I like me some Spidey-Men but I still can't seem to get myself interested in their games. I can't help but feel like they're just average at best, knowing that I will immediately forget what happened in them as soon as the credits roll.
Navigation still reigns supreme for these games, but the combat is just so extremely tedious. It's like a never-ending onslaught of goons that vary from man with shield to big boy with unga bunga stick, while Spider-Man break dances in different directions because the game lacks a lock-on feature. The newly added feature of using D-Pad Ability 1-4 doesn't really add anything to me because I found it quite repetitive. It's the same D-Pad Ability Usage that was in Final Fantasy XVI and I hated it in that game too. Most combat scenarios led to me fighting 4 parry enemies at once, just to get domed in the head by a larger enemy off screen. It's flashy and cool, but quickly loses steam as the game progresses and keeps introducing more enemy and attack types. It turns most of the later fights into annoying rave shows of dodge/dodge/parry/dodge/parry/parry/dodge. Eugh. Arguably, the best part of the game for me was when you got to play as other characters because it was finally something different. One in particular is not only cheeked the fuck up, but also gives a fun respite to the monotony. (I'm talking about a specific spoiler character, not MJ. MJ segments are mostly okay for me, although I think her graduation into the Ph.D of Girl Bossery was a bit goofy.)
It's odd for me because Peter obviously has the more urgent, chaotic, and attempt at emotional storytelling while Miles seems to do fuck all until the last act. Yet, I much preferred playing as Miles at almost every turn. His abilities are better suited for fighting huge swathes of enemies, albeit still the same repetitive D-Pad cooldown thing. Aside from the "contemplating revenge" plotline we've seen multiple times before, his missions were generally more fun for me. It is unfortunate that he has zero drip in this game though.
The pacing is break neck fast in this game and it lead to some plot threads feeling rather anti-climactic? There's certain sections that I think were too long, and others that were too short to even have the impact that they were going for. It went by so fast that you didn't even have time to process what happened anyways, and then the game ends. The story is rather short and I wouldn't say that I took it as seriously as I was probably meant to, but I can't help but feel if the pacing was a bit better in those areas, that I would at least feel bad about what happened and how it affects the relationships between the characters.
A pretty noticeable amount of this game is just a PS5 showcase where you're meant to walk around admiring scenery while someone gives you a science lesson and jerk yourself off with the controller's motion controls so you're pogging at raising your hands on a rollercoaster. The other 50% of the game is running around and doing collectible quests. I found those obnoxious in the last game and didn't do them here either. It's unfortunate that your upgrades are tied to doing that side content because I don't find any of it engaging. You could put a gun to my head and tell me to platinum this game, and I'd still probably tell you no. I really feel that they could have fleshed out the main story a lot more and done away with a good chunk of the collectibles that just bloat the playtime.
Thank god for the audio settings because this game is a completely better experience when speech volume is set at 0. There is no reason for so many people to be constantly talking all the damn time in these games!!! Please shut up!! Basically every single traversal moment is plagued with a phone call or some random asshole talking in a podcast. Almost EVERY fight, Peter never stops talking or is having a literal phone conversation with MJ during the whole thing. If you die, the whole thing resets and you have to listen to the dialogue again. Please for the love of God LMAO. There's not a single second of peace. Turning it off meant that I could finally fucking concentrate and actually be able to listen to the soundtrack for once.
Overall I do think this game is fine and I get the appeal it has on it's audience, but this is just very samey to me. It's not ass enough to warrant a lower score, but it's also not impressive enough to warrant a higher one either. It has the same complaints that I had in the previous games and doesn't really change anything enough for me to feel any differently about it. I would say that I have a better tolerance of cringe than most people, but I don't find myself gripped by the narrative and the gameplay didn't balance that out. It's just simply a game that I played.
Navigation still reigns supreme for these games, but the combat is just so extremely tedious. It's like a never-ending onslaught of goons that vary from man with shield to big boy with unga bunga stick, while Spider-Man break dances in different directions because the game lacks a lock-on feature. The newly added feature of using D-Pad Ability 1-4 doesn't really add anything to me because I found it quite repetitive. It's the same D-Pad Ability Usage that was in Final Fantasy XVI and I hated it in that game too. Most combat scenarios led to me fighting 4 parry enemies at once, just to get domed in the head by a larger enemy off screen. It's flashy and cool, but quickly loses steam as the game progresses and keeps introducing more enemy and attack types. It turns most of the later fights into annoying rave shows of dodge/dodge/parry/dodge/parry/parry/dodge. Eugh. Arguably, the best part of the game for me was when you got to play as other characters because it was finally something different. One in particular is not only cheeked the fuck up, but also gives a fun respite to the monotony. (I'm talking about a specific spoiler character, not MJ. MJ segments are mostly okay for me, although I think her graduation into the Ph.D of Girl Bossery was a bit goofy.)
It's odd for me because Peter obviously has the more urgent, chaotic, and attempt at emotional storytelling while Miles seems to do fuck all until the last act. Yet, I much preferred playing as Miles at almost every turn. His abilities are better suited for fighting huge swathes of enemies, albeit still the same repetitive D-Pad cooldown thing. Aside from the "contemplating revenge" plotline we've seen multiple times before, his missions were generally more fun for me. It is unfortunate that he has zero drip in this game though.
The pacing is break neck fast in this game and it lead to some plot threads feeling rather anti-climactic? There's certain sections that I think were too long, and others that were too short to even have the impact that they were going for. It went by so fast that you didn't even have time to process what happened anyways, and then the game ends. The story is rather short and I wouldn't say that I took it as seriously as I was probably meant to, but I can't help but feel if the pacing was a bit better in those areas, that I would at least feel bad about what happened and how it affects the relationships between the characters.
A pretty noticeable amount of this game is just a PS5 showcase where you're meant to walk around admiring scenery while someone gives you a science lesson and jerk yourself off with the controller's motion controls so you're pogging at raising your hands on a rollercoaster. The other 50% of the game is running around and doing collectible quests. I found those obnoxious in the last game and didn't do them here either. It's unfortunate that your upgrades are tied to doing that side content because I don't find any of it engaging. You could put a gun to my head and tell me to platinum this game, and I'd still probably tell you no. I really feel that they could have fleshed out the main story a lot more and done away with a good chunk of the collectibles that just bloat the playtime.
Thank god for the audio settings because this game is a completely better experience when speech volume is set at 0. There is no reason for so many people to be constantly talking all the damn time in these games!!! Please shut up!! Basically every single traversal moment is plagued with a phone call or some random asshole talking in a podcast. Almost EVERY fight, Peter never stops talking or is having a literal phone conversation with MJ during the whole thing. If you die, the whole thing resets and you have to listen to the dialogue again. Please for the love of God LMAO. There's not a single second of peace. Turning it off meant that I could finally fucking concentrate and actually be able to listen to the soundtrack for once.
Overall I do think this game is fine and I get the appeal it has on it's audience, but this is just very samey to me. It's not ass enough to warrant a lower score, but it's also not impressive enough to warrant a higher one either. It has the same complaints that I had in the previous games and doesn't really change anything enough for me to feel any differently about it. I would say that I have a better tolerance of cringe than most people, but I don't find myself gripped by the narrative and the gameplay didn't balance that out. It's just simply a game that I played.