History YMMV / MarathonExpandedUniverse

* ThatOneBoss: ''Istoria'' generally plays quite fair (though players should probably choose nothing higher than Normal for their first playthrough, even if they're used to Total Carnage). However, "Born Under Punches" features the first appearance of a Flame IADD, a boss monster that one-shots the player even at full health. It has 3,000 HP, so it takes a ''lot'' of damage to kill, and its attacks travel quite fast even if you hit it with an Ice spell. Perhaps worst of all, it's not any easier on lower difficulties. Depending on what class you've chosen, it can be a huge roadblock to the player's progression; Deceivers will have a particularly difficult time, since their active ability does nothing against it. The intended solution is to [[spoiler:use a Fury spell and then unleash as much Laser as possible while also firing at it]], but switching spells in the midst of combat can also pose issues. The developers have indicated that this fight will be toned down in a future update. There are more Flame [=IADDs=] later in the game, but by that point, you have your own one-shot ability: [[spoiler:the Black Hole spell]]. As a result, they're mostly trivial unless you've used up all your [[spoiler:Black Holes]] and/or they catch you by surprise.

* ThatOneBoss: ''Istoria'' generally plays quite fair (though players should probably choose nothing higher than Normal for their first playthrough, even if they're used to Total Carnage). However, "Born Under Punches" features the first appearance of a Flame IADD, a boss monster that one-shots the player even at full health. It has 3,000 HP, so it takes a ''lot'' of damage to kill, and its attacks travel quite fast even if you hit it with an Ice spell. Perhaps worst of all, it's not any easier on lower difficulties. Depending on what class you've chosen, it can be a huge roadblock to the player's progression; Deceivers will have a particularly difficult time, since their active ability does nothing against it. The intended solution is to [[spoiler:use a Fury spell and then unleash as much Laser as possible while also firing at it]], but switching spells in the midst of combat can also pose issues. The developers have indicated that this fight will be toned down in a future update. There are more Flame IADDs later in the game, but by that point, you have your own one-shot ability: [[spoiler:the Black Hole spell]]. As a result, they're mostly trivial unless you've used up all your Black Holes and/or they catch you by surprise.

* BetterThanCanon: A common opinion of the [[http://simplici7y.com/items/second-quest "Second Quest"]] net map collection, which contains remixes of the ''Infinity'' net maps (plus a few others). They have a lot more ammo than the originals and are generally better looking as well.

*** Pieces of the ''Eternal'' 1.3 soundtrack are also now also possible to stream in the form of ''Marathon'' remix/arrangement albums by [[https://youtu.be/7uadHRPqrec Cory King Tucker]], [[https://youtu.be/bRiDh3PziWU Aaron Freed]], and [[https://talashar.bandcamp.com/album/eupfhoria Talashar]], though many of these have been altered somewhat (or spliced together) for their ''Eternal'' appearances.

*** ''Eternal''[='=]s soundtrack is being massively expanded for its 1.3 release, and the new material (including works by nine new composers and arrangers, plus additional works from Hardgrove and Singer) is arguably just as high-quality. Since it's still a work in progress, it's not available on [=YouTube=] yet, but the codirector has made it [[https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuD0MykSsmaRnUJawmCYx8my2zSS?e=9rRYFa available to download in FLAC]].

*** ''Eternal''[='=]s soundtrack is being massively expanded for its 1.3 release, and the new material (including works by nine new composers and arrangers, plus additional works from Hardgrove and Singer) is arguably just as high-quality. Since it's still a work in progress, it's not available on YouTube yet, but the codirector has made it [[https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuD0MykSsmaRnUJawmCYx8my2zSS?e=9rRYFa available to download in FLAC]].

** ''Apotheosis''[='=] soundtrack is also quite impressive. It's not on YouTube yet (the creators have indicated that they want to do a bit more than a standard "soundtrack with game logo" for the video), but you can download a version suitable for standalone listening [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/994539679963693096/1025583853655556168/2022-10-01_-_Apotheosis_X_OST.zip here]] (this version is properly tagged, has the silences at the start and end of some tracks trimmed, and has marginally better dynamic range).

* {{Speedrun}}: Players have completed runs of at least ''Phoenix'', ''Apotheosis'', ''Rubicon'', and ''Eternal''. Here are the fastest known runs as of March 2022 by category and version of the game:
** ''Phoenix'' on [[https://youtu.be/CiPkaeqo2x0 Kindergarten]]
** ''Apotheosis'' [[https://youtu.be/dn3UX7arAIM any%, Kindergarten]] (the level "Eve of Orbit" takes you to the end of the game if you stand on the edges after inserting the chip at the end)
** ''Apotheosis'' [[https://youtu.be/LLmgAeRNYsw all main levels, Kindergarten]]
** ''Rubicon'' [[https://youtu.be/11i4zU2BL5M all planks, Kindergarten]]
** ''Rubicon'' [[https://youtu.be/KHON57dcVl4 Pfhor Plank, Kindergarten]]
** ''Rubicon'' [[https://youtu.be/lexNrTvOTy8 Pfhor Plank, Total Carnage]]
** ''Eternal'' [[https://youtu.be/25QqUnBjNAA low%, Kindergarten, 1.1]] (the "low%" route clips from the level "To Sleep, Perchance to Dream" to "The Near Side of Everywhere"; in version 1.2 and onward, this simply teleports you to the terminal in the same level)
** ''Eternal'' [[https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1427729927 any%, Kindergarten, 1.3 preview 2]] (the "any%" route skips all the game's "failure branches"; this is the fastest intended route, and the fastest route of any kind for 1.2 and later versions)
** ''Eternal'' [[https://youtu.be/deA0R6pSQQE any%, Total Carnage, 1.2.1 release candidate 2]] (this is the game's codirector playing, incidentally)
** ''Eternal'' [[https://youtu.be/AcReh_ROf8M any%, Total Carnage, 1.3 development]] (this build precedes 1.3 Preview 1 by about ten days; this is also the codirector playing)