UserWiki:Saphira

Hello, I'm 031 Exuberant Witness, and I monitor a lot of things.

Halo Wars
One of my first Halo titles, I absolutely fell in love with Halo Wars. The game is simply relaxing, and simple as a whole. Very easy to get into. Loved the atmosphere, and music. The Docks will forever be ingrained into my memory as the map of that game. Reached the maximum rank for Halo Wars in 2016. I'll always remember the final game on Labyrinth. My friend and I boomed, and I rapid-fired out two Scarabs to absolutely murder some low-leveled people for a solid 4,000 points, enough to shoot me into the General rank.

Halo: Reach
My first real foray into the FPS Halo titles. It's one of those games I enjoyed when I was much younger, but I can't be bothered to play it now. Between the lore-wedgieing story that had to be retconned to hell and back to work, the gameplay, and the general feel of it, I just can't stand most of it. The Elite designs were nice, though. And the Ranger has become my favorite to this day. Reached the max rank for Reach sometime in 2013. Least it was a shiny emblem.

Halo 3: ODST
Got ODST for Christmas of 2010. Was easily one of the better Halo games. At worst, inconsequential, at best, simple fun. Always enjoyed a subtle walk through rainy roads, killing everything in my way. Firefight wasn't my thing, but I enjoyed doing the Endure Vidmaster. I want more side-story games like it. Just, subtle side-stories.

Halo 3
The next game I got with the ODST disc. Played multiplayer given it was all I had for the time. Grinded out achievements.

I got the campaign for it in June of 2011, just after completing grade 7. Have good memories of running through it during that summer.

Halo: Combat Evolved
Got Combat Evolved sometime in early January, 2011 on the Xbox Live store for the 360. Played through the campaign to the Library and just hit a wall of not wanting to continue. Wasn't hard. Just never completed it. I always enjoyed Silent Cartographer, though. Bought a physical copy of Combat Evolved in early 2020.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
My first remaster I'd ever gotten into, Anniversary was a very fun experience and the thing to push me into completing the CE campaign once and for all. Burned through the achievements within a month or so too, leading up to Christmas, 2011. Not much to say, but it was enjoyable enough.

Halo 4
The magnum opus of Halo to me. Halo 4 was a god-tier experience. Loved the campaign, deep-dove into the MP aspect, and Spartan Ops, while repetitive was some nice icing on the top. Loved the amount of depth given to the Chief, and Cortana, and I actually felt something for the protagonists as they went onwards in their journey. The feeling of waiting for the sequel from 2013 onwards gave me that good feeling of "anything can happen", too. Was a very exciting time. Then Halo 5 came out. I got juked hardcore. Multiplayer to me, refined so many things about Halo that was flawed to me, and I greatly enjoyed grinding that game out. I still do to this day on The Master Chief Collection. Easily the smoothest Halo experience I know, barring Halo 2: Anniversary's MP segment.

It was also the first Halo I'd really gotten into the hype train for. So from mid-2011's teaser to its release in November, 2012 was the first time I'd ever been a part of a Halo title from the very get go. From the first trailer to its release, to its "end" and re-release. Special to me for that reason.

Halo 2
Got Halo 2 for my 2013 birthday, and like CE, rarely played it. Manual was nice, though.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Ambitious, but sadly underdelivering. When I got the game for Christmas of 2014, I didn't know it was broken to the point it was, and I didn't actually realize how bad it was until some time into 2015. Weirdly enough, my experience of the game was pretty solid. Minimal glitches barring some games dropping in MP, a campaign glitch with a specific level in one playlist, and the inability to join others without an invite, and being dropped mid search as a result. If only other people had my experience. Lowkey still having fun on this game to this day. When I got it on the 25th, I had four days to grind out the campaigns of Halo, and managed to finish them on the 29th as the Halo 5 beta publicly launched. Finished it and downloaded the beta while watching Nightfall to get that slick armor set. Honestly a super memorable time. Just going through the campaigns, solo, Legendary, each day. My parents spoke on my bloodshot eyes a lot. I didn't blink much. Was worth whatever damage my eyesight took.

When the game was revitalized and revised in 2018 and 2019, all my prior problems were removed. The user interface overhaul was godly, the addition of certain menu elements had me in love, and the game's stability and match composer was amazing. Can't praise it enough.

Halo 2: Anniversary's multiplayer was amazing. Loved it feel, aesthetic, and audio design. Had a good map set in comp playlists. All around enjoyable. Easily my favorite, barring Halo 4's.

Halo 5: Guardians beta
Greatly enjoyed the Halo 5 beta. Everything felt and played well, barring how the magnum's scope was. Pretty enjoyable casual experience. UI was nice, armor was nice, the game looked and sounded nice at the time.

Halo 5: Guardians
Halo 5 was originally a mixed bag, but I absolutely love it, now. It was a fun journey from 2013 to 2015. And that left me slightly underwhelmed when the story turned out as it did. Wish we got a continuation of Halo 4 with the Didact returning and the like. Multiplayer on the other hand? Amazing. I loved the game's movement. What once caused annoying "checkmate" situations in older Halos was now altered to allow one to just fly around maps. And engage quickly, or slowly. It was fun to learn, and definitely fun to master. The addition of a good, consistent starting weapon definitely helped. Along with Halo 4's DMR, Halo 5's Magnum is really amazing and fun to use. Elegant as hell.

Halo Wars 2
If you told me ten years ago that Halo Wars 2 would be a thing, I would've said "nah", knowing the dissolution of Ensemble was a thing. When that trailer dropped in 2015? Hype. Was stoked. Game turned out pretty good too. Engaging enough story, Awakening the Nightmare was fun, and I got the achievements completed in time. Fun. Fun. FUN.

Halo Infinite
Running a mixed bag on how I feel about this. I don't like the nostalgia pandering feel. But it doesn't look offensive. Will have to see how it turns out. Chief looks godly as hell, though. Brawny.

Halo ranks
My ranks in Halo games by release.