: I agree with most of this, although not necessarily with the degree or tone,
: except: I'd prefer full-asssed justifications and some reversions. I also
: disagree that it's a reboot, because they've included all of the previous
: story, I'd even say they've taken pains to tie things together. They've...
: replaced a lot of things established in Halo 3, but the continuity is
: there.
: I wish they would do a full reboot so the arguing about this can end (and we
: can start arguing about whether first-universe Halo is better or new
: Halo).

That's sort of the point I was trying to get at, although not in a very clear way. Yes, they continued the story from where Bungie left, but Halo 4 was still clearly a reboot, visually. I think it's just easier to accept that, rather than trying to shoehorn in explanations that make little (or no) sense.

I think it would have been great to see something about the Master Chief changing out his armor. But it didn't happen, and I can accept that, along with lots of other things, it's just a visual reboot.