Halo Infinite Just Got Way Less Annoying

Halo Infinite’s multiplayer is a damn chatty game. With voice lines regularly erupting from the series’ legendary announcer, the dueling Spartans themselves, and the series’ new personal AIs, voices come at you as often as bullets and grenades. Now, thanks to a new update (that also packs a new map!), you can finally silence one of those sources of sound.

Burdened with the task of reinvigorating a series over 20 years old without straying too far from its roots, Halo Infinite tries a number of twists to the old arena shooter formula. Personal AIs as side announcers are one of them. While these “mini announcers,” of which you could choose from several (including at least one character from Halo 3: ODST), does occasionally grant helpful info like letting you know when you’re running low on ammo, or if you pick up a grenade and don’t realize it (saving you the a glance at your HUD to focus on the game), they also regularly quip about the gun you were carrying or how you kill someone in over-the-top, unhelpful, and distracting ways.

And, as many Halo Infinite players can attest, there was (and possibly still is) a frequent bug where the game defaults to the “Butler” AI character seemingly at random, canceling out whatever AI you select. So even if you didn’t mind their chattiness or found some of the quips useful, it often wouldn’t work as intended to begin with (the game would often do this with the voice type as well, spontaneously detransitioning my Spartan to sound like a dudebro when I distinctly chose otherwise).

How to turn off Halo Infinite’s personal AI

The new Halo Infinite update tucks a “Personal AI Dialogue Toggle” into the settings menu, as listed as the third item on apost from the Halo Support account.

But that’s not all from this update.

Halo Infinite gets a new map, water physics, and camera improvements

As stated in the post above, Halo Infinite is also getting a Reach-inspired Arena map called Dredge. There’s a specific playlist now dedicated solely to this map for some 2010-era Halo feels.

Players can now also rotate the camera around a player they’re spectating when they’re in a respawn time out. Previously the camera was locked behind whoever you were spectating.

And for Forge maps, you can now add in a “Reactive Water Plane” that ripples and reacts to collisions from players, vehicles, and, of course bullets, among a few other bug fixes and menu tweaks.

But while it is great folks can now mute those AIs, I do bemoan how much of a missed opportunity they were. I happen to appreciate it when the AI lets me know I’m running out of ammo while I’m still in a mental frenzy from my last brush with death…I just don’t need the whole “kaboom!” and “nothing like a three-round burst!” and “such a reliable weapon” or “your accuracy has improved” without any actual stat behind it.

Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth Has An Animal Crossing Game Mode

A Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth screenshot shows Ichiban playing the guitar.

Pay no mind to the horrifying mascots in the background.
Screenshot: Sega / Kotaku

During today’s Xbox Partner Preview, a showcase for Microsoft’s upcoming third-party games, we got a new look at Sega’s next Yakuza adventure. No, not Gaiden, the other one: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Instead of showing off dual protagonists Ichiban Kasuga and Kiryu Kazuma kicking all kinds of street punk ass across Hawaii, today’s trailer pumped the brakes and gave us a peek at its madcap new Animal Crossing-inspired game mode.

Infinite Wealth’s new Happy Resort Dondoko Island mode will have you managing your own island resort. Like Nintendo’s cozy 2020 life simulator Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can go fishing on the beach, customize the island’s buildings and furniture, and have Ichiban craft special DIY projects. The similarities between Dondoko Island and AC:NH don’t end there. DonDonki Island will also let you forge friendships with the island getaway’s many outlandishly dressed tourists while you manage the island’s influx of funds and infrastructure just like Animal Crossing’s Tom Nook.

Here’s the trailer:

Sega

Dondoko Island may provide Ichiban and company some much-needed reprieve from the melodrama of his crime-riddled life, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have to sock a couple of uninvited guests along the way—this is a Yakuza game after all. Along with making sure everyone is having a good time on the island, you’ll also have to defend it from intruders.

This isn’t the first time the Yakuza series has turned a Nintendo game like AC:NH into its own game mode. In fact, Yakuza: Like a Dragon had Mario Kart-esque and Pokémon-inspired stints in the form of Dragon Kart Racing and Sujimon, respectively. Aside from providing players with a fun alternative to punching fools, these minigames were also a great way to earn a bunch of cash to purchase health items and upgrades for the main campaign’s challenging boss fights.

A Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth screenshot shows Ichiban showing off a chair he built.

Screenshot: Sega / Kotaku

But not everything is about the money. Sometimes you just need to sit back, grab a guitar, and sing karaoke in front of a roaring bonfire. Catch a vibe, if you will. I can already see myself ignoring Infinite Wealth’s main quest to sink countless hours into perfecting my island fortress. Speaking as a longtime Yakuza enjoyer, January can’t come soon enough.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launches on January 26 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Windows.

   

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