Some really pretty art and a solid dreadful soundtrack but it's also riddled with such an inconsistent tone and writing that makes it really hard to enjoy. it starts off really interesting and some of the visuals and ideas are terrifying and dreadful and it does attempt to explore this character's pain, but it becomes so redundant and the pacing doesn't do any of this pain justice. You hear the same thing over and over again the same inconsistent conversations yet you learn so little about this character that it becomes difficult to empathize with her outside of the usual, "wow this character is definitely mentally ill!" without much substance to that character. The first game, while also imperfect, nails the metaphors and the perspectives to make a really short meaningful experience. It created an ambiance and left you with something other than just a visual novel about a girl who needs help. it tries to be nuanced and respectful but it comes off so half-baked like it's feeding into it's own ego, it has nothing to say other than how much of a struggle her life is to live.

Every ending is such a struggle to get to as you skip and skip and skip through the same dialogue where your choices don't matter until you need to play the pace-breaking point and click game that loses it's charm after the first playthrough. Some of the endings do have some interesting ideas I especially like how one of them reflects the original game but once again it's nothing more than abstract metaphors that don't really get anything across. Sit and scroll through the screen as her face changes, sit and scroll through the screen while the same pizza metaphor is used, sit and scroll while the same pointless dialogue of how she's in so much pain that the game has no answer to. It's not even nihilistic in it's message or optimistic of change it's simply just unhinged unfinished pain.

I think despite my criticisms and negative feelings towards the game it is worth experiencing and there is value in a lot of what it showcases but I can't say I enjoyed my experience with it.

Spider-Man 2's narrative is arguably the strongest in the series, with a lot of really well put together characters (MJ works so much better here!), and some great emotional bonds between Peter, Harry, and Miles. All the venom stuff works really well and the voice acting is absolutely superb. Unfortunately there is some really jarring decisions in gameplay and side quests that make this such a lesser experience compared to the other two games. This is the third game in the series and you're still doing the same monotonous task around the map for a reward that feels underwhelming and an accompanying suit that ends up usually just sitting in your menu. None of it is set up well or fun to play and just completely stops the main story half the time. There's an overwhelming amount of bugs and glitches that either broke my game, failed a mission, or just completely got rid of the audio. There's no daytime/nighttime or weather cycles featured despite being in earlier games, and no new game plus. Both the Wingglider and Parry button feel useless and I maybe used either one of them a couple of times. Adding gliding to your swinging spider-man game just feels so out of place and adds nothing but an extra form of traversal, and the parry button feels so underwhelming when the perfect dodge already feels really good to pull off. Other than that though I still more than recommend this game for it's phenomenal set of abilities, swinging, and incredible story.