Even though Halo started as a fairly straightforward story, over the years the franchise quickly has become steeped in a deep mythos that contains lore, history, and many side stories. The games have had varying levels of accessibility for fans depending on players' knowledge of not just past games, but novels, short stories, comics, web series, and more. But with the next game in the franchise, Halo Infinite, developer 343 Industries says that it is staying conscious of that, making sure that hardcore fans have something to grab onto in the game's story while keeping it accessible and understandable for new and returning fans.

Justin Robey, who serves as the Director of Player Voice at 343 Industries said on a recent 343 Social Stream that the developers are aware of Halo's history and they are trying to keep players from getting lost with Halo Infinite's story:

"Halo is one of those franchises that we have a lot of players who are probably going to come back when we release Halo Infinite and we just want to make sure as it gets in there that people aren't lost, which is one of the things that people complain about with Halo 5. So it's making sure there's enough meat and awesome for the fans and that at the same time it's approachable for people who are coming back in."

Just before Robey moved on in the stream, he made a quick reference to Kingdom Hearts 3 and what that game recently did in terms of story. One of the common critiques against that game is how hard it is for even dedicated fans to track all the connections that game makes with its main entries, remakes, and spinoffs. It's unknown at this point how exactly Halo Infinite will end up bringing players along, but a clue could lie in how Kingdom Hearts 3 did it.

Very little is known about Halo Infinite with rumors that it could have open-world and RPG elements. Besides the initial trailer at E3 2018, 343 Industries has not shown anything else of the game. But the developer has said that Halo Infinite is the next full installment of the franchise (i.e. it is by all accounts Halo 6) and that the story revolves around Master Chief.

Only time will tell how well 343 Industries is able to narratively engage the wide array of players that will surely play Halo Infinite from hardcore fans of the Halo mythos to casual shooter fans.

Halo Infinite is currently in development exclusively for Xbox One.

Source: 343 Industries