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