(update, went to play halo 4 and it deleted my save for some reason, restarting the entire game on heroic now)

first post I'm adding to scraps raaaaa
I wanted to make a post talking about Halo 4 but I didn't know what to make, since the characters aren't as easy to style the same way as the Covenant are, and where for stylizing spartans I found some workarounds like giving the Spartan helmets have these stylized LED eyes, simplifying their armour, and changing their helmet structures to resemble furry anatomy more, with the prometheans it really felt impossible to draw them in a way that would fit my art style/audience (well, haven't built an audience on FA yet, have I?), to an extent I don't even know if I'll post this to my DeviantArt.

anyways, I was struggling hard to find a way to draw them. Until I thought to myself.

promethean

prom-ethean

PROMethean!!!

so I decided to draw a Promethean in a prom gown. I was first going to do with the Promethean knight, but I found it hard to get them in a gown so I went with an anthro crawler instead. Also, because I found out "halo knight" is a brand of electric scooters so I'll probably draw a promethean knight riding a scooter.

I was going to do a joke about her not being prom age since she's drinking white wine, implying she's 19, and than I realized the people reading this are probably American, and than I wondered about what countries are in what condition by the 2500's in the Halo universe.... and than I realized this is stupid and not only are crawlers likewise incapable of drinking wine but they're also robots, AND LIKE, REALLY REALLY OLD ANYWAYS?

or not, I don't understand the lore of the prometheans yet

hot take before I start talking about the game itself: spartans are more furry than elites, like, especially in Halo 3 the colour options makes them into these government-sanctioned sparkledogs, you really get to customize them like fursonas, and cover your face just like fursuits, elites lack the same level of customization so I always choose spartans.

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okay time to talk about the game

actually, I should specify my relationship with Halo

I'm new to the series, relatively speaking. I played a bit of Halo CEA as a kid, but started playing it again at 17 for a set of livestreamss (where I wasn't paying much attention to the story lol) than, less than two years later and around half a year ago started playing Halo 2, loved it, played Halo 3 a few months later, and am now playing Halo 4.

anyone else get vibes of straight to dvd sequels with Halo 4? Like, proper conclusion and than "Wake up, John! There's a new big bad guy that wasn't at all mentioned before!" I think the inclusion of the forerunners as characters is so stupid, like, I think there is so much good commentary about religion with the Coventant in the earlier titles, all these mindless atrocities in the name of a religion they don't even know the full extent of created by people who are long gone. Scary, and very reflective of our own society, where even humanity uses religion or a moral high ground as a justification to oppress others.

made even stronger by Halo 2's cut ending where the forerunners are revealed to be humans, and that the same people who they were oppressing were the founders of their religion, as it got twisted either by themselves, 343 guilty spark, or the prophets. It felt very real. Humanity is the UNSC, they are the forerunners, and, in reflection of our own society, they are the covenant too.

so making the forerunners aliens, and making them show up infront of the covenant, what statement does that make? That the covenant were right all along? That if you live under a hateful, narrow-minded ideology that you use to oppress others, that you will one day be correct in your corrupt mindset? It's an absolutely disgusting way to twist the message of the original games, with or without Halo 2's cut ending.

(also, any "you disgusting, arrogant humans" speech always feels like some kind of inferiority kink from the writers end lol--its also super ironic when the character giving the speech is just a human with extra steps design wise.)

oh and the main opener for the game, Cortana going "AI's only last eight years" is something I do not remember a single time being brought up in previous entries, its such a strange way to add a conflict, they could have just said her being in that weird broken ship for so long made her corrupt.

anyways, rant aside, I may not like the story--well, I love the opening cutscene, but I do actually love the game. Not joking I've been itching to play the game whenever I'm not, which few games really make me feel. The gameplay is GOLDEN oh my god, the crawlers have the same poppy "snap" to landing headshots as grunts do, and now they can get creative with their placements as they.... crawl up walls and ceilings, the knights.... Piss me off, being able to teleport beside or behind you should not be allowed, but I do like that they're an enemy you're gonna want to use an assault rifle (or something adjacent to it) since that's a weapon I didn't use much in previous games. (the DMR and magnum are my favorite weapons personally) the new weapons are really fun to use, the needler being OP is really satysfying to take out elites, and I find myself using weapons in more creative ways than I did in previous games. Sprint, I actually didn't mind nearly as much as I thought. I love to appreciate the scenery in Halo games so it doesn't change the pace at all. (tho I think unlimited sprint in campaign evolved is a rancid idea since they aren't changing the level design to account for it) sprint allows me to hijack vehicles more easily, although my issue with it is, if I make a stupid choice, sprint allows me to easily back out of it. Which is a good thing to some, but I liked that Halo had more consequences for jumping the gun and hastily getting into battles you aren't ready for. It lowers the skill ceiling in singleplayer, but drastically increases the skill ceiling in multiplayer, I never play the pvp of Halo 4 because I'm not really that good at the game compared to a lot of online players.

the graphics are INCREDIBLE. Like, did not know a 360, or 7th gen console at all could produce graphics this good. I agree with the complaints that everything is too polished from the tech side of things, like, the overgrown forest area having clean steel everywhere and not decaying moss covered metal is goofy. I think there's nothing wrong with a halo game changing the art style, each game has its own aesthetic, reach is my favourite. I think the art direction is too similar to titanfall though. (speaking of that series I know I said I don't plan to draw nsfw but uh.... Idk might draw something spectre related idk)

the devs didn't like Halo, that's what they were hired for.... And with a game with vibes so different from the series leading up to it, I kinda wish Microsoft used those devs to make their own IP to better compete with cod instead and made a studio that DID like Halo work on the new game. I can really tell the developers are talented people who would rather not be working with the Halo franchise through the gameplay. To an extent its kind of jarring when you're fighting both Covenant and Prometheans. The game takes a lot of ques from Mass Effect and Bioshock I've noticed. I love Bioshock, and I did play one hour of Mass Effect (and thought it was the dumbest thing ever, I'm sorry.) and I wonder what the devs could have made if they got the opportunity to make something more similar to that?

anyways, feel free to tell me I'm wrong about the story, and how its all explained in the books. PERSONALLY, I think the games are the main source of content and any material not explored in it is deemed supplemental. But if you disagree with that and the books recontextualize the games in meaningful ways tell me so