Granted I have not completed the game yet. But I’d say I’m a third of the way through, and it doesn’t live up to the title “Halo 5.” If this was simply “Halo: Guardians,” it’s fine, but this doesn’t feel like a true fifth game. It feels like a spin off. Half of the game so far is dedicated to a separate character of a new team. That’s fine for games like ODST (which I similarly don’t like the number in that title, but there is a real Halo 3; there is no “real” Halo 5). When I play the main games of Halo, I expect Master Chief, not Sergeant Locke - a fine character on his own, but not what I came here for. Plus... there are spoilers which break the canon of the entire preceding franchise that I won’t go into.
Gameplay wise it’s very fun, it’s very intuitive, plenty of entertainment. But the story brings down my personal enjoyment a lot. I’m here for the story, playing the game is actually secondary for a casual gamer like myself. In that regard, I feel disappointed in Halo 5, and I adored Halo 4, which was divisive itself, to say the least. But if you approach this is just any other shooter, here to play and nothing else, this will be loads of fun for you. And from what I remember several years ago, the multiplayer is quite good - again, not story based. That’s what it boils down to: what do you want from this game?