My take on this is conflicted, and agree that in terms of narrative execution 343i have not done a great job as great in the main Halo games, but then I don't think that Bungie done that great in Halo 2/3 and Reach either (Halo 2 Anniversary is so much better than Halo 2). Really didn't like Reach, least favourite of all the games. Halo CE followed by ODST is Bungie's best work.
- I believe a LOT of the issues / mistakes by 343i are actually a result of being somewhat pressured into a corner by Microsoft in terms of focussing on mixed media and the overall cash cow.
- I think 343 should have done something like ODST before Halo 4, a bit smaller scale, more easily manageable. Same thing for squad mechanics and Team Osiris. Do a smaller deal.
- Whilst I was excited for it due to Greg Bears awesome trilogy, in hindsight I can now see that bringing Forerunners / Didact into the games was a mistake, and it led to so much of the issues we now have in the game narrative.
- Would like to see the main games not always be about 'upping the stakes' and being about Space Jesus Saves the Universe. I mean after Mass Effect 3 I'd have thought 343 would have thrown the Librarian exposition dump in Halo 4 onto the cutting room floor at the first review.
+ I still think Halo 4 plays well - it has flaws sure, but personally I think it recreated that alien sense of wonder I got from Halo CE that no other Halo has really recaptured for me. Halo 4 got closest.
+ Halo 5 mechanically in terms of raw gunplay is probably the best entry in the series including CE. However encounter design and most especially flow is still quite far from CE, and I don't believe that is down to the Prometheans as enemies perse, but more how they appear in waves - gated in via warps. It feels very artificial and does not lead to good encounters IMO. However I had lost of issues with Halo 3 campaign because Brutes suck...
+ Swords of Sangelios is a great mission, but it's the high point of Halo 5, and for me wouldn't be in the top 5 of Halo CE missions.
- Some of the things that were done in the game narrative are just truly inexplicable to me. I mean why build Jul M'Dama up in the EU to then just kill him at the start of Halo 5 and not even in gameplay? ESPECIALLY considering the focus on Sanghelios in the game, an Arbiter / Jul showdown would have been a much better payoff for all the focus on Jul - even if the point for 343 was to build up Locke, why not do that cinematic when saving Arbiter in Swords of Sanghelios? Truly inexplicable to me this one.
- I think in some cases the narrative misfires in Halo 5 are over-compensations from the criticism of Halo 4 (e.g. massive exposition dump by the Librarian), to next to know exposition or context setting in Halo 5. How did John reunite with Blue Team? What significance does Blue Team have for anyone playing the game who does not read the books? Plenty of ways this could have been done MUCH better.
- Halo 5 squad oriented gameplay just does not work for me, more than anything this made it feel more like a generic shooter. With better AI, a mix-up where the odd mission or sequence has a squad might be great, but not for the whole campaign.
Maybe the biggest issue I have with 343i on the story side is that the continuity between Halo 4 and Halo 5 is truly poor:-
- Almost no reference to the Didact that I can remember in Halo 5. In many ways it's like Halo 4 never happened.
- Whilst there is a very slim chance that this could be turned around in Halo 6, there is a huge cognitive dissonance between Halo 4 and Halo 5 in terms of Cortana and the Chief's relationship. The best thing Halo 4 did narratively is handling Cortana and the Chief. Hoping against hope that Halo 6 can somehow salvage this.
What i'd like to see in Halo 6 gameplay wise:-
+ Lone wolf SINGLE-player campaign. Maybe with some squad elements here and there, but I want the focus to be a great single player campaign.
+ Review the encounter design and try and balance it better. less wave arena combat, that's not really what Halo is about as far as I'm concerned; sure in Halo 1-3 there wer actually waves, but they were designed into the environment and setting much more convincingly - dropships apearring with reinforcements, patrols etc - not just arping in to some random point.
+ More non-robotic enemies. The Created gives me an uncomfortable feeling that we will be getting more robotic enemies. What the Covenant has over the Prometheans is that they are flesh n blood aliens and they were trying to wipe out humanity, so the motivations are clearly established. What is the motivation for the Prometheans? Not clear at all. Again, more like Halo CE, with Covenant, Sentinels and Flood, mix it up a bit, hell even bring the Brutes back if you must! But we need more dynamics in the encounters.
+ Visit a damned Halo. There is still plenty of mystery milage to be had out of the Halo installations. Halo's are constructs after all, and would fit in with the Created theme in some ways, plenty of scope.
+ Give me the Flood. I know some folks hate the Flood, but they are absolutely CORE to Halo, and I for one miss em...
Story-wise:-
+ I hold out the hope that 'Cortana' in Halo 5 is a logic-plague corrupted relative of Mendicant Bias, and will have some kind of link to the Flood, and is NOT really the Cortana that John said goodbye to in Halo 4. It's the only way I can see to get some kind of satisfying resolution. Plus I want to see some kind of Contender class AI in action...
+ Keep It Simple Stupid. Don't get all convoluted, The best Halo narratives execution wise were because the core plot was simple (Halo CE):
Stranded on Alien Ring...
-> Where are we and what the hell is it?
-> It's a Halo and it's got some kind of Super Weapon! We have to find it before the enemy...
-> Shit! There's a worse enemy!! Abandon Ship!!!
-> Let's blow this mother and get the hell out of dodge!
That's 4 main plot events, and most importantly all the gameplay is in service to the those story fulcrums, and they all follow logically. Contrast that with Halo 4 & 5 with all the crap going on, so many threads to keep in flight, with lots of noise and lack of logic.
Regarding the Covenant 'Coming Back', I don't think that makes, sense, not the classic Covenant, but there are plenty of other options:-
+ San-Shyum went off the radar, they could easily return. The Prelate in Shadow of Intent could be a pretty cool villain / enemy.
+ Plenty of scope for Arbiter / Sangheilli to fall out with humanity again, especially in light of Onis shenanigans...
+ Lekgolo - we don't know that much about them to be honest.
+ Brutes - kind of central to the Halo wars 2 story...
All in all i'm still looking forward to Halo 6, but there is a certain amount of trepidation as well.