I think H5 was pretty good story wise, but it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I will list some things that I really wanted to see in the campaign that never happened.
Lack of space battles: I miss the Halo: Reach/H4 space combat like in the Sabre/ Broadsword/ Pelican. No big ships were flyable in H5. Would love to be able to fly a Phantom/ Pelican in H6.
Bring back Rtas Vadum aka Half Jaw! I wanna see the Shadow of Intent again in H6!
MAKE ELITES PLAYABLE AGAIN! Would love an Elite Fireteam in H6!
Hoping for an all out space battle in H6. Maybe a map in orbit around a planet with Covenant + Human ships vs Forerunner ships or other Covenant ships, and you are in a Broadsword or another type of ship. Similar to the Halo: Reach Long Night of Solace mission
Bring back a human flyable ship such as Hornet or Falcon!
-Bring back the Brutes and the Flood!
-Bring back classic Covenant ships like the CCS Cruiser and Assault Carrier or even the Super Carrier!
Being the darkest Halo game ever, like 343i said it would be.
Going to the same place the multiplayer map, Fathom, takes place, like 343i said we would.
Hunting down the Master Chief for longer than two levels, like 343i marketed.
The Master Chief appearing to be a bad guy, like 343i marketed, instead of someone who ignored one little teenie-tiny order.
Going to the Lesser Ark and talking to Medicant Bias, like the Halo 5 E3 3013 trailer seemed to very much imply.
It’s not that I wanted these things (okay, I did, but only after I found out about them). It’s that that’s what I was basically told was going to be in the Campaign, but never happened, so I became disappointed that they didn’t happen.
Also, the Didact never showing up was disappointing.
I wanted to see Kelly-087, Fred-104, and Linda-058 treated like actual characters that have been a part of this franchise since the beginning, and have a story that explored their own unique personalities as well as their personal connection to the Chief
> 2533274823479666;2:
> Going to the same place the multiplayer map, Fathom, takes place, like 343i said we would.
> Hunting down the Master Chief for longer than two levels, like 343i marketed.
> The Master Chief appearing to be a bad guy, like 343i marketed, instead of someone who ignored one little teenie-tiny order.
> Going to the Lesser Ark and talking to Medicant Bias, like the Halo 5 E3 3013 trailer seemed to very much imply.
>
> It’s not that I wanted these things (okay, I did, but only after I found out about them). It’s that that’s what I was basically told was going to be in the Campaign, but never happened, so I became disappointed that they didn’t happen.
>
> Also, the Didact never showing up was disappointing.
Through the didact did survive halo 5, he mostly returned in the halo comics
Also they shouldn’t have directly lied about Cortana’s death.
Also FWIW, I think they could have gone a better direction bringing Cortana back, but I don’t hate it. The way I see it, we’re going to need Forerunners and their AIs to help us fight her plans, though.
While I enjoyed the story, and am looking
forward to seeing how future events will play out, I was not a big fan of HOW the story was told.In comparison to Halo 4, it was very poorly told, and because of how it was told, the big, shocking plot twist was predictable. There was no mystery to who was activating the Guardians, and mystery is a primary element of the Halo franchise.
As for Cortana, they didn’t go into enough detail on how she survived, except for a simple hand-wave explanation. They don’t even explain if this is Really Cortana, and not simply a copy cobbled together from her Rampant personality spikes that remained in the Mantle’s Approach. I much prefer this scenario, as Frank O’Connor called her “the Ghost of Cortana”, and that her role is to allow future games to explore her legacy.
As for her going rogue, well, that was Bungie’s plan from the very beginning. In Halo CE, in an original draft for the story, Chief had returned to the Control room to find that Cortana had gone mad with power and wanted to control Halo and take of the Universe. Clearly, that plot was scrapped and delayed, which was a good call, because by waiting after 15 years and several games for Cortana to go rogue, it allows fans to grow to love her (thus strengthening the impact of her betrayal), and character-wise, it makes sense, as we who have stuck with the franchise from the beginning know everything that she has gone through: suffering from the Logic Plague, enduring Rampancy, splintering herself into thousands of different personalities, and apparantly “dying”. It only makes sense for her to go off the deep end.
A story of moral grey areas, a manhunt across the Galaxy, dark mystery to uncover, intrigue of new worlds and settings.
Large-scale battles not seen in Halo since 3 contrasted by quiet moments of exploration and wonder.
Long comprehensive story that stands on its own.
A break in tradition of Halo campaign structure. Something to put emphasis on exploration and player agency similar to what ODST did in its time. Instead we got another iteration of 3 and Reach, just smaller scale and less memorable set pieces.
> 2533274823479666;2:
> Going to the same place the multiplayer map, Fathom, takes place, like 343i said we would.
> Hunting down the Master Chief for longer than two levels, like 343i marketed.
> The Master Chief appearing to be a bad guy, like 343i marketed, instead of someone who ignored one little teenie-tiny order.
> Going to the Lesser Ark and talking to Medicant Bias, like the Halo 5 E3 3013 trailer seemed to very much imply.
>
> It’s not that I wanted these things (okay, I did, but only after I found out about them). It’s that that’s what I was basically told was going to be in the Campaign, but never happened, so I became disappointed that they didn’t happen.
>
> Also, the Didact never showing up was disappointing.
A credit system so I could use my credits to unlock new armors. But apparently this stuff unlocks through req packs now and it’s rng based. That’s just not even remotely enjoyable to me so I’m not going to bother with it.