Activision taking over Halo (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Friday, September 25, 2026, 15:17 (2 hours, 7 minutes ago) @ Cody Miller

At the end of the day, though, they're all just kinda boring. And that's honestly the worst thing a video game can be.

It's boring because the studio was set up to create more Halo, rather than more meaningful experiences. I'm convinced they had a studio run by people more enamored by the surface level details of Halo than the actual emotional hooks. I say this because there were no such hooks, beyond perhaps the call to nostalgia which is itself a black hole that sucks up creativity and removes it from the universe.

I think there is something to this. I won't paint with a broad brush because I know that there were people at 343 who wanted to create meaningful experiences, but creating a game that works on that level is the product of a company culture and a defined vision. Those who won the arguments in the day-to-day struggles that are inherent in software development weren't the people with their eyes on the "meaningful experience" prize, I don't think. The most affecting scene in any 343 game* is the final scene between MC and Cortana in Halo 4. I cried. I also felt a little bit manipulated, and I was aware that 99% of what I was feeling was trading on the meaningful experiences I'd had in the previous games.

*still haven't finished Halo Infinite, which is a shame, because I liked it.