Spark

Oh also Ocy, you have got to watch Red vs. Blue. Particularly Seasons 6-onwards. Starting with 8 they started using CG on top of the machinima and the results are best described if Halo suddenly acted as stylish as Devil May Cry.

The tentacle monster is the Gravemind, prime consciousness of the Flood, the very reason the Halos were built in the first place. At the time though it was more or less trapped on the ring you found it on, but saw opportunity when High Charity slipped in. So it attempted to play the long con by helping Chief and Arbs on their respective journeys while it was left alone to put the pieces in place to take over the space station, which happened midway through that level where the In Amber Clad jumped in and crashed into one of the buildings.

So now it had interstellar transport, and a certain AI stuck in its systems that has encyclopedic knowledge of everything there is to know...

Also, called it you wouldn't like Halo 2 as much. Hope I'm right about 3 too.

EDIT: Oh and for clarification, you cannot actually kill the Gravemind.

It's consciousness resides on an altogether different plane of existence, emerging once enough biomass has been turned by the Flood infection.

The Flood itself is mindless without its Gravemind pulling the strings. This is what you saw in the first game. The Flood on Delta Halo have had eons to gather their strength and usher in its return since the Forerunners first fired the rings against it. The worst thing the Halo rings can do to it is destroy its body and all potential hosts living at the time. It'll simply ebb back into the ether and wait for the next round.

It's that reason why it's popular to theorize the Flood will one day return to the series in a big way.

In the allegorical sense, if the Forerunners are the Angels who have forsaken the dark and terrible mortal world for the Promised Land, the Gravemind is the Snake in the Garden of Eden.

Yup. That was the Halo experience, Ocy. The anniversary edition only had a new coat of paint. Halo 2 is gonna feel a little less nicer to play tbh, but more than makes up for it in bombastic story.

Halo 3 probably strikes the best feel between 2's bombastic story, and 1's general goodness to feel. Backtracking is far more minimal in the later games as well.

Halo 4 is...different. Don't let that scare you away. It's focused on telling you a much more personal tale, to the point that actual bullets and action aren't even really the point.

Crap I love but haven't Finished

• AC Odyssey
• Octopath Traveler
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Night in the Woods

The Good Stuff, Mate

• God of War
• Forza Horizon 4
• Life is Strange 2 (Even if it's only got Episode 1 of 5 out so far)

It's Aight - Tier

• Spider-Man
• Spyro Reignited Trilogy

How the hell have I not gotten to this Sooner?

• Bloodborne
• Devil May Cry HD Collection
• Devil May Cry 4
• Stardew Valley

Garbo Crap, Keep Away from Me

• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Far Cry 5
• Fallout 76

Now That It's Finally Fixed and Functional Product

• Halo: The Master Chief Collection

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs was a very weird, but very excellent movie. Probably the best Coen since O Brother.