I have to say, the quality of the cutscenes on display here is really killing me. Earlier in this thread before the game came out I was worried by reviews that said this game struggled to give Spider-Man a sense of epicness and I'm really not sure what they were talking about this. You might not have much player agency in those scenarios but they are basically Insomniac doing God of War III when they get going, which is great since God of War 2018 mostly shied away from that sense of scope and power. Further comparing the two unnecessarily, God of War's (light) combo system makes it clear just how dated this combat is; I feel like the web pulls should have been included in combo strings rather than a dedicated button, as freeing triangle up for more varied attack patterns would've made for a more exciting fight system. When you're in the thick of it it's really hard to remember all your various gadgets, especially because like someone else said the gadget button starts out as the web shooter button so my brain just defaults to thinking it is that.

I've been binging this game like mad since I finally bought it Tuesday, though. I'm about 70% complete and just entered the third act of the story. I only just realized the efficacy of zip points and point launches, too, which has really opened up the web swinging for me. I was already enjoying it but now that I have that extra bit of zip and pop to my traversal I'm completely head over heels. But back to the cutscenes, even beyond the big set piece moments I have to say I'm completely surprised by how much the acting, both voice and computer graphics, is getting to me. I was constantly in awe of God of War, but I am legitimately choking up during some of the scenes in this game, even little stuff like Spidey and MJ having dinner. There is just something so natural about these characters talking to each other and moving around, it's not even necessarily actually emotional beats. I'd have the same reaction to light hearted scenes in Uncharted from time to time for the same reason. The fact that this game decided to go there in the middle of the game and completely shift tone for 30 minutes - not just decided to try that, but actually pulled it off - just cemented for me that this game is neck and neck with God of War so far.

My only real complaint is not that the quips are present, but that there are only so many quips per scenario. Once you've heard Spidey say the same one liner for the twentieth time after clearing an intersection of Demons (by the way, who else is still laughing every time these characters say "demons") it does get quite grating. Even more minor, I think if certain side quests and errands were going to be hard coded into the day or night cycle portion of the game, they shouldn't have allowed players to access those missions when the time of day doesn't line up. The first time that loading screen popped, I thought the game had crashed.

But overall I think they're doing a wonderful job of balancing a precocious Pete with a grown up, responsible Pete, and the way they animate the guy is just fascinating to watch. If Santa Monica Studios made Kratos an empathetic character almost entirely through the shading and animation of his eyes, I'd argue Insomniac has done the same with Pete's lips and jaw. It took an hour or so to fully warm up to the just-left-of-reality art style, but once I noticed just how careful they were with the actual animations, like Naughty Dog level attention to detail, I was all in.

I'm going to be really let down when this game is over.

I just beat it and did the majority of everything. I just have to do the little side objectives that randomly pop up whenever you're in the vicinity of a crime happening. I thought the game was great. I'm not sure how much more I'll play it considering I did just about everything in it, but yeah, definitely out of the games I played this year is one of the best ones (though, to be fair I didn't really play that many new games this year). I haven't read that many Spider-Man comics, but I will say that this was probably my favorite Spider-Man thing (be it games, movies, etc.)

I really enjoyed Spider-Man but how do I do those stealth missions fast enough to get more than one challenge token? The drone chases didn't give me no where near as much trouble as those.

@not_a_bumblebee: equip the mods that leave enemies red after you scan the area as well as the super stealth mod so they don’t immediately react to you. Then plot your course so you are mostly doing the triangle web attack move, and use your web shooter to turn guards away from each other. Once you get the hang of it it should take about 30 seconds of planning and maybe a minute to execute as you just zip from dude to dude.

Even though I loathed the segments where you play as other people, I think this game is still a strong contender for GOTY. It's the first game I platinumed.

That's all. Bye again.

I was the exact opposite. I got the gold level on every stealth the 1st try, but the drone chases are the WOOOORST. The key is to just do the mas fast as possible without being seen(obviously)

@not_a_bumblebee: The stealth missions are basically just puzzles. By using the web strike takedown it's just a matter of figuring out the right "route" to take and then just zip zip zip.

I find my strategies in Stealth Challenges benefit from memorization. I'm willing to fail a bunch of times just to figure out enemy placement and pathing--both of which are scripted and reset when you reset the mission. By those means, you can dial in a pretty thorough route of Web Strikes.

If there is even a moment where an enemy's status is "SAFE"--attack. Don't hesitate. Attack and then L2 + R2 back to safety. Even better, try to chain multiple "SAFE" targets together. And don't forget your gadgets. I find Trip Mine and Impact Web to be the most helpful, as both can one-shot enemies. Trip Mine even has a high chance of snagging two enemies together--great to remember for pairs of enemies or groups of three, where a well-placed Trip Mine followed by a Web Strike can silence the group before any other passersby grow suspicious.

For the record, I think the Drone Challenges and Bomb Challenges are extremely demanding, and I mostly avoided trying to achieve max ranking on them.

I know the jump through the hoop challenge is a staple in Spider-Man games but if I have to never do it again I'll be happy. There needs to be a better way to challenge your web swinging prowess that doesn't give you Superman 64 flashbacks. Here's hoping Insomniac comes up with a better solution for the inevitable sequel. Apropos of nothing I really hope Kraven the Hunter is in the sequel as he became a personal favorite after reading a trade paperback of The Last Hunt as a kid.

Just got around to beating this. The game pales in comparison to the Arkham games and even their own game, Sunset Overdrive. The story was so straight-forward... I was expecting something more... I'm not sure what. But the emotional parts at the end all fell flat to me. I've actually been playing thru Arkham Knight again and it's pretty amazing how much variety they pack into the missions in that game and how fun all the gadgets are. Spiderman just felt super repetitive.

And some super silly missions had my eyes rolling. Like when you need to get into Harry's room so you have to use Mary Jane's detective vision (where did she get that?) to find a key taped on the back of a picture. Oh, and it's good Norman has floor plans of his apartment laying around so MJ knew he had a secret room! Stuff like that is just super lazy feeling.

Beat this a while back. Absolutely loved it. Some story nitpicks (why don't we get a moment where Parker's like "holy shit Martin Lee is bad?!" instead it's just straight into "we gotta get ahead of him") and gameplay nitpicks (really wish aiming and shooting gadgets felt better (biggest gripe is after shooting you just fuckin drop)), but it's all around fantastic. I expected the stealth missions to be more of a bother than they were, and some I genuinely enjoyed (specifically the Miles missions and Grand Central).

Great game.