Spider-man: Miles Morales (PS4, PS5) (Holiday 2020)

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

Nothing quite as satisfying as being Spider-man again. I'm loving this. 

[foogledricks 768]

Just got my PS5. Game downloading. Good to hear you’re loving it. Haven’t heard a lot of excitement about this game. Getting a been there done that vibe from everyone. 
 

Are you playing in performance mode?

[JFo 1,750]

17 minutes ago, foogledricks said:

Are you playing in performance mode?

 

 I am. Fuck ray tracing.

 

Also, enjoying the shit out of this. The only reason I haven’t finished it yet is because I’m bouncing between so many other games at the moment.

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

I went with Fidelity Mode. I wanted to see all the bells and whistles, and I'm also perfectly happy with a solid 30fps for cinematic games. 

 

[Kyle-K 107]

If anyone is on the fence on this one... Let me know.  I have a disc version (unopened) that I will pass on for half price.

 

I got in on a Walmart price error that sold me the game for $20+tax.  They eventually realized the error, and said they were cancelling the order.  But the sent me a gift card for $20 and I happily bought the digital edition for $30... and forgot about the whole thing.  Today the disc version just showed up, so I guess they never cancelled it after all.

 

So if anyone bought a PS5 but didn't by Miles Morales yet (I imagine that number is close to zero) send me a message.

[AlbertA 696]

1 hour ago, Kyle-K said:

If anyone is on the fence on this one... Let me know.  I have a disc version (unopened) that I will pass on for half price.

 

I got in on a Walmart price error that sold me the game for $20+tax.  They eventually realized the error, and said they were cancelling the order.  But the sent me a gift card for $20 and I happily bought the digital edition for $30... and forgot about the whole thing.  Today the disc version just showed up, so I guess they never cancelled it after all.

 

So if anyone bought a PS5 but didn't by Miles Morales yet (I imagine that number is close to zero) send me a message.

 PM sent

[Adam Tyner 250]

As much as I loved Insomniac’s first pass at my lifelong favorite superhero, this is the Spider-Man game I want to play going forward.

 

The setting and supporting cast feel so much richer and more alive than in the previous game.  I felt a much deeper emotional connection to Miles than I ever did with Peter the last go-around, the emphasis on community has a tremendous impact.  That, heightened by a more concentrated focus and consistently spectacular performances, kept me better invested in the story.
 

The length is perfect; short enough to leave me wanting more, meaty enough to keep me satisfied, and smart enough to duck out before any open world fatigue could set in.  There really isn’t any filler of consequence.  What side missions there are never feel like chores I have to endure.  The collectibles are more than just checkboxes I’m ticking off.  And the scale and spectacle of it all consistently left me bowled over.

 

I loved it.  I loved it so much that I immediately fired up New Game+ — which, if you’re focusing almost exclusively on the central missions, only takes a few hours.
 

This is my game of the year.  It’s so incredible that it even washed the lackluster taste of The Avengers out of my mouth.  Here’s hoping that the next Spider-Man game finds a way to share the spotlight with Miles and that his next solo outing isn’t too far off on the horizon.

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

I think I am close to the final story missions so will spend today working on more of the side stuff and collectibles. While I've more to do, I can probably agree with Adam at this stage on a lot of points. This is a game displaying huge confidence from Insomniac coming off the back of its predecessor. The spectacular rendering of the city and the Spider-man animation is even more polished, and the story and characters have been wonderfully engaging. 

 

If there is anything bad to say about the game it's definitely that re-model of Peter. A friend of Miles talks about how there was a Spider-man around since she was a kid... and Miles and his friends are all around 16 or 17... and now Peter looks just a young. It doesn't work. 

 

My other take away is that more games should be set at Christmas.

 

[AlbertA 696]

Did you guys choose 60FPS or ray tracing candy at 30FPS?

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

30/Fidelity mode as answered above. I finished the story at lunch and I really loved the experience visually. It's absolutely a PS4 game, but there's a more than respectable degree of polish on top with the PS5 version. Insomniac are masters when it comes to 30fps as I feel the previous Ratchet and Spider-man games on PS4 proved too. I might as well run New Game+ at 60 though to see the difference (it seems you have to replay in New Game+ in order to obtain a Platinum anyway), and I'll equip all the Spider-verse bonuses for good measure. The loading times and fast travel speeds of the PS5 version are truly mind boggling.

 

 

 

I think all I have left to do are the time trial challenges which I am never a fan of. The fact I've not been able to put the game down over the last 24hrs speaks volumes as to how engaging the experience is. I have to say too, that it's twice now Insomniac have made me a bit teary eyed with their Spider-man games, so kudos to their writing team and the voice talent. 

 

Aside from Peter's time/combat challenges and replaying in New Game+, it looks like I only have two or three general combat related trophies to acquire (100x combo and a couple of others).

[foogledricks 768]

I forgot how to do everything. The combat is so deep and takes some practice to get in a groove. No way i can play this and avengers at the same time. Too confusing.

 

 But yeah, it is awesome to be Spider-Man again.

 

 I’m doing performance mode. I’ve been convinced that we all become numb to visual fidelity, but framerate affects actual gameplay. So I’m going with better gameplay.

[Adam Tyner 250]

5 hours ago, Angry the Clown said:

30/Fidelity mode as answered above.

 

Same here.  I tried Performance mode in New Game+, and -- to my eyes, anyway -- it just looked wrong, and I changed back after a couple of missions.  It's not an aversion to 60fps or anything (not for someone who plays this many platformers and character action games!), but it almost looked like someone was pressing fast-forward.  Maybe it was just a different experience during the cinematic-heavy early stretches of the game -- it did feel nice when I was just swinging around -- but it just wasn't for me.

[iainl 678]

Is there any point in sacrificing bells and whistles to get 60fps if you then enable the Spiderverse “animate at 12fps” mode anyway?

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

Encountered a cloud sync error and lost a good chunk of my final progress and... I'm not even mad. 😄 Any other game and I might be really annoyed, but just getting to replay that ending again was a treat. From both a gameplay and emotional level it's remarkably satisfying.

 

I did have to redo a few collectible and app missions though, but that left me wondering. Does anyone know if the ending is slightly different depending on your progress with side quests up to a certain point?

 

Spoiler

At the end, everyone one of the locals you help on a mission throughout the game and via the app are there protecting Miles. I wondered if they're all there if you still haven't done the app missions before the final story missions.

 

 

[Dan B. 201]

7 hours ago, AlbertA said:

Did you guys choose 60FPS or ray tracing candy at 30FPS?

 

I’m working on the original remastered first, in fidelity mode, as I’d never finished it. Seems to play well at 30 fps for me.

 

1 hour ago, foogledricks said:

I forgot how to do everything. The combat is so deep and takes some practice to get in a groove. No way i can play this and avengers at the same time. Too confusing.

 

Yeah I can only play one of these types of  games at a time, and I still find myself struggling with buttons during combat sometimes.

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

I have to say, the time trial/training missions are a certainly more enjoyable this time around than they were in the first game. I didn't have any trouble getting the trophies for those in the end. Also the final training mission that unlocks after you complete the initial ones is very amusing. 

 

So I think I just have x24 ceiling takedowns, x100 combo and New Game Plus to achieve to reach Platinum. I was struggling to work out the Crime Master trophy all evening and then after shutting down the PS5 it dawned on me that those missions are all in the phone app, so I'll do those before starting starting the New Game mode (which, again, you need to play to get the Platinum, but you also need to play it to access one last suit and some additional skills and upgrades). 

 

 

[Adam Tyner 250]

9 minutes ago, Angry the Clown said:

So I think I just have x24 ceiling takedowns, x100 combo and New Game Plus to achieve to reach Platinum. I was struggling to work out the Crime Master trophy all evening and then after shutting down the PS5 it dawned on me that those missions are all in the phone app, so I'll do those before starting starting the New Game mode (which, again, you need to play to get the Platinum, but you also need to play it to access one last suit and some additional skills and upgrades). 

 

It took a few tries, but I got the 100x combo on Combat Training 2.0 (or whatever it's called; the one emphasizing dodging).  It's nice since there's no time limit, and it's easy to restart when I'd mess up.  I guess if I were feeling really cheesy, I could've just kept dodging the guys with the crowbars, since the combo counter ticks up every time you slide underneath 'em.  Another easy path would be to dial down the difficulty all the way, which ensures that getting hit doesn't reset the combo counter.

 

So when you've finished one of the Crimes, can you select it again in the app to respawn it?  If so, I didn't know that, and instead I wound up redoing those in NG+ (by which point it was pretty effortless to get all the bonus objectives).

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

1 minute ago, Adam Tyner said:

 

It took a few tries, but I got the 100x combo on Combat Training 2.0 (or whatever it's called; the one emphasizing dodging).  It's nice since there's no time limit, and it's easy to restart when I'd mess up.  I guess if I were feeling really cheesy, I could've just kept dodging the guys with the crowbars, since the combo counter ticks up every time you slide underneath 'em.  Another easy path would be to dial down the difficulty all the way, which ensures that getting hit doesn't reset the combo counter.

 

I hadn't thought about doing it on the Combat Training! Excellent idea. I'll try that in the morning.

 

1 minute ago, Adam Tyner said:

So when you've finished one of the Crimes, can you select it again in the app to respawn it?  If so, I didn't know that, and instead I wound up redoing those in NG+ (by which point it was pretty effortless to get all the bonus objectives).

 

I don't actually know if you can force them to respawn, but you can get a display of current crimes in a single area via the app yes. 

 

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

I forgot to give mention to the game's excellent use of music earlier. There's a particularly ingenious music related thing you can do in Miles' apartment which put a big smile on my face. John Paesano delivered a terrific score too:

 

 

I also loved hearing Christmas music at street level in various parts of the city. It's just another element that helps the game's version of New York feel even richer and vibrant than it did in the previous game. It's so dense with traffic and people, with an endless draw distance and some beautiful lighting at times (especially after you complete the story and the game seems to default to sunset. That's actually where I really admired the ray tracing the most. I should have taken a picture at one point when I was particularly struck by Spidey's real time shadow on a sun hit wall. It's not really the glass window reflections that impress me about the ray tracing. It's the more subtle effects). It really is the best open world city I've ever seen in a game.

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

7 hours ago, Adam Tyner said:

So when you've finished one of the Crimes, can you select it again in the app to respawn it?  If so, I didn't know that, and instead I wound up redoing those in NG+ (by which point it was pretty effortless to get all the bonus objectives).

 

Just to go back to this. That is indeed how it works. You can just use the app to trigger local crime scenes. I got the trophy.

 

Now to get that damn combo trophy. 🤬

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

On the home stretch. Just the New Game Plus trophies to acquire now. 

 

One thing I haven't mentioned is how often this game has crashed my PS5. It's been a good 5-6 times now, never in the same place. Two of those occasions forced the system to have to rebuild itself. Google suggests quite a number of people are encountering it with Miles but nothing else so it seems to be game related rather than hardware.

[Romier S 4,882]

 

[Adam Tyner 250]

3 hours ago, Angry the Clown said:

One thing I haven't mentioned is how often this game has crashed my PS5.

Yeah, it happened three times to me.  I’d read enough warnings beforehand about Miles + rest mode that I completely closed the game whenever I’d finish a session, but I had one hard freeze (the OS was still responsive, but the game was locked up) and two blue screen crashes.  Two of those were in enemy bases; the last blue screen crash was when I was clearing out the enemies outside the museum near the very end.

[Angry the Clown 4,178]

Yeah I haven't put the console into rest mode once due to some of the scare stories, but Miles still crashed plenty of times. It's good that they have patched Spiderman Remastered but I haven't had any notification of a patch for Miles.

[Romier S 4,882]