Nahje Masukat

(*Includes pretty big spoilers here*) Okay. This game... Well... It was everything it NEEDED to be. It wasn't everything it WANTED to be. It looks fantastic, the story is emotional (well, I'll get to that), and the scale is outrageously incredible. But it's anything but perfect. Spider-Sense seems to only exist during gameplay. Peter and Miles easily get yeeted around when they have, our equivalent of, five seconds to move. It's not the biggest contrivance, but it is a contrivance nonetheless. Speaking of Peter and Miles, what about them? For Peter, his slow descent (well, "slow") into Symbiote-fueled madness is alright. Expected, but alright. Personally, though, I would've preferred a sinister, low, haunting voice rather than growling. Miles... feels like he's been rewound. Sure, it's the first time he sees Li as Spider-Man, but... I can't help but feel like he reverts to his former thoughts and gets reset. It's been nearly three years since the City Hall event, the feelings should, at least, be a bit more subdued. Then again, I've never wanted vengeance, so I can't confirm. Hey, what about the story? Not great. Are there moments that feel incredible? Yes. But it suffers from the same issue that the first game suffered: There's no THEME. Things happen, a lesson is learned that wasn't built up too clearly, and then it just ends. There's nothing that truly ties everything together. It's just... eh. Overall, it made for a game that people can play and like. That's it.

I am currently replaying the original PS4 game right now, and... it's not perfect. This game is good for many reasons, but since I already agreed with most of those reasons, I chose to look for nitpicks and see what I found. And I found a good handful that, while still keeping it good, keep it from being great. Sometimes characters stand around. Y'know that awkward scene where Peter knocks out Standish while MJ is trying to talk to him? That was kinda dumb. First, Peter took the time to tear through the top of the tent, jump in like a hero, disarm Standish, and glare at him. The guy who has insanely fast reflexes to the point that he can predict danger (at least, to dodge bullets you have to have good reflexes) stares at Standish, and only identifies him as such after he's knocked out. Villains have shades of gray, but not too many. My main point is Martin. The moment he becomes Mr. Negative, all regret vanishes. And while that mostly makes sense, I do wish he had moments where he truly contemplated if what he was doing was right, instead of around one second of him realizing he forgot his homework. He doesn't even regret it after he's lost. Also, the whole "this won't bring your missing loved one back" argument is a bad one, if you ask me. In this case, a better thing to say would be along the lines of "Is this how your parents would want you to turn out?" He wants to honor his parents, so if this wouldn't stop him, it'd at least hit hard. The swinging sometimes just dies. I can't tell you how many times I got caught on a stupid fire escape while swinging, especially for the shocker chase mission (this also goes for times when I'm running on a wall through fire escapes and Peter just jumps off of the wall to fail horribly at jumping off of the fire escape.) Also, the classic issues of floating above ground are there, too. Also, I wish they did the "trick to swing" animations that they had in Miles Morales. There are quite a few moments in this story where dialogue or the plot is contrived. For example, discovering Taskmaster for the first time. Surely somebody could either go up to the roof of that building or have someone scope it out from a better angle, right? Even so nobody questioned the fact that it was a solid box without anything on it? Hmmmm... Nah. Yeah, most of the dialogue and story growth is natural, but other times it doesn't feel like it. Speaking of, sometimes dialogue just breaks. I just finished a Fisk base, and Yuri's dialogue on the "phone" started... and she said nothing. Peter replied to nothing. Thanks, Yuri. Also, the voice acting during the section where Peter was poisoned is the worst that Yuri Lowenthal sounds. Also, that section in grand central (when Martin is arrested and around two missions before it all hits the fan) where you play as MJ, I was thinking: "How has NOBODY noticed the fact she's whispering very loudly, is on the 'phone' with someone (yeah, it makes sense for Peter because I assume he's got an earpiece, but MJ? No, it doesn't unless she kept the earpiece lodged in her ear for six MONTHS), and the person on the 'phone' is clearly audible?" Also MJ does not turn so much as her head when she is looking at places. The last thing I'll point out is the QTEs. They are FAR too slow and FAR too easy to bother even making them. You wanna know the tensest that the QTEs get? During that animation in car chases where the car falls on Peter and he has to lift it up and put it back on the ground. THAT was the only sequence where I mashed for my life. THAT. I know it sounds like I hate this game, but I don't. I like it and appreciate it. But it's not great. Just good.