Mirror's Edge is the game I always come back to every few months and beat it from start to finish (it helps that it can be beaten in a session or two). The core gameplay is momentum-filled first-person parkour that still to this day stands out, and is surprisingly easy to learn. For the most part, the levels compliment this with the player having to improvise their own path through city rooftops whilst almost always being pursued by the police. The levels are not just great for containing the gameplay, but also the fact that you are interacting with a space that diegetically was not made for you yet you make it your own anyway. Areas like the mall are a prime example of this, and the beautiful design of the monochrome city also helps. However, there are definitely level design aspects that get in the way of what makes the game fun. Escaping and dodging enemies is fun, but actually having to engage them in combat slows the pace down drastically and is not fun. 90% of the time you can figure out the correct way through the levels by the environmental design, but there are times I have to turn on the runner vision guide to show me the way. The boat level is claustrophobic small which limits your momentum. I do understand why they are in the game, and aspects like this should be refined if another sequel happens, rather than cutting them out. The game is short, but I do believe it gets everything it could have out from the core gameplay and it is hard to imagine what a longer campaign would have been like. None of these ruin my experience, and I believe the core gameplay and aesthetics are so strong that I am always drawn to come back to it. And the story? I have no idea

A lot of games these days get remakes when the original still holds up today. I think Uncharted 2 and 3 are perfect examples of this, all they need is a port to modern systems and they'll just be as playable as they've ever been. Uncharted Drake's Fortune may actually need a remake, or at least some sort of overhaul because it feels very outdated. I think the most obvious example is that the combat arenas and climbing are, for the most part, kept separate from each other. Climbing works as a mechanic, but is very simple and there are big stretches of the game where the player is just climbing with not much else which is not very thrilling. Not only would adding climbing to the combat sections alleviate this problem, but it would also make the arenas more unique as it would add a new layer of verticality that is not always explored by other cover-based shooters. The gunplay is also not as refined as it will become in future Uncharted titles. Enemies are bullet sponges, which is further exacerbated by the harder difficulties, which I never found a problem when playing the other games on max difficulty. Sometimes a single enemy will just appear randomly in a non-combat arena as you turn a corner, and while it is not necessarily a fault, it does showcase how Naughty Dog where still finding their footing. The story is alright, but its real highlight is its cast of characters. Well mainly the protagonists Nate, Elena and Sully, because the antagonists Roman and Novaro are such boring characters. One exception to this is Eddie Raja who I love to hate and is exclusive to this game so that is one reason to come back to it I suppose. It is still a good game deep down, and I must of liked it enough to play the sequels (which is almost surprising it got any looking back), and I will be forever grateful it started this franchise.