More than anything, players really want a game that is cohesive, whole and proud of what it is.

Halo 4 was trying to be like call of duty but didn't understand what made that game's systems work (instant kills and TONS of weapons, deeper customisation).
It was trying to make you 'feel like a spartan' while making your aim go all over the place and slow you down when you get shot.
It was trying to have killstreaks but was too afraid of them to have them anywhere except Slayer.
It wanted new objective gametypes but totally misunderstood the map design they needed (Dominion's bases were too enclosed, protectable).
It wanted to wow people with graphics but was too embarrassed to let people see how they were achieved, to let them touch the wonder (too much on backgrounds than bigger levels, no campaign theatre)
It wanted 'balance' but totally misunderstood what that meant - leading to samey weapons, samey maps, and all symmetrical gametypes.
It wanted competitive players but didn't give them anything substantial because it didn't want to upset anyone, anywhere, at any time - "oh, really, you guys want a ranking system? heres one we threw together and it's waypoint only"
It wanted cool custom maps but forgot that gametype customisation was half the appeal.
It wanted fiction to matter but didn't give people the knowledge to understand it, and didn't follow through (particularly in Spops and War Games)
They wanted a 2nd episodic campaign but didn't give it enough budget or time to mature into something great.
They wanted so much new stuff they didn't have time for so much of the great stuff they already had - firefight, theatre, cool weapons like Focus Rifle, Invasion etc. etc. etc.

Above all, it wanted other people to love it so desperately that it forgot to love itself and it's legacy.

343i thought Halo was about a formula - turns out it was all about the approach.

That's why I'm excited for Destiny, but not Halo 5.

/lol, this turned into a rant.