A most "curiouser and curiouser" game. I'm going for an overall positive end score because there's lots to like. I was absolutely eating up the visual style of every locale, each with a delightfully macabre take on many of the original tale's events. It was very obvious with its inclusion and handling of all the sensitive contents but nothing much frightened me... disturbed me in some cases sure, but I wasn't scared off. I think there were some hints of a more expansive game in there but I imagine that there were a few development snags that prevented those expansions, so the final game is a bit corridor-like, but it still felt weirdly confusing with its handling of secrets and reward hunting - I found myself constantly second-guessing my path forward, unsure if I was on the direct path or not, and to be locked out of backtracking when I realised I wasn't on the secret path was mildly infuriating. But I did "keep my temper" because the sheer weight of this game's atmosphere kept me invested and I overall enjoyed all the bloody murder I dished out.

Wanting to see more of the Friendly Neighborhood Guys, I dove in hoping for more of the same good stuff. In actuality, the start was pretty rough. This game is very lucky that I persevered with it after finding the upscaling of the challenge very jarring, especially in the early game, and being very disappointed by little things like the radio broadcast recordings being lost to the aether after they're activated. But when I put the work in and eventually grabbed all of the abilities on offer, then I started to roll with it even more. I agree with my friends that the movement was at its best in the entire Marvel series here, and the character performances really sell its story. So thankfully, everything turned out good with MS2, enough for me to be interested if there is post-campaign story content on the way like last time.

Another good extra dose of the same good old stuff, albeit with new takes that bring their own inherent challenges, especially for the ones seeking to finish everything in the game - one of the ultra tough optional quest battles was the ONLY time I had to tune down the game to its casual mode just so I could see the quest's ending. But it was another pleasant little story with extra characters that I surprisingly didn't end up hating, and it brings its own quirky charm to the overall XC1 story. I'm hoping to make much more sense of its events by the time I see the future games in the series...

Another good extra dose of the same good old stuff, albeit with new takes that bring their own inherent challenges, especially for the ones seeking to finish everything in the game - one of the ultra tough optional quest battles was the ONLY time I had to tune down the game to its casual mode just so I could see the quest's ending. But it was another pleasant little story with extra characters that I surprisingly didn't end up hating, and it brings its own quirky charm to the overall XC1 story. I'm hoping to make much more sense of its events by the time I see the future games in the series...

Finally, I gave this game the complete playthrough it was said to deserve, and I wholeheartedly see why it's as revered as it is. It helped that I decided to stay well on top of my character levels, stats and attributes outside of when I broadcasted my sessions of the story run, and the depth of the party mechanics was actually pretty far out and intriguing to get to grips with. A largely likeable cast go through excellent plot twist moments and every member had a chance to shine (especially my favourite girl, love her). And not to mention... the remastered soundtrack is simply my everything - punchy, serene, heavy and heartfelt in equal measures. I think that, based on how well I ended up gelling with the first of this series, I've got a favourite RPG franchise. We'll see how I fare with the other two later, but this was a stunning game that still stands the test of time - even though it's the remastered Definitive port!