I think ET Arcade should be split in two. First tab would be this weird multi level thing they're doing where you have to obey complications and if you fail you're back to the start. What I'd change is add saving and loading, remove the cooldown timer and have all the targets show up in instinct. The second tab would be the ETs vanilla, as they are, but with the cooldown timer, no instinct and no saving. So you have to choose between having a specific puzzle to figure out with the first example or a sandbox but with more risk
Another thing, this is an observation I made: I think IOI don't want to make sandboxes. There are individuals at IO that want to make sandboxes, yes, but I think IO as a company whatever that means be it game directors, producers or the CEO don't want Hitman to be a sandbox. Think about it, ever since the start what has been the primary output of their studio with this trilogy? It's not maps, not bonus missions, not new campaigns, it's been Elusive Targets and Escalations. Escalations are linear puzzles where you figure out the one solution and then you're done after 20 minutes. Some escalations have been sandbox-y, a lot have been fun, but they're fun to figure out and then fun to play in a couple months when you have to figure them out again. They're not fun the way Hitman is addictively fun. You don't get a rush of dopamine where you figure out a new way to kill your target or when you see him go to a place you've never seen him go before with a perfect prompt to kick him off the edge. It's more of a thing where you boot it up, play it, say oh that's how I do it and then you do it and move on. Elusive Targets should be better than that, they add new routes to the game and even a bad ET can have more ten more ways to play it than a good escalation. So what do IO do? Make it one time only. So you remember the experience you had playing the first time and that sticks with you. No deviation or elaboration
I feel like this has been a growing cancer in the trilogy from the start. Hitman 1&2 dangled specific mission stories in your face. Sapienza opens up with Rocco's sister calling him into work. Miami emphasizes the flamingo. Mumbai clearly wants you to do the Kashmirian first. Haven gives you a note in your room to give you the most complex mission story that's in that map. With almost every level even if there's a million mission stories there will be one the devs are so proud of they'll shove in your face. Then with Hitman 3 they started each level with a bang and then funneled you into one specific story. Dubai: start climbing then go to the terminal. Dartmoor is obvious. Mendoza wants you to do the tour then the secret meeting where Diana plays the biggest role. They even made what would be mission stories in the previous games not have any guiding because they didn't want you finding them first. They had their vision, and they wanted you to have the first experience be what they wanted and they wanted that to be all you remembered
So to me it makes sense now why they made ETs and Escalations. To them, that's the definitive way to play Hitman. Why would they not reactivate ETs? They said they wouldn't hold up, but half the shit they add as part of their autistic live service vision doesn't hold up. This new Arcade mode doesn't hold up, it's literally taking ETs, which are sandbox-y when you let them be replayed and then making them have a linear, one solution like a puzzle and then making that the only way of replaying them. It's clear they were always lying. They know ETs would hold up better than Escalations, but they don't want them to hold up. They want them to be linear, because that's their vision of what Hitman should be. Just food for thought
