I think some people get hung up on expectations/hopes when talking about Infinite's story.
I'll agree that despite the attempts to fill in story bits from previous games with Cortana's echoes, it's still not a great jumping in point for completely new players. There's just a lot of things that have happened to lead up to this point.
But I've noticed a lot of people upset that it doesn't account for where X or Y character is, or what happened to the Spirit of Fire, etc. That stuff just really doesn't matter. The story of Infinite is about the fallout of Halo 4 and 5 and how it affects Chief, The Pilot, and The Weapon. That's the core cast, and that's what 343 chose to write this story about. It's okay if you're not into that, but that fact doesn't make the story "ass" or any other hyperbolic statements. Not every story needs to be an encyclopedia of the entire universe and what happened to this or that character. It's just a smaller scale to focus on in this particular entry. I think 343 made that decision because, well, look at how people reacted to Halo 5, which was a big grand galactic adventure with tons of characters.
As for Halo Wars 2, I never played it either, but it doesn't really matter for this story. The Spirit of Fire isn't involved in these events in any way, so I don't think it's a fair expectation to think Infinite should continue that story. There could always be a Halo Wars 3 for that. Sure, The Banished are involved, but their history really doesn't matter much for Infinite's story either. If you played Halo Wars 2, you'll know about their background, but it doesn't matter if you do or don't. They just needed to be a covenant-style opposing force for you to fight through while going through the core cast's personal journeys. Their motivations ARE explained in game, unlike the Didact's in Halo 4. The Banished want control of the ring so they can become more powerful with its technology and buried secrets, and also so they can defeat Cortana, who destroyed the Brute homeworld. This is all slowly fleshed out in the game. It's not necessary to know 100% of this all from the start. Hell, even Chief doesn't know what the Banished are doing there when the game starts.
I think the mystery around the state of things when the game starts is really cool, and it's an intriguing hook to keep exploring and progressing the story once you realize that its drip-feeding you that info via the echoes, audio logs, etc. It feels like some people expected a big opening cutscene explaining the state of things, or for Chief to turn to the camera Thor style and say "You're probably wondering how I got here!" *cut to "18 months ago" title card*. It's just a different style of storytelling, and I, for one, really enjoyed it. I learned everything I needed to know about the story from playing the game. I didn't read Shadows of Reach or play Halo Wars 2, but I was fine. Again though, if I had never consumed any Halo Media in my life, it would be a different story. I still feel it's best to have at least watched a summary on youtube before going into Infinite.
The other complaint I've seen a few times is people saying the writing is bad because Cortana got a "redemption story". I never once thought this was a redemption story. If the game was trying to shove in my face "CORTANA WAS GOOD ALL ALONG!" or like, people were building monuments and memorials to her because she helped stop the Banished, now THAT would be bad writing. In the end, she still essentially committed genocide and was generally a horrible monster. That's how people will remember her. But she used her last moments to do ONE good thing. That's not a redemption story. It's just a moment of clarity and regret, and an opportunity to get some nice warm feelings of positive closure between Cortana and Chief. It's like Darth Vader using his last moments to save his son's life. No, it's not a redemption and he's not looked at as a hero when all is said and done. But it was a satisfying moment for the character's arc and gave us just a the tiniest reason to feel a bittersweet sadness about his death.
Anyway, just wanted to say my piece on these issues. If you aren't into this kind of story, that's fine. I personally thought it worked really well, especially considering the weird state 343 wrote themselves into with Halo 5. I'm ALWAYS one to prefer a more character focused story rather than a universe focused one. I had a fantastic time and was very moved by the narrative themes of forgiveness and trust <3
I'll agree that despite the attempts to fill in story bits from previous games with Cortana's echoes, it's still not a great jumping in point for completely new players. There's just a lot of things that have happened to lead up to this point.
But I've noticed a lot of people upset that it doesn't account for where X or Y character is, or what happened to the Spirit of Fire, etc. That stuff just really doesn't matter. The story of Infinite is about the fallout of Halo 4 and 5 and how it affects Chief, The Pilot, and The Weapon. That's the core cast, and that's what 343 chose to write this story about. It's okay if you're not into that, but that fact doesn't make the story "ass" or any other hyperbolic statements. Not every story needs to be an encyclopedia of the entire universe and what happened to this or that character. It's just a smaller scale to focus on in this particular entry. I think 343 made that decision because, well, look at how people reacted to Halo 5, which was a big grand galactic adventure with tons of characters.
As for Halo Wars 2, I never played it either, but it doesn't really matter for this story. The Spirit of Fire isn't involved in these events in any way, so I don't think it's a fair expectation to think Infinite should continue that story. There could always be a Halo Wars 3 for that. Sure, The Banished are involved, but their history really doesn't matter much for Infinite's story either. If you played Halo Wars 2, you'll know about their background, but it doesn't matter if you do or don't. They just needed to be a covenant-style opposing force for you to fight through while going through the core cast's personal journeys. Their motivations ARE explained in game, unlike the Didact's in Halo 4. The Banished want control of the ring so they can become more powerful with its technology and buried secrets, and also so they can defeat Cortana, who destroyed the Brute homeworld. This is all slowly fleshed out in the game. It's not necessary to know 100% of this all from the start. Hell, even Chief doesn't know what the Banished are doing there when the game starts.
I think the mystery around the state of things when the game starts is really cool, and it's an intriguing hook to keep exploring and progressing the story once you realize that its drip-feeding you that info via the echoes, audio logs, etc. It feels like some people expected a big opening cutscene explaining the state of things, or for Chief to turn to the camera Thor style and say "You're probably wondering how I got here!" *cut to "18 months ago" title card*. It's just a different style of storytelling, and I, for one, really enjoyed it. I learned everything I needed to know about the story from playing the game. I didn't read Shadows of Reach or play Halo Wars 2, but I was fine. Again though, if I had never consumed any Halo Media in my life, it would be a different story. I still feel it's best to have at least watched a summary on youtube before going into Infinite.
The other complaint I've seen a few times is people saying the writing is bad because Cortana got a "redemption story". I never once thought this was a redemption story. If the game was trying to shove in my face "CORTANA WAS GOOD ALL ALONG!" or like, people were building monuments and memorials to her because she helped stop the Banished, now THAT would be bad writing. In the end, she still essentially committed genocide and was generally a horrible monster. That's how people will remember her. But she used her last moments to do ONE good thing. That's not a redemption story. It's just a moment of clarity and regret, and an opportunity to get some nice warm feelings of positive closure between Cortana and Chief. It's like Darth Vader using his last moments to save his son's life. No, it's not a redemption and he's not looked at as a hero when all is said and done. But it was a satisfying moment for the character's arc and gave us just a the tiniest reason to feel a bittersweet sadness about his death.
Anyway, just wanted to say my piece on these issues. If you aren't into this kind of story, that's fine. I personally thought it worked really well, especially considering the weird state 343 wrote themselves into with Halo 5. I'm ALWAYS one to prefer a more character focused story rather than a universe focused one. I had a fantastic time and was very moved by the narrative themes of forgiveness and trust <3
