So many spectacular moments undermined by just as many little problems that really started to add up over time. In terms of pure fun factor, this absolutely lives up to its predecessor. It nails that moment-to-moment endorphin-generating loop that had me glued to the original for at least five playthroughs, with a ton of new enhancements to boot. Traversal is faster and more seamless than ever, and the ability to create web lines almost anywhere made stealth that much more enjoyable for me. And the creative ways Insomniac utilized the unique features of the PS5 controller had me extremely impressed. Playing as both Peter and Miles was a pure joy for this Spidey fan. And maybe it was just me but I found this to be way more challenging than either game that came before it; that latter half is essentially just one boss fight after another and I got my ass kicked on many occasions.
But sadly I feel as though the story was very rushed in many respects, and there's a clear disconnect between what's going on in the lives of the two web heads. The tonal shift between dealing with Pete's symbiote problem and helping Miles' classmate ask someone to a school dance is amusing to say the least. And to be fair that is side content and Miles does get time to shine during the main story (particularly during a sequence with Martin Li), but he also felt kinda sidelined for much of the game.
The side missions in general were fairly well handled, some awkward "how do you do fellow kids" energy not withstanding, but I do wish there was more of it. They went for a quality over quantity approach and weaved side content more naturally into the exploration, which I can definitely appreciate. But I was doing my best to savour this experience and not rush myself and yet I still had the platinum in under 30 hours. The first game also had a fairly easy platinum to snag by average Playstation standards, but I felt way more accomplished upon getting it. Here I was just like: "Alright. I guess I'm done then?"
The journey's end didn't feel quite as satisfying, and I was surprised to find myself longing for the more grounded approach of the original. I still very much enjoyed this but overall it does fall short as a sequel to one of my favourite games ever. Maybe the novelty of a Spidey game of this magnitude has simply worn off, who knows? Also this is weirdly one of the buggiest first party Playstation games I've ever experienced. I never saw the infamous debug cube but man I got stuck on the environment a whole lot, spawned inside of buildings that I couldn't escape from a few times, and saw a handful of fucked up character models. Including Venom's first appearance, where he had tuned into sharp polygons wildly flailing around the screen.
But sadly I feel as though the story was very rushed in many respects, and there's a clear disconnect between what's going on in the lives of the two web heads. The tonal shift between dealing with Pete's symbiote problem and helping Miles' classmate ask someone to a school dance is amusing to say the least. And to be fair that is side content and Miles does get time to shine during the main story (particularly during a sequence with Martin Li), but he also felt kinda sidelined for much of the game.
The side missions in general were fairly well handled, some awkward "how do you do fellow kids" energy not withstanding, but I do wish there was more of it. They went for a quality over quantity approach and weaved side content more naturally into the exploration, which I can definitely appreciate. But I was doing my best to savour this experience and not rush myself and yet I still had the platinum in under 30 hours. The first game also had a fairly easy platinum to snag by average Playstation standards, but I felt way more accomplished upon getting it. Here I was just like: "Alright. I guess I'm done then?"
The journey's end didn't feel quite as satisfying, and I was surprised to find myself longing for the more grounded approach of the original. I still very much enjoyed this but overall it does fall short as a sequel to one of my favourite games ever. Maybe the novelty of a Spidey game of this magnitude has simply worn off, who knows? Also this is weirdly one of the buggiest first party Playstation games I've ever experienced. I never saw the infamous debug cube but man I got stuck on the environment a whole lot, spawned inside of buildings that I couldn't escape from a few times, and saw a handful of fucked up character models. Including Venom's first appearance, where he had tuned into sharp polygons wildly flailing around the screen.