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

[Ninja_Prawn]

Bungie sure do love giving people names that are just titles, huh. It'd be okay in moderation, but when it goes this far, the names lose their impact.

One of the guys I write D&D content with is the same, so whenever we have to create important lore figures I have to make sure I get in early with a real sounding name before he names them 'The <Title>'. Or a two-syllable mononym. He likes those too.

[LaZodiac]

Bungie sure do love giving people names that are just titles, huh. It'd be okay in moderation, but when it goes this far, the names lose their impact.

One of the guys I write D&D content with is the same, so whenever we have to create important lore figures I have to make sure I get in early with a real sounding name before he names them 'The <Title>'. Or a two-syllable mononym. He likes those too.

It is such a Bungie-ism it beggers belief.

------

Oh hey. Custom Robo is back.

I'll admit I'm torn between just getting on with it or apologizing again. So much Life Stuff has gotten in the way of this game, and to be honest the tournament part of this game is a genuine mistake. It's not the funnest thing in the world, and the dialogue is few and far between (though still mostly is as good as the main game). So it's giving me these mixed feelings of "aaah this is my fault" and "game kinda falls apart at this point so its not on me at all really".

But really it's not that bad. Just need to manage my time better. Ultimately, the show must, and will, go on.

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [43] Dumbhead

Video Length: 23:26

In this episode, we face off against Oboro and his goons (plus Sergei) in his specialized tournament. Single use battles, and tehy get to use illegal parts... and we also start unlocking parts again! Wicked! They're all illegal though so not really usable in a tournament sense since we'll lose our score pretty fantastically... of course I don't care about that, so we'll see if I use them!

[DataNinja]

It's all good, Zodi. If you aren't having fun, you don't need to suffer for our sake. I know I'd rather you play something you enjoyed. <3

Nothing really much to add, besides I really like the touch that Sergei's holoseum is the same as Marcia's. I don't actually remember if we've fought him on his own before to see that.

Also, I wonder if the "Were you a Z-member" was because of his father?

[Aeson]

I don't think that that second researcher even qualifies as a speedbump in this competition; you pretty much ran right over him.

Also, I wonder if the "Were you a Z-member" was because of his father?

It does seem plausible to me, though that would suggest that Oboro has some memory of Gyro's father and knows or believes him to have been a member (or the founder) of the Z Syndicate. Which, in turn, further undercuts the justification for using the memory-erasure device as a rehabilitation aid - it didn't seem to have much of an impact on the Z sisters' personalities, and now Oboro's showing some signs of recalling things he would have known prior to his mindwipe.

If it is because Oboro sees a family resemblance between Gyro and his father, though, it's a bit curious that it would come up now, after the mindwipe.

I'll admit I'm torn between just getting on with it or apologizing again.

I would suggest just getting on with it, or if you're not enjoying it then dropping it, and I don't see any good reason for you to continue apologizing for the lapse in Custom Robo videos - nor, for that matter, do I think you really needed to apologize for it in the first place. This is something you're doing as a hobby and freely providing to the public, not an obligation.

To put it another way, say you regularly attend some kind of periodic event - perhaps a reading group, a chess club, or a recreational sporting event - and on your own initiative started bringing snacks along. If at some point you stopped bringing snacks along, you're not under any obligation to apologize for the cessation - certainly not multiple times. As far as I'm concerned, this isn't a materially different situation.

[DataNinja]

I would suggest just getting on with it, or if you're not enjoying it then dropping it, and I don't see any good reason for you to continue apologizing for the lapse in Custom Robo videos - nor, for that matter, do I think you really needed to apologize for it in the first place. This is something you're doing as a hobby and freely providing to the public, not an obligation.

I imagine that it's in part because she does have Patrons, who are paying for her to produce videos. So, while it is a hobby, there is at least some feeling of obligation there, I would wager.

[LaZodiac]

I don't think that that second researcher even qualifies as a speedbump in this competition; you pretty much ran right over him.


It does seem plausible to me, though that would suggest that Oboro has some memory of Gyro's father and knows or believes him to have been a member (or the founder) of the Z Syndicate. Which, in turn, further undercuts the justification for using the memory-erasure device as a rehabilitation aid - it didn't seem to have much of an impact on the Z sisters' personalities, and now Oboro's showing some signs of recalling things he would have known prior to his mindwipe.

If it is because Oboro sees a family resemblance between Gyro and his father, though, it's a bit curious that it would come up now, after the mindwipe.


I would suggest just getting on with it, or if you're not enjoying it then dropping it, and I don't see any good reason for you to continue apologizing for the lapse in Custom Robo videos - nor, for that matter, do I think you really needed to apologize for it in the first place. This is something you're doing as a hobby and freely providing to the public, not an obligation.

To put it another way, say you regularly attend some kind of periodic event - perhaps a reading group, a chess club, or a recreational sporting event - and on your own initiative started bringing snacks along. If at some point you stopped bringing snacks along, you're not under any obligation to apologize for the cessation - certainly not multiple times. As far as I'm concerned, this isn't a materially different situation.

Rip Z-Tech 2 in particular.

Thinking on it... I think I know what the deal is, and I'm excited to see if I'm correct. I kinda hope I'm not.

Thank you for the king words Aeson. I AM enjoying it, so this is gonna go until we finish! Then it's time for Super Star Saga, just as an aside.

I imagine that it's in part because she does have Patrons, who are paying for her to produce videos. So, while it is a hobby, there is at least some feeling of obligation there, I would wager.

Yeah, more or less. I do also just apologize too often as a habit >_>

[LaZodiac]

C-c-c-c-custom!

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [44] Zee, Zed, and So On

Video Length: 25:43

In this episode, we finally take down the last of the Z-Syndicate HQ tournaments... and learn the unfortunate truth; we have to get gold in everything to unlock everything.

Wtih that in mind, next time, I'm using a file Em got prepared for me for this. Thanks bud!

[DataNinja]

Poor Sergei. He's such a bad actor that he forgot he was supposed to be fighting you at first.

[LaZodiac]

Halo... is it me you're looking fooor. I can see it in your eyes....

Zodi Plays: Halo 3 [7] Map Room Mop Up

Video Length: 34:49

We finish up the level we're on, which name and number I have forgotten because I'm very smart. All you really need to know is that I'm having a suspicion that this video game might be good.

[DataNinja]

God, I love this level. And the enthusiasm of "Tank beats everything!"


So... here's the thing. The Terminals aren't really for the people who're learning. They're for the people who've played the game a million times, who've read every scrap of lore, as a teaser during the Post Halo-3 timeframe.

...or you could read the Wiki, and have everything explained in a paragraph or two. (Or just have someone who's done so)
(Which, uh... well, is unfortunately something that we'll have to do. Try and spout stuff out to make sense of Halo 4 when the time comes. Because 343i leaned haaaaaaaard into tying the Extended Universe stuff into the game plots.)


Gauss Warthogs are amazing, and so much fun.

Spoiler: Ah, yes, the dumbest blue robot sphere, Guilty Spark. :P

Show

So, y'all were talking past each other. The Brute Grenade Launcher isn't sticky, but the thrown Spike Grenades are.

(At 29:23, there're two extraneous end slides, which confused me.)

[LaZodiac]

There are moments in this video game where I embrace destruction, and "here is a tank" is definitely one of those moments.

Thankfully, me and Em will have much time to talk about Halo stuff during ODST and Reach before we finally step into Four.

G A U S S.

Absolutely correct picture of Guilty Spark.

Naw, we were both talking about the needle grenade. I think?

I... completely did not notice and don't know why that happened sorry bwaaargh x_X. I can't even edit this one since the footage is gone.

[DataNinja]

There are moments in this video game where I embrace destruction, and "here is a tank" is definitely one of those moments.

Thankfully, me and Em will have much time to talk about Halo stuff during ODST and Reach before we finally step into Four.

G A U S S.

Naw, we were both talking about the needle grenade. I think?

I... completely did not notice and don't know why that happened sorry bwaaargh x_X. I can't even edit this one since the footage is gone.

Tanks, Fuel Rod Guns, Grenades...

I'm really looking forwards to Reach. It's my absolute favorite Halo. Revisiting it, even via proxy, is always fun.

P E W!

Oh, okay. I figured you were talking about the Brute Shot, since you were talking about it while holding the gun and firing the grenades. Oops.

Eh, s'all good. It's just a quirk of the series. Something always has to go wrong, right?

[LaZodiac]

New Custom Robo, guest-staring TLC.

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [45] In The Can

Video Length: 29:45

With a sad degradation of our honoured name, we proceed into the amusement park for the last three tournaments. Before us, the Bronze Handicap match... wherein we must fight a 1v2. We are the one. I am taking off the kids gloves for these, because otherwise this WOULD ACTUALLY be too obnoxious to play.

And it gets harder from here.

[DataNinja]

Well, if nothing else, I'm glad to finally see the illegal parts broken out.
(It does really change things into more rocket tag, though.)

Also, glad to see the writing's back to its old self even if, uh, there's certainly some choices.

[LaZodiac]

What if... laser beams...

Zodi Plays: Halo 3 [8] This Is Spartan Laser

Video Length: 23:23

Look, I'm a simple woman. I see a shoulder mounted laser cannon with really good sound effects and build up and effect and I just get sparkly eyed. Halo 3 ****ing rules and I don't know how else to say it. This is Em's favorite level and even though we only cover half of it today it's kind of hard not to see why.

[DataNinja]

...yep. Spartan lasers are suuuuuuuper cool. They are sadly not super common. But I totally didn't make Firefight Modes in Reach that gave infinite ammo Spartan Lasers and stuff. >.>
(I still like Energy Swords as the more stylistically cool weapon, but... really, who can go wrong with a shoulder-mounted laser cannon???)


Regarding combat skins: Note that Guilty Spark admonished Chief for wearing a mere Class 2 back when first meeting in Halo 1. "These Sentinels will supplement your combat system. But I suggest you upgrade to at least a Class Twelve combat skin. Your current model only scans as a Class Two, which is ill suited for this kind of work."


The Forerunner stuff is super interesting, even if I don't necessarily... prefer all the direction they went with the EU stuff. But I'll rant about that another day.


Oh, a clarification: The installation monitors were, well, uh... Monitor-class AI. The Contender Class AI was mentioned in the third terminal, by name even - Mendicant Bias. The most powerful one they ever built, designed solely to counter the Flood.

Also, from what I understand, the [Red] text isn't called out as important, it's... calling out inexact translations. Something to get the idea across, that isn't exactly what that word means in Forerunner-terms. So the timestamp isn't important, it's just a... translation.

[LaZodiac]

Oh hey, crobo time.

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [46] Four For All

Video Length: 19:21

Slight apologies for the opening of this video. I was genuinely under the impression that this was a 1v3 because I've never actually played this before. I was either expecting it to be a straight 1v3, or a free for all where everyone is definitely focused on Making You Lose, over anything else. Both of these turned out to be wrong!

I still have no qualms about using the parts I did though. This is utter chaos and noise, I'm sure it'd be rather frustrating to play through if I didn't use the best parts I had at my disposal.

[DataNinja]

….I forgot you were named Scrub, so I was very confused at why Walt was suddenly like that. I am not a smart woman.

[LaZodiac]

….I forgot you were named Scrub, so I was very confused at why Walt was suddenly like that. I am not a smart woman.

It happens to the best of us

------

Oh man it is time for... an halo.

Zodi Plays: Halo 3 [9] Grave Truth

Video Length: 40:08

I genuinely don't know what I can say here that isn't perfectly captured in the video. Em's favorite level is Covenant and the reasons are truly self evident.

Okay I do have something to say actually; I feel like for me a lot of the fun comes from this being a multiplayer experience. Some of these set pieces, while cool, would be fairly difficult if done solo, and I think dying during a segment like this can REALLY take the wind from your sails cause it interrupts the rising action so severely. I'd have to see for myself first hand if this is actually how it would roll out, but theoretically it seems correct. So I definitely think part of why this experience IS so good, is because Em is doing it with me.

That being said god every single set piece in this game, and this level in particular, is truly excellent.

[DataNinja]

The legendary terminals are in fact not jokes, and are... something that I can go into the importance of later, if you so desire. Because it's one of those things that ties somewhat into the EU stuff, or at least additional context from main universe stuff.

Some terminals are different on each difficulty even, like the one mentioning Mendicant Bias' rampancy.


Yeah, Em would probably be better to explain everything. I expect they have a fair bit less... vitriol than I for certain aspects of Post-3-EU lore.
(*internal screaming*)


To be fair, corpses are also not supposed to be walking around, so exploding viscerally is the least of their problems.


So! A super neat thing about the dual scarab fight? If you hop wingman on an NPC's hornet, they'll drop you off... and then come to pick you up once the Scarab's exploding. It's a super cool touch.



The end of this level is really cool, plus there's a neat hint to the fact that there's a replacement for Installation 4 on the way. The light may be dark, and with some inoperative sections.... but it's not entirely red.


This feels like, with the killing of Truth, a good time to pull together all my thoughts of why I love the Covenant so much, with how they did... all of it. I'll put that all in a separate post, as I do have some stuff to get done that I unfortunately can't write a giant essay on Halo for before that.

Edit: Oh, absolutely, Halo is a way better co-op game. Single player, death is a little... unforgiving. Two players really helped, but I super enjoyed playing Reach with three people. You get so many more ways to approach stuff, especially when it comes to vehicles - frankly, a Warthog isn't as fun when you need to rely on an NPC.

[DataNinja]

Alright, so... long ramble time. I promised/warned this was coming... I think from the first game. But it's been a long time building up. Feel free to ignore me if you want, though.


So, I love the Covenant. How it's structured, how it interacts with the game itself, just... it's a lot of stuff that I love because of how the story and the mechanics intertwine to evoke something more. This is... not really going to be anything structured, so I'll probably just be talking about each part as it comes to mind.

First of all, it's a Planet of Hats done right in my opinion. Sure, you have your ruling-class diplomat race, your proud warrior guy race, your cannon fodder race... but it's all done so deliberately in-universe. The people in charge have a vested interest in making sure nothing changes, and things happen as a result of that. Because the people involved are all more than just their hats. (Especially in EU material.)


You have the Prophets. One of the two founding races of the Covenant, they only "won" against the Elites because of the power of their Forerunner Keyship. So that has sort of pervaded their relationship to this day. They arranged for themselves to have power, and the Elites being the muscle... but they are inwardly terrified that things will change. They actually bring nothing to the Covenant, they've just arranged for it all to benefit them.

And they're struggling. In EU material, there are so few of them that they need to go through a genetic web to see if someone's allowed to breed, and with whom. It's a very tenuous grip on things, and while the Elites would never go against them - the Prophets don't see it that way. At all. They saw that they barely won, and their enemies now outnumber them. And they would renege on things if in benefited them... so why would not the Elites?

It all comes to a head in the EU novels, where humans are identified by the Forerunner AI aboard the Dreadnought. As Reclaimers. And this is the terrible secret that the Heirarchs swore to protect (as only they knew), and which is why Humanity was never offered to join the Covenant. Because if this was true... it would render the Prophets and their place in shepherding the Great Journey obsolete. They sought power, immortality, to join their gods. And they were never going to be swayed.

So... this is great to me. Because they fall apart entirely because they fear losing what they have. If they even tried to understand other species... everything would have gone fine. But repeatedly, they've been shown to just... let Elites do that. Like with the Hunters. So they don't have the power to cling onto things when everything starts falling apart, even with the Brutes.

***

Then, there's the Elites. With a rich society before encountering the Prophets, and creating the Covenant, they're now a shadow of their former glory. So much has been stripped out in order to keep them reliant on the Prophets. They no longer farm their own foods, do their own science, pretty much anything unrelated to war and their warrior's culture has been stripped out. Throughout the books especially, their society and way of life is really developed, and it's just... interesting to see. Seeing what they are, and what they've lost because of the directions with others.

So there's this combination of pride in who they are, but some disgruntlement, too. Which is usually what the Arbiters are for, to stamp that out. It makes this tension in the Covenant, because the Prophets are constantly trying to distract from the fact that the Elites don't need them, and in fact never needed them. The only reason anything ever came up was because the Prophet's Forerunner Tech was overwhelming in battle.

They don't engage in sunk costs, either. They saw that they were being replaced. Being betrayed. They may be proud and honourable, but they're not above understanding that they were basically lied and exploited into a war. And this shifting of allegiances in a way that's extremely understandable? That's probably my favorite bit of Halo. Because it would have been so easy to not put anything like that in, and just... fight against the same static Covenant along the way as scary dogmatic aliens. But they're humanized.

And, frankly, they're fun to fight. They have so many tricks, and you can tell that they're the, well, Elite ones just by looking at them. Armoured, with shields, and so many possible loadouts for them to screw you up. You can't just run at them and hope to win, you have to use at least a little bit of strategy. But they also aren't so bullet spongey or anything so as to be obnoxious.

One little thing I always remember from the books, too, is that they have forwards facing knees like humans, while apparently every other species in the Covenant has backwards facing knees. Dunno if the games followed through. ...but the Brutes liked to antagonize the Elites by having the lifts in their ships "out of order", to make them awkwardly have to deal with ladders. I always liked that little touch.

***

And then there's the flip side of the coin... the Brutes. I'll be frank. These guys are boring. I kinda hate them. Like, they are exactly what they need to be for the story. Dumber muscle to replace the Elites. But, that's entire characterization. Anywhere. Like... even in the expanded universe it's basically "yep, they came from a society that kinda destroyed itself to early industrial levels" and that's all we get.

We get they live in packs, and want to be chief. We get that they're devout. But we never have reasons for why they're devout, or why they follow the Prophets, or anything. They are entirely there to just give the Elites a reason to defect. And that feels like such a missed opportunity to me.

They... really aren't as fun to fight, either. They're just large, powerful sacks of HP. They get a bit better in 3, but that basically just turns them into Elites. They do at least have a very distinct aesthetic, which is nice for some variety.

***

Jackals are interesting. They're opportunistic mercenaries, and in the EU would even coexist with humans for a time as long as it was more personally advantageous for them. The Covenant doesn't like giving them good things, so if they can spend a moment getting cool stuff, that's a moment they won't kill you. They have no belief in the Great Journey, unlike the already covered species, and are there solely being cowed in and having opportunities like being granted better ships. Which gives them immense power and respect amongst their species.

They also have a pretty cool pre-Covenant history - they were basically pirate nomads, sailing the seas of their planet and raiding each other's settlements. That extended into their asteroid belt, too... and then the Covenant kinda came in with overwhelming military force and said "you work for us now."

I also like their squabbling with the Grunts - one of the few people that they can kick around, some Jackals even tried to put chemicals in with their methane that'd render uncountable numbers of Grunts sterile. This was the event that kinda kicked off the eventual Grunt Rebellion. It's nice to see that even at surface level, the Covenant is basically barely held together. While it looks like a monolith juggernaut headed towards humanity, it really isn't. And you can even see that in some idle interactions, with Jackals tormenting Grunts. It's just a nice bit of storytelling.

***

And then the Grunts. The lowest of the low, but... there's still some neat stuff about them. Some of it's a little spoilery, so I'll hold off, but... in general there are some that are really clever. They're promoted to Deacons and'll even help work on Forerunner stuff, learning the Glyphs. They're still a pretty low rank, but that being beneath notice means they can get up to some interesting things. Including lead their fellows.

The Grunt Rebellion was when the mistreatment basically boiled over. The Covenant government basically just... didn't care about the Jackals trying to sterilize the Grunts, and didn't bother to investigate. And so the grunts rose up. And even without any weapons, they still struck a blow to the Covenant, ending only upon the partial glassing of their homeworld. But, it let them be armed combatants, because the Elites saw they could have courage. And that event is I think my favorite in all of the Covenant history. Because it shows how fragile the whole thing is. It's barely held together, and any conflict could just... escalate horribly and shake it all apart.

***

Now, the weird stuff. Hunters. I love Hunters. Semi-telepathic hivemind-y alien worms? That inhabit stuff and wear it around like armour? That have their own weird war poetry and stuff? Yes. Give me more of this stuff. I really wish there were more weird aliens like this. Because it's such a unique concept, and it lends itself to so many fun things. I will never stop grinning at the Scarab being superheavy infantry.

They're also unique in that they were the only species actually able to hold the Covenant back at a standstill. So they entered as equals - which is actually the first species to ever do that. While the Prophets and Elites were nominally equals, there was still a winner and a loser there. Instead Hunters basically get to just... do their own thing. Sometimes act as guards and soldiers, sometimes having individual worms crawl through forerunner artefacts to clean it out and maybe move things around. It's really neat. I love it.

***

Aaaand Drones. They're another pretty boring species. They serve as mechanics, and soldiers, and not much is known about them. They're a hive-based society and have basically just been subjugated to view the Prophets as Queens, which means they have a fairly unshakable loyalty. It's interesting to have a different society - and I do like that no society type is really repeated - but only one really interesting thing has been done with it. And no, that's not combat with them. That's just annoying.

Unmutuals. They're Drones that are basically psychopathic, and have been cast from the hive. They refuse to coordinate with others except under fear of pain and death - so, shock collars usually. But if they were freed, they just violently attack anyone and anything around them, especially Drone eggs. The Covenant tends to keep them far, far away... but ever since the Drones have joined with the covenant, the number of Unmutuals has been steadily increasing. That's a neat little tidbit that I actually really like.



...anyways, that's my ramble. I basically just... there's so much interesting stuff that they've done with the Covenant, when it could have just been another faceless alien horde. You have the clashes of the mentalities of the species inside. You have the fact that the Covenant don't innovate, they just reverse-engineer Forerunner stuff. You have the facts that more and more, it feels like even if humanity didn't get involved, the Covenant wouldn't last. There's periodic disgruntlement with the Elites. The scheming of the Prophets. The squabbling of the Grunts and Jackals. And the Unmutuals. Pretty much every one of the species has something that could absolutely ignite it all.

And some of it even comes into play during the story. You see it based on the group compositions, and how the enemies react with one another - grunts fleeing when commanders are killed or whatever. Or the idle animations before you're fighting. And then the fact that you fight with instead of against the elites eventually. The Brutes come in. There's the entire civil war fighting going on. It just feels... great.

[LaZodiac]

Thank you for that lovely bit of writing DataNinja. I strongly agree; the Covenant are really well developed, and even along their so-called planet of hat like nature, it makes sense given they live in an extremely dogmatic society. Of course people are gonna end up seeming the same; there is no room in this covenant for peaceful Elites and badass Grunts. I'd even argue that the general shallowness of the Brutes is intentional because of this very thing. The Elites are TOO nuanced, by the Prophet's standards, so they had to find some idiot gorillas to subjugate into pure meat shields.

I do hope they get elaborated more on in the future though. Post apocalyptic monkey boys as just A Thing in a sci fi space setting is really funny to me. If I may, it is like if you took the bandits and psychos from Borderlands and put them into a normal sci fi series. It shouldn't work at all but it does and it is great. They come from Mad Max World, and the fact that they live in a space drama doesn't change that fact.

[DataNinja]

I don't mind the "shallowness" of the Brutes, it's that there's... nothing really about them. We barely know anything about what shaped them, or what drives them. Like, we get that it's honour that drives the elites. Cowardice for the Grunts. Avarice and opportunism for the Jackals. But Brutes? They basically exist to just hate the Elites. And that's a missed opportunity for me. Since even the one book that has a Brute PoV… it's mostly just being sarcastic to Elites, and claiming the mantle of Chieftain from their father. We're still just seeing what they do, not why they do it. Like, give me even something like they threw themselves heart and soul into the Great Journey, or tell me that they specifically joined up because they were told they got to beat up some Gators and punt some Grunts if they joined up.

That's my grumble, anyways. Hopefully they end up with a bit more development, but... I dunno. Since Halo Wars 2 had Brute antagonists, but it was a Chieftain and co who were banished because even the Covenant feared them, so completely separate everything. Which... doesn't really explain any of the existing anything. And in fact just raises further inconsistencies, and *grumble*...

[LaZodiac]

And so, one last time... C U S T O M.

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [47] [FINALE] Aint No Scrub

Video Length: 33:53

In this, the final episode of Custom Robo... we get one last challenge. Eight fights with the seven strongest people in the game, each with a super powered up robo thanks to the horrifying implication ridden background-radiation of Rahu. We get, to some degree at least, closure for good ole Gyro, and we even end on a fairly okay joke. We also get one of the funniest lines I've ever read in a video game, proving that even here at the end, Crobo delivers on the thing it is best at.

Custom Robo is a game that has definitely overstayed its welcome. The massive tournament arc is... rough, in a lot of ways, and it doesn't help that plague times and depression slammed into me pretty hard during recording. It was just hard to get through it. But it was worth it in the end, I feel. The story mode certainly was, even if the eventual plot decision of "we will trust the police who basically run the government with the mind wipe and rewrite device" is... a horrifying undertone that pervades the entire post game tournament arc.

So yeah. Thank you all for watching. There will be a bonus video uploaded today that will be me and Em playing through multiplayer just to like, show that off. They wanted to do so and I figured I could have some fun with it. Hope you all enjoy. And with that said and done, I bid you all adieu... until Monday, where we'll be beginning Kirby Super Star!

[DataNinja]

Okay, that was a decent finale to it all. I am very glad they didn't go off in the direction of "girl teammate and protag get together at the end", especially because of how Marcia was kind of... emotionally broken and clinging to people for support for so long.
...could have dome with less harassment to take off one's helmet, though. No means no, Scrub, Gyro.

(I should note I did giggle at both of the description texts for today.)

Also, Dang it, Em. It's not going to be a thing! Stop trying to make it a thing!

[Lord Raziere]

Eh, Custom Robo just seems like one of those weird little games that clearly had something more going on, but really didn't have the budget or the clearance to explore it all in as great detail as it could. like the way that is kinda sort doesn't get resolved means they probably wanted a sequel or something, but....eh.

Halo Episodes 6-9:
Johnson? Feel? He's sergeant johnson. He is too badass to feel things. he is like a walking factory of one liners and action movie cliches. But if he isn't that, he probably feels immense survivors guilt coupled with a bitter opinion of all normal humans around him for being unable to live through these events unlike him, who does.

But single beam shot did kill you!

can confirm that "didact" means a "Didactic person". "didactic" means "designed or intended to teach" with a second definition of "intended to convey instruction and information as well as pleasure and entertainment". so basically a didact is someone who intends to teach. others are probably right about its negative connotations however.

Its a Gauss turret. it means its electromagnetically fired, if I recall correctly. I don't know the exact physics of it, but apparently its scientifically possible as its a concept showing up in more hard sci-fi stuff. something along the lines of accelerating stuff using magnetism somehow. Halo is apparently treating it as a powerful piercing weapon with a lower rate of fire.

these logs.....I think its clear what they are about. but I won't say if its spoilers. as for Guilty Spark...I personally cannot feel much about them as you. Guilty Spark is after all, an AI. to an extent, they are obeying their programmed purpose. from the wiki, it seems that Guilty Spark is actually Rampant, a condition referring to an AI going insane in the Halo universe. considering that Guilty Spark has been running for eons its a miracle they are still holding to their original programming at all. Basically I can't really hate the floating ball, because its either a broken machine or an insane artificial person and therefore I can't really feel anything about behavior that has no functional brain to come from. maybe I'd feel something if we ever spent more time with Guilty Spark than the time we do.

Yeah Spartan Laser is cool. considering its design, and the fact it was specifically originally developed for Spartans to use, I doubt its based on Covenant designs, as the Spartan program started decades ago in universe. after all, MC has found no shortage of plasma guns to take back to base to give to scientists to study and they have the arbiter his elites on their side now, so producing more efficient plasma weaponry by copying and innovating covenant weaponry is probably going to the UNSC is aiming for going forward. the Spartan Laser however functions as more Em said, a rocket launcher. its meant more for big acts of destruction than consistent practical small arms fire. if it had covenant design, it would at least have a higher rate of fire.

I dunno, combat skin might be literal. when dealing with a biological weapon-like being like the Flood, there is no measure too paranoid, and your facility can never be too sanitary. for all we know, this thing might be a disease as well. you want your facilities and equipment to be full biohazard/plague containment protocol to do this right.

yeah, fighting two scarabs, flying around, its all pretty action movie, which Halo is really good at. and the twists don't stop coming....

yep. Flood team up. it was surprising to me when this happened in my playthrough so long ago I think, your technically teaming up with the greater evil in this equation, yet it makes sense....because the Gravemind doesn't want to die anymore than anyone else. but of course....they're still the big bad...

and so The Prophet of Truth dies believing his own lies.

and of course, your were right to not trust Gravemind for a single second

On Dataninjas' ramble:
yea now that you mention it, the Covenant doesn't seem stable at all. a government of alien races forced together by conquest and a fake religion, put into castes and focused on imitating old tech of some other civilization rather than making anything new....it was never something that was going to last. granted, the human civilization in Halo-verse was busy having a civil war with its own colonies then had a second war with the Covenant, the UNSC has taken over governance from the UEG during war time, and the Covenant to be fair IS powerful enough to wipe humanity out if they didn't take desperate measures that they have, so its not as if the humans are in a much better position in their situation.

as for getting back the "combat skin" thing and MC's armor being only a two...that should tell you how advanced the Forerunners are in comparison. the most advanced power armor that the UNSC could produce, the heroic iconic armor that you the player use throughout the game and fight hordes of Covenant and Flood to save the galaxy with.....is nowhere near even adequate for the kind of standard security the Forerunners think is needed for containing the Flood. really puts it all into perspective.

[Qwertystop]

Eh, Custom Robo just seems like one of those weird little games that clearly had something more going on, but really didn't have the budget or the clearance to explore it all in as great detail as it could. like the way that is kinda sort doesn't get resolved means they probably wanted a sequel or something, but....eh.

There was a DS Custom Robo game that got released in English, as well as a few JP-only before it. Don't think anything comes after this game as far as narrative timeline, though.

[LaZodiac]

What's pink and blue and soft and cuddly?

It's a Kirby!

Also the new Zodi Plays but still.