Xbox did a neat thing to create nostalgic vibes onto social media: they simply tweeted about the 15th anniversary of Halo: Reach, and soon enough, the entire gaming community was thrown into a whirlpool of memories and demands. The official Xbox handle tweeted “15 years of Remembering Reach…” together with the anniversary artwork, and the response had ranged from the joy of nostalgia to the despair of the dismal state of the franchise today.
So, yeah. Wow. Fifteen years? What a weird thought. Reach was released sometime in 2010 when it was still a glorious age for Xbox 360, with Bungie still running the shores of the Halo Universe. Judging by the huge amount of responses poured out in a matter of hours on that anniversary tweet, Reach clearly has a stronghold on people’s minds.
The general vibe has basically been that Reach is seen as the best the franchise has seen, and everybody just wonders what has happened to it since then. So bluntly put by SatachiFEH: “still can’t believe what we had and yet you still let the franchise go to crap.” Ouch! But that’s the crux of it: The replies were riddled with such sentiments – “Back when Halo was an awesome franchise and not yet run into the ground,” said MadRacc00nX, while ColinBest1978 simply stated: “Still the single best Halo game.”
So what truly set Reach apart? To those who weren’t there (many replied wondering what they missed), Reach was a bit different than the previous Halos. It was a bit of a prequel to the original Halo trilogy, telling the story of Noble Team’s last stand on the planet Reach. The campaign was darker and more emotional; it introduced armor abilities for multiplayer for the first time ever; and customization options were second to none for their time-they would keep you locked for numerous hours in Spartan creation.
Hits of nostalgia in the replies cut deep. Midnight release at the Gamestop, freshman in college, that was a solid fucking week right there,” shared @DrPuzzleDust, with @cjflex going down an existential spiral: “That was 15 years ago? Wow, so I’m officially old? To think that I can finally say, 15 years ago, I was playing Halo Reach! Shows you how limited a human life span is.”
But it’s not all just reminiscing because now players want Xbox to really make something out of this; “@MizukiMacchiato said, “Reach remake would rule,” while @deaf_ego suggested the anniversary art in itself becoming a “dynamic background!” for Xbox consoles. Someone said want PC for Halo 5 anyway, though it’s considered a curse (@Stake_b), which, in turn, means all the players want to have fun with the whole series.
The timing of this anniversary is very interesting with it following the mixed reception to Halo Infinite. Following a rough start with the free-to-play multiplayer, Infinite’s live service elements and content updates have failed to keep players glued to the screens of the old game once did. Reading through these replies, it is clear that these mentions want to bring back the Halo greatness – interesting campaigns, strong multiplayer, and that special something that Reach nailed perfectly.
The oddside few replies slip into bizarre political dialogues about the “wokeness” of these modern Halo games, but those were mostly ignored by the masses who instead chose to focus on the important stuff; gameplay and memories. @AnabolicFart probably summed it up best: “Just brought back core memories 💯 honestly the Halo best game when it was in its prime.”
Most of the crazy thing is the almost complete unanimity of the praise for Reach within these responses. Amidst a general climate of disagreement and discord amongst gamers, almost everyone agreed that Reach was something special. From the emotional campaign in which you see your whole team die one by one, to revolutionary multiplayer with new assassination animations and loadouts, to Firefight mode which virtually unintelligibly pits you against endless waves of the Covenant – Reach was full.
And the customization! Oh man, customization of armor was next level for its time. You pretty much can mix and match helmets, shoulders, chest pieces-an absolute dial-up of the system from Halo 3. People actually spent years grinding credits to unlock the best-looking stuff. The credit system was a little grindy, but it gave you something to work toward beyond just ranking up.
Looking at these responses on the fifteenth year-datepicker calendar later, it is obvious that Halo: Reach etched an indelible mark on gaming landscapes. The next question is if Microsoft and 343 Industries even listen to this overwhelming admiration for what some consider the hallmarks of the franchise. With the struggle Xbox is embroiled in finding its footing in the current generation of consoles, maybe retrospection can do the Xbox flagship franchise a lot of good.
The anniversary tweet is pretty simple-they just acknowledge the milestone with some awesome artwork. But going by its response, it is clear that for many players, the name Halo: Reach is more than just a game in the series. It is acknowledgment of a certain moment in time when Halo was at the absolute peak before the controversies and bungled steps that would follow. This serves as a reminder for what the franchise can be again if it gets the right care and attention.
One user summed it perfectly: “Best game ever. You had to be there.” By the looks of these responses, there must have been thousands that were there, and they have never forgotten what made Reach so special. The ball is now in Xbox’s court to either go with this nostalgia or keep watching their flagship franchise struggle to attempt to recapture its past glory. Let’s hope they’ve listened.
