For Honor's Story is usually viewed by most people as, for lack of a better word, mid. I've even heard people say that it's a bad story, and yet the most common criticism I ever hear of it is that it's too simple. It's a video game story that's only meant for you to get into the multiplayer, so it doesn't matter. A lot of players even skip it altogether.
I've played For Honor's Story mode the first time I got the game, and since then, I've played bits and pieces here and there, sometimes even replaying the whole story altogether. And here's what I have to say about it. This game's story is short, and very simple.
The gameplay is outdated and characters in this mode usually have a total of three moves which can make them boring to play. It's not challenging even at its highest difficulty, we only really get to see it from the warrior's perspective, so we're only really told how it is to live in Heathmore for the average person, which can be a missed opportunity for heavier moments in the story. It has some of the simplest cookie cutter characters I've ever seen in fiction, not to mention some of the quests can get outright repetitive.
Now that said... For Honor has one of the best stories and messaging I've ever seen in a video game. I guess I'll start by saying how having a simple plot doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad one.
If that isn't obvious already, yes, the gameplay segments can get boring at certain points, but those cutscenes though. The actual story segments of this game are surprisingly incredible. I think For Honor has the best cutscenes out of any game I've played.
Visually, these look incredible. Somehow the artistic direction of this game makes its visuals feel timeless. I'll remind you that we are now in year 7. And For Honor could have come out today and it would still be considered one of the best looking games of the year easily. The voice acting and dialogue is just peak and that makes these characters extremely entertaining to watch. I wonder, does it ever happen to you that when you're watching a show or a movie and a character you like pops on the screen, you are just happy and entertained to see that character existing and doing things?
For me, that's almost every character in the story mode. These guys are just so fun to watch, it's incredible how in this world ruled by war, These people can still find moments to take a laugh, and that's what makes it great. To them, war and killing is just second nature, they don't even consider it a big deal. So this leads to a lot of moments when the characters are just acting normal as they would be, while the audience is going, what the fuck, lmao. It's not a bad idea.
You might live. The comedy in this game is completely natural and well placed within the story. You never break from a serious moment because someone decided to crack a joke, unlike in 99% of superhero shows nowadays.
So while the plot and characters of the story are indeed simple, it's still really well made and thought out. And to add some evidence to this, every time For Honor decides to go cinematic for a trailer or story segment, it consistently gets millions of views on YouTube. Coincidence? I don't think so. Another piece of evidence is memes.
I'm not joking. When people make memes about a certain piece of media, it's usually because it's really bad, or really good. If people didn't care, they wouldn't bother making memes about it. And For Honor's story has so many iconic scenes, characters, and pieces of dialogue, literally thousands of memes have come out of it. That means in one way or another, this story made an impact.
But, if you want a singular example why these cutscenes are incredibly well directed, then let me show you this one right here. The cutscene starts with Holden Cross explaining the situation to our main character. He then decides that he's going to jump into action right away, and starts walking without saying anything, which immediately shows us what kind of character this is.
The astute lawbringer picks up on his intentions immediately and offers him some help. Of course the answer is no, and as if expecting that he lets a small sigh and delivers the iconic line Just this one interaction teaches you everything you need to know about these two characters'personalities and dynamic. And then... As the warden goes on to do the job, he stumbles upon a conqueror with the exaggerated swagger of a black stone knight. As if saying, yeah I knew your suicidal ass would try to go into that fort alone, the warden immediately gets the message and just says, as if he's accepting his mind got read and all he has to say about it is, yeah whatever let's just get on with it.
This shot also establishes that these two have mutual respect for one another and you could even say they're friends to an extent and looking at the conqueror's body language and his only two lines of dialogue. you can also quickly tell what kind of character he is. This cutscene essentially manages to introduce three characters at the same time. The brave yet brash warden, the badass yet equally suicidal conqueror, and the veteran, more cautious lawbreaker. That, just like the warden, also seems to have a sense of justice but is kept restrained due to its circumstances and experience, which we will see more of later.
All of this, while looking visually great as you can tell. A lack of dialogue can be a good thing. If what's happening in the body language of the characters is good enough.
Then a scene can convey whatever it wants to the audience whilst having time. It can also show that these couple of characters have a good understanding between one another, and it can provide multiple interpretations to the same scene, which can be fun if you're revisiting the story. I guess in a sense you could say that it gives it more replayability. And now...
Let's talk about Apollyon. Got your blackstone. This is my cum, this is my cum. You can watch Raven Knight's video if you want to go in depth for a character analysis and the story, but here, I'm going to explain why Apollyon is my favorite villain in all of fiction.
Not a joke, by the way. Have two or more humans in one place, and eventually there will be war. A part of human nature is to be constantly in conflict with one another. To pretend otherwise is to deny our own humanity. Apollyon is incredibly smart, and she marks a presence wherever she goes.
Whenever there's a scene with her included, the focus is always Apollyon. Notice that? You're always looking forward to what she's going to do.
She's completely unpredictable both to the characters involved and the audience, and that's what makes her so interesting. Wherever she goes, she makes an impact. Every scene she's in carries weight unlike any other, and there's always something that makes you go, Oh shit. 40. Well done. And also, her design is just great, but that goes without saying.
If you pay attention, in the final mission at the end of the story, the Emperor's Champion claims Apollyon is stronger than he is. I have found her. Now I need it to survive.
Her skill was great. And yet you still managed to defeat her. Don't you think that's strange? Apollyon wanted to die.
She put up a fight as she wanted to go out as a wolf. But at that moment, everyone in the world viewed her as the big villain, so she willingly let herself get killed so that the factions had nothing to fight against but themselves. This is some reverse-the-loose shit. Instead of portraying himself as the big world dominating dictator, so that once he dies the world's at peace, she created more conflict within the factions than said fuck this I'm out and left them right where she wanted them to be.
The game hints at this being the case, but I don't think most people even realize that Apollyon wanted to die there. That's why this is truly a deep character. with a great design, incredible voice acting, animations, dialogue, presence, and unpredictability. That's what makes her, in my opinion, one of the greatest villains in all of fiction, and easily my favorite one. I think I found an easy way to determine whether the characters in the story are good or bad.
And that is to think to yourself, would I like to see an interaction between this character and this one? Think about that for a moment. And then, let me ask you, if Apollyon was alive, would you like to see an interaction between her and Astrea?
The new Holden Cross? What would happen if she saw what those three were doing at the end of the story? What would her reaction be to the current state of Heathmore?
My answer is... I'm suffering because I will never live to see that happen. She's not the only good character, by the way. You have a lone knight that only tries to do what's right, despite the world he lives in and the actions of everyone else around him. A law-ringer with inner conflict, that eventually decides to do what's right and rebel against its master.
A raider. And pretty much every minor character in the story is also a raider. fun or interesting in some way.
It haunts me every night that we will probably never get to see a sequel to this story written by someone who is actually competent. But in short, Her Honor has a short and sweet story, full of really interesting and fun characters, some actually peak moments, and a larger plot that silently overlooks all of it. Again, I don't know if people realize, but in almost every segment of the story, it's you playing into Apollyon's hand while believing you're doing the right thing. When that realization comes, it's really hard to hits, it hits.
And the combat, while extremely simple, works as a nice time capsule to what the game used to be back then. So if nothing else, it's interesting to go back there and remind ourselves how this game used to be in general. There's also a lot of experimentation you can do with the feed system in the story, and you can get really overpowered if you want to, which is fun. And if there's a cool spot on the map you wish to know more about, then Apollyon's got you covered. She will narrate every piece of lore this world has to offer, which is not only inherently cool, and a great way to show lore to the player, but it also portrays Apollyon as someone knowledgeable of this world's history.
Sure the combat got way better over time, but the characters, events and the whole cinematic part of it surely didn't. For Honor has traits so far from what it used to be, it pains me to think about what this game could be, if we would have kept the original aesthetic. And being honest here, what was it that got us all into the world and story of this game?
Was it the goody two shoes of Pharah, fighting against the black and white, evil Commander Ravier? Or was it humanity's attempt at concealing the darkness in us all, in hopes for a better tomorrow, after a millennia of constant war and conflict? For me it was looking cool nights.
Anyway, that's the video. Hope you enjoyed. Apollyon is speak fiction. Thanks for watching.