the advances made and the philosophical changes that take place in the next game are simply too much for my brain to ignore (bearing in mind that i haven't played 1+2 yet) but those changes are so dramatic that at times it feels wrong to suggest the games before and including this and the games after are even in the same series. i appreciate the type of mastery that 4 onwards demands more but in these smaller levels and with the immense number of repeat playthroughs this game demands there's a deeper desire to push yourself to know every corner of every map like a rally co-driver and then break the game into a thousand pieces, as opposed to just knowing the mechanics. not to mention cruise ship being an extra half a star in its own right.