Yelchor said:
Eversince I first came in contact with the Moviebob reviews I got stuck. A very charming and humorous way to talk about visual media.
You don't need to tell me, I was hooked from his fifth Game Overthinker (I was introduced to him quite a while before his Escapist series thanks to Screwattack's Submission Sunday).
What I'd really want is for the Halo franchise to be something more then just a fun FPS serie, it can actually focus alot on immersion by having a setting and story that makes the audience ponder. A deterioating alien empire trying to keep itself together by claiming to have dangerous enemies, resulting in genocide of never-before recorded magnitude in human history. I'm surprised over that the atmosphere after Halo: CE didn't shift into a darker, more hopeless tone. As by that point only Earth itself remained populated by humans, all of the colonies had been turned into glass-covered ruins with billions after billions of people that had perished with it. Were the ones who did this sadistic monsters? No, they were mostly honor-focused minds that even had chivalarious ideals (reffering to Elites here.), or simply having no other choice but to obey. They allowed themselves to be blindly guided on a path of terrible destruction, certain of that they were working for the greater good.
There is potential for the Halo franchise to develop into a deep story. Things like what I mentioned above are what could make a Halo movie really, really good if you ask me.
Again, my reply to this will be kind of wonky as I never played the Halo games through. That out of the way, that really is an interesting way to look at the Covenant, and demonizing the Prophets, while forgivable as a result of the game fundamentally being an FPS, wasn't the best way to convey that view. I'm thinking you might be a fan of the books like a few users earlier. As for the movie, I'm rather doubtful, but if you use the backstory well I wouldn't say it's impossible.
Perhaps I used the wrong words to describe my interpretation of this anime collection. Of course it's alot of "Hack and Slash", but as I mentioned about my dislike for japanese animation culture, I can't see Halo and anime mixing together. It doesn't go with my taste. Infact I think this is what the Halo franchise needs the least if its universe is to be taken seriously (By me atleast.).
Yeah, regardless of medium, something based on an FPS will be rather hack and slash.
That aside, I was pretty surprised myself when I learned of a Halo anime, and it really seemed contradictory like Moviebob said. Of course, to see how well this went I'm gonna have to see it myself, and I have to note that the short where the anime thing would hurt the seriousness seems to be Odd One Out, and again that's a parody.
About the Spartans. Of course they still have the same intellectual capacity of any other human being, but I was reffering to their anatomy. The amount of hair on them is just impractical for combat, and wouldn't they be rather pale having spent their time in those suits for a rather long time? I can imagine the Spartan working scheduele to be nearly non-stop during the war against the Covenant. Sure, this might be an unimportant detail, but for me it becomes dumbed down. They're not what I'd imagine a Spartan looking like. Their skelleton was given metallic layering, muscle development was increased to an extensive level, tons of implants were placed all throughout their bodies. How could they avoid not looking like post-suit Darth Vader in some degree?
I wouldn't see the hair as much of an issue, actually, since they're wearing helmets. Other than that, though, you bring up some accuracy issues with the Halo universe, though I have to say I'm still for the general idea of Homecoming.
Curiously enough, the picture lordlee showed with Western RPGs on the right side and with Japanese RPGs on the left side on page 4 of this thread had me cringing when looking on the left side with the right side being a fine collection of quality games to my eyes.
I'll say this about those four games: Tales of Symphonia is intentionally rather cliche, as is the Tales series for that matter (though I personally loved Symphonia). Soul Nomad is made by Nippon Ichi, that's all I need to say (if you don't know about them, look them up, they generally make rather silly games). Final Fantasy V, from what I've heard (I just started playing it), is kind of a self-parody and, yes, would have a lighthearted and cliche story as a result. That leaves Fire Emblem, which still has some rather young heroes and JRPG-fantasy conventions, but the cast is generally comprised of adults and it avoids the things you're probably annoyed by in JRPG's. It's not a philosophy-fest, but maybe you should try that one, at least for the strategy gameplay.
On the WRPG front, I really need to get around to Fallout 2. Maybe I'll also try Mirrowind, but Oblivion left a bad impression on me (ironically, I liked Fallout 3, which is quite similar gameplay-wise).
Edit: Oh, and KOTOR. I think my brother's hard copy is lying around somewhere.
My dislike for JRPGs are probably, at its core, that I don't see any intellectual value in it. Atleast Halo had me think about something, as my previous post and this one clearly demonstrates.
At the risk of being cliche, I have to wonder what JRPG's you have played. Part of me thinks they were earlier Final Fantasy games, which aren't exactly the most though-provoking experiences. Maybe we should discuss this with lordlee, since like last time he's more qualified than me.
Oh, and trust me, your dislike of JRPG's is not unshared here.
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