This is my first Backloggd review in awhile and I thought I’d come back by doing a review on the very anticipated sequel, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games.

Overall gameplay wise this is kind of everything I wanted in a Spider-Man game. The Traversal is amazing, and much better than the first game. The web swinging is incredible and is EASILY the best web slinging I’ve experienced in a Spider-Man game so far, especially with the choice of reducing web slinging assistance or not. The addition of web wings is also incredible and makes the traversal across the bigger map of New York much more smoother. Seriously good shit on this department Insomniac, well done.

Next is the stealth, it has been reduced in quality quite a bit I won’t lie but I’m not too offended by it. While the stealth was fine in the first game, fighting enemies upfront was always the funnest mostly. The combat is still better here though and the new abilities for both Spider-Man are awesome. Although the gadgets are reduced in this game, but I’m not too offended by it either considering they felt overwhelming in the first game, but I do think more should’ve stayed in this sequel. Also I kinda wish for a little more variety and special effects or move sets of some sort for Symbiote Spider-Man, compared to base form spider man. I’m fine with what we got though (also, Symbiote Surge is GREAT). The Boss fights in this game are also great and are probably better than the first game’s bosses, the more challenging combat in general and added health bars to bosses is also cool (shout out to the new parry system too).

I also want to touch on the collectibles, side missions, and new suits quickly. The collectibles are fine and are on par the with the collectibles in the first game mostly, though the spider-verse references from this game’s collectibles are cool I won’t lie. I think I prefer the first game’s suits more than this game’s but mostly cuz of the unique suit powers which aren’t in this sequel. It’s a bit disappointing but I don’t mind that too much cuz it gives the first game a unique identity in the series at least. The side missions in this game were fine but nothing too crazy. The whole cult thing with Yuri and stuff was kinda meh, the boss fight with her was the only real standout, and Miles’s side missions were cool as well but again nothing too crazy. I thought the side mission with Hailey was really sweet though. Oh and that Howard side mission did stick out the most too though…iykyk…

The Main Story isn’t as strong than the original Marvel’s Spider-Man sadly. Seeing the end credits of this game left me wanting more. Like seeing Black Cat leave the narrative so quickly was disappointing and I had a little more higher hopes for venom despite how awesome its playable gameplay sequence was, it’s probably the best and most groundbreaking part of this entire game. Kraven was awesome for the most part and while he was the most interesting villain in this game, I still left the story wanting more even out of him weirdly enough. Harry’s and Peter’s relationship throughout the game was cool but it didn’t hit on a similar or greater level than Doc Ock’s and Peter’s story in the first game. Narratively, I really feel was the biggest drawback for this game and is what holds it back from being that huge jump of a sequel compared to its predecessor. I thought the Mary Jane missions throughout the game was much better than how they were in the first game, but still could’ve done without them I won’t lie. Her role as Scream near the end of the game was great though despite it being short.

To sum it all up, GREAT game but disappointing Sequel to a certain extent. The gameplay is amazing and improved on for the most part, but if we got that amazing Spidey storytelling and lore on top of it? I genuinely think we could’ve gotten a new Superhero game masterpiece that could’ve rivaled Batman Arkham City. What I mostly mean by this is that despite all the improvements to this game, it felt like it took a couple of baby steps forward as a sequel despite all the good shit that’s added in. Still tho, like I said I’m proud of the game we got, even if ng+ somehow isn’t in the game on release day…😭. But AGAIN, great game overall 👍🏽.

Persona 4 Golden is a masterpiece and is currently my favorite game in the persona series. The setting and aesthetic of P4G is top fucking tier, the gameplay is fun and challenging, the murder mystery driven story is cool and intriguing, the social links are arguably the best in the series, has what I believe is the best persona antagonist that is Adachi, and the main cast is damn near perfect. I’ve seriously never been so attached to a cast of characters like the investigation team. Some more of the things I love about P4G is how damn wholesome and heartwarming the game can be, it’s what gives the game its own unique charm and vibe to me out of the whole series I really love it.

There aren’t many huge problems I have with this game. There are some things that annoy me like the camping trip scenes cuz of Yosuke (still love yosuke but man he has some yikes moments) and Marie’s dungeon, I honestly don’t really like it. It’s fine story wise but I am not a big fan of the dungeon design personally. But despite some of those issues that I can name up on the top of my head they don’t completely take away how masterful I think the game is overall. It just goes to show how much I love and respect this game.

No matter how many times people misinterpret P4’s themes and core topics, or try to spawn extremely stupid and random controversy out of it, Persona 4 Golden will forever be one of my favorite games of all time and what I consider to be a JRPG masterpiece.