I feel like the outside story was much more important in this one. In the last one, Riley’s story was much less emphasized. It dealt more with how emotions impact the outside world. I think two dealt more with how each one impacts the other.

I do agree that the inside story didn’t quite have the originality it could have, but I also think it’d be very hard to tell a story in-universe while changing the Inside mechanics enough to be a more unique story. At the end of the day, you’re going to need balance. That’s not going to change.