I can definitely tell that this was Insomniac’s first foray into the open-world format with its derivative design choices. Checklist style objectives littered throughout the large map to be completed then disregarded immediately to make room for the next fleeting objective to check off the list. It may be naive of me to think of this as the developers simply being inept at designing open-world games while it is obviously more likely this was simply the game they envisioned. One where the power fantasy of being Spider-Man is instantly given to you fitting snug with the gratifying bite-sized content that’s easy to complete. It’s all just so one-note and dated compared to other games of its ilk with even other Sony properties that I find middling speeding past it like ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’. Its combat is similar to how simplistic and easy it is to master, not even mentioning the redundant and forced RPG elements such as the typical skill tree. Its story holds its most memorable and emotionally resonant moments but they’re short-lived to make way for pacing mechanisms such as forced stealth and laughably boring puzzles. Then of course there’s the web-swinging but even that isn’t really worth mentioning as it’s a mindless endeavor. That being said web-swinging is beloved in this game therefore I wouldn’t want the devs to change it, and honestly that might be the case for the whole game. It clearly wanted to be the definitive Spider-Man experience, not the boldest or the most memorable, but the one to be loved and enjoyed by all. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, especially from an accessibility standpoint. But from a design standpoint, it just blends in with so many other games that chances are if it weren’t for Spider-Man this would have faded away quickly from the public consciousness.