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After all, Reach was different, very obviously "grittier", "tacticool", and the fanbase ate it up. But it wasn't really true to what Halo ever was, except perhaps Halo 2 which had similar aspirations, albeit without picatinny rails.

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I honestly dont think people disliked the Reclaimer Saga art style because it was different-- I think they disliked it because they disliked it, but they could root their opinions in something more objective by pointing out the fact that it was different. But if you liked it I dont think you'd care

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More so I'm arguing AGAINST the idea that every game in the franchise needs to look the same, as if you wouldn't recognize an assault rifle or an Elite if they weren't the same asset as the previous game or in the same style. I think if the creator has a vision, it's fine to reinterpret the visuals

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When did I ever state that no game should ever pursue photo realism? I just said it has the issue of appearing impressive for the time, but quickly losing its luster as techniques and technologies improve in a way that more stylized or surreal games do not suffer from.At least not to the same extent

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Games we thought looked so impossibly real ten or twenty years ago now look incredibly dated. If you think it won't happen to the games of today, you haven't been paying attention.

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The issue with pursuing pure realism in a medium as reliant on current technology as video games is that the visuals will always age horribly once technology advances and games can render even more detailed characters and environments.

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I think the cohesion of the singular piece of work is more important than the cohesion of the franchise.

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Like, Reach looks the way it does because there was clearly a want to be "more serious", more grounded in military aesthetics in a way that the previous games weren't. In a way I think it's a shame that its style has been co-opted as the unofficial HD Halo "look" over any other style.

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AlphaBenson @alphabenson.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

As video games experience diminishing returns with the pursuit of photo-realism, I would generally prefer for us to branch out and try new visual styles. I think it's fine for different games in the same franchise to experiment with their visuals.

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Of course the closest you hear about this in-game is from Halo 5, where the people of Meridian are pretty hostile to the main characters who are of course Spartans, and thus, symbols of UNSC power.

AlphaBenson @alphabenson.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

We do have basically 15 years worth of post war material in the franchise. The gist is that the UNSC is severely weakened with several colonies able to go full independent in their absence, and said colonies typically hold resentment towards the UNSC for what they've done.

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AlphaBenson @alphabenson.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

I mean Halsey does experience those consequences, but I think what's REALLY frustrating is that the government that hired her to do it does not.

Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Marty is the weak man creating hard times.

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Reposted by AlphaBenson

NEW: I spoke to original Halo devs about that ICE Halo post One: "abhorrent” Another: "Using Halo imagery in a call to ‘destroy’ people because of their immigration status goes way too far, and ought to offend every Halo fan, regardless of political orientation” www.gamefile.news/p/halo-ice-d...

gamefile.news

Halo co-creator says ICE’s Halo-themed recruitment ad “makes me sick”

Another Halo maker says ad "ought to offend every Halo fan, regardless of political orientation." ALSO: A developer whose game just launched on Xbox slams Microsoft’s silence

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I think the biggest shame about Halo 3 is that it ends up undermining the idea that ALL Hunters actually joined the Elites when they split off from the Covenant, along with some Grunts. Granted I think Bungie realized you couldn't have a game purely made up of Brutes, Buggers, and Jackals.

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Halo 3 largely exists to tie up the loose ends 2 left dangling after Bungie ran out of time to wrap everything up. So in effect, Halo 3 is just an extended finale that includes some dicking around on Earth before you venture to the Ark, and continue with where Halo 2 left off.

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People often point to the sidelining of the Arbiter with nothing to really take its place as well as the loss of the franchise's lead writer, Joseph Staten, who was effectively temporarily exiled from the company following a big fight betweens devs after Halo 2.

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Contact Harvest, a prequel written by the franchise's lead writer for CE, 2, and ODST, features a younger Sgt Johnson who is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the UNSC and his role in perpetuating their oppression of the colonies.

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Especially when you venture into the books, and it is made abundantly clear that the series is not without its criticisms of imperialism or authoritarianism.

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Compared to something like Tom Clancy, where every Russian PoV character secretly pines to be American and military personnel are treated as simply a higher tier of being from the average person, I don't really think Halo is actually all that supportive of any of the things you claim.

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In CE at least, the Covenant's role in the story was to be usurped by the Flood and later Guilty Spark, the REAL threats. Halo 2 then undermines the idea of the franchise being Humans vs Aliens when it elevates the Arbiter to co-main character status, and has the Elites ally with humans.

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Halo fans only think the Spartan Program was justified because Chief looked cool and they were 14 years old but even back in the first book, it's pretty clear that the UNSC was just a war-mongering fascist regime that had spent its entire history oppressing others and stomping out dissidents.

Investigator Sedra :3 (commissions closed) @alligatorsedra.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

It doesn't, Dr. Halsey's (lady hired by the government to make child soldiers) arc in the books deals with her becoming disillusioned with her previous actions, and she eventually teaches Chief that it's wrong to sacrifice the innocent for the supposed "greater good".

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Reposted by AlphaBenson

some recent halo renders :3 happy halo reveal day !! #SFM #Halo #HaloSpotlight

Covenant corvettes bombard UNSC positions.

A Chieftain leads his brutes into battle.

Honour Guards carve through a squad of Marines.

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Pookleblinky @pookleblinky.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Every centrist hagiographer: he said some very important stuff Everyone: oh, like what? Every centrist hagiographer: very important things Everyone: Can you repeat some of those things he said? Every centrist hagiographer, looking at their legal department frantically shaking their heads: no

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Halo @halo.gg · 10/09/2025

Follow Blue Team in Halo: Shadows of Reach, by Troy Denning, the latest audiobook of the month selection. Check the blog and then join us on Discord to continue the discussion. 🎧 aka.ms/AudiobookShadowsOfReach 📘 aka.ms/AudiobookClubSeptember 🛍️ from @simonaudio.bsky.social bit.ly/3JkIgim

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Ahhhhh @nerdjpg.com · 09/09/2025

I think a network of millionaire and billionaire pedophiles that do sex crimes on a private island should be enough for people to realize “people shouldn’t have vastly more wealth than other people”

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Zane Schacht - Voice Goblin @voicesbyzane.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Been thinking about South Park. I have no love for Matt and Trey. In my eyes they're insufferable centrists with artistic talent whos' whole shtick since they became voices in entertainment has been to endlessly make fun of people who care about shit only to get repeatedly proven wrong by history.

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Hell-a Bambust 🏳️‍⚧️ (alleged transsexual)(spooky) @ela-bambust.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

How do you even begin to help them, to fix this, when it is a nation of death cultists and those who were unlucky enough to be born their neighbors, poor and scared and unable to leave? America is dying and I don't think anyone knows how to stop it.

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Not An Anagram @vertigoem.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Always remember:

Old tweet from Jon Stone which reads "One reason people insist that you use the proper channels to change things is because they have control of the proper channels and they’re confident it won’t work"

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UNDERTALE/DELTARUNE @undertale.com · 04/06/2025

HOW LONG IT HAS BEEN.

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Grunk @grunklebob.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

draft while being physically exhausted

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Moon Blight 🫀 @cuntmoney.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

We stand together or we all fall. - NO AI audiobooks - NO AI covers - NO AI book trailers - NO AI character drawings - NO AI marketing copy - NO AI “research” - NO AI editors - NO AI translation - NO AI at all

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AlphaBenson @alphabenson.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Fourth chapter of Fireteam Wolf's adventure on the glassed world of Paris IV is finally up. What's a Halo story without a cutaway to our main antagonists being dastardly? #Halo #HaloFanFiction #ODST archiveofourown.org/works/350273...

archiveofourown.org

Dust and Echoes - Back in Black - Chapter 4 - AlphaBenson - Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works