-False Dichotomy: Just because thegame wasn't a rousing success doesn't make it a colossal trainwreck (and vice versa). There is an entire spectrum of performance, and I would have worried more about "so okay, it's average" or even dropping the scale altogether with "Jumped the shark".

For every Daikatana, there's a Deus Ex: Invisible War.

-"You need to keep it self-contained, you can't leave the players feeling like they had to go outside the game to really understand what's going on."

I'm waiting for him to mention the terminals.
Oh, he did...
...
Wait. Are you telling me that 343i thought that the terminals were ANCILLARY to understanding what the Hell was going on?!

-"You're constantly having to up the stakes and come up with that next great threat because Halo is a story and a fantasy about heroics, being the hero that will save us all."

That's probably the sort of thinking that led to Earth getting death-beamed by the Didact with little to no buildup.

This isn't Tenga Toppen Gurren Lagaan. This ain't Code Geass. If serial escalation is going to result in tomfoolery, fuggedaboutit.
Oh, hey, Holmes actually said that saving the galaxy (Hint: you didn't save it in Halo 4) eventually doesn't have the same impact. Wish 343i had realized that sooner.