Here we go...

by Fuertisimo, Monday, August 26, 2013, 22:49 (4105 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by Fuertisimo, Monday, August 26, 2013, 22:56

"We like to tell big stories and we want people to put the Destiny universe on the same shelf they put Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or Star Wars"

Big is not the reason these things were successful. There were many many films before Star Wars which were bigger in scope. Why was it Star Wars that caught on?

Hint: Star Wars was actually about something and tapped into the human condition in a significant way.

Someone the other day compared the writing in the Halo games to the writing of Dexter right now, and if you don't watch Dexter, then realize that the comparison is not flattering for Halo because the writing in Dexter is terrible.

I'm not going to pass judgement on the writers at Bungie, but I think you're actually making a fairly strong argument against your own position. One of the reasons Star Wars is popular is because it is a modern incorporation of the heroes journey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth for more info on this, you can even scroll down and check out the star wars section!)

So far as tapping into the human condition in a significant way, part of the reason Halo is popular is because it allows the player to embody the hero archetype. Essentially the entire trilogy revolves around the idea that you (represented in game as master chief) are going to be the savior of humanity. A desire to be the hero is something that certainly exists in the human condition and I'd say that Halo's continued success speaks to its ability to engage people. Without the hero porn as I like to call it, Halo is just another game about shooting aliens, of which there have been plenty of before and since (spoiler alert: shooting aliens actually taps into part of the human condition as well!)

All that being said, I think the kind of writing that you're referring to is the dialogue driven interpersonal relationship type of writing. That's cool too, but its not what Halo is about, or what Halo tries to be.

Destiny? TBD.

Edit: Incidentally enough, I agree with you that you can't set out to create a cultural phenomenon, it can only happen organically. There's a big difference between successful or popular and truly iconic in the same way Star Wars or Star Trek are. I only disagree with the assertion that Halo does not tap into something in the human condition in a significant way.