I didn't realize that stuff in there was "lifted."

Funny thing is, if it's a choice between an artist doing their own little "pressured to meet the deadline," half-hearted attempt at depicting a scene in a location that has already been visually established in the franchise, and that same artist basically integrating the original assets themselves into their work for accuracy and authenticity's sake, then I'm gonna prefer they do the latter over the former every time, because I really don't give a hoot about their ability to create altogether different things -- if my goal was to experience that artist's original creations, then I would simply go visit their site and enjoy them; but since my goal is to experience more of what I love from Halo, I go in expecting more of what I love from Halo, and am considerably (and justifiably) frustrated if I find anything else in its place. The creation of new things is certainly desirable, but the REPLACEMENT of old things is not. At least... not without consent... (343 can feel free to completely drop Miranda's "...To war..." line from Halo 3 in the MCC! lol).

If an artist is hired to help perpetuate something that people love after the original creators are no longer able to keep it going themselves, and they instead shift the purpose of the work that they were hired to do so that it becomes all about themselves, then... well, I am against that.

Whether it's Maleev, Portela, or any of the other talented artists working with Halo, I see it as them having only been brought onboard so that things that would otherwise not be visualized can be visualized, you know? They want to do their own thing, great, I want to see that too, but keep it separate from the main stuff.