Questy
2024
This is a good ,pixelized 2d platformer that I had 4 hours of fun with. Don't be fooled though, this is not a metroidvania.
I'm not sure you can consider this a metroidvania game as the progression is linear. The game gives you a false sense of genre when it starts because it feels VERY Metroid, but as you go, you realize there is only one path forward and no open exploration. I mean, you can explore a bit in the beginning, but there is no real reason to (no secrets).
As of launch week, the game does have a few bugs here and there. Falling through platforms and odd physics stuff popped up now and then but very rarely.
The AI is absolutely dumb. None of the enemies were a challenge, even the bosses were super easy.
The game doesn't ramp up true challenge until the last half of it. You spend the first half collecting abilities with mild challenge and then you spend the 2nd half navigating much more treacherous areas with all your abilities.
I wish the GMO/Pokemon characters were the abilities that you collect instead of just collecting equipment. The GMO seemed very tacked in for no other reason than just to collect them.
Much of this is nit picky except for maybe the AI stuff. Looking forward to the sequel!
I'm not sure you can consider this a metroidvania game as the progression is linear. The game gives you a false sense of genre when it starts because it feels VERY Metroid, but as you go, you realize there is only one path forward and no open exploration. I mean, you can explore a bit in the beginning, but there is no real reason to (no secrets).
As of launch week, the game does have a few bugs here and there. Falling through platforms and odd physics stuff popped up now and then but very rarely.
The AI is absolutely dumb. None of the enemies were a challenge, even the bosses were super easy.
The game doesn't ramp up true challenge until the last half of it. You spend the first half collecting abilities with mild challenge and then you spend the 2nd half navigating much more treacherous areas with all your abilities.
I wish the GMO/Pokemon characters were the abilities that you collect instead of just collecting equipment. The GMO seemed very tacked in for no other reason than just to collect them.
Much of this is nit picky except for maybe the AI stuff. Looking forward to the sequel!
2021
The game is a quality, casual, point-click-and-find game but who is the psycho that is traveling through time putting these cats in these elaborate puzzles? I hope they do a sequel.
An ARPG that is unfortunately bogged down by odd menu design and repetitive filler side quests (which have to be done to grind your levels up). However, despite all of this, I found myself really getting into the gameplay loop and wanted to see the story to the end, even if it was a bit disappointing.
The core gameplay in this one is a lot of fun. A 2d platformer mixed with an ARPG, how can you go wrong? Well, I'll tell you.
Despite the fact that there are aspects of this game that are addictive and very enjoyable, the menu, map and quest system are very clunky and don't work well together. Like the maps only show marks for the main quest and only one selected side quest at a time. Once you finish that selected side quest, you have to then select another in the quest menu, then back out to the main game and then to map again to see where it is. and back and forth, back and forth and it sucks.
This also applies to the fast traveling. You use sign posts in the dungeons to fast travel around however, there is a map screen and the location selection screen. However the map doesn't list the names of the locations, so you're taking a guess as to which sign post location will take you where. Why didn't they put it all on the map just to make it easier!? It makes no sense at all and it becomes a nightmare in a couple areas because there are entrances and exits all over the place on the map!
There are also a million shops to upgrade your characters at (okay, it's more like 20, but it's still a lot!). One person does armor, one person does blades, one person upgrades your armor and blades, one person upgrades your runes, one person upgrades your tools, one person upgrades your bags... was it really necessary to have so many different vendors for upgrades!? It's really overkill...
This could've earned a much higher rating if they would've fixed some of these quality of life issues, but here we are.
Oh and the side quests. Good god the side quests. There has to be over a hundred side quests and while there are a few inventive and/or adventurous ones, a lot are repeat quests and others are literally filler.
Some quests will have you fetch a material only later to have you get the exact same quest again from the same or another person and you're collecting the exact same material! Then there are the filler quests which are like, go talk to this person who is a screen over. DONE. Turn In. Why bother with this!?
On another note, the visual design is also strange where the environments are 3d and gorgeously done but the characters are in 2d and have this very jaunty animation to them. It doesn't meld for me as the characters don't feel like they're in the same world.
And I have to also mention that I did have it happen about 3 times where I went to save and the game just hung. I had to restart the game each of those times and lost a bit of progress each time. VERY annoying.
Not a terrible game in the slightest but there are just too many bad design decisions that it's really hard to ignore them here.
The core gameplay in this one is a lot of fun. A 2d platformer mixed with an ARPG, how can you go wrong? Well, I'll tell you.
Despite the fact that there are aspects of this game that are addictive and very enjoyable, the menu, map and quest system are very clunky and don't work well together. Like the maps only show marks for the main quest and only one selected side quest at a time. Once you finish that selected side quest, you have to then select another in the quest menu, then back out to the main game and then to map again to see where it is. and back and forth, back and forth and it sucks.
This also applies to the fast traveling. You use sign posts in the dungeons to fast travel around however, there is a map screen and the location selection screen. However the map doesn't list the names of the locations, so you're taking a guess as to which sign post location will take you where. Why didn't they put it all on the map just to make it easier!? It makes no sense at all and it becomes a nightmare in a couple areas because there are entrances and exits all over the place on the map!
There are also a million shops to upgrade your characters at (okay, it's more like 20, but it's still a lot!). One person does armor, one person does blades, one person upgrades your armor and blades, one person upgrades your runes, one person upgrades your tools, one person upgrades your bags... was it really necessary to have so many different vendors for upgrades!? It's really overkill...
This could've earned a much higher rating if they would've fixed some of these quality of life issues, but here we are.
Oh and the side quests. Good god the side quests. There has to be over a hundred side quests and while there are a few inventive and/or adventurous ones, a lot are repeat quests and others are literally filler.
Some quests will have you fetch a material only later to have you get the exact same quest again from the same or another person and you're collecting the exact same material! Then there are the filler quests which are like, go talk to this person who is a screen over. DONE. Turn In. Why bother with this!?
On another note, the visual design is also strange where the environments are 3d and gorgeously done but the characters are in 2d and have this very jaunty animation to them. It doesn't meld for me as the characters don't feel like they're in the same world.
And I have to also mention that I did have it happen about 3 times where I went to save and the game just hung. I had to restart the game each of those times and lost a bit of progress each time. VERY annoying.
Not a terrible game in the slightest but there are just too many bad design decisions that it's really hard to ignore them here.
2022
While the game successfully replicates the look and feel of the original Diablo, the menu and inventory system are archaic in a way that I question why they designed it that way. I started this one, but only got a half hour in because the old school, blurry aesthetic and map system made my head hurt.
While the updated graphics are welcomed, the game itself doesn't do much to modernize the original game besides that. I mean, it plays just fine but there just isn't much here to warrant a $25 price tag IMO.
Don't get me wrong, I like me some House of the Dead, but I would've preferred a compilation of the original trilogy or something as this is basically just a remade version of a 45 minute arcade game without much else.
Don't get me wrong, I like me some House of the Dead, but I would've preferred a compilation of the original trilogy or something as this is basically just a remade version of a 45 minute arcade game without much else.
What an absolutely underrated 2d platformer. While it borrows from plenty of other platformers, it uses these influences in the best ways possible to create a very enjoyable adventure!
For 2d platforming fans, this game can be best described as a combination of Donkey Kong Country Returns and Rayman Legends. For newer players who may not have played those games, then think of this as a fun, super vibrant 2d platformer with lots of secrets to find and lots of challenging areas to cross. All the while, you play as this long tailed, cute Marsupial character (he's from an old comic series).
The game does that great thing that most games should do where the core game isn't too tough to run through but if you want the challenge, it is there after the fact. Collecting everything, going for the 100% and playing the tougher challenges is where the hardcore platforming fans will have a ton of fun.
On top of the core game, they added in a whole new dinosaur themed world that includes new and different biomes and challenges. When I started this portion of the game, I was amazed to see that they added so much more new content for free!
So on the negative side, the boss battles could've been a lot more inventive. The boss battles are basically a set of forced scrolling levels where you are trying not to let the left side of the screen catch up and get you while also chasing the boss on the right (which we've seen in many games). Each one just gets progressively harder, but I would've liked a bit more variation in the boss battles.
There were also times, very few, but they did happen, where the controls didn't feel super fluid. This was mostly in the really difficult levels after the main game. There were times where I would look at my controller in dis belief because I thought I jumped? Again, it didn't happen often but for this to happen in a level that demands super precision platformer, it was a little irritating.
Great game though, if you're a platforming fan of any kind, you have no reason to pass this one up!
For 2d platforming fans, this game can be best described as a combination of Donkey Kong Country Returns and Rayman Legends. For newer players who may not have played those games, then think of this as a fun, super vibrant 2d platformer with lots of secrets to find and lots of challenging areas to cross. All the while, you play as this long tailed, cute Marsupial character (he's from an old comic series).
The game does that great thing that most games should do where the core game isn't too tough to run through but if you want the challenge, it is there after the fact. Collecting everything, going for the 100% and playing the tougher challenges is where the hardcore platforming fans will have a ton of fun.
On top of the core game, they added in a whole new dinosaur themed world that includes new and different biomes and challenges. When I started this portion of the game, I was amazed to see that they added so much more new content for free!
So on the negative side, the boss battles could've been a lot more inventive. The boss battles are basically a set of forced scrolling levels where you are trying not to let the left side of the screen catch up and get you while also chasing the boss on the right (which we've seen in many games). Each one just gets progressively harder, but I would've liked a bit more variation in the boss battles.
There were also times, very few, but they did happen, where the controls didn't feel super fluid. This was mostly in the really difficult levels after the main game. There were times where I would look at my controller in dis belief because I thought I jumped? Again, it didn't happen often but for this to happen in a level that demands super precision platformer, it was a little irritating.
Great game though, if you're a platforming fan of any kind, you have no reason to pass this one up!
2019
A 2d platformer that embraces variety, physics and silliness. It's a bit janky at times but overall it's a very enjoyable game.
This was a game I started years ago on game pass and had completely forgotten about because I got distracted by other games. Now that it was leaving game pass, I wanted to return to it and I'm glad I did!
You play as an oval with legs that interacts with towns people who put you into hilarious situations. From the towns folk thinking you're a monster, to fighting haunted toast, to puzzling through an old mine, to guitar hero style dance offs, it's crammed with variety. And all the while, everything is super silly and fun and there are no breaks from the humor.
While those things are great, the game also feels janky at times. I lost count of the number of times I missed a jump because I never really got a great handle on the feel of the jump.
Also, there is a roll move you can do and while rolling to move faster and coming out of that to jump just doesn't work great, if at all.
There is also a point in the game where they enable fast travel but they don't outright call it that so I had no idea! It's a train and I figured it had one stop because you're progressing to the next spot and the previous towns didn't have stations. I started making my way to back track to a town I visited before to do a thing, but it was blocked by this little area you need to puzzle though. The game also doesn't seem to save the actions you make, so you don't just drift through the area you already solved, you have to do it all again.
Anyway, I did the thing I wanted to do in the previous area and came back to the train only to find out I could've taken the train there. I wasn't frustrated or anything, but it did make me roll my eyes. Like, really? You don't save what I did in those sections previously but also I could've avoided doing it all a 2nd time just to get back to the valley area? Annoying.
Keep in mind that the game is also amazingly short, you will probably finish this in 1-2 sittings at most, so any kind of irritation you have won't last long.
If you're looking for a fun and silly 2d platformer that is kind of it's own thing, than this is it! Just remember that might come with a character that is a bit strange to control.
This was a game I started years ago on game pass and had completely forgotten about because I got distracted by other games. Now that it was leaving game pass, I wanted to return to it and I'm glad I did!
You play as an oval with legs that interacts with towns people who put you into hilarious situations. From the towns folk thinking you're a monster, to fighting haunted toast, to puzzling through an old mine, to guitar hero style dance offs, it's crammed with variety. And all the while, everything is super silly and fun and there are no breaks from the humor.
While those things are great, the game also feels janky at times. I lost count of the number of times I missed a jump because I never really got a great handle on the feel of the jump.
Also, there is a roll move you can do and while rolling to move faster and coming out of that to jump just doesn't work great, if at all.
There is also a point in the game where they enable fast travel but they don't outright call it that so I had no idea! It's a train and I figured it had one stop because you're progressing to the next spot and the previous towns didn't have stations. I started making my way to back track to a town I visited before to do a thing, but it was blocked by this little area you need to puzzle though. The game also doesn't seem to save the actions you make, so you don't just drift through the area you already solved, you have to do it all again.
Anyway, I did the thing I wanted to do in the previous area and came back to the train only to find out I could've taken the train there. I wasn't frustrated or anything, but it did make me roll my eyes. Like, really? You don't save what I did in those sections previously but also I could've avoided doing it all a 2nd time just to get back to the valley area? Annoying.
Keep in mind that the game is also amazingly short, you will probably finish this in 1-2 sittings at most, so any kind of irritation you have won't last long.
If you're looking for a fun and silly 2d platformer that is kind of it's own thing, than this is it! Just remember that might come with a character that is a bit strange to control.
2024
A mansion full of seeds to grow and puzzles to solve! The game aims to be cozy, but at times it becomes frustrating when you're not sure what to do next.
In Botany Mansion, every seed that you grow is a puzzle to figure out. You collect clues around the area that ultimately are supposed lead you to growing this plant. While I enjoyed the first few plants in the game, the puzzles get unnecessarily difficult as you go.
I found myself rereading clues over and over again on certain plants just to figure out what I had to do and some times it eventually added up and I figured it out, some times it felt like luck. Other times I had to look up a guide and I would say out loud "How would I have ever thought of that?"
I also ran into a couple bugs, like the game misplacing an object I needed for the last plant (I quit the game while holding it, which I guess is a huge no no). I looked around for it for a long time and eventually found it somewhere I would've never expected, which was very odd.
Overall, great premise for a game and at times, it can be fun but the times where it's not, it's frustrating. Maybe I just wasn't smart enough for this one, which is a shame because I LOVE puzzle games.
In Botany Mansion, every seed that you grow is a puzzle to figure out. You collect clues around the area that ultimately are supposed lead you to growing this plant. While I enjoyed the first few plants in the game, the puzzles get unnecessarily difficult as you go.
I found myself rereading clues over and over again on certain plants just to figure out what I had to do and some times it eventually added up and I figured it out, some times it felt like luck. Other times I had to look up a guide and I would say out loud "How would I have ever thought of that?"
I also ran into a couple bugs, like the game misplacing an object I needed for the last plant (I quit the game while holding it, which I guess is a huge no no). I looked around for it for a long time and eventually found it somewhere I would've never expected, which was very odd.
Overall, great premise for a game and at times, it can be fun but the times where it's not, it's frustrating. Maybe I just wasn't smart enough for this one, which is a shame because I LOVE puzzle games.
2022
This is a really fun little cozy 3d platformer with a wholesome story. Enjoy an afternoon with little gator as he builds an army of friends at the playground while he tries to figure out why his older sister doesn't want to play with him much anymore.
The overall gameplay loop is a ton of fun as you hop around the islands, talk to friends and do quests for them to convince them to join you at the playground. You'll destroy cardboard monsters and collect paper to craft new hats and weapons to help you on your journey. But you'll also do unique things like starting water pumps, catch a bug, take our ninjas and help friend talk to each other to solve their issues.
The game can be a bit wordy with no voice acting but most of the writing is very fun and silly. But there were times I was just cycling through the dialog to move on and keep playing.
I also wish there was more in the way of navigation help, like a map or waypoints. There are little boards with the island posted around but it's not super helpful. Luckily it's not a huge space to explore and the game isn't very long so it's not a huge issue. If the island was any bigger though, I could see it being a problem.
If you like cute, 3d platformers, then I think you'll find a lot to like about this one. If you don't, you may still like the overall wholesome feel of this game. It's a great palette cleanser from a darker game.
The overall gameplay loop is a ton of fun as you hop around the islands, talk to friends and do quests for them to convince them to join you at the playground. You'll destroy cardboard monsters and collect paper to craft new hats and weapons to help you on your journey. But you'll also do unique things like starting water pumps, catch a bug, take our ninjas and help friend talk to each other to solve their issues.
The game can be a bit wordy with no voice acting but most of the writing is very fun and silly. But there were times I was just cycling through the dialog to move on and keep playing.
I also wish there was more in the way of navigation help, like a map or waypoints. There are little boards with the island posted around but it's not super helpful. Luckily it's not a huge space to explore and the game isn't very long so it's not a huge issue. If the island was any bigger though, I could see it being a problem.
If you like cute, 3d platformers, then I think you'll find a lot to like about this one. If you don't, you may still like the overall wholesome feel of this game. It's a great palette cleanser from a darker game.
2022
Frogun is a decent game with a throwback art style, quirky characters and an interesting twist on 3d platformer gameplay. However, once you dive in deeper, that gameplay twist, the camera and the controls make it an absolute chore to play.
I'm not sure if I have ever turned on a game this quick before. The first half of Frogun is a ton of fun. You use your Frogun to do block pulls, pull yourself around the level and do enemy grabs and throw them out into the abyss and it's a load of good fun! I was going out of my way to collect all of the coins and do all the extras because those early stages are just blissful fun.
Then around the halfway point, the game starts requiring you to use your Frogun to do these really tedious platforming sections that are just not fun in any way. You have a red cursor that only shows up if you can actually latch on to something, but at certain angles, you aren't sure if you're at the right height or facing the right direction and you only have a split second to see if your cursor lines up or not. Then you fall in to the abyss. OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. It also doesn't help that you can only jump a couple inches, so you HAVE to rely on the Frogun for any kind of far or high movement. Then you have to start all over or at least all the way back at the checkpoint that is across the level.
I read a few reviews here that have probably put this better than I will, but ultimately the game is just not built to be very fun in the latter part of the game. It felt like the developer was more worried about players being hard on the game for being too easy or something so they ramped it up with these annoying sections.
What made this game fun was going for those coins and collectibles and finding new and fun ways to zip around the levels while doing so because checkpoints were close by and you could always try again. But the echeckpoints started to become harder to come by and the challenge was more on my patience rather than the game.
This made me stop going for all the coins and I currently have no plans to return now that I've finished it. Once I started getting frustrated, I just wanted to get it over with.
Also, all the enemies are bugs and the final boss is called Beelzebub and he is also a giant bug. So why not Beelzebug? Or even Beetzlebub? Some kind of play on him being a bug? Too obvious?
It's really unfortunate because Frogun started so strong. I really wish they would've left these ridiculous, frustrating platformer portions out of the game. Oh well.
I'm not sure if I have ever turned on a game this quick before. The first half of Frogun is a ton of fun. You use your Frogun to do block pulls, pull yourself around the level and do enemy grabs and throw them out into the abyss and it's a load of good fun! I was going out of my way to collect all of the coins and do all the extras because those early stages are just blissful fun.
Then around the halfway point, the game starts requiring you to use your Frogun to do these really tedious platforming sections that are just not fun in any way. You have a red cursor that only shows up if you can actually latch on to something, but at certain angles, you aren't sure if you're at the right height or facing the right direction and you only have a split second to see if your cursor lines up or not. Then you fall in to the abyss. OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. It also doesn't help that you can only jump a couple inches, so you HAVE to rely on the Frogun for any kind of far or high movement. Then you have to start all over or at least all the way back at the checkpoint that is across the level.
I read a few reviews here that have probably put this better than I will, but ultimately the game is just not built to be very fun in the latter part of the game. It felt like the developer was more worried about players being hard on the game for being too easy or something so they ramped it up with these annoying sections.
What made this game fun was going for those coins and collectibles and finding new and fun ways to zip around the levels while doing so because checkpoints were close by and you could always try again. But the echeckpoints started to become harder to come by and the challenge was more on my patience rather than the game.
This made me stop going for all the coins and I currently have no plans to return now that I've finished it. Once I started getting frustrated, I just wanted to get it over with.
Also, all the enemies are bugs and the final boss is called Beelzebub and he is also a giant bug. So why not Beelzebug? Or even Beetzlebub? Some kind of play on him being a bug? Too obvious?
It's really unfortunate because Frogun started so strong. I really wish they would've left these ridiculous, frustrating platformer portions out of the game. Oh well.
The game is currently in early access on Steam and I didn't feel like it was all that fun honestly. I'm going to backlog it for now and return later but for now, I have other games to play.
This is an excellently made puzzle, 3d platformer that has elements of a cozy game where there is no combat or dying. A great "my first 3d platformer" contender but also just a relaxing playthrough, I really enjoyed it and wish there was more of it!
You play as a mouse who, for no reason at all, wants to help humanity. You show up trying to return a woman's' scarf that has blown away and this leads you to meeting up with this weird, annoying little electrical half god guy who bestows upon you some electrical powers. He sends you out to not only help people but to return to him with the positivity (heart thingies) to prove it and send him back into the sky. So off you go to do your good deeds.
As a mouse, this is a lot to ask because you will have to climb all kinds of huge areas in town to reach your goals. The verticality of this game is awesome and controlling the mouse feels really good! Climbing and maneuvering around the outside of a building to reach the roof is a common occurrence in this game.
As mentioned, the game is a 3d puzzle platformer and much of the gameplay depends a lot on environment puzzles. However, believe it or not, you can not jump!
Some players might get irritated that you can't jump in the game and since you play as a mouse, it does seem odd. However, I completely understand why they went with no jumping, because it would ruin most of the puzzles in the game where you need to line yourself up to fall in certain areas to collect a thing or speak to someone.
While I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game, there are a couple things that I am docking the game for and the first is length.
Depending on how much of a completionist you are, it may only take you a couple hours to finish the game. It only took me 5 hours to 100% the game, so I was a little let down because I was enjoying myself so much that I wanted at least another part of the town to do quests in.
I'm also docking it for the annoying main character, the electrical god guy, because his voice was very annoying and his design didn't mesh with the world at all. The other little underlings of his that you meet throughout the world didn't bother me as much, but they also felt strange in this world. It was like the developers were trying to cram Studio Ghibli characters in where they don't belong.
Lastly, I'm not docking the game for this one, but I felt like the issues you were helping people with were VERY light. Like one character, their main issue was their show was starting soon and the tv won't work. It's all very first world. I don't have a huge issue with that but to me it comes off as saccharin at times. The game however is about positivity and treating each other better, so I get it and its why I said it makes a great "my first 3d platformer" game.
However in most other aspects of the game, you can tell there was so much love put into this game and I loved playing it. Really hoping for a sequel of some kind because I would love more.
You play as a mouse who, for no reason at all, wants to help humanity. You show up trying to return a woman's' scarf that has blown away and this leads you to meeting up with this weird, annoying little electrical half god guy who bestows upon you some electrical powers. He sends you out to not only help people but to return to him with the positivity (heart thingies) to prove it and send him back into the sky. So off you go to do your good deeds.
As a mouse, this is a lot to ask because you will have to climb all kinds of huge areas in town to reach your goals. The verticality of this game is awesome and controlling the mouse feels really good! Climbing and maneuvering around the outside of a building to reach the roof is a common occurrence in this game.
As mentioned, the game is a 3d puzzle platformer and much of the gameplay depends a lot on environment puzzles. However, believe it or not, you can not jump!
Some players might get irritated that you can't jump in the game and since you play as a mouse, it does seem odd. However, I completely understand why they went with no jumping, because it would ruin most of the puzzles in the game where you need to line yourself up to fall in certain areas to collect a thing or speak to someone.
While I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game, there are a couple things that I am docking the game for and the first is length.
Depending on how much of a completionist you are, it may only take you a couple hours to finish the game. It only took me 5 hours to 100% the game, so I was a little let down because I was enjoying myself so much that I wanted at least another part of the town to do quests in.
I'm also docking it for the annoying main character, the electrical god guy, because his voice was very annoying and his design didn't mesh with the world at all. The other little underlings of his that you meet throughout the world didn't bother me as much, but they also felt strange in this world. It was like the developers were trying to cram Studio Ghibli characters in where they don't belong.
Lastly, I'm not docking the game for this one, but I felt like the issues you were helping people with were VERY light. Like one character, their main issue was their show was starting soon and the tv won't work. It's all very first world. I don't have a huge issue with that but to me it comes off as saccharin at times. The game however is about positivity and treating each other better, so I get it and its why I said it makes a great "my first 3d platformer" game.
However in most other aspects of the game, you can tell there was so much love put into this game and I loved playing it. Really hoping for a sequel of some kind because I would love more.
I loved the original version of this on the GBA when it came out 20 years ago and this remake on the Switch not only keeps the spirit alive but shows that this type of game is still a lot of fun, despite a few flaws.
As a puzzle game fan, I'm really glad this exists! I would've never expected Nintendo to bring back this series because it never seemed like anyone cared about it, despite it having a few sequels.
You play as Mario, traversing levels, collecting presents, unlocking doors and freeing mini Mario toys that Donkey Kong has stolen from the toy company.
The physics in the game are much different than they are in a normal 2D Mario game. If you're new to this series, it controls much more like an original Donkey Kong game, where Mario doesn't jump as high and he doesn't move quite as quick. Some will find this off putting but as a guy who played Donkey Kong growing up, I think it's great to have a throw- back like this available, even if it's not precise and takes a little getting used to.
I love trying to find out how to get all the presents within a level and get that gold star. Chances are, if you stumped on one, you'll go to a future level and learn a new technique only to return to the level that stumped you and get that gold star. It's a great feeling.
While I do quite enjoy the game, there are a few fiddly things. One is that the enemy hit box is strangely aligned or something, as there were times when I felt like I died on an enemy for no reason. I felt as though I landed on the enemy's head, not anywhere else. Dying isn't a huge issue because the levels are so quick to play, but it can still be annoying when you're right at the exit and this happens.
Speaking of dying, can we just get rid of the lives system for these games already? What's the point of it these days?
I would've also liked a bit more guidance on what the mini Marios can do. At times, playing with the mini Marios following can feel a bit trial and error and there are a few levels with them that will have you scratching your head a little. In the extra levels that unlock after you complete the main game, they're all mini Mario based. By this point, you'll probably have figured out all the mini Mario tricks but it would've been nice to know they can do certain things up front.
Because of this, I would've liked some kind of "preview mode" where you can look at the level before you start, as there is a timer and it starts ticking as soon as you begin.
I would've also loved a toggle mode to bounce between the GBA graphics and the current, as so many remasters do these days, but unfortunately since it's remake, that isn't an option.
But what is here is an enjoyable puzzle game with a ton of levels and replay-ability with time trials and gold stars to collect. While there is no real reward for 100% in the game (It would've been nice to get a gold Mario to play as or something) solving all of these levels is a lot of fun.
As a puzzle game fan, I'm really glad this exists! I would've never expected Nintendo to bring back this series because it never seemed like anyone cared about it, despite it having a few sequels.
You play as Mario, traversing levels, collecting presents, unlocking doors and freeing mini Mario toys that Donkey Kong has stolen from the toy company.
The physics in the game are much different than they are in a normal 2D Mario game. If you're new to this series, it controls much more like an original Donkey Kong game, where Mario doesn't jump as high and he doesn't move quite as quick. Some will find this off putting but as a guy who played Donkey Kong growing up, I think it's great to have a throw- back like this available, even if it's not precise and takes a little getting used to.
I love trying to find out how to get all the presents within a level and get that gold star. Chances are, if you stumped on one, you'll go to a future level and learn a new technique only to return to the level that stumped you and get that gold star. It's a great feeling.
While I do quite enjoy the game, there are a few fiddly things. One is that the enemy hit box is strangely aligned or something, as there were times when I felt like I died on an enemy for no reason. I felt as though I landed on the enemy's head, not anywhere else. Dying isn't a huge issue because the levels are so quick to play, but it can still be annoying when you're right at the exit and this happens.
Speaking of dying, can we just get rid of the lives system for these games already? What's the point of it these days?
I would've also liked a bit more guidance on what the mini Marios can do. At times, playing with the mini Marios following can feel a bit trial and error and there are a few levels with them that will have you scratching your head a little. In the extra levels that unlock after you complete the main game, they're all mini Mario based. By this point, you'll probably have figured out all the mini Mario tricks but it would've been nice to know they can do certain things up front.
Because of this, I would've liked some kind of "preview mode" where you can look at the level before you start, as there is a timer and it starts ticking as soon as you begin.
I would've also loved a toggle mode to bounce between the GBA graphics and the current, as so many remasters do these days, but unfortunately since it's remake, that isn't an option.
But what is here is an enjoyable puzzle game with a ton of levels and replay-ability with time trials and gold stars to collect. While there is no real reward for 100% in the game (It would've been nice to get a gold Mario to play as or something) solving all of these levels is a lot of fun.
This review contains spoilers
Having liked the first two Spider-man games that Insomniac and Sony released, I was really looking forward to this one. While the game started out super strong, I feel that as it went on, the seams started to show and there were some very questionable decisions about the story and progression in the game that I just don’t get. By the end, I felt the game was bloated and the story was all over the place.
I was really into this game for the first few weeks. I would play a little bit of it every other night or so (as I don’t have the time to marathon games like I used to), but as they kept piling villains and story on top of the foundation, it really lost me. I ended up taking a 2 month break from it because I was honestly bored by it. I finally came back to it and spent about a week finishing it up and I have to say, the end left me feeling a bit empty.
The big draw in Spider-man 2 is that you can bounce between both Peter Parker and Mile Morales. Both have stories you play though and the main story moves back and forth between them. It’s great that they included both and they each have their own move sets and personalities, so it can be refreshing to play as one for a while and then move over to the other. They even team up with each other some times.
While I enjoyed this, I really expected more team ups from Peter and Miles. There were so many missions where they were working alone. I couldn’t help but think, why isn’t the other one helping right now? There was always a convenient reason why they weren’t both there at the same time that felt very contrived. It was also fun when the other spider-man would show up during a city mission to help take out some bad guys, but this only happen a couple times for me. I’m not sure why?
I do want to say this game is beautiful! I got to play it 4k at 60+ fps on the PS5 and WOW! I love the environment, the first time swinging and flying through the air in New York, I was wide eyed and loving it. The cutscenes and close ups if the main characters look amazing too! I will say that the city's inhabitants were not always so detailed and part of the city look a little shabby but that is the sacrifice you make to run 60+ fps at 4k.
Controlling this game is amazing… for the most part. Swinging and gliding around New York is a blast! Fighting is a lot of fun at first and the action is top notch. Fast traveling in this game also sets the standard for fast traveling in gaming as it’s an instantaneous experience! You select a place on the map and within seconds you’re there swinging. But as the game goes on, a lot of that core feeling gets lost in the shuffle in favor of constantly bolting on new abilities and repetitive fights.
As you keep playing the game, you keep unlocking new abilities and moves. While this is really fun at first, maybe this is a me thing, but I feel like there are just too many by the end. If you look at the menu where you unlock abilities, the amount of things you can do is staggering. While each spider-man has their own unlocks, the button combinations between all the combined moves is a lot to think about while fighting enemies. The fighting and moves can be deep, but to me it felt overwhelming.
Let’s say you grab an enemy, you have a handful of options for what you can do with them once you unlock all the abilities and the same is applied to all the other options. While this is deep and I’m sure rewarding for other gamers who crave this, but it’s difficult for me to remember all of these options and button combos. Because of this, I end up doing the wrong thing a lot and getting punished for it.
There is also a heavy focus on perfect dodging and countering in this game that I did not enjoy a whole lot. Some dodging and countering is fine, but there are times where I think they overdo it. Mainly because there were a handful of times I felt that the enemies were stun locking me because I did not dodge or counter the way the game wanted me to.
There are some areas that just do not feel great for combat. Until you start becoming more comfortable with the zipping around and staying in the air to fight, you will have trouble with these areas and it can be a little frustrating.
There are also some traversal moves while fighting that just don’t seem to work some times. I remember distinctly a battle where the enemies were on two levels and I could not for the life of me get Spider-man to zip over to the enemies like I had done a million times before. He just wouldn’t lock on to the correct enemy or not see them. Then I would get hit and get frustrated thinking “Why is this not working? It was working fine in the last fight!” It feels glitchy and unresponsive in a game where you expect instant responsiveness and sudden mistakes, whether due to player error or game issues, can be very punishing.
The game itself is more glitchy than I feel most big reviewers lead us to believe. I have seen some objects that stay floating around after, say, a crate is destroyed. You’ll see a barrel that was on top of the crate just floating there. I’ve also seen certain buildings where each window show you the exact same person before it. I honestly saw an apartment area where there were 4-5 or the same person on the same floor and I was not only scared by this but it took me out of the experience. I’ve also dealt with a couple crashes while playing, which I have no idea why but that is annoying when you’re in the middle of something and the game just up and crashes for some reason.
My first experience with a glitch in the game got me while fighting the sandman, which is literally in the first 10-15 minutes of the game. This was a monumental boss fight, and super fun. However, at a certain point, I could not progress because the button prompt to continue into the next phase would not show! I must’ve swung at him 30 times only to find that I needed to die to reload the checkpoint and then the button prompt would appear.
Despite that one issue, I think this boss fight was the highlight of the whole game and set the rest of the boss fights in the game up to look and feel lackluster in comparison.
The boss fights are just plain not fun. There are some highlights in some of them but for the most part, they all play the same way and can be frustrating when your moves or abilities are ignored, which seemed to happen a lot during the Kraven fights for some reason. Also, each boss fight doesn’t give you enough room to swing and dodge it seems. I would get caught up on geometry a lot when I was dodging or swinging. Also, the camera during boss battles isn’t exactly the best, so you can’t see you’re going to run into something until it happens and then when you do, the camera is up in your face and you can’t see the enemies or attacks coming at you.
The game takes the control away from the player constantly too. So a lot of sections of the game are scripted as -- Fight dudes, watch cut scene, swing for a minute, fight dudes, cutscene, fight dudes, maybe there is a unique piece of gameplay like running through a building, cutscene, fight dudes… and it continuously goes on like this. It pushed me to get really tired of the fighting in the game. It seems like every instance where there is a break of some kind, they just throw in a crop of enemies for you to take out. Because of this, the fighting got tedious.
Especially when the symbiotes are introduced. Too much health, too many abilities to use, so much dodging and parrying. The symbiote nests are basically just much more powerful enemies you have to fight in waves while a timer ticks down. They’re much more powerful and annoying to deal with. There are several of these symbiote nests to take care of around the city. I did all but like 2 or 3 of them in the game before moving on. They were challenging and I got a little bored of doing them, so I continued the main story and then you know what the game did? It gave me an upgrade that helps me do more damage to the symbiotes. My jaw just about dropped. This wouldn’t have been useful to the player who just finished all of the nests!
Which leads us to the final boss of Venom, whom I found so annoying to deal with, I put the game all the way down to the easiest mode (where you can’t die) and finished him off that way. I was so disappointed to have to finish the game that way because I played the whole game on the normal mode until then, but I was so irritated by that point of dealing with this annoying boss whom I couldn’t seem to get a grasp on, I had to switch it. I had almost switched it earlier during the bell fight with Kraven but I managed to squeak that one out.
Now a lot of what I mentioned above can be forgiven in certain instances. While a lot of it is annoying, some of it is meant for challenge. However, what can’t be forgiven are some of the story and character choices in the game. There are some things that had me scratching my head or even talking out loud to myself saying “What? Really?”
NOTE: Below are story beats, so don't read any more if you don't want spoilers:
Let’s start with Mary Jane. To change things up, they put in a couple stealth section with Mary Jane where she sneaks into the Hunters hideout to rescue someone. In the first one, the scenario is believable up until she takes an arrow to the shoulder with tranquilizer in it. She’s not a super hero right? How was she able to push through the tranquilizer dart AND the arrow to the shoulder and somehow stay awake and able to take dudes out? I’m not sure most normal people would be able to continue after that.
Furthermore, having her stealth around with a stun gun makes total sense because she’s not a superhero. However, seeing her kick the crap out of a hunter henchman with her lady loafers on is kind of ridiculous, especially after taking a tranquillizer dart.
Characters reactions to things happening within the game some times did not feel real. No one ever reacted like you would in real life to crazy things happening. It’s really odd. For example, I’m a little annoyed that Peter’s friend Harry isn’t more surprised that Peter is spider-man. He finds out and is just kind of like, “oh, you’re him?” And they move on. Really weird. If I found out my best friend was Spider-man, I would flip out!
And once they find out that Harry has powers too, Harry gets involved in this huge scene where he automatically knows how to fight and leap around as good as spider-man can. Which is odd considering spider-man has been doing it for a while, he had to learn all of this stuff, but this guy can just show up and he knows what to do?
There is a scene where Miles as Spider-man is helping a student ask his boyfriend out to a homecoming dance. I did this side quest when some really important stuff was going on in the game. This felt forced into the game and very corny. Doesn’t Spider-man have way more important things to do?
Mr. Negative is suddenly a nice guy again. Why? Because Miles decided not to kill him for killing his father? It’s so sudden, I don’t really get it.
At the Kraven bell fight, Kraven gets out of Spider-man crushing him with the symbiote tentacles by biting one of them? Wtf? What kind of teeth does Kraven have? And then they also just let him run off. Like???
The amount of times Peter Parker says “meet cute” is more than I’ve heard in my life. I didn’t even know what that was until this game. Who says that?
During the scene where Venom is turning Mary Jane into the Scream lady, Venom goes to attack Peter and Mary Jane dives in front of him. WHY!? SHE HAS NO POWERS! What is she thinking? Then Peter is just looking at Venom and says “Don’t…” as Venom pulls her over to him but Peter doesn’t do a thing about it. Like, dude, you’re spider-man get in there and save your girl!
Miles shows up with a new suit towards the end of the game out of nowhere. Was he just suddenly making this suit? Where did it come from? When did he have time to make it? It would’ve made a better side quest for him to do than some of these dumb side things they have in the game, where he is maybe collecting pieces for the suit? I found out later it was a promotion thing to sell some Adidas shoes. The shoes he is wearing in the game are/were available at one point in real life and because he is wearing these new shoes, he wanted a suit to match them I guess. Stupid. When did he have time to buy them?
The last mission of the game they have this plan to have venom chase spiderman through the city -- Sounds EXCITING! And Miles is going to take out all the symbiotes that are at the entrance -- Exciting! Instead, they’re like, hey, here, do another Mary Jane part with the stun gun… what on earth? Luckily this part was just a run and stun section, no stealthing around but whose idea was it to be like, yea let’s do Mary Janes part first. This also would’ve been a great bonding mission for Mary Kane and Miles, where Miles could’ve been in there helping her while you controlled Mary Jane. I guess instead he stayed outside and distracted the Symbiotes... but still. More team ups please!
Then shortly after that, Mary Jane is riding her motorbike and crashing through a window with it. This felt like they were REALLY trying to make her as awesome as spider-man but for me, it doesn’t work. She’s just this small, lady journalist. I know it’s supposed to be action shlock but it takes me out the experience a bit.
At the end of the game, Peter Parker just gets to be himself for a bit, so does that mean the next game will just be Miles? Why is Peter Parker wanting to be himself? Because Mary Jane doesn’t like him being spiderman? It would’ve made more sense to have Peter and Mary Jane allude to the fact they’re going to plan their wedding or something and he needs a break. This portion of the story lead almost nowhere.
But through the whole game, Peter keeps doubting himself saying that the city doesn’t need him anymore (this felt more like he was fishing for compliments than actual self doubt) and Miles can do it. So I assume they’re setting the next game up to be only Miles? But why? What’s the point? They already did a Miles Morales game! I was Spider-man 3 to have 3 heroes this time? Maybe ad Spider Gwen in there?
The characters are constantly second guessing themselves in this one too. “Why didn’t I ask Pete about that thing? I’m such a bad friend!” or “Why haven’t I checked in with MJ, I’m a monster!” It’s like, jeeze, way to be over dramatic about everything.
The story feels all over the place with all the villains too. You fight off Sandman, and Kraven, and Lizard, and Mister Negative, and Mysterio, and Kraven again, then eventually you fight venom, but you also fight a character called Scream (which is just Mary Jane as a symbiote and it only last one mission). I'm not even mentioning all of the side villains that the game is hinting at introducing in a sequel. Typically in comics, a story arc will involve a couple villains but because there are so many villains in this game, it really feels like they’re putting together 3 story arcs in one. It's too much! For some, this might be a bonus, but to me it feels really disjointed and I lost track of everyone’s motivation. This also felt like they bloated experience a bit. I'd rather a good, deep story with a couple villains than introducing a new one every 2 missions.
The oddest thing is Sandman is never heard from again after you defeat him. You have this amazing fight with him at the very start of the game and he has some collectibles that you can get but honestly, it felt so flat. It would’ve been great had he come back to help you fight venom or something at the end. You know, like he was a new, reformed man. Even Mr. Negative didn’t come back to help much and he’s a good guy now? I don’t understand the character arcs in this one. They just wanted to add villains for the sake of it and then were like “What do we do now?” and everyone shrugged.
I could keep going on about story stuff but I think you get the message. I think this game could’ve benefitted and been more focused if it was just a bit longer than the Miles Morales game. Instead of 18 or so hours, maybe 12-14 hours. Leave us wanting more. Cut out a villain or 2. Tighten up those story pieces and characters. Cut out a few unlockable abilities. Tighten the combat up a little. Personally, I want quality not quantity.
Despite the game being gorgeous and doing a lot of things right, this game just didn’t click with me as we got about halfway through it. I feel the first game and Miles Morales are better experiences. I think they just tried to cram too much in here and the game really suffers for it.
I was really into this game for the first few weeks. I would play a little bit of it every other night or so (as I don’t have the time to marathon games like I used to), but as they kept piling villains and story on top of the foundation, it really lost me. I ended up taking a 2 month break from it because I was honestly bored by it. I finally came back to it and spent about a week finishing it up and I have to say, the end left me feeling a bit empty.
The big draw in Spider-man 2 is that you can bounce between both Peter Parker and Mile Morales. Both have stories you play though and the main story moves back and forth between them. It’s great that they included both and they each have their own move sets and personalities, so it can be refreshing to play as one for a while and then move over to the other. They even team up with each other some times.
While I enjoyed this, I really expected more team ups from Peter and Miles. There were so many missions where they were working alone. I couldn’t help but think, why isn’t the other one helping right now? There was always a convenient reason why they weren’t both there at the same time that felt very contrived. It was also fun when the other spider-man would show up during a city mission to help take out some bad guys, but this only happen a couple times for me. I’m not sure why?
I do want to say this game is beautiful! I got to play it 4k at 60+ fps on the PS5 and WOW! I love the environment, the first time swinging and flying through the air in New York, I was wide eyed and loving it. The cutscenes and close ups if the main characters look amazing too! I will say that the city's inhabitants were not always so detailed and part of the city look a little shabby but that is the sacrifice you make to run 60+ fps at 4k.
Controlling this game is amazing… for the most part. Swinging and gliding around New York is a blast! Fighting is a lot of fun at first and the action is top notch. Fast traveling in this game also sets the standard for fast traveling in gaming as it’s an instantaneous experience! You select a place on the map and within seconds you’re there swinging. But as the game goes on, a lot of that core feeling gets lost in the shuffle in favor of constantly bolting on new abilities and repetitive fights.
As you keep playing the game, you keep unlocking new abilities and moves. While this is really fun at first, maybe this is a me thing, but I feel like there are just too many by the end. If you look at the menu where you unlock abilities, the amount of things you can do is staggering. While each spider-man has their own unlocks, the button combinations between all the combined moves is a lot to think about while fighting enemies. The fighting and moves can be deep, but to me it felt overwhelming.
Let’s say you grab an enemy, you have a handful of options for what you can do with them once you unlock all the abilities and the same is applied to all the other options. While this is deep and I’m sure rewarding for other gamers who crave this, but it’s difficult for me to remember all of these options and button combos. Because of this, I end up doing the wrong thing a lot and getting punished for it.
There is also a heavy focus on perfect dodging and countering in this game that I did not enjoy a whole lot. Some dodging and countering is fine, but there are times where I think they overdo it. Mainly because there were a handful of times I felt that the enemies were stun locking me because I did not dodge or counter the way the game wanted me to.
There are some areas that just do not feel great for combat. Until you start becoming more comfortable with the zipping around and staying in the air to fight, you will have trouble with these areas and it can be a little frustrating.
There are also some traversal moves while fighting that just don’t seem to work some times. I remember distinctly a battle where the enemies were on two levels and I could not for the life of me get Spider-man to zip over to the enemies like I had done a million times before. He just wouldn’t lock on to the correct enemy or not see them. Then I would get hit and get frustrated thinking “Why is this not working? It was working fine in the last fight!” It feels glitchy and unresponsive in a game where you expect instant responsiveness and sudden mistakes, whether due to player error or game issues, can be very punishing.
The game itself is more glitchy than I feel most big reviewers lead us to believe. I have seen some objects that stay floating around after, say, a crate is destroyed. You’ll see a barrel that was on top of the crate just floating there. I’ve also seen certain buildings where each window show you the exact same person before it. I honestly saw an apartment area where there were 4-5 or the same person on the same floor and I was not only scared by this but it took me out of the experience. I’ve also dealt with a couple crashes while playing, which I have no idea why but that is annoying when you’re in the middle of something and the game just up and crashes for some reason.
My first experience with a glitch in the game got me while fighting the sandman, which is literally in the first 10-15 minutes of the game. This was a monumental boss fight, and super fun. However, at a certain point, I could not progress because the button prompt to continue into the next phase would not show! I must’ve swung at him 30 times only to find that I needed to die to reload the checkpoint and then the button prompt would appear.
Despite that one issue, I think this boss fight was the highlight of the whole game and set the rest of the boss fights in the game up to look and feel lackluster in comparison.
The boss fights are just plain not fun. There are some highlights in some of them but for the most part, they all play the same way and can be frustrating when your moves or abilities are ignored, which seemed to happen a lot during the Kraven fights for some reason. Also, each boss fight doesn’t give you enough room to swing and dodge it seems. I would get caught up on geometry a lot when I was dodging or swinging. Also, the camera during boss battles isn’t exactly the best, so you can’t see you’re going to run into something until it happens and then when you do, the camera is up in your face and you can’t see the enemies or attacks coming at you.
The game takes the control away from the player constantly too. So a lot of sections of the game are scripted as -- Fight dudes, watch cut scene, swing for a minute, fight dudes, cutscene, fight dudes, maybe there is a unique piece of gameplay like running through a building, cutscene, fight dudes… and it continuously goes on like this. It pushed me to get really tired of the fighting in the game. It seems like every instance where there is a break of some kind, they just throw in a crop of enemies for you to take out. Because of this, the fighting got tedious.
Especially when the symbiotes are introduced. Too much health, too many abilities to use, so much dodging and parrying. The symbiote nests are basically just much more powerful enemies you have to fight in waves while a timer ticks down. They’re much more powerful and annoying to deal with. There are several of these symbiote nests to take care of around the city. I did all but like 2 or 3 of them in the game before moving on. They were challenging and I got a little bored of doing them, so I continued the main story and then you know what the game did? It gave me an upgrade that helps me do more damage to the symbiotes. My jaw just about dropped. This wouldn’t have been useful to the player who just finished all of the nests!
Which leads us to the final boss of Venom, whom I found so annoying to deal with, I put the game all the way down to the easiest mode (where you can’t die) and finished him off that way. I was so disappointed to have to finish the game that way because I played the whole game on the normal mode until then, but I was so irritated by that point of dealing with this annoying boss whom I couldn’t seem to get a grasp on, I had to switch it. I had almost switched it earlier during the bell fight with Kraven but I managed to squeak that one out.
Now a lot of what I mentioned above can be forgiven in certain instances. While a lot of it is annoying, some of it is meant for challenge. However, what can’t be forgiven are some of the story and character choices in the game. There are some things that had me scratching my head or even talking out loud to myself saying “What? Really?”
NOTE: Below are story beats, so don't read any more if you don't want spoilers:
Let’s start with Mary Jane. To change things up, they put in a couple stealth section with Mary Jane where she sneaks into the Hunters hideout to rescue someone. In the first one, the scenario is believable up until she takes an arrow to the shoulder with tranquilizer in it. She’s not a super hero right? How was she able to push through the tranquilizer dart AND the arrow to the shoulder and somehow stay awake and able to take dudes out? I’m not sure most normal people would be able to continue after that.
Furthermore, having her stealth around with a stun gun makes total sense because she’s not a superhero. However, seeing her kick the crap out of a hunter henchman with her lady loafers on is kind of ridiculous, especially after taking a tranquillizer dart.
Characters reactions to things happening within the game some times did not feel real. No one ever reacted like you would in real life to crazy things happening. It’s really odd. For example, I’m a little annoyed that Peter’s friend Harry isn’t more surprised that Peter is spider-man. He finds out and is just kind of like, “oh, you’re him?” And they move on. Really weird. If I found out my best friend was Spider-man, I would flip out!
And once they find out that Harry has powers too, Harry gets involved in this huge scene where he automatically knows how to fight and leap around as good as spider-man can. Which is odd considering spider-man has been doing it for a while, he had to learn all of this stuff, but this guy can just show up and he knows what to do?
There is a scene where Miles as Spider-man is helping a student ask his boyfriend out to a homecoming dance. I did this side quest when some really important stuff was going on in the game. This felt forced into the game and very corny. Doesn’t Spider-man have way more important things to do?
Mr. Negative is suddenly a nice guy again. Why? Because Miles decided not to kill him for killing his father? It’s so sudden, I don’t really get it.
At the Kraven bell fight, Kraven gets out of Spider-man crushing him with the symbiote tentacles by biting one of them? Wtf? What kind of teeth does Kraven have? And then they also just let him run off. Like???
The amount of times Peter Parker says “meet cute” is more than I’ve heard in my life. I didn’t even know what that was until this game. Who says that?
During the scene where Venom is turning Mary Jane into the Scream lady, Venom goes to attack Peter and Mary Jane dives in front of him. WHY!? SHE HAS NO POWERS! What is she thinking? Then Peter is just looking at Venom and says “Don’t…” as Venom pulls her over to him but Peter doesn’t do a thing about it. Like, dude, you’re spider-man get in there and save your girl!
Miles shows up with a new suit towards the end of the game out of nowhere. Was he just suddenly making this suit? Where did it come from? When did he have time to make it? It would’ve made a better side quest for him to do than some of these dumb side things they have in the game, where he is maybe collecting pieces for the suit? I found out later it was a promotion thing to sell some Adidas shoes. The shoes he is wearing in the game are/were available at one point in real life and because he is wearing these new shoes, he wanted a suit to match them I guess. Stupid. When did he have time to buy them?
The last mission of the game they have this plan to have venom chase spiderman through the city -- Sounds EXCITING! And Miles is going to take out all the symbiotes that are at the entrance -- Exciting! Instead, they’re like, hey, here, do another Mary Jane part with the stun gun… what on earth? Luckily this part was just a run and stun section, no stealthing around but whose idea was it to be like, yea let’s do Mary Janes part first. This also would’ve been a great bonding mission for Mary Kane and Miles, where Miles could’ve been in there helping her while you controlled Mary Jane. I guess instead he stayed outside and distracted the Symbiotes... but still. More team ups please!
Then shortly after that, Mary Jane is riding her motorbike and crashing through a window with it. This felt like they were REALLY trying to make her as awesome as spider-man but for me, it doesn’t work. She’s just this small, lady journalist. I know it’s supposed to be action shlock but it takes me out the experience a bit.
At the end of the game, Peter Parker just gets to be himself for a bit, so does that mean the next game will just be Miles? Why is Peter Parker wanting to be himself? Because Mary Jane doesn’t like him being spiderman? It would’ve made more sense to have Peter and Mary Jane allude to the fact they’re going to plan their wedding or something and he needs a break. This portion of the story lead almost nowhere.
But through the whole game, Peter keeps doubting himself saying that the city doesn’t need him anymore (this felt more like he was fishing for compliments than actual self doubt) and Miles can do it. So I assume they’re setting the next game up to be only Miles? But why? What’s the point? They already did a Miles Morales game! I was Spider-man 3 to have 3 heroes this time? Maybe ad Spider Gwen in there?
The characters are constantly second guessing themselves in this one too. “Why didn’t I ask Pete about that thing? I’m such a bad friend!” or “Why haven’t I checked in with MJ, I’m a monster!” It’s like, jeeze, way to be over dramatic about everything.
The story feels all over the place with all the villains too. You fight off Sandman, and Kraven, and Lizard, and Mister Negative, and Mysterio, and Kraven again, then eventually you fight venom, but you also fight a character called Scream (which is just Mary Jane as a symbiote and it only last one mission). I'm not even mentioning all of the side villains that the game is hinting at introducing in a sequel. Typically in comics, a story arc will involve a couple villains but because there are so many villains in this game, it really feels like they’re putting together 3 story arcs in one. It's too much! For some, this might be a bonus, but to me it feels really disjointed and I lost track of everyone’s motivation. This also felt like they bloated experience a bit. I'd rather a good, deep story with a couple villains than introducing a new one every 2 missions.
The oddest thing is Sandman is never heard from again after you defeat him. You have this amazing fight with him at the very start of the game and he has some collectibles that you can get but honestly, it felt so flat. It would’ve been great had he come back to help you fight venom or something at the end. You know, like he was a new, reformed man. Even Mr. Negative didn’t come back to help much and he’s a good guy now? I don’t understand the character arcs in this one. They just wanted to add villains for the sake of it and then were like “What do we do now?” and everyone shrugged.
I could keep going on about story stuff but I think you get the message. I think this game could’ve benefitted and been more focused if it was just a bit longer than the Miles Morales game. Instead of 18 or so hours, maybe 12-14 hours. Leave us wanting more. Cut out a villain or 2. Tighten up those story pieces and characters. Cut out a few unlockable abilities. Tighten the combat up a little. Personally, I want quality not quantity.
Despite the game being gorgeous and doing a lot of things right, this game just didn’t click with me as we got about halfway through it. I feel the first game and Miles Morales are better experiences. I think they just tried to cram too much in here and the game really suffers for it.
2023
Return to Grace is short and unchallenging yet it's a unique and entertaining walking simulator. What puts this one ahead of the others in the genre for me is that there is a decent sci-fi story that is easy to follow along with and the fun cast of characters and dialog.
Walking sims can be a bit boring and some times tedious with how slow the main character can move and interact with their surroundings. This game has those moments of slow, tedious movement but it's countered with entertaining characters that are introduced in a unique way.
As an explorer, you find your way to an old spire and while there, you have a coms wrist computer that helps you to talk with the AI there. As the story goes, The AI characters will start combining with the others and offer new personalities to help you along the way. So while you're walking around slowly, exploring, you have all of these AI characters jabbering away and it's very fun.
A lot of the walking sims I have played in the past, I feel like they tend to leave it up to the player as to what happened and I'm a bit tired of that. This one is definitely one of those unique sci-fi stories but they at least include a few different endings that explain what is going on and what happened.
For all the great dialog and story bits, there are still moments where I wish you could skip scenes or move a little faster. The game is already pretty short (about 2 hours or so) but there are areas that I feel are padded only because of how slow the character moves. This becomes tedious when you want to see the other endings and find out there is no chapter select, so you HAVE to start the game over to do so. And as fun as the characters are, they get old after hearing it all over again a couple times to see the other endings.
One of the big take aways I have with this one though is that this feels like a game I would recommend to someone who is a big movie buff that wants to try out a game. They could finish this in one sitting, like a movie, and actually get a pretty decent experience out of it within that time frame.
Walking sims can be a bit boring and some times tedious with how slow the main character can move and interact with their surroundings. This game has those moments of slow, tedious movement but it's countered with entertaining characters that are introduced in a unique way.
As an explorer, you find your way to an old spire and while there, you have a coms wrist computer that helps you to talk with the AI there. As the story goes, The AI characters will start combining with the others and offer new personalities to help you along the way. So while you're walking around slowly, exploring, you have all of these AI characters jabbering away and it's very fun.
A lot of the walking sims I have played in the past, I feel like they tend to leave it up to the player as to what happened and I'm a bit tired of that. This one is definitely one of those unique sci-fi stories but they at least include a few different endings that explain what is going on and what happened.
For all the great dialog and story bits, there are still moments where I wish you could skip scenes or move a little faster. The game is already pretty short (about 2 hours or so) but there are areas that I feel are padded only because of how slow the character moves. This becomes tedious when you want to see the other endings and find out there is no chapter select, so you HAVE to start the game over to do so. And as fun as the characters are, they get old after hearing it all over again a couple times to see the other endings.
One of the big take aways I have with this one though is that this feels like a game I would recommend to someone who is a big movie buff that wants to try out a game. They could finish this in one sitting, like a movie, and actually get a pretty decent experience out of it within that time frame.