: And yeah, it definitely makes me happy that the original is still readily
: available, but it just saddens me to think newcomers to Halo will likely
: be seeking H:CE A for their first chapter. They're going to be seeing the
: new art first, and even with the magic button, the classic mode isn't 100%
: faithful to the original (visual glitches here and there since I believe
: they were using the PC port for Anniversary).

Aside from the hiccups (and I don't know how that got past testing), what's wrong with it? Also it was adapted from the PC version's code, and I'm pretty sure the PC version didn't have any graphical glitches the original didn't.

: For example, my friend who just started trying the Halo series after knowing
: me for years bought the Anniversary edition and didn't even realize he wasn't
: playing the original version (or knew their was a classic mode,), hah. :)

That's on her for not looking at the manual.

: Heh, I might have enjoyed that, but again, I don't see THAT much Reach art
: direction in it. I see copy-and-pasted versions of Reach files that they
: wrapped around mismatched animation skeletons. But I fixate on things very
: easily. The more I work on one of my own pieces of art, the more I can't
: even look at it because I don't actually see what's there; I just see
: uneven lines and blobs of color. I probably need psychiatric help on this
: issue. :)

I don't know how anyone who's the least bit critical and isn't an artistic genius gets any art made. Every time I try I don't get anywhere close to what I had in mind, and when I look at most works, even if I really like them, I notice little flaws or at least things I don't like (it seems like that doesn't happen as much as it used to, though).

: See for me, it's not about using your imagination - I actually like what's
: there. :) Especially the Forerunner structures. For me, it still looks
: unique to this day. Way too many video games across the board today shove
: as many details and fancy techniques into their visuals because they can -
: but just because you can do it doesn't mean you should do it. There's
: completely different characteristics, moods, and ambiences created by
: minimalistic and subdued design.

I think an important point to make here, or at least a good one, is that they could have had more details in a lot of the original game. There were games for the original PlayStation that had more detail in some areas than the first Halo had in most Forerunner structures.

: Another example in Halo would be to compare one of the earlier titles to Halo
: 4's (or some of Reach's) skyboxes. For me, there's just always so much
: going on that it almost nullifies all the hard work put into it. I'm not
: impressed by this majestic pillar because there's a volcano over there and
: lasers shooting into the sky over there, not to mention all that's
: happening on the ground in front of me distracting me.

I don't know what you mean.