Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review Recap
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VOICE OVER: Ty Richardson
WRITTEN BY: Ty Richardson
The purpose of Review Recap is to answer for any criticisms I've made and defend my statements, or maybe even make a change to my opinions. Surprisingly, we will be witnessing the latter today as “Miles Morales” has kind of grown on me a bit more than the initial playthrough. After 3 full playthroughs and unlocking the Platinum trophy, here's how my opinion has changed on Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Script written by Ty Richardson
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen of the internet! My name is Ty with MojoPlays, and welcome to the MojoPlays Review Recap. Whenever we upload a review, you can leave a question or comment in that review’s comments section so I may read them off and respond to them here on the show.
Folks, the purpose of Review Recap is to answer for any criticisms I’ve made and defend my statements, or maybe even make a change to my opinions. Surprisingly, we will be witnessing the latter today as “Miles Morales” has kind of grown on me a bit more than the initial playthrough. Just to give you a bit of context behind the review, I had 100%’d “Miles Morales” before I wrote my review. Today, I have finished a third playthrough, and I popped the Platinum PSN trophy, making “Miles Morales” my 76th Platinum trophy. (Next will be “Bugsnax”!) That being said, I’ve come around to appreciating the story a bit more.
In my review, I had criticized “Miles Morales” for not doing enough interesting things with its story. Personally, I felt the story was predictable and very “middle of the lane”. It was very easy to figure out Tinkerer’s identity well before it was even revealed, and all it took was a little foreshadowing through color theory and some exposed hair in the character model in certain shots. Then, of course, you have cartoon-y corporate overlord Krieger.
However, I feel I may not have given the game enough credit. During my second and third playthrough, I saw that the story centers around the same phrase the game uses in it’s marketing - “Be greater, be yourself”. It’s a lesson that Miles struggles with throughout the story. He refers to himself as “the other ‘Spider-Man”, he panics in sticky situations, and there’s a lot of self-doubt. As someone who has gone through imposter syndrome a handful of times, Miles’s journey was a bit more relatable to me than I had originally noticed.
I want to point out one last thing before we get into your questions and comments. The footage you’re seeing is from my third playthrough, which was done after the version 1.05 update. I can confirm the PS4 version of the game is way more stable than it was at launch. I did not see any freezing character models in cutscenes, so I do retract that criticism from the original review. That being said, you can expect to see “Miles Morales” on our upcoming list of Best Games of 2020.
But, for now, let’s get to your questions and comments!
Jonathon Myska
I really liked Spider-Man : Miles Morales. Obviously, it's not as good as the original, but what were you expecting?. It's not a full fledged sequel, it's more of a spinoff episode. BTW, I would say that The Tinkerer is the main villain, not Krieger.
I can see where you’re coming from, Jonathon. After all, the antagonist is usually someone who is constantly at odds with the protagonist. That’s a high school literature lesson I admittedly didn’t take into account. Even when Tinkerer knows what they’re doing is wrong, they’re constantly fighting Miles whereas Krieger is just some backseat crook that kind of brings Miles and Tinkerer together.
In regards to what I was expecting, I honestly can’t tell you. I’ve played games that are like “Miles Morales” in terms of size and scope. I’ve played “inFamous: First Light” (another game I’ve Platinum’d), and that game satisfied me in the same way “Miles Morales” did - great combat, but not so much in the narrative department. I guess I was just hoping to see more villains that were specific to Miles and could have been more entertaining than Rhino, Tinkerer, and Krieger.
Sheem Almighty
So y'all expected it to be exactly the same as a next gen console version?
Not necessarily. I was expecting maybe less particle effects, but the only major difference between PS4 and PS5 is processing power. Even so, the cutscenes shouldn’t have been freezing up as often as they were. Thankfully, version 1.05 seems to have fixed this. So, as I said earlier, I can retract that criticism.
Tristan Scatliffe
This dude needs the PS5 version stat!
I certainly do, and I’ve asked Ricky about the quality of the PS5 version. He’s told me that the PS5 version is impressive, and it’s the best way to play the game. He said that he went into Photo Mode and zoomed into Miles’s suit as close as possible, and there wasn’t a single pixel on screen. Of course, that also depends on what kind of TV you have, but clearly, the game is best on PS5, which isn’t surprising. Even I said the game was not made with PS4 in mind necessarily.
Brian Daniel
I actually found the smaller scope of the story to be more engaging...some things were predictable didn't make the experience less exciting, as the twists were still powerful for Miles, and I was truly invested in his story and his rise as a hero. The first game felt to me more like your standard MCU blockbuster fare...I felt the emotional beats hit harder in Miles Morales due to the tighter pacing.
I’ll give “Miles Morales” that. I will praise a game for a smaller, focused main campaign as long as it provides me with fun side missions and collectibles. It can get a little repetitive in “Miles Morales” just because there’s not much challenge in finding them. In regards to the first game being “standard MCU blockbuster fare”, maybe that’s why I enjoyed it a bit more than “Miles Morales”? Insomniac’s first “Spider-Man” game hit me in a similar way that “Batman: Arkham Asylum” and the first “Iron Man” movie did. All three of these were moments that showed the people who worked on those projects gave a s**t. Now that Insomniac has shown us what superhero games look like in a post-”Batman: Arkham” world, we’re in this weird period of limbo. How are we going to make this better than the previous game? What can we do to make it distinguishable from other superhero games? How do we incorporate the character’s powers into the game without straying from source material or making gameplay too repetitive?
J
It is quite obvious when that the narrator is just reading a script that he didn't write when words are mispronounced on a number of occasions.
J… I’ve been reading and VOing my reviews since “Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit”. Just about every review code we nab goes to me. ...We have a whole lower-third graphic saying “Reviewed by Ty” in every review video I’ve worked on. Needless to say, if you see my dumb face pop up anywhere in the video, you can bet your entire life savings I had some kind of hand in it.
Varkolak2020
Waiting for a review for Sackboy: a Big Adventure
Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be doing a review for “Sackboy: A Big Adventure”. By the time you’re watching or listening to this, I’ll be playing “Cyberpunk 2077”, and I’ll be reviewing that game a bit differently. I’ll give you a quick review, though - “Sackboy” is a charming platformer, runs well on PS4, and it almost makes me wish I continued my aspirations as an animator. I’m not a fan of the copyrighted music (as much as I enjoyed listening to “Uptown Funk”), but “Sackboy: A Big Adventure” is worth the price of admission.
Folks, that does it for the MojoPlays Review Recap. I’d like to thank you all for leaving your questions and comments. If you’re curious about what else I may be playing or when I’m streaming, you can follow me on Twitter @GhostRyderTyler. Until next time, I wish you all the best!
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review Recap
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen of the internet! My name is Ty with MojoPlays, and welcome to the MojoPlays Review Recap. Whenever we upload a review, you can leave a question or comment in that review’s comments section so I may read them off and respond to them here on the show.
Folks, the purpose of Review Recap is to answer for any criticisms I’ve made and defend my statements, or maybe even make a change to my opinions. Surprisingly, we will be witnessing the latter today as “Miles Morales” has kind of grown on me a bit more than the initial playthrough. Just to give you a bit of context behind the review, I had 100%’d “Miles Morales” before I wrote my review. Today, I have finished a third playthrough, and I popped the Platinum PSN trophy, making “Miles Morales” my 76th Platinum trophy. (Next will be “Bugsnax”!) That being said, I’ve come around to appreciating the story a bit more.
In my review, I had criticized “Miles Morales” for not doing enough interesting things with its story. Personally, I felt the story was predictable and very “middle of the lane”. It was very easy to figure out Tinkerer’s identity well before it was even revealed, and all it took was a little foreshadowing through color theory and some exposed hair in the character model in certain shots. Then, of course, you have cartoon-y corporate overlord Krieger.
However, I feel I may not have given the game enough credit. During my second and third playthrough, I saw that the story centers around the same phrase the game uses in it’s marketing - “Be greater, be yourself”. It’s a lesson that Miles struggles with throughout the story. He refers to himself as “the other ‘Spider-Man”, he panics in sticky situations, and there’s a lot of self-doubt. As someone who has gone through imposter syndrome a handful of times, Miles’s journey was a bit more relatable to me than I had originally noticed.
I want to point out one last thing before we get into your questions and comments. The footage you’re seeing is from my third playthrough, which was done after the version 1.05 update. I can confirm the PS4 version of the game is way more stable than it was at launch. I did not see any freezing character models in cutscenes, so I do retract that criticism from the original review. That being said, you can expect to see “Miles Morales” on our upcoming list of Best Games of 2020.
But, for now, let’s get to your questions and comments!
Jonathon Myska
I really liked Spider-Man : Miles Morales. Obviously, it's not as good as the original, but what were you expecting?. It's not a full fledged sequel, it's more of a spinoff episode. BTW, I would say that The Tinkerer is the main villain, not Krieger.
I can see where you’re coming from, Jonathon. After all, the antagonist is usually someone who is constantly at odds with the protagonist. That’s a high school literature lesson I admittedly didn’t take into account. Even when Tinkerer knows what they’re doing is wrong, they’re constantly fighting Miles whereas Krieger is just some backseat crook that kind of brings Miles and Tinkerer together.
In regards to what I was expecting, I honestly can’t tell you. I’ve played games that are like “Miles Morales” in terms of size and scope. I’ve played “inFamous: First Light” (another game I’ve Platinum’d), and that game satisfied me in the same way “Miles Morales” did - great combat, but not so much in the narrative department. I guess I was just hoping to see more villains that were specific to Miles and could have been more entertaining than Rhino, Tinkerer, and Krieger.
Sheem Almighty
So y'all expected it to be exactly the same as a next gen console version?
Not necessarily. I was expecting maybe less particle effects, but the only major difference between PS4 and PS5 is processing power. Even so, the cutscenes shouldn’t have been freezing up as often as they were. Thankfully, version 1.05 seems to have fixed this. So, as I said earlier, I can retract that criticism.
Tristan Scatliffe
This dude needs the PS5 version stat!
I certainly do, and I’ve asked Ricky about the quality of the PS5 version. He’s told me that the PS5 version is impressive, and it’s the best way to play the game. He said that he went into Photo Mode and zoomed into Miles’s suit as close as possible, and there wasn’t a single pixel on screen. Of course, that also depends on what kind of TV you have, but clearly, the game is best on PS5, which isn’t surprising. Even I said the game was not made with PS4 in mind necessarily.
Brian Daniel
I actually found the smaller scope of the story to be more engaging...some things were predictable didn't make the experience less exciting, as the twists were still powerful for Miles, and I was truly invested in his story and his rise as a hero. The first game felt to me more like your standard MCU blockbuster fare...I felt the emotional beats hit harder in Miles Morales due to the tighter pacing.
I’ll give “Miles Morales” that. I will praise a game for a smaller, focused main campaign as long as it provides me with fun side missions and collectibles. It can get a little repetitive in “Miles Morales” just because there’s not much challenge in finding them. In regards to the first game being “standard MCU blockbuster fare”, maybe that’s why I enjoyed it a bit more than “Miles Morales”? Insomniac’s first “Spider-Man” game hit me in a similar way that “Batman: Arkham Asylum” and the first “Iron Man” movie did. All three of these were moments that showed the people who worked on those projects gave a s**t. Now that Insomniac has shown us what superhero games look like in a post-”Batman: Arkham” world, we’re in this weird period of limbo. How are we going to make this better than the previous game? What can we do to make it distinguishable from other superhero games? How do we incorporate the character’s powers into the game without straying from source material or making gameplay too repetitive?
J
It is quite obvious when that the narrator is just reading a script that he didn't write when words are mispronounced on a number of occasions.
J… I’ve been reading and VOing my reviews since “Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit”. Just about every review code we nab goes to me. ...We have a whole lower-third graphic saying “Reviewed by Ty” in every review video I’ve worked on. Needless to say, if you see my dumb face pop up anywhere in the video, you can bet your entire life savings I had some kind of hand in it.
Varkolak2020
Waiting for a review for Sackboy: a Big Adventure
Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be doing a review for “Sackboy: A Big Adventure”. By the time you’re watching or listening to this, I’ll be playing “Cyberpunk 2077”, and I’ll be reviewing that game a bit differently. I’ll give you a quick review, though - “Sackboy” is a charming platformer, runs well on PS4, and it almost makes me wish I continued my aspirations as an animator. I’m not a fan of the copyrighted music (as much as I enjoyed listening to “Uptown Funk”), but “Sackboy: A Big Adventure” is worth the price of admission.
Folks, that does it for the MojoPlays Review Recap. I’d like to thank you all for leaving your questions and comments. If you’re curious about what else I may be playing or when I’m streaming, you can follow me on Twitter @GhostRyderTyler. Until next time, I wish you all the best!
