A few things to get off my chest.

I could never understand all the negative reception of Halo 5. I just want to flare out a few things.

  • Halo 5 was ready to be released at the very beginning. No matter how -Yoink- they are, no video game developer in the world would be insane enough to release an unfinished game that is broken, glitched, unplayable, or overall just plain BAD. For example, take a look at Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 - it was a blotched mess! Why? Because Atari decided to release an unfinished prototype to the public because the demand was overwhelming, and the development time was extremely short! As a result, the “game” is now regarded as one of the worst in history, and Atari lost millions of dollars because they shipped out an unfinished game! Now why did 343 decide to release Halo 5? Because the game had met all appropriate requirements of its development criteria. Sure it did have its initial shortcomings, but would you rather play the vanilla Halo 5, or an unfinished prototype of the same thing? Or better yet, why did you buy a game that would not be as good as you thought it would be in the first place? Just get rent it for a while, see how you like it, then decide whether or not you’d buy it, damn it!

  • There is nothing wrong with (free) post-release DLC. I see people complain about the fact the then-new content “should’ve been included at launch”. I disagree with that. Smash 4 for Wii U / 3DS did the exact same thing with new characters, stages, etc. Halo 5 is no different - and we should all be lucky that the content updates are FREE for everyone! Besides, even if 343 decided to include everything released up to this point, the game would’ve been delayed for a substantial amount of time - and it’s certainly much better than the dreaded Valve Time. So shut up and stop crying, whining, complaining, bickering, and -Yoinking!- about content that “should’ve been included at launch”, because (free) post-release DLC is here to stay. Some things only get better with age - just like fine wine.

  • Halo 5 is planting the seeds for Halo 6. Halo 5 is only the beginning of the dialogues to come. We are still uncertain on what the future holds for the Reclaimer Saga, but from the deepest part of my gut (for better or worse), I know that Halo6 will turn out to be an absolute smash hit. Harsh lessons were learned in Halo 5, but I’m certain that 343 will refine themselves into creating a game that blows its previous work out of the water. The potential for Halo 6 to have an awesome campaign mode while maintaining a kick–Yoink- multiplayer is immense - it’s up to the folks at 343 to take those shortcomings of Halo 5 and turn them into something that will make Halo 6 absolutely amazing.That is all I have to flare out. So whether or not you want to support / protest my words, by all means, go ahead - I’m simply voicing my own opinion.

For your first point, lack of major glitches doesn’t make lack of content okay. I would rather have a complete game later than one that “met requirements” now. The amount of content the game shipped with was utterly disgraceful. This actually leads into your second point. I have no problems with DLC. I do, however, have a problem with things that should’ve been in the game at launch being passed off as DLC, when it’s just developers trying to cover up their laziness. It’s a worrying trend you’re starting to see in a lot of AAA titles, devs releasing half a game and disguising the other half as DLC. It’s just plain lazy, and I don’t like it. I paid $60 for the game, I want the full game (Don’t get me started on the microtransactions BS). And finally, it doesn’t matter how good Halo 6’s story is, because Halo 5 -Yoink-ed it up. You can’t do a complete retcon of the entire plot of a game, you can’t undo all the lack of character development, horrible dialogue, horrible story decisions. Best case scenario, the Reclaimer trilogy will be seen as mediocre because of the -Yoink-stain that was Halo 5’s attempt at a story. Halo 6 could literally be the best thing ever, but Halo 5 would bring it down.

Sigh