Then, gameplay.
For two hours, Marcus didn't breathe. He played through Wave Ocean, through the mach speed sections that actually felt like controlled chaos rather than a lottery of death. He fought Egg Cerberus, a mechanical beast that now telegraphed its attacks with fair, visible tells. He even enjoyed the infamous "Aquatic Base" level, where the rising water felt like a pressure cooker, not a buggy mess.
He saved, shut down the game, and just sat there, a strange, hollow ache in his chest.