(a criticism that has been leveled against almost every Halo game)

Has it?

I do believe so. I've seen plenty of complaints about the fact that Master Chief doesn't make any decisions or have any agency in the games; he just does whatever Cortana (or Keyes or Hood or whoever) says he needs to do.

Which isn't exactly that same as the player not being responsible for things happening in the story, but it basically is. How much was Chief really responsible for in any Halo? He destroyed Halo, killed Regret, destroyed another Halo . . . all because Cortana told him to. Cortana has more agency in any of the games than the Chief does. It's not the Chief (or the player) deciding to do things, it's the Chief (and the player) following instructions.

EDIT: By the way, this isn't a complaint I have, just one I have frequently seen.

Oh yeah, the agency thing. No, you're right there. I haven't seen the "the character doesn't do anything to advance the story" complaint.

I do believe so. I've seen plenty of complaints about the fact that Master Chief doesn't make any decisions or have any agency in the games; he just does whatever Cortana (or Keyes or Hood or whoever) says he needs to do.

First of all, the chief is a good soldier that doesn't question the mission (unless it's complete and utter BS like in Halo 4). Secondly, Chief does whatever is needed to fulfill the mission, even improvising when Cortana or others don't know what to do.

Cortana: "there's nothing i can do"
Chief: "How much firepower would it take to crack the engine's shields?"

***

Chief: "Sir, Permission to leave the station"
Lord Hood: "why?"
Chief: "To give the covenant back their bomb."

***

Saving Cortana in Halo 3 (no higher ranking personnel on the Ark to tell him yes or no)

I'm not sure it matters. In the new Mad Max movie, he didn't do anything either. It was still good. And I know video games aren't movies.

I read it, and they are correct at almost every point. I am still happy with the story. What does that mean?

It means it didn't fail. It means the story was just not what they expected.

Chief and Locke were not the main characters of the story. They were just the observers. The dudes the camera was following. This framework has worked for a looooong time. Gamesradar just can't think outside their "I just took Creative Writing 151" box.

I'm not totally with you there. Mad Max wasn't the driving force of the movie, but he absolutely shaped and affected the outcome. Chief and Locke had literally no impact on the outcome of Halo 5.

He didn't really do anything, but even then, there are plenty of other films and stories like this. Look at Raiders of the Lost Ark, for example. He had even less effect than Locke and the Chief. It's a really well established thing.

Mad Max made a big difference to the outcome of the film; they wouldn't have made it to the "green land" without him, he convinced them to go back, and he helped make their return possible. Chief and Locke on the other hand change literally nothing about the outcome of Halo 5.

In the past, I'd be the first to argue that Chief (like Mad Max) was not what the story was about. But 343 has changed that. Chief isn't just a cypher anymore. We're supposed to be invested in him as the main character now.

I don't think we are. It is clear to me from the Halo 5 story that we AREN'T. The Chief doesn't really have any moments of character. He chooses to go get Cortana (a moment of agency) but we don't know what really motivated him. To me, it was Cole protocol and/or valuable intel. To others, it may have been some emotional thing. The point is, he is vague so he is an everyman.

343 has talked explicitly about how Chief is supposed to be the star of this new trilogy, with his growth as a hero being the driving force behind everything. They've made entire ViDocs about how they're trying to explore who chief is and make us care about him more than ever. To me, he sure seems to be the star of the show.

I'm not totally with you there. Mad Max wasn't the driving force of the movie, but he absolutely shaped and affected the outcome. Chief and Locke had literally no impact on the outcome of Halo 5.

He didn't really do anything, but even then, there are plenty of other films and stories like this. Look at Raiders of the Lost Ark, for example. He had even less effect than Locke and the Chief. It's a really well established thing.

No it's not.
If Indiana Jones hadn't been on the hunt for the Ark of the Covenant, the Nazis would likely have found Marion Ravenwood and tortured her to death for the amulet. She lived only because Indiana Jones returned to save her... well, get the amulet too, but saving her was likely #1 on the Things To Do List.

But that's not all! Remember that nifty airplane that was parked at the dig site? The one that pureed Heinrich the Hefty shortly before it caught fire and exploded? It doesn't exist. But look at it! It's a flying-wing design years before such aircraft were developed in earnest! There's no reason for it to be at an archaeological dig site in Egypt, unless, you know, the Nazis planned to fly the Ark back to Germany.

So, Indiana Jones foiled that plan. And the backup plan to either drive the Ark up to Germany or fly it out of Cairo. And then he arranged for the Ark to be smuggled to America. He was hardly doing nothing.

Of course, there's people who say that without Indy mucking up every stage of the Nazi's plans, the Ark would have been taken to Germany to be opened in front of Hitler and a bunch of other Nazi high officials. That assertion doesn't hold water. The Nazis wanted a weapon, but Rene Belloq wanted to talk to personally talk to God, and that's hard to do with Adolf Hitler standing right behind you. Doubtlessly, he would have staged that exact same ceremony and got himself and everyone around him killed for their trouble. Pretty much the same ending as Raiders of the Lost Ark, except the Ark is smack-dab in the middle of Nazi territory. It's either a weapon for the Nazi regime, or a filthy Jewish icon that must be destroyed.

The Ark is much better off in a forgotten warehouse than it is in Nazi Germany.

It's pretty obvious to me it's a bridge narrative to Halo 6.

Oh, totally. It reminds me of "Empire Strikes Back" in a few ways. I thought the story worked just fine within the context of a videogame. I got to go to amazing locations and fight a bunch of bad guys, and I always knew why I was doing what I was doing. But I also understand why some people would say the story doesn't hold up on its own terms.

I actually think the writing stands up to the best of the series, without the almost predictable clunker lines present in most entries--"To War," "Were it so easy," "TWSS." At least nothing jumped out at me in one playthrough.

I do have a joke, though, about Halsey telling a Knock Knock joke.

Knock, Knock

Who's there?

It took you long enough.

While my party of 4 was having a great time Tuesday laughing about whatever we could fine, there was nothing nearly as cringe worthy as those clunkers you speak of.

I'm actually much more interested in playing through this game multiple times, re-inspecting each data pad and exploring spaces that felt much more like "places" rather than corridors. The narrative was interesting to me, making me think about loyalties to king, country, and each other.

It's pretty obvious to me it's a bridge narrative to Halo 6.

Oh, totally. It reminds me of "Empire Strikes Back" in a few ways. I thought the story worked just fine within the context of a videogame. I got to go to amazing locations and fight a bunch of bad guys, and I always knew why I was doing what I was doing. But I also understand why some people would say the story doesn't hold up on its own terms.

I actually think the writing stands up to the best of the series, without the almost predictable clunker lines present in most entries--"To War," "Were it so easy," "TWSS." At least nothing jumped out at me in one playthrough.

I do have a joke, though, about Halsey telling a Knock Knock joke.

Knock, Knock

Who's there?

It took you long enough.

I think the moment-to-moment writing is mostly great. My favorite moment is the cutscene on the Infinity where Halsey reveals that Cortana is a threat, and Roland loses his temper in the process of defending Cortana. There's a lot of subtle character motivations and reflections going on there. It's a level of writing that Halo has never really dipped in to before.