here’re some ideas i had, there’s probably some grammatical mistakes within but meh.
SPOILERS - you’re in a halo 4 forum, what d’you expect genius?
Cortana - many theories as to how cortana could return has been posed by halo fans, her return, done well would please many people, she is an integral part of the universe
although it could be interesting to see how chief would emotionally react to a new cortana/AI in general, would he occassionally slip and call her cortana, would he be frosty
and shuthimself away?
One theory i had regarding her return is perhaps another composer/database or indeed if the previous composer was not destroyed somehow contains her data and in a similar way
to how prometheans are made, she gains a physical form and is a much more solid companion to chief, she could assist in combat, provide a figure for split screen people to play,
enable halo 2-esque split stories merging together gameplay, she could insert herself into systems by splitting a part of her into a data chip and function on two levels there.
the possibilities are immense especially considering the genius present at 343i
Flood - The flood has to return, perhaps we could learn more of it’s origin and/or see a much larger threat level with several graveminds and such I think many a flood fan’s
eager to see how 343i would update them to brng them into their universe graphically and performance-wise
Insurrectionists - No matter how small a part of the story, the insurrectionists would make a fresh yet familiar addition to the halo games as fans are aware of them yet we
havn’t really seen them in action.
Arbiter - The arbiter is as much a part of the halo universe as masterchief at this point, perhaps hark back to the gameplay of halo 2 and have the arbiter doing missions
on sanghellios maybe fighting a civil war with the storm factions, we could then see sanghelli culture and weapons/vehicles more arbiter could also be presented with a
new/upgraded arbiter armour as we have already seen that there are various arbiter suits, this would justify a visual overhaul of his character akin to chief’s
Brutes - Brutes in any capacity would be heartily accepted into the game i believe, halo 4 seemed to just skim over the absence of brutes without any sort of explanation, of
course many hardcore fans who read about the series will understand entirely why the had not made an appearance but for new/casual players it may have seemed confusing, halo 4
tended to do a fair amount of, alt of people for instace were confused as to why the covenant were still hostile, 343i would be wise to perhaps take a bit more care when
creating a more casual-friendly game.
ODST’s - The reappearance of this beloved corps would please a ridiculous amount of fans, perhaps they could be a branch of the Spatan-IV program or merely upgraded to a
similar level this could bring a comical element with a few of the older salts grunting comments about it being long overdue, it would also bring back the one-sided rivalry
many fans adore.
Boss fights - Tartarus, Guilty spark, The prophet of regret any halo fan will hear these names and think, ‘god what a pain in the -Yoink-,’ Say the name Didact however and you’ll
probably meet the response ‘oh that dude i spent a whole game gearing up to battle before pressing one button to kill and letting a cutscene finish him off’ although i loved
the didact as a character and A FREAKING FORERUNNER! the fact that we didn’t actually get to fight him in some capacity was incredibly dissapointing, the boss fights added a
diversity to the previous halo installments that kept you coming back for more, i remember fondly my many attempts to cave the prophet of regret’s face in while trying not to
be skewered by the royal guard and although frustrating it was i kept coming back round aftr round to prove my right to wear the legendary mjolnir armour
vehicles - Pelican flight was a bit hit, these should stay, hornets/falcons should definitely return and bring some diversity into the game if not player useable at least
show vultures and such in action displaying the UNSC’s diverse range of vehicles air-only maps with perhaps docking bays for players to get out and fight for their preferred
vehicles
weapons - the diversity in halo 4 was crazy, although the choices seemed safe the forerunner weapons could be more inventive/advanced and the cutting of many liked weapons
both unsc and covenant was slightly dissapointing, personally i was saddened by the lack of grenade launcher and submachine gun
Melee weapons - I think many would agree that the halo franchise could use a new injection of face-pumelling goodness the gravity hammer and energy sword and fun sure but what
about the kig-yar cutlass? the humbler stun device? the fabled machete that oh so many fans have dreamed of ramming home between the quad-mandibles of a hinge-head? halo 4 was
a massive step ahead for assassinations, flag carrying and general melee but it could be expanded upon.
Yet undiscovered species
A big part of the halo franchise thus far i believe has alot to do with the sense of discovery, from the moment you step out of the cryo chamber in combat evolved you are
forced to slowly but surely discover the species in the covenant, and by the time all the troops were safe we thought we’d seen them all.
until the hunters.
then the flood.
then the prophets, brutes and drones from halo 2.
then even more flood forms with halo 3.
then the jackal, moa and wild beasts in halo reach
you get my point, even something as simple as the moa in reach add so much depth that the fans of the series just adore, many were dissapointed after finding out the
thorn beast and many other creatures were cut from combat evolved new species, especially random background creatures add so much for long-term fans and really flesh out the
universe.
We all will 