I am conflicted on this one.
Insomniac continues to impress on the gameplay side. Traversal, combat, and stealth all have welcome additions. Web wings are incredibly fun and intuitive to use, and the PS5's improved loading times let you move through New York faster than ever before. The super slingshot move and Hunter Drone missions stand out in particular for how fun they are to use and play.
Combat has more options and a more streamlined approach to gadgets and abilities. The gadget wheel is gone, thank god, and the gadgets have been changed to be more focused on giving you advantages in combat that change how you play rather than just being a "defeat the enemy in front of you" button. The parry is also a nice addition, giving you more advantages but being harder to time. I felt myself using the parry more when I was higher in health and could afford to miss the timing and the dodge when I was hurting and needed to be more evasive, which felt appropriate. Some of the cues can be hard to see sometimes, especially when the enemy attacking you isn't on screen and you have to rely solely on the audio cue. The only egregious example was a fight with a character who used a lot of blue particle effects mixed with a blue indicator that an attack was unparryable, creating a frustrating combination. The particular focus on air combat is exciting, as air combat is really what differentiates Spider-Man from other games using the same type of combat system. You have more tools and more ways to stay in the air, and enemies have more ways to counter you while in the air, keeping things fresh. Combat felt best in rooms with tall ceilings where I could stay in the air for 70-80 hit combos without ever touching the ground. The abilities are also a nice touch, although I will say that Miles' abilities feel noticeably better than Peter's, but not to an extent where I felt especially weak fighting as Peter.
Unfortunately, the story feels somewhat weak. The spectacle is definitely there in spades, but the smaller character moments don't hit nearly as hard as the ones in Spider-Man PS4. I attribute this to somewhat poor pacing, this game's story feels very rushed, especially when compared to the first. I still thoroughly enjoyed the story, but I was expecting more time with some of the characters. I feels like even 20% more time would have been enough. I also feel like Miles got a little shafted, as this is way more Peter's story than his. At many points during the story, it feels like he has little to do relating to the main plot, and we're thrown into his shoes for about 30 minutes while the writers promise they haven't forgotten about him and then we're thrown back into Peter's side of the story. He definitely plays an important role, but he feels less like a 2nd main character and more like a supporting role.
I still highly recommend Spider-Man 2, especially for the new gameplay changes, but the story left me wanting a little more.
Insomniac continues to impress on the gameplay side. Traversal, combat, and stealth all have welcome additions. Web wings are incredibly fun and intuitive to use, and the PS5's improved loading times let you move through New York faster than ever before. The super slingshot move and Hunter Drone missions stand out in particular for how fun they are to use and play.
Combat has more options and a more streamlined approach to gadgets and abilities. The gadget wheel is gone, thank god, and the gadgets have been changed to be more focused on giving you advantages in combat that change how you play rather than just being a "defeat the enemy in front of you" button. The parry is also a nice addition, giving you more advantages but being harder to time. I felt myself using the parry more when I was higher in health and could afford to miss the timing and the dodge when I was hurting and needed to be more evasive, which felt appropriate. Some of the cues can be hard to see sometimes, especially when the enemy attacking you isn't on screen and you have to rely solely on the audio cue. The only egregious example was a fight with a character who used a lot of blue particle effects mixed with a blue indicator that an attack was unparryable, creating a frustrating combination. The particular focus on air combat is exciting, as air combat is really what differentiates Spider-Man from other games using the same type of combat system. You have more tools and more ways to stay in the air, and enemies have more ways to counter you while in the air, keeping things fresh. Combat felt best in rooms with tall ceilings where I could stay in the air for 70-80 hit combos without ever touching the ground. The abilities are also a nice touch, although I will say that Miles' abilities feel noticeably better than Peter's, but not to an extent where I felt especially weak fighting as Peter.
Unfortunately, the story feels somewhat weak. The spectacle is definitely there in spades, but the smaller character moments don't hit nearly as hard as the ones in Spider-Man PS4. I attribute this to somewhat poor pacing, this game's story feels very rushed, especially when compared to the first. I still thoroughly enjoyed the story, but I was expecting more time with some of the characters. I feels like even 20% more time would have been enough. I also feel like Miles got a little shafted, as this is way more Peter's story than his. At many points during the story, it feels like he has little to do relating to the main plot, and we're thrown into his shoes for about 30 minutes while the writers promise they haven't forgotten about him and then we're thrown back into Peter's side of the story. He definitely plays an important role, but he feels less like a 2nd main character and more like a supporting role.
I still highly recommend Spider-Man 2, especially for the new gameplay changes, but the story left me wanting a little more.