I mean, sure, Reach was a button-pressing, plot-light military-focused grit-fest. But it was also a technical marvel, with Bungie's first ever space flight level in a game (and the only one to this day), and unprecedented sense of scale and emotion for a Halo title.
I understand that ODST had likeable characters compared with Reach's, but the plot was only slightly less dull than Reach's, and level design was standard Halo fare, nothing truly amazing besides maybe Coastal Highway. Don't get me started on how badly Bungie failed at the open world, something that has infamously continued in Destiny.
-
I couldn't say which I like better, but I can say what I liked about each. ODST; I liked New Mambasa. Even when empty, I love hub worlds. I liked the little side-story, with the audio logs. (still need to get the last 10 or so..) The music in New Mambasa was amazing. Vergil, and Fusion-Vergil were probably among my favorite characters. (next to Arbiter and Gravemind) I like fighting Scarabs. Didn't contradict lore, and is thus still canon. Covie Carb. Reach; The feeling of standing up against an enemy you know you can't win. Kat is among my favorite characters as well. (not as much, though) Custom Spartan (cower before the Noble 6. Codename; Watermelon) Team going down 1 by 1. ;-; Prequel Sprint [i]as an armor ability[/i] (hate how you sprint in 4) Falcons Plasma Pistol kill-time (it was best here, I think) Revenants My first Halo.