Does anyone else miss the Human-Covenant War?

Was scrolling through my steam library when I saw Reach and remembered how much I liked pre-halo CE lore. Idk, something about defeat after defeat, pyrrhic victory after pyrrhic victory and humanity doing whatever they can to even stand a chance against an alien enemy seems so cool to me.

Don't get me wrong, I still very much enjoy post-covenant and ancient lore, but man was the human-covenant war cool.