Assassinations will always be a welcome return for Halo, IMO. I feel that assassinations can also be expanded on if time was given, like animation customization with the ability to select which specific animations your character will do and remove the ones unacceptable for hte style of your character from the list. I may be hoping for too much.
If 343i can’t do that, then perhaps some melee finishers in single or cooperative gameplay will suit. Something like holding down the melee button on either angle of a foe and taking him down in accordance to the angle. I may still be getting ahead of myself, but I would love to see kill moves similar to that of Red Team’s capabilities from Halo Wars: Monsters.
Equipment would be a lovely return. In my opinion, equipment should be utilized in the form of one-use armor abilities, which seems to be what they originally were–bringing back equipment should replace armor abilities. I wouldn’t be surprised if 343i are already planning on bringing back equipment in one form or another.
Sprint in the form of equipment is unlikely. I don’t think 343i will go back on the sprint mechanic in any future entries. Personally, I find Halo 5’s mechanic to be the best.
The Battle Rifle in Halo 5 is, for me, really not something that fits in the Haloverse. I like Halo 4’s futuristic design. If 343i can just stick the Halo 2/3 version of the scope on the BR, I think it would work–but the current scope? No, it doesn’t fit. The same goes with the DMR; Halo 4’s DMR was my favorite design, and I really wish 343i would just bring that design back and improve on it rather than make the DMR something an Insurrectionist would use.
The Mantis is something I think fits well in the Haloverse and I really don’t want 343i to remove it. Having the Mantis and a Scorpion on the same map isn’t compatible, imo, but I think the Mantis fits well, especially when one has to use hit-and-run tactics against it among other guerrilla warfare strategies.
The Railgun wasn’t really all that special for me. Whether it comes back or not isn’t something that will bother me. But I think the Hydra will replace the Railgun.
I want the Needler rifle to make a return, definitely However, I don’t think it will as long as the carbine remains in the Covenant’s arsenal. But long-range supercombined kills? I want that to return.
The rocket Warthog was a nice addition in Halo Reach, but I feel it’s redundant with the gauss 'hog. What I really want to return are troop carriers. One of my favorite things from Halo 3 was loading the Marines with rocket launchers, spartan lasers, or fuel rod cannons and just gliding around the landscape and massacring the Brute forces.
Halo 3 grenades? I can’t really understand the meaning behind this entry. I think you mean the different variety of grenades in Halo 3. The spike grenade was basically the Brute version of the plasma grenade, and is obsolete unless Brutes make a reappearance. I would like to see the return of the incendiary grenade as it just added a bit of variety. I would like to see some more variety in the Promethean’s grenades and perhaps more tactical options with new additions to the UNSC explosive arsenal, like mines or something.
I think Thrusters are a solid part of playing as a Spartan. Say what you will about 343i copying the mobility-style gameplay from Titanfall or Advance Warfare (the latter of which they did not), thrusters really do suit Halo’s gameplay, IMO. The only problem is that it poses some problems with compatibility for the Elites if they make a return, and I hope 343i have the same ideas I do on how to incorporate the Elites if they do plan on doing so, which I think they are.
DMR or BR? Both work fine, in my opinion, and add some variety to the gunplay However, I found the DMR to be hard to use in Halo 5’s beta, and the BR was my weapon of choice as I just mowed people down with it. I think they turned down the damage or upgraded the shield strength during the beta, and that was when I started to find it less useful.
The ability to view the K/D ratio in a game isn’t something I’m personally bothered by as I doubt I’ll be playing much of the multiplayer of Halo 5 and probably won’t be obsessing over those stats. However, I think that what is going so far with the plans for Halo 5 is workable, for me, at least. Again, I am no pro of Halo’s multiplayer, so it will not be something that bothers me.
Machetes? Sounds fun enough for 343i to explore.
Time bans for quitting is a topic I will not engage in as someone inadequate to offer his opinion on the subject.
The thing I want most in a future Halo title is the ability to customize my Spartan to the lengths of Halo Reach and beyond. With the Xbox One, there should be very thin limits to what a player can do with the customization. I hope the armor sets theory gets heavily rebukes and 343i don’t let us down with customizationable options.
The last entry on the list is something I will avoid for the same reasons I avoided the entry about time bans. I steer clear of zones not suited for me.