Replaying the campaign on EVIL difficulty with Warrior and Auto-Soul modes enabled has rocketed Amid Evil into my favorites.

This is still one of the best looking FPS titles ever produced and maintains an overall high level of quality throughout its levelset. The only points of chaffing I encountered is the occasionally brutal difficulty of The Forges, which was still more than manageable. Thanks to each of the seven episodes having a custom enemy roster, the campaign ended up feeling much longer than its actual runtime is due to how memorable each chunk of the game is allowed to become.

Each episode has its own tone and slightly altered flow for the combat encounters. The different tiers of enemies across the episodes can have altered vulnerabilities to the arsenal, continually mixing up the gamefeel slightly. Coupled with how each level was designed to accomodate the Warrior mode, the order of acquisition of the arsenal within a level adds a whole other layer of complexity. It's a testament to how well balanced the weapons are that I was often delighted to acquire the Azure Staff even after I had previously reacquired the Voltride in the same level. Said arsenal also plays very well without crosshairs, which I always appreciate. I prefer to have unobstructed views of enemies and environs wherever possible.

The Arcane Expanse looks like a manifestation of the palaces I wandered in childhood dreams, and I want more. Perfection.