For those too young to remember, back when Halo was huge every gaming publication was always like “is this new shooter X going to be the Halo killer?” Every time a big multiplayer shooter was announced, there was speculation about whether it was going to be the Halo killer.
Now that Halo is dead, which game was the Halo killer?
Halo 5 & Halo Infinite. Turns out, Halo was the Halo killer all along.
I’d add Halo 4 to that list. I think people just lost interest in the series over time in favor of new ones that have popped up.
I didn’t really like the story in 4, 5 or infinite all that much. I honestly don’t like most of the multiplayer maps in the newer games either. I don’t think the new games are terrible but ever since Bungie left they don’t have the same charm to them. Like Halo 2 seeing the scarab for the first time, or the different locales on Halo you’d travel to in order to unravel the mystery of the ring. In infinite you go into a bunch of nondescript towers as Cortana speaks gibberish and the brute guy keeps monologuing at you repeatedly. It was just obnoxious.
I think this is always the case with large IPs. It’s never one game or community that kills them. They’re always their own worst enemy.