I'll spare you a full repost and just link the original review here: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Reyn/review/665135/
To leave some comments on the original version specifically...well, it's still ANUBIS: Zone of the Enders. The combat's beauty was obviously nailed the first time around, and this is technically still true for the encounter design, but (and this might just be from playing the versions with the Special Edition content so much) the pacing might be a little tooooo snappy; going straight from Anubis to finding Taper is the big glaring point in my eyes. Not necessarily worse, just pretty abrupt.
Part of why the SE content works is that all of the new fights are actually pretty general, owed to the reuse of areas (the Cellar Room was a VS. Mode map in the original). There's no real gimmick to any of them, but instead they give you some appreciated space in the main game to mess around for a bit. If you ask me, it's more preferable than the Extra Missions, which usually just tend to be recycled fights anyway, only now with a best time to shoot for.
Beyond that, it's mostly some visual polish that the SE has to its name: the extra Subweapon displays in cutscenes, and, ironically, extra cutscenes in general, smooth things out a bit more. Another abrupt jump in the original game is from the Codec bit with Ken on Phobos straight into the Nepthis clones. The new cutscene alone helps it feel less sudden, not to mention the chance to nuke regular mobs as Naked Jehuty. For all intents and purposes, the endgame is the equivalent of reaching robot godhood, and getting to exercise that power is always satisfying; funny how even a non-fight can add so much to the experience.
VS. Mode's new UI and meter system also make it feel more refined...even if it's still kusoge-tier.
Still a great game, just that you can see how those extra months in the oven made it even better. Does bring the fine-tuning (or lack thereof) of some of the wackier sections on Extreme into question, though.
To leave some comments on the original version specifically...well, it's still ANUBIS: Zone of the Enders. The combat's beauty was obviously nailed the first time around, and this is technically still true for the encounter design, but (and this might just be from playing the versions with the Special Edition content so much) the pacing might be a little tooooo snappy; going straight from Anubis to finding Taper is the big glaring point in my eyes. Not necessarily worse, just pretty abrupt.
Part of why the SE content works is that all of the new fights are actually pretty general, owed to the reuse of areas (the Cellar Room was a VS. Mode map in the original). There's no real gimmick to any of them, but instead they give you some appreciated space in the main game to mess around for a bit. If you ask me, it's more preferable than the Extra Missions, which usually just tend to be recycled fights anyway, only now with a best time to shoot for.
Beyond that, it's mostly some visual polish that the SE has to its name: the extra Subweapon displays in cutscenes, and, ironically, extra cutscenes in general, smooth things out a bit more. Another abrupt jump in the original game is from the Codec bit with Ken on Phobos straight into the Nepthis clones. The new cutscene alone helps it feel less sudden, not to mention the chance to nuke regular mobs as Naked Jehuty. For all intents and purposes, the endgame is the equivalent of reaching robot godhood, and getting to exercise that power is always satisfying; funny how even a non-fight can add so much to the experience.
VS. Mode's new UI and meter system also make it feel more refined...even if it's still kusoge-tier.
Still a great game, just that you can see how those extra months in the oven made it even better. Does bring the fine-tuning (or lack thereof) of some of the wackier sections on Extreme into question, though.