@xtal: my issue so far with it is that there's no meaningful reason to play through a level more than once because the speed runs from Origins don't exist any more. The speed runs were like a catch-all so even if you had to play a level three, four, even five times or more because you missed that one Lum or Electoon, it helped you nail the speed run; to become that little wiser for the eventual mad dash across the level. There was always the speed run there to utilise your increased level knowledge once you'd collected everything. In Legends, you just have to collect all the Lums and Teensies and move on. The problem with this is that if you're a completist like me, you just end up restarting from the last checkpoint because if you don't do that you end up having to do the entire level again just to collect those stray Lums or the Teensies you missed. Your extra knowledge of the level doesn't go towards a speed run or anything -- and they were exhilarating when you nailed them. Mecha No Mistake, I'll never forget you.

I think the dedicated speed run levels in Legends have Lums in them as well so you're not just focusing on avoiding hazards and doing the jumps, you're trying to bag all the Lums too (remember that the speed runs and Tricky Treasure levels in Origins weren't at all concerned with Lums and Electoons so it was very much about speed and nothing else). What's worse is that in order to hit the maximum Lum target, some Lums have to be collected sequentially and if you fuck up, well, you've gotta go back to the last checkpoint or do it all again. Coupling this with Murfy who you have to wait for to go to the next element to trigger (level, enemy, rope, platform etc.), the whole experience feels a lot more stop-starty and in some cases trial and error-y. Origins was beautifully oiled in this regard: it flowed effortlessly. There's also the ADHD Awesomeness leveling, unlocking and scratch card things that just pester you incessantly between levels.

It's early doors yet and I'm still thoroughly enjoying it but it does seem like Ancel and co. don't realise what made the first game so special. That, or I need to play more to form a better opinion! I'll go with the latter for the time being!

Oh yeah! I've played those. In fact, I often remarked while playing Origins how the Tricky Treasure levels were like rhythm platformer levels. The music levels in Legends are a natural evolution of that and they're terrific. The Invasion levels are terrific too it's just that I miss the organic ascent to knowing each of the standard levels inside out, finding all the lums and electoons over a couple of plays, culminating in a single dash from start to finish. It's like the ultimate way of stamping a level as 'Finished'. In Legends most levels are done once and that's it, you move on. You could say the speed runs in Origins were a lazy way of eking out content but I saw them as a really clever way of introducing players to the joys of mastery. You kind of feel like those badass speed runners on Youtube when you nail a speed run. Thankfully Legends still has this in the form of the invasion and music levels, it's just more specific and less frequent which is a shame because they were my favourite bits in Origins. My hopes is all those spaces next to each of the levels on the level select screen will eventually fill with invasion frames! I mean, surely that's why the gaps are so wide? SURELY.

Since my last post I've been playing a lot more with Hailey and I stick by most of what I've said although I'd hardly call them reservations any more, just differences or preferences. The game is still fantastic and a real treat to the senses -- seriously, how fucking gorgeous does it look? The unlocking nonsense is by far the most egregious issue I have with it now (and even that isn't that bad! Murfy can be a pain sometimes). The inclusion of some remastered/remixed Origins levels is sweet and Kung Foot is a great thing to end with after a session. GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!

I haven't been able to play Kung Foot. I have no friends!

Regarding the empty spaces, I have heard that almost all, if not all of the levels have Invasions, so look forward to that. The unlocking is a bit strange.. but it seems a bit more open than Origins if anything. Now, I've never completed Origins, I'm still working on it, but the 5 worlds I have been to are, for the most part, a linear path (Mario 3-like) so it doesn't seem to be too different with the locked paintings. I'm only level 7 I think and I've unlocked a lot of levels already, every world is open except the one which requires 400 teensies saved to unlock.

The daily/weekly challenges are also occasionally enjoyable. I enjoy the speed ones and the bottomless descents. The Murfy dungeon runs are my least favourite, mostly because it's clumsy to run at top speed whilst using Murfy to manipulate objects.

And yeah, the remixed Origins levels are just a treat that the devs really didn't even have to do.

It's not perfect, but one more blissful platformer is one less MeatShewter.

I haven't played Secret World but have noticed Tom Chick's been re-reviewing it every day for what seems like the past two weeks. This was related to something Polygon did, which Gregg and Steerpike talked about somewhere in here.

Re: Polygon, I hadn't been to that site in a while but I was there a few days ago reading their system review of the PS4. I really like their style..not sure if it's a recent overhaul or has been like that for a while. Very Google-esque, lots of negative space, and the space that is used pops nicely. Pleasurable experience for the eyeballs.