Mirror's Edge Catalyst is a fun game, and I do like the open world and the parkour in it, but it's not without its flaws.
Most of the areas feel nice and distinct from each other in terms of visuals, especially the last few you enter, though the game also decides to make those be the areas where the only way in if you don't want to fast-travel is through an inconvenient and repetitive way (ex - going through a forced vent crawl).
Collectibles are mostly alright - I enjoyed getting them at the start, but the fact that gridleaks are invisible during any missions and all of the 251 electronic parts have the 3 second animation of Faith grabbing them is annoying.
The combat is alright, but its flaws are most apparent whenever you fight Sentinels. Hit M1. Shift a bunch. Hit M1. Shift a bunch. Repeat unless you end up getting them stuck in a backwards hit loop. I also don't fully understand why you'd ever use a light traversal attack over a heavy traversal attack.
The story is easily the weakest part of the game - there's a decent cast of characters, but most of them either disappear after their first mission or have 90% of their story relegated to audio recordings (which are sometimes incredibly ambiguous). Nomad, for instance, basically does absolutely nothing in the story. Plastic is basically the only one who stays absolutely important the entire time, since even Icarus doesn't really do much most of the game. The story also ends off on a cliffhanger ending - I'd be fine with the ending if the game didn't explicitly end it setting up a sequel or expansion that never came with Faith's lines.
The runner bags that are unlocked for getting achievements are cool and all, but with the online part of the game being shut off soon(?) they all feel kinda meaningless now.
I think that if we ever got a third Mirror's Edge, we could get one that improves heavily on the Catalyst formula and delivers a truly great experience, especially with the state of the world by the end of it. Unfortunately, it's been 7 years and I think it's safe to say by now that one is not happening.
Most of the areas feel nice and distinct from each other in terms of visuals, especially the last few you enter, though the game also decides to make those be the areas where the only way in if you don't want to fast-travel is through an inconvenient and repetitive way (ex - going through a forced vent crawl).
Collectibles are mostly alright - I enjoyed getting them at the start, but the fact that gridleaks are invisible during any missions and all of the 251 electronic parts have the 3 second animation of Faith grabbing them is annoying.
The combat is alright, but its flaws are most apparent whenever you fight Sentinels. Hit M1. Shift a bunch. Hit M1. Shift a bunch. Repeat unless you end up getting them stuck in a backwards hit loop. I also don't fully understand why you'd ever use a light traversal attack over a heavy traversal attack.
The story is easily the weakest part of the game - there's a decent cast of characters, but most of them either disappear after their first mission or have 90% of their story relegated to audio recordings (which are sometimes incredibly ambiguous). Nomad, for instance, basically does absolutely nothing in the story. Plastic is basically the only one who stays absolutely important the entire time, since even Icarus doesn't really do much most of the game. The story also ends off on a cliffhanger ending - I'd be fine with the ending if the game didn't explicitly end it setting up a sequel or expansion that never came with Faith's lines.
The runner bags that are unlocked for getting achievements are cool and all, but with the online part of the game being shut off soon(?) they all feel kinda meaningless now.
I think that if we ever got a third Mirror's Edge, we could get one that improves heavily on the Catalyst formula and delivers a truly great experience, especially with the state of the world by the end of it. Unfortunately, it's been 7 years and I think it's safe to say by now that one is not happening.