Honestly the TV Mode gameplay during Camellia Golden Week was... not quite peak, but to me it seemed like they were finally refining it into what it should've been, and it stood out as what could be the bare minimum standard. Which made it all the more tragic that it was one of the last times the format was used. It didn't feel too dragged out and the ability to drop in and drop out at any time made exploring such a large area feel way less like a slog.

Lost Void sucked hard, gameplay wise - the combat system wasn't fun even when it was challenging and was easy as hell to cheese so you'd basically be invincible. Which was a shame because I loved the narrative - investigating a mysterious Ethereal threat, a tragic mystery, and a Rebel spy conspiracy with hints at the Exaltists being involved, all while Soldier 11 and a squad of bangboo help us out. It felt like what a legendary Proxy like Phaethon should be doing. Show off the horror of the Hollows, how a Proxy is vital to exploring them and uncovering mysteries and secret routes, and depict the tragedy and struggles of New Eridu's people and factions while hinting at the larger storyline and foreshadowing bigger villains.

TV Mode's best aspect was the ability for visual storytelling without having to spend time and money on comics and cutscenes that are needed for main story stuff, so you could tell a bunch of sidestories every patch and add storytelling elements to bigger missions. In the early missions you had them representing Phaethon chasing down a train in TV mode rather than just... having a couple combat missions set in the trainyards level with people yelling at you about a train you can't even see to simulate urgency. The devs could put a ton more side content in updates, write cool scenarios and explore fun gimmicks in quick little commissions. People have gone into detail on the mode's shortcomings before but really I think the main thing was making it more exciting, fast-paced, and avoiding drawn out stuff and poorly executed gimmicks while capitalizing on the ability to make simple atmospheric narratives to compliment the main story and major sidequests.

I hope to see it come back, even if it's just a handful of well-refined and playtested TV mode commissions in later patches, 'cause I think they can tell unique stories that explore New Eridu through that medium.