Zodi Plays: Custom Robo (Redesign Your Robo, We Know What We're Doing)

[Qwertystop]

"Full of beans" is a regionalism for "energetic".

[DataNinja]

Hoooooo boy. Yep. There we creepy undertones before, but this is just... I'll join you in tugging at collars. Wheew. It is sure... a game for kids who might not understand the implications. (And it was going so well until the end, too...)

[LaZodiac]

Okay so I know I forgot Monday's video but I have a valid excuse; we had DND due to missing it Friday. Anyway, here is a Halo 2!

Zodi Plays: Halo 2 [8] Revenge of Library

Video Length: 43:00

In this one, we have an abrupt shift to the Arbiter campaign in the wake of Master Chief being tentacled into an early grave! And the shift is so we can go through a mini version of the Library! What... fun...

In all seriousness this one wasn't that bad, shotgun flood non-withstanding. The issue is that it is just too long, and some of the combat encounters drag a bit. The main mechanical thrust of this one is also weird; the pillars make no sense, they just don't. And to top it all off the stage just sorta ends! It's a weird level, and probably the worst so far; but unlike Halo 1 I'm still having a lot of fun despite the drop in quality, so that's a big step up.

Speaking of big steps up, me and Em worked out how to fix the issue with recording these so next video onward they will no longer be so choppy. My apologies for taking so long to get this done.

------

That being said, here is something I forgot to post!

INSTALCAST: Anime-Anonymous Fall 2020 part 1

Video Length: 28:12

The next installment (heh) of the INSTALCAST is here, our intentionally misspelled podcast. First episode was Why Is Halo, and today we're dipping into a fun idea I had; as explained in video, Em does not watch much anime, and I do. So I'm going to watch all of the anime for the Fall anime season, and then describe them to my good good buddy. Em then has to discern whether or not I actually enjoyed the anime. Episodes will be (generally speaking) every Saturday, though I do have to edit it all together and stuff, and we've chosen to split them into chunks because the recording was pretty long.


This first episode covers Jujutsu Kaisen, Higurashi, Tonikawa Over The Moon For You, and Wandering Witch. What'll Em's score be at the end of the season? Tune in to find out!

[DataNinja]

Yep, there are two sentinel beams, but I have no idea when the second starts appearing. Sorry, I just wanted you to get a heads up to try and alleviate confusion when you suddenly started being able to infinitely switch. Looking it up, it appears there is a difference, its just only in the colour - the stronger version is gold-colour instead of silver, yet both are confusingly named "Sentinel Beam." They're only dropped by the corresponding-coloured Sentinels. Why they didn't call them different things??? I'll never know.


I appreciate the Linebeck Theme.


God, these confusing obtuse interactioned pillars. Why are they here? What purpose do they serve? They're clearly one-way only. How does anyone get back up? Was everyone just supposed to have jetpacks and fly out when the plug's gone???


Uh. Huh. I never new it was... punching and stuff. I just pressed X on them. *Googles* "An alternative for activating the pistons besides simply pressing X is meleeing or shooting the pistons. On Heroic or Legendary, pistons cannot be triggered, but must be shot or meleed." Ooooookay, that explains why no prompt came up. That does not explain what the heck were you thinking, Bungie???


...I was very confused as to why the music was all of a sudden so dissonant, and then I realized you were layering a new song on top of the existing full-volume song.
(As a bit of feedback, while I do appreciate the joke, it... very much gets really annoying after a time and makes me want to mute the video until its over. Which... I don't want to do because I want to hear commentary.)


Oh god, I do not remember Sniper Flood Dude.


Fun fact! This is the only level in all the Halo games where ordinary human marines are fought as enemies (and even then, it's only incidental)! Even in context where it would make sense to do so, the devs seem to go out of their way to avoid it.


The Lekgolo don't control the dreadnought, but they were able to restore it to almost tip-top condition by removing everything except for the Forerunner tech. So just... giving it a thorough cleaning, really, as well as report on what was found.

Also, I find the scarier implication is that they were able to eat forerunner tech. Which is far, far hardier than human or covenant tech. Not invincible... but the fact that they can just eat it???

The "heretic and non-heretic worms" was basically "these ones have a diet that involves forerunner artefacts" and "these ones have decided said artefacts aren't tasty."

I love the Hunters, anyways. They're just so fresh, and I love the fact that they have dynamics with everyone else in the Covenant wholly unlike anything else. They just kinda hanging there doing whatever they like, all bro with the Elites, and nobody really cares how they do what they do as long as they do it. If they want to recite war poetry to each other in the middle of battle? Nobody's gonna stop them.


Tbh, I feel like the chutes are there to be able to have some loading without loading screens. Or cutscenes in the middle to let stuff play out behind the scenes.


Yeah, Halo 2 is kinda… overzealous on the damage, and often the HP. It gets really annoying at times. There's a reason the Legendary run is the hardest in the series.

[LaZodiac]

Yep, there are two sentinel beams, but I have no idea when the second starts appearing. Sorry, I just wanted you to get a heads up to try and alleviate confusion when you suddenly started being able to infinitely switch. Looking it up, it appears there is a difference, its just only in the colour - the stronger version is gold-colour instead of silver, yet both are confusingly named "Sentinel Beam." They're only dropped by the corresponding-coloured Sentinels. Why they didn't call them different things??? I'll never know.

I appreciate the Linebeck Theme.


God, these confusing obtuse interactioned pillars. Why are they here? What purpose do they serve? They're clearly one-way only. How does anyone get back up? Was everyone just supposed to have jetpacks and fly out when the plug's gone???


Uh. Huh. I never new it was... punching and stuff. I just pressed X on them. *Googles* "An alternative for activating the pistons besides simply pressing X is meleeing or shooting the pistons. On Heroic or Legendary, pistons cannot be triggered, but must be shot or meleed." Ooooookay, that explains why no prompt came up. That does not explain what the heck were you thinking, Bungie???


...I was very confused as to why the music was all of a sudden so dissonant, and then I realized you were layering a new song on top of the existing full-volume song.
(As a bit of feedback, while I do appreciate the joke, it... very much gets really annoying after a time and makes me want to mute the video until its over. Which... I don't want to do because I want to hear commentary.)


Oh god, I do not remember Sniper Flood Dude.


Fun fact! This is the only level in all the Halo games where ordinary human marines are fought as enemies (and even then, it's only incidental)! Even in context where it would make sense to do so, the devs seem to go out of their way to avoid it.


The Lekgolo don't control the dreadnought, but they were able to restore it to almost tip-top condition by removing everything except for the Forerunner tech. So just... giving it a thorough cleaning, really, as well as report on what was found.

Also, I find the scarier implication is that they were able to eat forerunner tech. Which is far, far hardier than human or covenant tech. Not invincible... but the fact that they can just eat it???

The "heretic and non-heretic worms" was basically "these ones have a diet that involves forerunner artefacts" and "these ones have decided said artefacts aren't tasty."

I love the Hunters, anyways. They're just so fresh, and I love the fact that they have dynamics with everyone else in the Covenant wholly unlike anything else. They just kinda hanging there doing whatever they like, all bro with the Elites, and nobody really cares how they do what they do as long as they do it. If they want to recite war poetry to each other in the middle of battle? Nobody's gonna stop them.


Tbh, I feel like the chutes are there to be able to have some loading without loading screens. Or cutscenes in the middle to let stuff play out behind the scenes.


Yeah, Halo 2 is kinda… overzealous on the damage, and often the HP. It gets really annoying at times. There's a reason the Legendary run is the hardest in the series.

Thank you for the explanation on the beams, I completely misunderstood it originally!

Groose, actually, hehe.

On the easiest difficulty you can just tap the pillars! What a strange mechanic!

Maybe I'm just weird, or maybe it's because the left sound channel on my laptop is broken, but I coulda swore I put in the music in a place that would NOT be dissonent. My apologies... and yeah I will keep that in mind. Sorry DataNinja!

Worms are good! They know how to eat! I like them too, and I'm shocked to hear that the war poetry thing is actually legit? Kinda wish we'd get to hear it. But yeah it's just funny to me that the Covenant is making differentiations between a HIVE MIND. It'd be like i someone looked at you and said "I like you, but your right hand is so mean to me". The Hunters probably just kinda shrug and accept it.

The realization that the chutes are here because otherwise we'd have elevators and Large Doors is sending me flying.

[DataNinja]

Thank you for the explanation on the beams, I completely misunderstood it originally!

Groose, actually, hehe.

On the easiest difficulty you can just tap the pillars! What a strange mechanic!

Maybe I'm just weird, or maybe it's because the left sound channel on my laptop is broken, but I coulda swore I put in the music in a place that would NOT be dissonent. My apologies... and yeah I will keep that in mind. Sorry DataNinja!

Worms are good! They know how to eat! I like them too, and I'm shocked to hear that the war poetry thing is actually legit? Kinda wish we'd get to hear it. But yeah it's just funny to me that the Covenant is making differentiations between a HIVE MIND. It'd be like i someone looked at you and said "I like you, but your right hand is so mean to me". The Hunters probably just kinda shrug and accept it.

The realization that the chutes are here because otherwise we'd have elevators and Large Doors is sending me flying.

No worries! I wasn't clear originally either!


Dang, I couldn't tell which of the two. Coulda sworn it was Linebeck because you mentioned profiteering.


Easiest two, actually. Easy and Normal (we played on Normal, and presumably you're on Heroid, so that's why I was confused as to why the punchy-shooty was needed).


No worries! Sometimes that stuff tends to need a bit of a fine hand. And ya never know unless someone mentions something.


Yep, the war poetry is a thing! Just... very few actually bother to learn the language. Which is understandable, because I'm sure nuance is super hard when conversing with a race that uses mild telepathy.

Anyways... Lekgolo in general aren't a full hive mind (which is probably why they have verbalizations and language at all in the first place). Individual worms are... kinda dumb and mildly-instinctual. And only somewhat telepathic. So what they do is they bond into colonies of various sizes, to which they form sort of an "individual." These tend to further join, and then divide into other individuals, known as "bond brothers." While they're always fought in pairs in the games, lone Hunters do exist (supposedly the differentiation is their armour is spiked for bond brothers, and unspiked for not), and you can have more than a pair, IIRC, though it's rare. I think there's a canonical group of six in one of the books. I can't remember.

The books in general have some of the few depictions of Hunter mentalities - though not from their perspectives, usually that of Elites. There's even that of a Hunter who had lost their bond brother. They go from careful, calm, and collected to seething rage. Because... half of "them" has just died. Separate-but-together. More than the loss of a few of the worms in their own collective.

There are also larger minds, though that rarely comes up. There are a few instances in EU lore, and then obviously the ones that're piloting the Scarabs. ...anyways, I could go on and on about Lekgolo and Sangheili and how I love their cultures and how they interact with each other and the rest of the Covenant, but I'll stop here. I've droned on enough.


Yeah, it was something I only realized when there were two Tubes in a row.

[LaZodiac]

I... am well aware that I missed Custom Robo, but I've been legit not feeling well again cool great outstanding amazing. Have some more anime though.

INSTALCAST [2]: Anime-Anonymous Fall 2020 [2]

Video Length: 43:56

This one is pretty good. We cover some of the actual good anime this season, but also some of the uh, worse ones.

[LaZodiac]

Oh man, Halo times.

Zodi Plays: Halo 2 [9] Zombies Riding Cars

Video Length: 41:58

In this exciting episode, Zodi learns that she still needs to work out some of the bugs in her recording to ensure it stops freezing like it does here (I mostly get it, eventually, womp womp).

That aside we also go through one of the... stranger levels of Halo 2. Something about it just feels off. It's too long by far but also feels truncated in a way that doesn't really make sense... and also just kinda ends. Oops!

[DataNinja]

Ahahahahaha. Yep. Scorpion Flood. It's ridiculous, and it blindsided me the first time, too.

So, that one Sentinel shooting Needles? At around 10:53 in the video. It is the only Sentinel with a needler in the entire game, and was a remnant of an idea that was removed. It managed to escape being purged, though. (The intent was that... well, Covenant stuff is reverse-engineered Forerunner stuff. So why wouldn't they use needles, then?)

There's something so satisfying about being able to just... slice through large numbers of Flood with your energy swords.

And, gasp! Betrayal! Who could have seen this coming?

[LaZodiac]

So; I have made errors and life had thrown me for a loop, so Custom Robo will be returning this Friday for sure, and I want y'all to hold me to that. In the meanwhile, have some more Halo, which we did all at once so I won't be as delayed on.

Zodi Plays: Halo 2 [10] Petey Piranha's Wild Ride

Video Length: 29:49

In this episode, we finally find the plot! We encounter everyone's favorite piranha plant, who assaults us with his strange make believe rhyme scheme that only rhymes every so often but otherwise is still very effective, and he more or less forces us to move along the paths he has set out for us in order to ensure the game can continue and he can be the ultimate winner of whatever fifth dimensional mushroom chess he is playing. Chief gets vwomped into the middle of High Charity meer seconds before a civil war breaks out, and we get introduced to the last new enemy of the game; the Brutes, bullet sponges that can oneshot kill you with melee attacks. Very aggressive, not the biggest fan of these guys.

I may sound dismissive, but I legitimately really like this part and find that, barring a few specific things I'll get into at the end of the game, from this point forward Halo 2 just is excellent. It was always good, but now it feels like we're actually focused on Doing A Thing now.

[DataNinja]

I will make sure to badger you. Badger badger badger.


So... now I can talk about the elephant in the room. Or, rather, the monkey. The Brutes. Originally, apparently, it was not going to be the Brutes that usurped the Elites, but the Hunters. So, the Brutes were a comparatively last-minute addition (which I think makes far better sense story-wise, and just in general, even if I have problems with the Brutes overall - which I'll get to whenever I make my spiel about why I love the Covenant sometime mid-Halo 3ish).

The reason why this is a problem is... they are wildly unbalanced. There wasn't enough playtesting, so they are super strong, super hard to kill, and just... bags of HP. They also have a mechanic that, while cool conceptually, makes them a pain. They resist any "Small-arms" weapons. So, uh, yeah. Which is most of what you'll be using.

For reference, from the numbers I've seen, in other games they were tuned to take about 20 assault rifle shots in 3... and what would be about 50 assault rifle shots in 2, if it had one. So, about 75 SMG bullets changing to a gun it does use. Note that the SMG only carries 60 in a clip.

This 'small arms resistance' even applies to stuff like Plasma rifles. So, HP + resistance = Huge HP sink. Thankfully, the developers recognizes this and revamped them to be more interesting to fight against after this game.


Look, The Master Chief has always had a dry sense of humour, even from the first game. And they've never shied away from doing stuff like the upside-down teleport. I don't mind it. Because the game doesn't take itself overly seriously that it can't have a little fun with its cutscenes every once in a while. They like putting stuff that can make you laugh occasionally. ...though know when the moment calls for it to not happen.


Gee, I wonder if that paired berserk mode is a reference to the Hunters they were originally going to be.


Brute Shots are suuuuper satisfying, yeah.

[LaZodiac]

There is a special place in hell for whoever decided that "plasma rifle" counts as a small-arms and then gives you nothing but them to deal with the stupid monkey mans.

Honestly I think the Un-serious Comedy Bits are weird to me because MY IMPRESSION of Halo was that it is a serious space shooter man game. So the time that comedy suddenly shows up it feels weird compared to my idea of what this series is. Like, if that "boo" scene happened in Mass Effect, it'd 10000% track, because Mass Effect comes off as feeling like a pulpy space western thing, where that sort of thing WOULD HAPPEN.

[DataNinja]

There is a special place in hell for whoever decided that "plasma rifle" counts as a small-arms and then gives you nothing but them to deal with the stupid monkey mans.

There's a reason that Halo 2 is the hardest game in the series to Legendary. ...well, multiple reasons. OHKO Jackal Snipers is another.
(They did learn from their mistakes, but it doesn't help you now.)

Honestly I think the Un-serious Comedy Bits are weird to me because MY IMPRESSION of Halo was that it is a serious space shooter man game. So the time that comedy suddenly shows up it feels weird compared to my idea of what this series is. Like, if that "boo" scene happened in Mass Effect, it'd 10000% track, because Mass Effect comes off as feeling like a pulpy space western thing, where that sort of thing WOULD HAPPEN.

No, that's fair. When things are brought up, it does tend to be the super serious side. The humour tends to be little asides. Marine chatter, or little vignettes in cutscenes (such as the grunt and jackal with the doll - and apparently it's a good idea you're playing on Heroic, because the re-release updated what the dolls are, and the rest of the difficulties' dolls are spoilers for Halo 4), or just some dry comedy from the characters. It's very much not the image of the series, even if it's always been there.

[LaZodiac]

I return from the void of sickness, depression, and work to present you; Custom Robo!

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [41] Boxer Short Contest

Video Length: 21:41

Look I'm not the one who made these scenarios. I'm as lost as you all are.

Honestly, aside from the weirdness of all of this, this is appreciated. We needed more comedy bits, and this one... kinda works. It's very silly, but this is a game where psychic robot murder happens sometimes we need a little injection of silliness to balance it out. There's a level of dark this game has kind of, without realizing it, stumbled head long into with this entire back half of tournaments so making it at least SILLY is a nice conflicting contrast.

...seriously though could we not have given them the five minutes to get dressed?

[DataNinja]

That, uh, that sure was a thing. Welcome silliness, but also a different kind of uncomfortable.

[Aeson]

Pretty sure that these are supposed to be the same guys who fought in their underwear during the Z Base Attack mission, so... I hate to ask, but are we sure these guys have some other costume to be dressed in? The Custom Robo government strikes me as the kind of dysfunctional dystopian government that'd just decide that what they were wearing when they got captured is what their 'costume' should be when they're given their new 'acting careers.'

Also, it's weird to me that they have helmets but not shirts; I feel like the helmet is the last thing you'd put on even if the shirt's a button-up.

[LaZodiac]

Pretty sure that these are supposed to be the same guys who fought in their underwear during the Z Base Attack mission, so... I hate to ask, but are we sure these guys have some other costume to be dressed in? The Custom Robo government strikes me as the kind of dysfunctional dystopian government that'd just decide that what they were wearing when they got captured is what their 'costume' should be when they're given their new 'acting careers.'

Also, it's weird to me that they have helmets but not shirts; I feel like the helmet is the last thing you'd put on even if the shirt's a button-up.

I want to say they wouldn't, especially given the way they're reacting, but... I mean... given what we've seen so far it really doesn't seem that unlikely. Concerning!

Yeah the fact that they have the helmets on but nothing else is super strange. Helmet would definitely be last.

[LaZodiac]

Time for an Halo!

Zodi Plays: Halo 2 [11] Zero Mercy

Video Length: 38:02

In this episode, we return to the Chief as he makes his way through High Charity! We're fighting through a full on Civil War now, and it... shows in terms of environmental design, but otherwise feels a little lackluster? It's weird; I like it, but they coulda pushed this to make it fit even MORE and that'd be cool.

This episode also involves one of the funniest images I've seen in awhile, if only because god the Grunt's look so silly.

[DataNinja]

So, it's not quite so cut and dry for the splits. The Jackals and Grunts basically sided with whomever. Jackals are pirates and opportunists, so the individuals sided with whomever they thought would come out on top, while the Grunts sided with whomever was more immediately powerful in their vicinity. However, even those who sided with the Brutes for their own safety tended to hold some measure of sympathy for the Arbiter and his kin.

In addition, while the majority of the Hunters sided with the Elites, a few did stay otherwise. (I do understand why they did that, because... well, Hunters are iconic enemies, and this lets them put the worms in more encounters.Plus, individual choice. But that's mostly in Halo 3. In Halo 2, it's very defined as the Hunters are on the Elite's side.) And, yeah, Drones stayed with the Covenant, almost wholly.


And, yes. The High Prophets names are ironic. Even more ironic when you learn their backstories.


A quick research into the berserk is that the Brute rampage is not defined as pairs for them. It's when the last remaining member of a pack is remaining (possibly with others having chances whenever another member of the pack is killed), with no specific definition on how large a pack is. So, it's not specifically pairs, but instead packs. Which makes more sense, given that I'd never heard of pairs for Brutes before.


Yeah, this is a fun level, really getting into the meat of how a story can enhance gameplay. I love it.

[LaZodiac]

C U S T O M

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [42] Act As Yourself

Video Length: 22:54

In this episode, we do Isabella's Mansion... which is more of a uh, lab, but alright. It is a tag battle tournament, against more generic Z members and Evil, and of course Isabella herself. Most importantly however, we get our hands on Rahu 1's part data... which sure SEEMS like a dangerous thing for us to have, but alright. I don't mind playing dice with the universe sometimes.

There's also some good writing in this one. The NPCs aren't CREEPS in this one, they're just... unfortunate reminders of how extremely ****ed up the mind wipe and manipulation device is. Which, while still uncomfortable, is definitely old hat at this point.

[DataNinja]

I sure do hope those Z members are able to live happy lives with each other. And perhaps feel free to be themselves "offstage". Because after all they've been through, they deserve it, dang it!

[LaZodiac]

Oh hey it's time for... Halo!

Zodi Plays: Halo 2 [12] Dolphin vs. Monkey

Video Length: 48:25

So this is a complicated one, as you'll see. The long and short of it is... I'm still getting used to recording modern ass games, so I don't know when to expect something bad to happen. Turns out, for some reason, the network connection was super weird while we were recording this one, so it made a lot of the first like, chunk of this stage a slide show of nothingness. So I've... saved the audio, which was possible, and put in an image that best represents the action.

Then the game crashed! So we had to play through all of it again anyway, so in order to keep continuity you get to see what all you missed due to the video breaking anyway, but I didn't want to just like, only keep in the second run because a lot of it comes from a place of "man that first run huh. God Halo 2 is weird and glitchy sometimes". So... yeah. That's why the video is weird. I promise in a couple videos I realized how to make the recording better so this sort of thing doesn't happen, I'm just still new to recording modern games like... Halo 2's super high def remake! Look this hobby is hard.

Anyway, dolphin fight a monkey. Pew pew.

[DataNinja]

Whoof, that sure was an episode. XD

And, sorry, Em, but the Devs agreed with Zodi. Brutes were too bulletspongey - and, yeah, the shotguns were due to running out of time. Same reason for the over-sponginess. Because Brutes simply were unable to be properly playtested to a sufficient degree.

The discussion about music reminds me that I absolutely adore so much of the halo music. It's often so... evocative. Even if occasionally inappropriately bombastic.

[LaZodiac]

Merry Holidays! Have a Halo two!

Zodi Plays: Halo 2 [13] Mushroom Samba

Video Length: 29:10

In this episode we finally knock out the last kink in our recording process* and go through the... genuinely rather underwhelming final Master Chief level. Not that it is bad by any stretch, it is just... also so incredibly "there" that I have almost nothing to say about it. It's WEIRD to have the main character of the game, ostensibly, have such a lowkey ending. Now obviously, once we beat the game, there will be a proper ending for yon Spartan, but as it stands this is the last gameplay segment for him. It's a strange note to go out on.

*until the next one shows up

[DataNinja]

Yeah, this definitely is a Middle Part, story-wise.

I'm not sure why you're having issues with Sword, though. I'm just as confused as Em is. Because it's always been Melee to quick swing, Weapon to lunge.

Ah, from the Wiki:
"There are two ways a player can attack. The first is to lunge with the energy sword. With this, the player lunges forward at the other player. However, this only works when the aiming reticle is lit red, indicating that the opposing player is within range. The second attack is the simple melee, which is a quick underhanded or overhanded swipe."
So, the "Weapon" command relies on the reticle being lit.

[LaZodiac]

It is time for the final Halo 2!

Zodi Plays: Halo 2 [14] [FINALE] Tartar Sauce

Video Length: 46:24

This one is sure to cause some degree of annoyance given one conversation me and Em have during it... that being said, it is the finale of Halo 2! A story that is really just the Arbiter's, because Master Chief didn't do much of anything and literally gets stopped before the game could conclude. Given Halo 3 is supposed to be the "second half" of Halo 2, that makes a degree of sense. It does however feel overall that Master Chief's moments are... few and far between.

However, I did greatly enjoy it! Halo 2 is far better than Halo 1, and it's really brought the series up to something special in my eyes. Halo 1 felt too clunky or unwieldy, it felt like... well, Mario 1. Halo 2 is the Super Mario World of the series, if that analogy makes even a lick of sense.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Man, having run through that section three times before starting the video really showed in your play. The wraiths take some getting used to with their floaty movement and the slow arc of the mortar shot, but you two were crushing it.

Looking forward to Halo 3! Also don't fire Em, the co-op stuff is good.

[DataNinja]

You didn't really touch on it, but just the joy of fighting alongside Hunters in this map was amazing for me. That, and just getting a Wraith? They really pulled out the stops to make it really feel different from Chief's.


Oof, yeah, that terminal is... eeeeesh. A for effort, F for execution.


The "only working in old graphics" was something I had to deal with throughout the whole game. It suuuucked. I've been glad to see the HD cutscenes now. So, shame the last one won't work.

The Johnson in a Scarab bothers me because A) we don't get it, and B) it's written as if he's piloting it. He's not. It's just a big Hunter. Give the super-heavy infantry some credit!

Spoiler: Re: Halo 4 (Zodi No Open)

Show

I feel like it's because everything shifted towards the more organic. Even the supposedly Forerunner stuff is way smoother. Compare a Sentinel to a Crawler:



The Sentinel shape is very distinct. That's the Forerunner design. Angular, lots of triangles. While the Crawler is geneeeeric. Like, it has those hints? But the organic Shape was always the Covenant. Heck, even non-geometric things kinda go against the Forerunner design.

Everything just loses those distinct touches that makes you able to immediately identify something about a thing just by its appearance. Who it belongs to. Halo 4 just sorta... bleeeends things.

So, you're starting to hit on one of the things I kinda hate about the Brutes. I'll get into it more mid Halo 3 when I sorta pull together a big overview on why I love the Covenant conceptually... but the Brutes are 100% the weakest part. They are suuuper underdeveloped. Like, they are perfect, story-wise as a dichotomy to the Elites. But Hunters and Drones get more development than they do. What's known about them is pretty much exactly what's important to the plots of the games, as antagonists.

However, though it's never covered in-game, they're fanatical zealots about the religion itself (and were quick converts from their religions back on their homeworld), even if they hold basically no sanctity for its objects (as seen by them manhandling Guilty Spark). It's basically they don't really care about anything beyond their own strength and faith. The material trappings are unimportant.


A clarification for the Tartarus fight: You can take down his shields without Johnson, but it has to be with the Beam Rifles on the overlook before you jump on the platform. And you don't have enough Beam Rifles to do the whole fight that way, IIRC.


But, yeah. Halo 2 is a very good refinement over 1. It needed a bit more time in the oven, and it introduced some flaws of its own, but it's a substantial improvement over the rough base with good potential that the first game had.

[Lord Raziere]

Catching up on Halo 2:
Episode 6:
Yeah sure your not a megalomaniac Cortana.....sure.....this conversation is oddly prescient in hindsight.

I mean.....Naruto is all about elite squads of child soldiers, and lot of their adventures are cool.....

maybe they didn't expect you to take this long to get through this section....or maybe they're letting there be silence to make sure you can focus on combat. I imagine that enough battlefield noises can drown out music anyways, so if they came across a section that has a lot of explosions happening, music wouldn't be much of an accompaniment.

what, how? I'm as amazed as Zodi, how DID that tank push happen? game physics are a wonderful and strange thing sometimes. I'm convinced that many simulator games are just made to intentionally be janky so that people can laugh at them rather than actually simulate anything.

Episode 7:
Well, if your a highly-advanced civilization with room to be fancy and decorate, wouldn't you want to design things so that it looks pleasing to you? maybe the forerunners just really liked the ancient civilization aesthetic in their architecture. like some vastly scaled up version of filling your house with antiques.

y'know, its actually kind of disappointing to me that we never got Hunters as playable fighters in Halo vs. modes, you'd think they'd be an interesting addition for a player to control, but apparently that will never happen.

I keep thinking the little titles they put in here and there are snarky references to whats happening now, but its always hard to figure out what they're about. "I'm sorry are you the middle of something?" however might be more clear as its referring to MC interrupting Prophet of Regret's attempting to fire Halo.

oh right, Gravemind for some reason just has this scene where he grabs people and talks to them about things yet doesn't try to infect them or anything, its weird.

I like your titles for killing the prophets, as it points out that they're ironic titles: for this, the Prophets don't have any regret for their actions and are completely and utterly focused on their goal to the exclusion of all else.

Episode 8:
and we can already see the cracks of rebellion starting to show....

High Charity: yet even more irony. I doubt the Prophets in their forging of the Covenant gave anyone anything as they're basically a religious space empire, and empires steal and take stuff to full their constant need for conquest: things like lives, food, money, culture and so on....empires are inherently greedy.

*sings in response*:
Hey now, hey-hey-hey now, hey now, hey-hey-hey now, heeey nooow, hey now, hey hey hey nooooooow, heeeey now, hey hey, hey hey noooooooooow......

*double sniped*: wow, the first snipe didn't clue you in?

on the Lek'golo:
more taking by the prophets.

Episode 9:
maybe they just don't know how to loop the music....

Brutes. curse your sudden yet inevitable betrayal.

Episode 10:
Gravemind is a poet.

I still fail to see how the Sentinels/AIs think its in their best interests to tell the truth about what using the Haloes actually do. you'd think if they're so smart they'd go along with the lie but nooooo. while Gravemind here is stating the truth because it benefits him: no Halo firing, means he can conquer everything and he is only leaving these two uninfected and alive because they're more useful as individuals than as more flood troopers.

I mean the Prophets are religious leaders full of sermonizing, its in their style to refer to one thing by multiple names for added flair- such things are a speech, and public speaking is long so you want to keep peoples attention, one of the way you can do that is by peppering your speech with synonyms and flowery terms for the same old thing. keeps it from being stale.

Episode 11:
Yup, and Mercy also has none since he is condemning an entire galaxy to death! the entire Prophet religion is one lies, hypocrisy and irony.

and yeah its real nice to have a civil war level where your just one side among them instead you vs. the evil side. videogames really needs more multi-sided conflicts.

Episode 13:
Zodi good rule of thumb with videogames is that unless a countdown timer pops up on screen, it generally is not timed. any dialogue saying otherwise is just there for flavor.

because Gravemind ISN'T on your side. he is on Gravemind's side, and you just happen to be a beneficial pawn being pointed in a direction that just so happens to be beneficial to you as well. problem is, your probably a threat to him as well, so if you manage to kill Truth and stop the thing from firing well.....your usefulness will swiftly end. that and the developers probably needed enemy variance. so. Gravemind might as well not care as long as Truth doesn't fire the Halos.

Episode 14:
most generic sci-fi? well to give my own two cents...
-Star Trek is probably the most bright, Mass effect is kind of a reconstruction/updated version of Star Trek in a way. they both have similar set ups, but Mass Effect comes later and is more built for modern sensibilities.
-Star Wars is honestly more space fantasy because of the Force and Jedi running around
-but technically, both Star Trek and Star Wars are soft sci-fi, since while Star trek doesn't have outright magic its still full of phlebotinum and things like the Q that aren't really theoretically doable by our understanding. science fiction doesn't really care about tropes because its more about exploring what effects our advances in knowledge, and understanding of the universe will have on society and science that can be better explained is more likely to happen and thus provide a better picture of the future, so things like the cyberpunk genre, Firefly, Freefall, The Outer Worlds, Ender's Game, Eclipse Phase and The Culture are all possibilities.
-of course there is the fact that Halo probably counts under the sub-genre of military science fiction due to its war focus. the only other thing I remember reading in that genre is The Lost Fleet, which is nothing like Halo, because its all about stellar fleet strategy and the difficulties of commanding a fleet that has been at war for like 100 years and not about individual heroics at all.

as for Star Wars have samurai influences: Zodi isn't wrong when Vader and lightsabers has katana and samurai parts......but neither is M when he says no one sees that when they look at Star Wars stuff. I didn't. and if I wanted to make a space japan thing, Star Wars wouldn't be my model. Star Wars is this weird mix of influences that I don't have time to go into and this isn't really the place to do so.

MC ends this on the note he began this. bookending, eh?

but yeah, Halo 2 was a major step up. I definitely have better memories of 2 than I did One.

[Ninja_Prawn]

As for Star Wars have samurai influences: Zodi isn't wrong when Vader and lightsabers has katana and samurai parts......but neither is M when he says no one sees that when they look at Star Wars stuff.

That little discussion reminded me of something Samual L Jackson said in an interview that was in the bonus content on the Attack of the Clones DVD (I was 13 when that came out, I hadn't developed good taste yet, okay). He said that his feeling about jedi and lightsaber fighting especially was that it was a futuristic version of classic "samurai movies", implying that he saw katanas underneath the laser swords.