A really solid first installment which does a great job of introducing us to Trails lore (with orbal energies, orbments and whatnot) and setting up the plot for the next two games. Though there were times when overpowered monsters blocking the road who would take out Estelle and Joshua in a single hit or two or navigating our way through the Grancel sewers seriously pissed me off, with the plot twists we get to witness at the climax overcoming these challenges was well worth it. The story had me invested ever since Cassius first introduced Joshua to his daughter with the mystery surrounding his character being kept hinted at throughout the game making me want to learn about his backstory more.

The soundtrack was immaculate and easily one of my favorite things about this game. I'd find myself stopping play at some village location to listen to 'A Cat relaxing in the Sun'. The main cast along with the characters we were introduced to along the way were all very loveable and I can't wait to get to see more of them in the upcoming installments.

this is definitely one of my most favorite spiderman portrayals up to date. it is implied he's not a newbie, he has been going on around webbing up super-criminals like electro and rhino for a while now but isn't too experienced either. he's still the friendly neighborhood spiderman we all know and love and is as witty as ever. we learn alongside peter what it means to take up the heavy mantle of a "hero" upon your shoulders and what kind of responsibility that leads to because at the end of the day there'll always be choices and tough decisions for you to make. the ending had me tearing up and this will forever remain one of my favorite spiderman stories ever.

the gameplay was of course immaculate with smooth web slinging and combat mechanisms included which were a treat to experience. certain scenarios where we had to sneak around the enemy's back while trying to investigate to find clues or to escape sometimes proved to be a killjoy but that's just me nitpicking. the amount of details insomniac put in with easter eggs like the avengers tower in nyc made you really FEEL like you were in a marvel comic brought to life. i can't wait to try out the miles morales spinoff and the sequel coming out in the future.