:Master
: Chief is a brute force kind of soldier, so having to run and hide and be
: tactical and think about fight mechanics goes against everything I've ever
: known in Halo.

I mean, that's how -you- play. How you interpret the character. The way I play is very different, and my interpretation is therefore different. The cool thing is, neither is wrong. While Bungie initially set out to make the Cheif as this (mostly) quiet, husk of a shell for the player character, there are elements where both Bungie and 343 has written chief how they want.

Just wanna say this: the hall mark of a good Halo game for me, is being able to play an encounter multiple ways, and I think Infinite delivers that in spades, like H1-H3. A specific example for you to consider: Truth and Reconciliation. It was a quasi-stealth mission for the first half. You can choose to play the encounter as Bungie starts you with the Sniper, being methodical and hanging back. Or you could rush in with the sniper going for no-scopes. Or you could drop the sniper and use something different.

I've done all of them! That's part of the fun :)

Skip the Tank and take the Hog (or go on foot) on Delta Halo, and listen to Cortana gufaw at you lol.

:But also...boss battles. One of the reasons Halo was
: awesome was because it was one of the first games like that, that DIDN'T
: have boss battles. Now, I'm not against battles, but....there were a lot
: of them. Especially at the end. And it wasn't fun.

Uh.... Halo 2 had boss battles. And Halo 3.

They were ok. As many have pointed out over the years, it is challenging to do a boss fight in an FPS. I loathed the ones in Halo 5. I enjoyed the ones in Infinite much better. They weren't any better or worse than most Destiny boss battles.

To each their own, I suppose.

: Otherwise, I still have a lot of open world to discover and I'm excited to
: traipse about and find all the secrets and collectibles.

That was one of my most enjoyable experiences. This is the first Halo since 3 for me that I found a skull or two on my own, and some other rando easter eggs.