I think the original has a better atmosphere, you have to drive between the missions instead of being teleported to the location, which inevitably works towards the immersion. But it also an early 00s game, sometimes it can feel too hard or frustrating. See it for yourself if that’s what you want.
I remember it was fine when I played it 14 years ago. Not as good as the original, but quite enjoyable. The remaster is comically bugged though, at least on Xbox.
I don’t even have time to finish games longer than 10 hours in reasonable time. 20-30 hours of gameplay and not ready for getting out of early access? Waat?
If cosmetics weren’t important to players, people wouldn’t spend money to buy them. We are human, we care about looks, that’s why companies make so much money on cosmetics. So yes, it is important enough to dislike predatory microtransactions.