Whimsy Wizard

Reliquary of esoteric knowledge and obscure history. Monster girl connoisseur. They don't want you to be whimsical and free.

PFP: @alonelyspirit 🔞

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

PIGFACE from @titolovesyou is awesome, and I made a video talking about it! It's also the first video with my new XLR Mic, so let me know how it sounds!

New Video Link Below:

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@DustinDubbo I'm aware of the lore behind the Mark V, and my issue isn't necessarily related to the Mark V. It's that the design they used for the Mark IV just looks more advanced than the Mark V, and it probably shouldn't.

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

I've actually been meaning to talk about this for a while. Its not that CE's armor is out of place, it's what we've all collectively decided Mark IV looks like.

Bungie originally designed the Mark IV in the first photo, but this was all we had to go off of until Halo Wars.

I've always personally thought that the Orion armor (The Macworld 1999 Armor) would have made for a good canon Mark IV, considering it literally predated the Halo CE Mark V design.

During the making of Halo Wars, the last two photos were concepted. It's far closer to the Mark V in design principles, however for the sake of fitting in an RTS and being easily recognizable from a birds-eye view, they went with what we know now as the Mark IV. Broad shoulders, muscular armor and solid vambraces and grieves similar to Halo 3's Mark VI. I can assume this was done to make it more visually recognizable as Halo, especially off the back of Halo 3.

The problem is, that design looks more advanced than the Mark V, almost like it should have been a Mark VII and came after Halo 3, not way before. It looks like a design evolution of the Mark VI, and yet it was cool enough and iconic enough to be used forever more as the visual representation of the Mark IV.

Part of this blame can absolutely be laid on 343i, deciding to go with a clearly exaggerated and anachronistic design from an RTS and making that canon. Part of it the blame is simply that the Halo Wars design rocks, it's really cool looking, it just should never have been the canon Mark IV.

The Mark IV should have been more like the early concepts, bungie's old blueprint, or the macworld armor. It should have shared the same design principles as the Mark V, but in a rougher, earlier form. CE's new remake has decided to go with a strange combination of the anime Legends design crossed with the body of Halo Wars, and I can't fault them. The damage has already been done after all.

[🍄Oddyssey Talks ⎇ @OddysseyTalks]

This isn't Campain Evolved's fault but I've always thought the in-universe design evolution of these armors makes no sense. CE's armor feels so out of place

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@TheRealQuenny @Vaporwave_07 Literal dark ages I swear. When Jazwares put out that Halo CE Chief figure and it was this fuckass design...

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@Rookie_425 No you know what, that's based.

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

I've seen some people asking in other posts about this subject, "how do you know they're using Reach AI?"

This is how, using your photo, and a screengrab from my recording. I've played well over 4000 hours of Reach across the various Xbox accounts I've had over the years, I know Reach AI when I see it:

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

One thing that concerns me about Halo CE's remake is the use of Reach AI for the elites. The "Covenant Dance" of the elites in CE were part of what made that game play and feel the way it does. They are constantly on the move, hanging back and flanking the player when possible.

They only become aggressive and charge the player when their shields are broken. They run with long strides and swaying movements befitting their lanky designs.

Reach on the other hand, the Elite AI is far more aggressive and don't move the same way. They mostly stick to straight lines, beelining for the player to get into melee like an enraged Elite would. Their melee is also a problem, as it's generally too fast to avoid and dodge the way you could in CE.

I'm using a firefight gamemode of my own making that buffs the player speed and damage slightly and removes armor abilities, attempting to emulate the older titles, and that's the only reason I can avoid their insta-kicks just by walking.

This is hugely important as it affects one of the main enemies you fight in CE, and how you fight them. In Reach, especially on higher difficulties, close-quarters-combat is generally a bad idea because the Elites can and will melee you down before you can react. The only way to mitigate this is to run behind them as fast as possible and hope they don't pull a 180 kick move on you.

Both recordings are played on Easy difficulty just to show off their animations and behaviors better.

They are worlds apart, and this is only one of the many reasons I'm still pretty skeptical about this remake.

[SuperSaltLee COMMS OPEN @SuperSaltLee]

My only complaint with Halo Campaign Evolved is the Halo Reach Engine Elite animations. The original HCE’s enemy animations are just so good and I’m sad to see the Reach stances.
Elite sway, duck and weave is just to unique.
I hate the HR animations in comparison. No dance…

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@Rickshawty2 Its funny you say that because I made a tweet talking about precisely that! It's also a solid point to bring up the post 9/11 world Halo 2 came out in, the vibe of the game was so 2000s its not even funny lol

https://t.co/LaprjcuWQO

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

Halo CE's artstyle was not a product of it's time. It was heavily inspired by anime and the art of Marathon before it. What you see in game was not attempting to look 'realistic' for the time, instead it used the limits of the hardware to present a playable anime power fantasy.

One need only look at the work of Shi Kai Wang as proof:

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@ArodSnow I was actually tempted to post that one! I like that design too, it's another fair candidate for the Mark IV.

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

Holy I think I just had a stroke

[Dexerto @Dexerto]

A chicken company is teaming up with the original 6 7 kid to launch "6 7" shaped nuggets that cost $6.70

Soules Kitchen will launch the nuggets on June 7

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@IndieGameJoe Mummies are cool but what this really needs are big Anubis looking guardians like the Ushabti from Warhammer

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@gregthesorcerer Do NOT accept this guy's freaky quests

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@Akris_Protocol

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

This needs to be seen and understood by everyone who claims Bungie retconned the forerunners first.

[Ed Venture @Edmitsu]

@999Shaheer “Bungie themselves fucked up”
Uh no man Bungie devs have outright said Franky o Retcon changed the forerunners with his proto 343 team as early as the Halo 3 terminals made behind their back. As said by the design lead of Halo 3 in the image below.

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@BimbleWizard Funny you say that, I don't like all of bungies decisions either. Might be a hot take, but I think Reach began the decline of the series. So no, I don't care about likes, nor do I care for 343i or Bungie.

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@DrWalterBennett I honestly agree. The only theory I have for it is that they didn't want people confusing Chief with Jerome.

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

I would agree with you that the amount of cut content across 2 and 3 absolutely muddies the waters, I would argue Bungie never definitively retconned or changed the Human Forerunner connection. I would also argue CE is the clearest and most consistent about this piece of lore.

One need only look at the dialogue in the level "The Maw" From guilty spark, and how the devs reacted to it in the directors commentary from back in the day.

"To record all of OUR lost time! Human history, is it? Fascinating."

CE was pretty on the nose with it's hints to humanity's ancestry.

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@gixevan117 Ah gotcha. Sorry about that!

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@cakedupagitator @FloopyNoopy Great comparison!

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

Halo CE's artstyle was not a product of it's time. It was heavily inspired by anime and the art of Marathon before it. What you see in game was not attempting to look 'realistic' for the time, instead it used the limits of the hardware to present a playable anime power fantasy.

One need only look at the work of Shi Kai Wang as proof:

[GreenPig 👾🐉 @Greenpig117]

Halo CE art director Marcus Lehto directly saying CE’s art direction was a product of its time

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

You couldn't be more wrong about this one man, especially when Joseph Staten put out Contact Harvest after 3, and it explicitly confirms mankind are Forerunner. The Terminals in Halo 3 were written by a sub division/team and the specific entries that contradict the Human=Forerunner narrative were written by one man, Frank O'Connor. He's the single driving force behind the change and retcon, not the rest of Bungie.

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

@FloopyNoopy I haven't read or seen anywhere that Starcraft had an influence on Halo, but it honestly wouldn't shock me. Especially during the early days when CE was going to be an rts before the macworld stuff.

[Whimsy Wizard @Whimsy_Wizard]

Memories were made in those CTF matches...