I love those moments where you play a game for the first time and it just completely enamours you immediately. Ape Escape 3 is just a masterpiece all around. It embodies this childlike fun better than pretty much any other game I've played. Every single stage is just so creative and fun. The morph system is an INCREDIBLE mechanic. That alone feels like it brings Ape Escape to its logical conclusion. You get access to a bunch of fun powers that change the entire gameplay and the freedom of choosing between them is so good. There is an argument to be made that it makes the game a little too easy, but they are just so fun I didn't care. This game is such a dramatic improvement over 2 its maddening. Soichi Terada returns big time for this game, and while I don't think the ost is as good as the first game, it's an absolute banger. I also just absolutely love the film motif of this. I love how it grounds it to something familiar and real, but the ideas are limitless, and the references are actually really charming and don't feel cheesy. This game is so ambitious and cool and I wish people talked about it more. I did the main progression of catching all the monkeys and defeating specter, but there is more I missed. There is an entire metal gear solid themed side game that just plays like MGS??? So wild! You all absolutely need to play this game. Easily the best 3D Platformer I have played currently.