It's hard to forget. The visual retcons serve to really pull me out of the Halo universe. It makes 343I's games feel like they take place in an alternate reality.

I'm gonna have to disagree with H2A's sound, though. I love how visceral, punchy, and more gun-like they sound, much better than the feeble toy-like sounds they've had throughout most of the series.

: I really like that actually. I'm glad they didn't do the obvious and generic
: thing that Bungie would have done.

Forerunners as ancient aliens is no less obvious and generic. And there's still an advanced ancient human civilization 100,000 years ago. 343I just retconned something for the sake of retconning it. Bungie's vision was clear, and 343I tossed it out because Halo is their baby now and they'll mold it in their own image — both in terms of art and in terms of fiction — instead of respecting the legacy left to them.