Yet another good game! Definitely enjoyed it a lot more having experienced Halo 1 and 2 now and I think it's about as solid as the others, but probably my least favorite of the original trilogy personally.
The biggest thing is that it just feels like a long finale for Halo 2, which isn't inherently bad, but it's not the best as a story on its own merit. Setpieces are constantly kicking in and things are always moving which has its own appeal, but it made me miss some of the slower moments and solid pacing of the originals. The gameplay is the best it's ever been at this point, but I felt it traded off for somewhat lacking enemy design and less balanced harder difficulties. I also really enjoyed that your AI companions have a lot more fun things to say and are generally more competent, and the shift back to more Halo 1-adjacent open levels was appreciated, even if there is still a bit of backtracking and design reuse.
And of course, the multiplayer is forever great. Wonderful memories doing custom games with buddies.
The biggest thing is that it just feels like a long finale for Halo 2, which isn't inherently bad, but it's not the best as a story on its own merit. Setpieces are constantly kicking in and things are always moving which has its own appeal, but it made me miss some of the slower moments and solid pacing of the originals. The gameplay is the best it's ever been at this point, but I felt it traded off for somewhat lacking enemy design and less balanced harder difficulties. I also really enjoyed that your AI companions have a lot more fun things to say and are generally more competent, and the shift back to more Halo 1-adjacent open levels was appreciated, even if there is still a bit of backtracking and design reuse.
And of course, the multiplayer is forever great. Wonderful memories doing custom games with buddies.