I rarely play a game because of it's narrative, the story or the characters. For Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy I made an exception.

I'm a gigantic fan of the GotG comics, the first guardians as much as the current ones. I honestly don't have that much to say about gameplay. It was inoffensive enough to me that it carried me through the game. It's not very varied but keeps introducing new elements at a good rate so the experience doesn't go stale. The spectacle is amped up to 11, set piece after set piece with this one. The Boss fights were my personal highpoints. All of them are fantastically executed.

However the heart and soul of this game are the characters. This game absolutley nails the new guardians, better than the James Gunn movies did. The relationship between these wacky misfits is a complete blast throughout. The first half hour starts kinda slow but after that I had to force myself to put it down. The characters, their arcs, developments and relationships are nicely interweaved with the gameplay.

They could have coasted on the fan service for all I cared and told a milktoast story to sell some copies. However they went above and beyond with the actual plot of the game. I shit you not this game tells a amazingly mature story about grief, loss, letting go and how important the people are around you are to move on. It honestly all came beautifully full circle while firmly remaining a GotG adventure throughout.

I'm biased but they really nailed this one for me personally. Some technical issues but there's so much to love here I'm honestly stunned.

I expected the worst and got the best.