The Cortana moments with John were great, but otherwise it flounders on basically everything else. H3 needs no explaining, it’s probably the worst of the bunch narratively and has some of the worst character writing and moments in the series. That said, it also has my favourite cutscene bar Infinite. Infinite meanwhile has great bones but doesn’t go far enough. It’s got quite a few inconsistencies due to gameplay and overall has the best John in the series, but it’s hampered by just how desolate it is. The short timeframe of the game doesn’t help matters. Reach I think succeeds due to its expanded material for me, but overall I don’t know that its story or characters really hold up. I will fully admit I might be biased here, as my biggest point of comparison to Reach is *Resistance Fall of Man*, which might be one of the bleakest FPS’s I’ve ever played and depicts the same scenario far more depressingly than Reach ever does, though it comes close in a few parts. 5 is a weird one because like Halo 4 I think it has okay ideas, but it’s execution isn’t the greatest and there’s a lot of moments that just don’t make sense. ODST I think I appreciate more for its atmosphere than its story, which isn’t really “there” in truth.
2 and reach are just on a different level for me
It’s a tie between Halo 2 and Halo 4 for me.
Probably Halo 3 ODST
Halo 4 did something different from the stories and I loved it.
Halo 2 hands down. The duality of Chief/Arbiter as archnemesis, the pace, the tone, the epicness, the screenwriting, the character writing. It is just like a movie. I know some folks aren't so fond of the cliffhanger, but for me, it is just the perfect set up and hype feeder for Halo 3
Halo 2
Halo 2. The Arbiter is my favorite Halo character.
Reach or 2 imo
I think Halo 2 did the story the best. Probably a hot take here but I think the Arbiter was a better protagonist than the Chief due to MC being an almost silent protagonist. Halo Reach comes next but I also like ODST and the back and forth between the Squad.
Halo 2 for overall plot Halo 4 for the narrower focus of chief and cortana Halo reach for atmosphere (also overall plot)
Either 4 or Reach
Reach Edit: I’m convinced some people are reading this as ‘most fun campaign’ or something. In my opinion it’s crazy to put the stories of Halo 4 or Infinite above anything in the original trilogy/ODST/Reach
Probably get downvoted, but when looking at the full scope of the series, I'd go with Halo 4. To me, it was a more human story for MC and Cortana and much more personal than the preceding trilogy. Taking that step back in this vast universe to "get on the ground and in the barracks" with \*the\* soldier did something for me. Looking at standalone regardless of the other titles Halo 2.
Halo 3.
Incorrect
Well, it's a matter of opinion. I don't think you get to decide whose opinion is correct or vice versa.
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The point of the thread is to give our opinion as to which Halo game has the best story. It doesn't say to tell other people their opinion(s) are incorrect because it's not mine or I don't agree with it, silly goose.
This. 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤣
😂😂
Halo 2 > Halo Infinite > Halo CE > Halo 4 > Halo 3 > Halo Reach > ODST > Halo 5
This is probably my exact rank, but I'd switch around 3, Reach and ODST
Why Infinite above 4? Curious. Mine is: Halo 2 = Halo 4 > ODST > Halo CE > Halo 3 > Halo Reach > Halo Wars 2 > Halo Wars > Halo Infinite > Halo 5 >>>>>> Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare
Infinite is just CE except better with more character history and depth. I loved it as a soft reboot for the franchise. Pretty disappointed that it may not be continued. 4 was a great attempt at adding new elements to how the story of Halo is told, but I did find that it got overly complicated at times. The stuff with the Librarian and Geas for instance. Not enough to make it bad, but I appreciate that Infinite feels more “classic”, if that makes sense.
You are crazy for putting infinites story higher than halo ce's and 4's story, hell even reach! And reaches story was epic! Are you taking stupid pills?
I can’t decide between 2 and 3. 1-3 is really a very self-contained arc though.
Reach. It was just a perfect storm. The tones of despair, the loss of teammates, the music.... it was everything I wanted. While I have good memories about CE, it just feels out of place now that we have an extended universe. While I loved the idea of the schism in 2, going back to another Halo really ruined the story for me. I hate repetition, and it felt like CE was pointless because of it. While 3 was a good game, I hated the idea of going back to Earth and that Earth was till under covenant control when there was so much Earth military present, and it didnt make sense with how we left earth in 2 and the disarray High Charity was in at this point.
Thats kinda the entire reason and overarching theme of the whole franchise. That humanity no matter what it did was helpless to stop the covenant from grinding them down. Even after the loss of the main city and the entire fleet being cut up the small amount that remained was more than enough to still beat humanity.
From best to worst: Halo 2 Halo CE Halo 3 Halo 4 Halo Reach Halo ODST Halo Infinite Halo 5
Halo 2 by far. 4 is utter dog shit, only to be outdone by 5.
lol calling H4 "utter dog shit" when H3 exists.
>Halo 2 by far. lol
3.it’s the most affecting
H2. It opened up the story on all sides with lore and maps. Each level ramped up and that is saying something cos in the first level MC flew a bomb through space. Being a playable character and learning of the hierarchs treachery was awesome. 3 was the greatest way to finish the fight. ODST had a great feel but the rookies powers of touching something and learning how it came to be was a little…..odd. Reach was great through and through but the story was only hampered by the fact we all knew they were doomed from the start. 5 and infinite were the worst story. Literally feels like they just threw darts at a board to try and make sense of them. I enjoyed the marines interaction in Infinite though
Reach did an excellent job in showing that Spartans aren't just immune to everything, it also did an excellent job of showing how fucked humanity was at the very beginning of the human-covenant war.
Halo Wars
Halo 2 is clearly the consensus winner, but as someone who enjoyed H2 in part because of getting all the inside looks at the internal politics of the Covenant, I’ll vaguely defend H5’s attempt to expand on the view we get of USNC politics and I’ll never say no to seeing more Arbiter
Reach, the constant feeling of desperation and survival getting more and more prevalent, and the absolute mood crash after 6 falls from orbit
Halo 2???
I would probably say Halo 2 for the actual development of characters and the main plot, however Reach has the best emotional impact. All that said though, Halo 3 is my favourite campaign
ODST and 4. ODST is about a squad of relative strangers who do their best to survive the siege of New Mombasa and come out the other side. Plus the noir themes and flashback storytelling was fun. 4, obviously has some of the best teeming, what it means to be human or machine, the line between that, and the lengths Chief would go to to protect Cortana. It's the only Halo game to make me cry.
Reach
Reach
Halo 2, but I’m still not over the fact that there was a ton of content cut that would’ve made the story/experience even better
I am going to throw my hat in the ring with CE. Its story is mostly straightforward but has some good twists. Overall it is very well crafted but very importantly it is the only Halo game that can truly stand on its own narratively since the story is self contained. Halo 2 and Halo 3 greatly suffer on that front if you look at them by themselves since Halo 3 is truly the last act of Halo 2.
Halo 2/Reach: Plot Halo 4: Theme, character development, depth
Halo 2's plot was interesting, but I think 4 was a better story. It really humanized two central characters: one everyone considers to be a machine, and the other who is literally a machine. I did also like Infinite's campaign, but I think it could have been so much better if 5 hadn't done... whatever it did.
4
Reach "I know we're loosing I want to know if we lost"
In my view Halo 4 is the pinnacle of storytelling in the games, Halo 2 would be my next favourite
Toss-up between the leader being mentioned and my choice, so ODST. Best example of Halo relationships being explored without in-your-face explanations. That's what Bungie did best. Mixed with the many themes from loneliness to squad family, it's all a chef's kiss.
Reach that shit was an emotional roller coaster
Halo 2 by a landslide
Combat Evolved Although Halo 2 & 4 are close seconds
Halo 2 as a standalone. Halo 3 as a piece of the total narrative.
Halo 4
One. Three. Four.
1 or 2
It's between reach and 2 for me
Reach and 3 in my opinion
In my opinion 4 has the best story and 3 has the worst
ODST
4. Hands down. Nothing else even comes close imo
2 and 3. CE was a Great beginning, it set the tone, shows the player the threat that the covenant and eventually the flood poses, and then two continued that plus adding to the relationship between the chief and Cortana, plus giving us an introduction to the arbiter and how he and a large portion of his people came to hate the covenant And 3 drops it home with the MC being obsessive about getting Cortana back, the arbiter getting revenge for the betrayal of the prophets as well and the brutes.
For me a toss up between Reach and halo 2. Other folks have addressed the reasons for H2 better than I can. I’m mostly still stuck on the final mission in reach. Their marketing was fantastic: “from the beginning, you know the end.” That’s what made that final objective, “survive,” hit like a ton of bricks. I’m not sure that any other game has slapped me in the face like that.
Halo 2 has the best story, just not the best campaign.
Halo 2 without a shadow of a doubt. CE told a very rigid "start and end" Story which while that makes sense considering they never expected a sequel, it does limit how much the story can really say. Halo 3 has a couple moments that are a bit dumb and a couple lines that just... Aint it. (tO wAr) Halo 4, while I love to give it all the leeway and credit that I can, really just isn't as good as the original 3 Halo Reach was trying to tell a character driven story with extremely basic characters and it failed so bad that people have gaslit themselves into thinking it isn't a character driven story despite Bungie literally saying it was. That and Cortana being created on Reach makes a few lines from CE not make any sense. Halo 5 just sucks. Plain and simple there are no redeeming qualities about that story. ODST has a couple pointless bits in it but my only real complaint is how short it was. Honestly a really solid Expansion, just a bit short and over priced. Infinite's B plot is probably the best Halo Campaign story ever written and id argue is also better than almost all of, if not ALL the books. However its main plot with the villains is super weak because the Villains themselves are super weak characters. Halo 2 is just... Perfect. I can think of literally 0 flaws with the story. Good expanding, adequate length (if anything, TOO long), plenty of time with chief but also plenty with Arbiter, two stories that let us see the different sides of the war, its genuinely perfect.
Any answer that is not Reach is wrong.
4 then infinite
Halo 2 by far Although not for story, I wanna give a shout-out to Halo Reach for having the most unique form of visual storytelling. The cinematography in that game was just unmatched.
Halo 2 has the best story Halo: Infinite has the best Chief. The interactions with the Pilot, The weapon and Escharum was the best I've attempt to humanize him since Halo 4.
2 or ODST
Reach.
2
Honestly Halo:CE. Showing my age here but I picked it up when I first got Xbox. I’d say it’s a tie between 4 and 2 for second place!
2 for sure. Arbiter added a whole new level to the lore; someone used as a pawn, but realizes everything he fought for was a lie. Instead of shattering him, it makes him stronger and a true legend. Plus Chief moments ("Boo") , and him leaving Cortana behind, where pretty heavy. (And Johnson is a gem whenever he opens his mouth). It also transformed the story from: " humans vs aliens" to "humans AND aliens vs. lying aliens, while the true galaxy wide horror awakens to enact vengeance".
From the ones I've played I think 3 then 3odst then reach, I couldn't understand 4s story or 5s
Reach all the way baby.
Reach. Energy sword right through my heart.
While not the best, I like Halo Infinites story. The mid to late game cutscene when Echo 416 is having a break down, and Chief Takes a Knee next to him... i loved that. Hell i liked the gameplay. Unlocking new areas, saving squads, etc. granted the story had its issues. Mainly the opening, with Infinity going from one of the baddest ships around to getting bodied mostly off screen.
Halo 4 because Cortana has nice feet
3 by far
Halo Reach is my personal favorite, but I'm not going to argue with anyone who says Halo 2, that's definitely my second choice
CE I like simple stories, and I never needed to see the Covenant’s POV. The more we learn about the Covenant and the Forerunners, the less I care about the lore. Reach was good as an attempt at more cinematic storytelling, but I was never going to care about the deaths of Noble Team when I had just barely met them. If the AI Spartans had been more useful during the campaign missions, maybe their deaths would have held a little more weight.
ODST
I actually liked the first Halo a lot - Randomly coming across this game changing artifact while being chased by hostile aliens Shockingly learn that the artifact will kill all life as we know it Simultaneously learning that the aliens chasing you intend to use it Then racing against those same aliens to beat them from firing it - opting instead to destroy the thing and potentially yourself in the process. Doesn’t get more dramatic and thrilling than that IMO
Halo 2, Halo 4 and Infinite. The rest stories are mid at best.
Halo 2 by a large margin... Reason?: Thel' Vadam and other elements of the Covenant pov in the game...
Halo 3.
Dos
Halo 2
Halo: Reach was a masterpiece from the story to the characters and the small details. Halo:ODST definitely had the best soulcrushing vibes but can’t say I ever paid too much attention to the actual story. I was caught up in the jazz and rain.
Halo: Reach Objective: Survive
Halo 3 and ODST. The battle of Earth told from the perspective of both the Hero in the limelight, and the unsung heroes of the ordinary man just trying to survive a truly apocalyptic conflict. Honestly the story should have ended there.
2
2
Honestly it’s a hard decision that I really can’t make 😂
For me, the first game where I actively cared about the story was Reach.
Easily Halo 4.
Two.
I think it peaked at 2. Anything after that tried to loop in a bunch of outside writing. I’m sorry but Joseph Staten is not a good writer. He’s just plainly not good.
Wait what? Joseph Staten was the main reason why Halo 2 was good because he was the one who pushed for having the separate arbiter storyline while everyone else wanted just master chief. Joseph Staten took a sabbatical during halo 3 that's why the story was worse and just focused on the chief. I agree with you that it peaked at 2 but if anything I would say that Joseph Staten is the main reason for most of the good writing in the halo series. If there's anyone to blame for halo 3 it's marty o'donnell because he didn't want to focus on arbiter and wanted to add some deaths so added miranda and johnson's deaths.
Reach for me, and it's not close.
Halo 2. "Dear Humanity. We regret being alien bastards. We regret coming to Earth, and we most definitely regret that the Corp just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!"
Halo 4 and it's not even close
2
Reach
Easily Halo 2
2
Everyone will say Halo 2 because it is correct. I'm drunk and correct
Halo 2
Reach
I don’t know about story but that Jameson Locke Gen 2 armor is to kill for
Halo 3 is getting trashed, and I can understand some of the reasons why. But I won't agree with all of them. Characters assassinated? The only real difference in character I recall is in Truth, who gets sloppy toward the end thinking he'll win, despite the Gravemind and the Human-Elite alliance temporarily teaming up to finish him. Miranda was reckless in Halo 2 as well, jumping to follow Regret, and going herself (with Johnson and two other marines only) to get the Index, do I don't understand why people think her character was "ruined" in 3. Halo 3 is full of sacrifice to stop the Gravemind or the Halo Array being fired. It's moving and powerful to see, imo. For cinematics and environment visual style and world, Halo 3 (on the Ark, at least) is closer to Halo CE's liminal vibes. It's an interesting parallel to Installation 04. It definitely would have benefited from one or two more levels around the Ark or the Keyship to better show what was happening. And, I agree, the overall narrative in Halo 2 is stronger. But Halo 3 doesn't deserve to be called "the worst". I say it's at least as good as CE. Better in some ways. Personally, I love it. Love the fragile Human-Elite alliance, love the hopeless sacrifice of East Africa to contain the only Flood ship to ever reach Earth, love the destruction of the Covenant.