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[Einchy]

Yep. No way is it ODST length if you actually slow down long enough to pay attention to the dialog and check out the environments a little. I wonder if people who complain about the length just rush through as fast as possible. It's not 343's job to satisfy players who treat the game like a timed arcade shooter (if that's what's really going on here).

I specifically didn't use sprint just so I could look around the environments in sections without enemies and I beat it in 6 hours and 23 minutes. I even backtracked in a few spots after I killed all the enemies just to see other routes I could have possibly used.

Nowhere did I rush the game.

Saying that game isn't short because you played it on legendary is kind of silly. Of course the game will be harder when played on the hardest difficulty. If someone plays the game on the difficulty that it's balanced around, though, you'll be in and out in no time whatsoever. CoD games have historically been seen as a short but they aren't if you play it on the hardest difficulty, too. I'm sure Halo 6 on easy could be a long game, too, if you spend most of the time looking for skulls and intel. If you just play the game normally, though, it's extremely short.

 

[Kalentan]

Yep. No way is it ODST length if you actually slow down long enough to pay attention to the dialog and check out the environments a little. I wonder if people who complain about the length just rush through as fast as possible. It's not 343's job to satisfy players who treat the game like a timed arcade shooter (if that's what's really going on here).

I heard a lot of dialogue during levels that in my opinion, helped flesh out the characters... It also helped that I found this Legendary one of the hardest next to Halo 2 and it took me nearly 17 hours to beat... Longer than any previous Halo I have beat on Legendary.

Beating the Triple Warden took me at least an hour itself without any tricks.

 

[Inferno313]

The game sure as hell isn't short on Legendary. Maybe that's why I was fine with the plot? I had tons of breathing room between plot points, and was able to hear a lot of supplemental dialog from Osiris.

Yeah, same. It took me about 9-10 hours on Heroic. I honestly wonder if some of the people complaining about plot are missing mission chatter, either through moving through the levels too quickly, or not hearing it over the music effects. I had to turn down the music and effects to hear some of it. A lot of exposition and details are in mission chatter.

 

[Flipyap]

II just can't wrap my head around how this game is actually shorter than ODST when ODST was supposed to be this small and quick campaign. .

It's... not. Not even close. ODST took me 6 hours on Legendary, including searching for audio logs and getting stuck on the highway thanks to Buck's inability to do anything.

 

[Kastrioti]

Took me about 8 1/2 hours on Normal to beat. Story was much better than Halo 4's but I'm going to give it a run on Heroic again to get some of the Intel etc.

Cutscenes and the way they were directed were gorgeous.

 

[RoKKeR]

Cutscenes and the way they were directed were gorgeous.

Except for when like 3 of them would just fade to black right as they were about to get interesting.

(there is some stellar cutscene direction in the game, but that really bugged me)

 

[Brojito]

In reference to the EU and barring the cliffhanger it does an excellent job of delivering information throughout the campaign without relying or expecting you to know information outside of the game, so yes it's the best self contained and granted the EU wasn't as fleshed out then, but that's missing the point.

Halo 2 also has actual characters, who go through arcs and aren't just static throughout the entire game. Also a second viewpoint character that isn't entirely pointless and adds to the story. Halo 2 took a universe that we knew very little about yet and blew it wide open... in the actual game.

Halo 5 can have all the "lore" and collectibles it wants, it doesn't make it a well-told story.

 

[Monocle]

Sell me on this as best you can without spoiling, Monocle.

A beautifully written character piece that explores the ethics of treating smart AIs as property rather than people. Has interesting implications that tie into a key development in Halo 5. One of my favorite Halo stories, and I've read nearly all of the books.

I specifically didn't use sprint just so I could look around the environments in sections without enemies and I beat it in 6 hours and 23 minutes. I even backtracked in a few spots after I killed all the enemies just to see other routes I could have possibly used.

Nowhere did I rush the game.

Saying that game isn't short because you played it on legendary is kind of silly. Of course the game will be harder when played on the hardest difficulty. If someone plays the game on the difficulty that it's balanced around, though, you'll be in and out in no time whatsoever. CoD games have historically been seen as a short but they aren't if you play it on the hardest difficulty, too. I'm sure Halo 6 on easy could be a long game, too, if you spend most of the time looking for skulls and intel. If you just play the game normally, though, it's extremely short.

I played on Heroic. Took me around 11 or 12 hours. I don't have the exact time because I went offline to avoid waiting for that massive patch to download.

A couple of those hours were spent looking for secrets and listening to dialog in the non-combat segments. I was happy with the length, personally, whereas Halo 3 (for example) always felt too short to me.

I heard a lot of dialogue during levels that in my opinion, helped flesh out the characters... It also helped that I found this Legendary one of the hardest next to Halo 2 and it took me nearly 17 hours to beat... Longer than any previous Halo I have beat on Legendary.

Beating the Triple Warden took me at least an hour itself without any tricks.

Legendary is surprisingly tough. I've only tackled mission 3 so far (for the skull), but yeah. A great challenge.

 

[Chorazin]

Edit: whoops wrong thread. Ummmm Cortana is evil harumpf harumpf?

 

[TheOddOne]

A beautifully written character piece that explores the ethics of treating smart AIs as property rather than people. Has interesting implications that tie into a key development in Halo 5. One of my favorite Halo stories, and I've read nearly all of the books.

I thrust you, so I'm sold. Thanks!

 

[Crossing Eden]

Which page is where people found out about the twist, curious about initial reactions.

 

[SaganIsGOAT]

As long as she holds the key to mankind's next step in technological evolution the threat of war will always be there. Also senator Del Rio is gonna come back from that vacation he took for wrongly accusing Chief of killing humans on Biko real quick once he finds out that rampant AI he wanted confiscated is now using giant Forerunner war ships that have already killed thousands to threaten humans with.

I thought about this and realized Cortana helped chief stop the Didact so without her chief would have failed and earth would have been composed.

 

[Pizza]

I think halo 5 suffered from Spider-Man 3 syndrome: too many new characters. I didn't feel like anyone got much screen time.

The story was pretty cool though, and halo 6 will be wild.

There was way too much orange+blue though. Someone should have slapped the art direction's hand.

The story even admitted to literally having blue team walk in circles for HOURS. Why not just focus on Osiris and have them be more fleshed out? Also the Locke v chief scene was lame.

I do like how all the major characters wound up hanging out at the arbiter's house, but why didn't chief and arbiter speak? Why didn't Locke tell him that he said hi? Where's guilty spark 2? Will humanity fight cortana or will the flood show up and make them be nice?

I also like how she used all the AI's to Trojan horse the Galaxy, too.

Halo 5 was a mixed bag. A less cool story than 4, but easier to understand

 

[RE_Player]

I feel like a fool thinking 343 could deliver a good story. So bummed out after just hitting the credits. Looking through the thread and trying to process everything.

 

[LordOfChaos]

Oh, here's that time stamp for the AI thing

https://youtu.be/Vr08_8mJZsE?t=2h12m30s

Hmm. Still unsure if that was BB. I feel like they didn't intend it to be, otherwise they would have had him say his name for dramatic effect. Probably just had the VA on hand, if that was indeed him.

 

[BizzyBum]

I feel like a fool thinking 343 could deliver a good story. So bummed out after just hitting the credits. Looking through the thread and trying to process everything.

I was excited when I first learned a new trilogy was going to be made, but 343i has not really done a good job here. After 6, I think Halo needs to be done for quite some time, and if it ever gets a reboot or new line of games, have a different studio undertake it.

Despite the fact that everyone is fairly laconic, I actually gave a damn what happened to those characters, and I definitely wanted more.

Did you read the books? I heard the books flesh out the characters a bit more, because otherwise for people who just play the games, I don't see how anyone could give two shits about any of this cast.

 

[NullPointer]

I feel like a fool thinking 343 could deliver a good story. So bummed out after just hitting the credits. Looking through the thread and trying to process everything.

And did I miss it or do we never see a city full of human buildings reduced to rubble by the guardians? The very rubble shown in the live action ads with the chief buried in it, and the one on the boxcover of the game?

Did I miss that somewhere or is it just not in the game at all?

 

[BizzyBum]

And did I miss it or do we never see a city full of human buildings reduced to rubble by the guardians? The very rubble shown in the live action ads with the chief buried in it, and the one on the boxcover of the game?

Did I miss that somewhere or is it just not in the game at all?

Everything in the live action trailers is non existent. 343i basically made up a fake ad campaign because they knew the actual story was such shit.

 

[LordOfChaos]

And did I miss it or do we never see a city full of human buildings reduced to rubble by the guardians? The very rubble shown in the live action ads with the chief buried in it, and the one on the boxcover of the game?

Did I miss that somewhere or is it just not in the game at all?

I think the only real destruction they caused was in the process of awakening, and having other species unknowingly having built settlements over them. Cortana isn't going all wanton kill-ey, though awakening them did have a large death toll in itself.

 

[NullPointer]

Everything in the live action trailers is non existent. 343i basically made up a fake ad campaign because they knew the actual story was such shit.

Its on the boxcover too.

(click to see full size)

 

[BizzyBum]

Its on the boxcover too.


(click to see full size)

I would say it's supposed to be Meridian when you awaken the first Guardian and have to escape in the space elevator.

 

[NullPointer]

I would say it's supposed to be Meridian when you awaken the first Guardian and have to escape in the space elevator.

I thought Meridian was a small backwater corporate mining op on a glassed planet, powered by hope and some super ginormous fucking drilling rigs. Don't remember even the hint of cities. But I guess...

And is the Warden ever mentioned or explained, even in the extended fiction? Because he's actually the basis of the conflict here and all we know is that he's not a machine, and wants to protect Cortana, and is at least somewhat conflicted by that, because one moment he's letting Blue Team in and the next he's fighting them. With Osiris he just fights them.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

I feel like a fool thinking 343 could deliver a good story. So bummed out after just hitting the credits. Looking through the thread and trying to process everything.

I was same way. I'm still upset at the garbage I was shoveled. I'm even more upset I called Cortana being a villain after I beat 4, but kept assuring myself after all these years it won't happen, though I knew it would. It hurt to see her reduced to a cliche. A stereotype. Or trope. I dunno.

 

[ArchedThunder]

Everything in the live action trailers is non existent. 343i basically made up a fake ad campaign because they knew the actual story was such shit.

They wanted to keep the twist a secret and the only other thing they could focus on was the "hunt", so they spiced it up for marketing. I honestly don't see a huge problem with it.

 

[Poodlestrike]

I was excited when I first learned a new trilogy was going to be made, but 343i has not really done a good job here. After 6, I think Halo needs to be done for quite some time, and if it ever gets a reboot or new line of games, have a different studio undertake it.

Pls, no. I really loved 5 and eagerly anticipate 6. Can't you just... stop buying them? Instead of wishing other people can't?

And with 12 guardians popping up, the human city is probably somewhere out there, even if it's not shown in-game.

I was same way. I'm still upset at the garbage I was shoveled. I'm even more upset I called Cortana being a villain after I beat 4, but kept assuring myself after all these years it won't happen, though I knew it would. It hurt to see her reduced to a cliche. A stereotype. Or trope. I dunno.

All of those things are different, though.

And I wouldn't call Cortana's path a cliche. Not sure how it even could be a stereotype. And yes, it's a trope, but what isn't?

 

[ryan299]

I was same way. I'm still upset at the garbage I was shoveled. I'm even more upset I called Cortana being a villain after I beat 4, but kept assuring myself after all these years it won't happen, though I knew it would. It hurt to see her reduced to a cliche. A stereotype. Or trope. I dunno.

I think her turn works if Chief is the main character throughout and we see him having to deal with the fact that he needs to destroy her to save the galaxy.

Using him as the macguffin, is a slap to the face of the fans. The guy is the mascot for the system and is a secondary character in a main Halo game. Surely during development somebody mentioned that Chief is only in the game for 3 missions and knew that they would get a lot of shit over it.

I was excited when I first learned a new trilogy was going to be made, but 343i has not really done a good job here. After 6, I think Halo needs to be done for quite some time, and if it ever gets a reboot or new line of games, have a different studio undertake it.

They just need to sack the current writing staff and get competent writers. Whoever wrote Hunt the Truth should be in charge.

 

[jem0208]

Well that was fucking fantastic.

Bring on H6.

 

[Flipyap]

Its on the boxcover too.

The dark city at the very bottom? I'm pretty sure that's just part of the Sanghelios skyline. You can make out some of their domed structures and triple columns in there.

 

[WordsintheWater]

The dark city at the very bottom? I'm pretty sure that's just part of the Sanghelios skyline. You can make out some of their domed structures and triple columns in there.

Yup that looks like Sunaion to me.

Now as for my thoughts on the campaign, I enjoyed it. Better then Halo 4 definitely and the twist wasn't bad in my opinion. There were a few awkward scenes in the game though that could have been fleshed out way more. Oh and another thing I think Locke pretty much sucks as a character, I would have much rather been playing as Buck if they were gonna make me play as someone other then Chief. All I know is Halo 6 better be all Chief, I don't want to play most of the game as someone else, especially when they are not interesting.

 

[Plywood]

Halo 2 also has actual characters, who go through arcs and aren't just static throughout the entire game. Also a second viewpoint character that isn't entirely pointless and adds to the story. Halo 2 took a universe that we knew very little about yet and blew it wide open... in the actual game.

Halo 5 can have all the "lore" and collectibles it wants, it doesn't make it a well-told story.

Nothing to add except agreed.

 

[Walshicus]

The game sure as hell isn't short on Legendary. Maybe that's why I was fine with the plot? I had tons of breathing room between plot points, and was able to hear a lot of supplemental dialog from Osiris.

Yeah, I only finished it last night on Heroic. Didn't think it was short!

 

[justsomeguy]

I specifically didn't use sprint just so I could look around the environments in sections without enemies and I beat it in 6 hours and 23 minutes. I even backtracked in a few spots after I killed all the enemies just to see other routes I could have possibly used.

Nowhere did I rush the game.

Saying that game isn't short because you played it on legendary is kind of silly. Of course the game will be harder when played on the hardest difficulty. If someone plays the game on the difficulty that it's balanced around, though, you'll be in and out in no time whatsoever. CoD games have historically been seen as a short but they aren't if you play it on the hardest difficulty, too. I'm sure Halo 6 on easy could be a long game, too, if you spend most of the time looking for skulls and intel. If you just play the game normally, though, it's extremely short.

23 deaths on heroic, I don't think you are the typical player (that's a compliment), legendary may have been a better match for your skill level.

 

[Bornstellar]

Yeah, here's my campaign stats:

Initial run alone was ~16 hours I think. I think most people who started Heroic in previous games should give Legendary a shot. At least, until they get the Iron skull to make Heroic more like it used to be.

Besides, you get this awesome piece of achievement art if you do:

 

[tootsi666]

My Legendary run was 9,5 hours. More than half of my deaths were probably on the warden fights lol. When not fighting against the warden Halo 5 is really easy on Legendary, harder than Halo 4 but easier than Halo 3.

 

[Super Rookie]

Well that was fucking fantastic.

Bring on H6.

Yup my thoughts exactly, IMO easily the best Halo so far.

Also was grinning ear to ear when I was playing co-op as Buck after already completing the game solo, and managed to overtake Locke to "Finish the fight" never thought that would be possible!

 

[Bornstellar]

Yup my thoughts exactly, IMO easily the best Halo so far.

Also was grinning ear to ear when I was playing co-op as Buck after already completing the game solo, and managed to overtake Locke to "Finish the fight" never thought that would be possible!

Curious what that sequence looks like in co-op.

 

[nOoblet16]

Everything in the live action trailers is non existent. 343i basically made up a fake ad campaign because they knew the actual story was such shit.

The live action/CGI trailers are usually outsourced to a different studio and they are given a rough idea of what they want, perhaps when 343 asked for these trailers to be made they had a different story in mind. Infact, maybe some of these levels were even cut but because they had already asked the studio to create the trailers they decided to go ahead with it.

Yup my thoughts exactly, IMO easily the best Halo so far.

Also was grinning ear to ear when I was playing co-op as Buck after already completing the game solo, and managed to overtake Locke to "Finish the fight" never thought that would be possible!

Buck is the true leader

 

[Dunkley]

Yup my thoughts exactly, IMO easily the best Halo so far.

Also was grinning ear to ear when I was playing co-op as Buck after already completing the game solo, and managed to overtake Locke to "Finish the fight" never thought that would be possible!

Does the dialogue change at all there?

Would be funny if they put in some non-canon dialogue for co-op on circumstances like this.

 

[Super Rookie]

Buck is the true leader

Cortana did call him old!

Does the dialogue change at all there?

Would be funny if they put in some non-canon dialogue for co-op on circumstances like this.

Yeah for me Locke said "Buck it's up to you" and Buck has his own dialogue while breaking the thing apart, they must have recorded lines for each character.

Also was surprised in the glassed mission that you could take out the first gates generator instead of clearing the area and waiting for the AI to open the gate and just making a break for it.

The team start questioning Locke about shouldn't they help the people first?
Made Locke seem like a dick but really enjoyed the slight narrative difference there.

 

[Bornstellar]

Cortana did call him old!


Yeah for me Locke said "Buck it's up to you" and Buck has his own dialogue while breaking the thing apart, they must have recorded lines for each character.

Also was surprised in the glassed mission that you could take out the first gates generator instead of clearing the area and waiting for the AI to open the gate and just making a break for it.

The team start questioning Locke about shouldn't they help the people first?
Made Locke seem like a dick but really enjoyed the slight narrative difference there.

That's awesome.

Yeah, I noticed that was an option, but I chose to not do so since I didn't want to piss off the locals.

 

[Glass]

So wait, what was Hunt the truth? As in, how does it play into the campaign story? The two perspectives and the mystery stuff to the adverts was great, but what aspect from the game was drawn on to create that stuff?

 

[Dunkley]

Yeah for me Locke said "Buck it's up to you" and Buck has his own dialogue while breaking the thing apart, they must have recorded lines for each character.

Also was surprised in the glassed mission that you could take out the first gates generator instead of clearing the area and waiting for the AI to open the gate and just making a break for it.

The team start questioning Locke about shouldn't they help the people first?
Made Locke seem like a dick but really enjoyed the slight narrative difference there.

That is AWESOME. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Monocle]

On Genesis (mission 13) you can get an Ultra Ghost and an Ultra Wraith by hanging back at different points. The Wraith spawns behind you once you drive your Scorpion a bit out of the starting area, and the Ghost appears in the second or third open area, against the left wall next to some Covenant crates, before you cross the metal bridge (I think. Might be after, actually). Sorry I can't be more specific. I found both vehicles while following a guide to get the datapads.

If you're in the Scorpion with someone on gun and your other two teammates pilot the ultra vehicles, you can wreck everything pretty fast. You can even use a side path to go around the part where you're supposed to abandon your vehicle before the boss fight. The Ultra Ghost can kill the Warden from an insane range, and the Ultra Wraith will actually spawn in behind you if someone's driving it, lol. Fun stuff.

Also was surprised in the glassed mission that you could take out the first gates generator instead of clearing the area and waiting for the AI to open the gate and just making a break for it.

Damn, cool option. I didn't notice that.

 

[Super Rookie]

That's awesome.

Yeah, I noticed that was an option, but I chose to not do so since I didn't want to piss off the locals.

I wouldn't have done that either but it was my second play through lol.

Also I love the intel in this game, usually I collect them in other games listen to them and don't really care, but I find them so well done here.
My favorite ones are the Elite writing a poem as he is in love with Palmer, and the Grunt who hypothesises humans lose limbs as they get older.

Also liked the grunt who sings a song he learnt from a human prisoner and the one who won't shut up and the elite he is talking to just keeps saying "uh huh"

Really like the way they fleshed out the universe in this.

 

[Monocle]

I wouldn't have done that either but it was my second play through lol.

Also I love the intel in this game, usually I collect them in other games listen to them and don't really care, but I find them so well done here.
My favorite ones are the Elite writing a poem as he is in love with Palmer, and the Grunt who hypothesis's humans lose limbs as they get older.

Also liked the grunt who sings a song he learnt from a human prisoner and the one who won't shut up and the elite he is talking to just keeps saying "uh huh"

I just found that a couple of hours ago. So good.

Really like the way they fleshed out the universe in this.

343 really impressed me with this. I didn't think they'd be able to recapture Halo's humor and pull off such effective world building.

 

[Bornstellar]

On Genesis (mission 13) you can get an Ultra Ghost and an Ultra Wraith by hanging back at different points. The Wraith spawns behind you once you drive your Scorpion a bit out of the starting area, and the Ghost appears in the second or third open area, against the left wall next to some Covenant crates, before you cross the metal bridge (I think. Might be after, actually). Sorry I can't be more specific. I found both vehicles while following a guide to get the datapads.

If you're in the Scorpion with someone on gun and your other two teammates pilot the ultra vehicles, you can wreck everything pretty fast. You can even use a side path to go around the part where you're supposed to abandon your vehicle before the boss fight. The Ultra Ghost can kill the Warden from an insane range, and the Ultra Wraith will actually spawn in behind you if someone's driving it, lol. Fun stuff.


Damn, cool option. I didn't notice that.

Yeah can walk up some stairs to a walkway that has a sniper rifle and a clear view to the generator and your squad will comment on the possibility. On the other side of the same area, you can bust into a secure room to activate auto turrets to help. In fact, I kept finding opportunities to activate auto-turrets AFTER I cleared out an area :|

 

[Monocle]

Yeah can walk up some stairs to a walkway that has a sniper rifle and a clear view to the generator and your squad will comment on the possibility. On the other side of the same area, you can bust into a secure room to activate auto turrets to help. In fact, I kept finding opportunities to activate auto-turrets AFTER I cleared out an area :|

Whoa, that auto-turret thing is news to me! I think I might vaguely remember a line about them. I love all of the extra things 343 built into the different areas. They've come a long way since Halo 4.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

This game's story was fucking insane, and I loved every moment of it. Cortana's turn was fucking fantastic. Seeing the way the Chief tried to deal with it was amazing. Seeing Locke and Osiris go on to prove themselves on the biggest possible stage was something that will forever make Locke a favorite for me.

Who else loves Exuberant Witness to death?

Who else got chills going down their spine with the dialogue that transpired between Cortana and the Warden Eternal after she shouted for him to stand down against Master Chief and Blue Team? Cortana's dialogue was just so damn good and so well delivered. This ending totally changes Halo's entire universe forever.

And just how flawlessly was Master Chief and Halsey coming together again for the first time in a long time handled? You didn't need anything more than that moment and Halsey's few words to know that this is the galaxy's most dangerous combo. Just as Cortana and Master Chief were a formidable pair, Master Chief and Halsey will be just as formidable, if not more so.

 

[Monocle]

This game's story was fucking insane, and I loved every moment of it. Cortana's turn was fucking fantastic. Seeing the way the Chief tried to deal with it was amazing. Seeing Locke and Osiris go on to prove themselves on the biggest possible stage was something that will forever make Locke a favorite for me.

Hell yes, I couldn't agree more.

Who else loves Exuberant Witness to death?

She was such a delightful surprise. So many great lines. I never would have thought they'd come up with a monitor as entertaining as 343 Guilty Spark.

Who else got chills going down their spine with the dialogue that transpired between Cortana and the Warden Eternal after she shouted for him to stand down against Master Chief and Blue Team? Cortana's dialogue was just so damn good and so well delivered. This ending totally changes Halo's entire universe forever.

So great. They easily could have messed this up by making Cortana take an out-of-character turn and come across as a maniac, but there are subtleties in her delivery that strike a more complex tone. She's the same person, but changed.

And yeah, I loved the ending. I'm so excited to see where it goes.

And just how flawlessly was Master Chief and Halsey coming together again for the first time in a long time handled? You didn't need anything more than that moment and Halsey's few words to know that this is the galaxy's most dangerous combo. Just as Cortana and Master Chief were a formidable pair, Master Chief and Halsey will be just as formidable, if not more so.

I liked the parallel with her first line to Locke. Check out the different inflection when she says the same line to Master Chief.

I think 343 finally did justice to Dr. Halsey, after putting her through the ringer and even retconning her character to some degree before Halo 5. (She was always my favorite character in the extended fiction, ever since The Fall of Reach.) A good while ago, after I'd posted about Halsey's awful portrayal in Karen Traviss's trilogy, Frankie said (paraphrasing here) that I might like where the character was headed. I never would have guessed how true that would turn out to be. Halo 5 has the best Halsey since Nylund's books.

 

[Bessy67]

Just finished the campaign and really enjoyed it. The story was interesting but got a little too Mass Effect-ish for me (Guardians = Reapers, Cortana = Starchild, etc) although to be fair Mass Effect wasn't anywhere near the first to do the whole created vs creators deal. Gameplay was a ton of fun even if the fireteam was pretty useless. I really liked the Promethean redesigns, both in appearance and fighting style. The soldiers were much better than the knights as the elite class character, and the knights were much more fun to fight now that they weren't just pure bullet sponges and had weak points. The levels definitely felt more open and gave a lot more options of tackling the different areas than past games. I played on Heroic and found it to be challenging but not punishing, which is perfect for me. The only part that I struggled with was the triple Warden fight, but then I found out you could just skip it so I did