Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Play it on: PS5
Current goal: Find out what’s up with “The Flame”
Buy it from: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

Honestly, I should’ve been done with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Game length tracker How Long To Beat estimates Insomniac Games’ latest open-world superhero ‘em up is 16 hours in length, and my PlayStation 5 tells me I’ve been playing for upwards of 20 hours already. But I’m still only a third of the way through the story because I’m hunting someone: a messy-haired cult leader known only as “The Flame.” This series of side missions sees Spider-Man and the ninja-looking frenemy Wraith traipse around New York looking to uncover the plans of The Flame and his followers. I just encountered the baddie and wound up in a pretty tense battle with Wraith in the process. Naturally, I’m intrigued.

Will this story arc introduce a new major villain to the ongoing Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise, which will continue with Miles Morales sitting in the primary character seat? Is this just a one-off adventure that neatly wraps up in this game? What are the ramifications of taking down The Flame? I have a lot of questions about what it all means. The only way to get the answer is to press on forward, so I’ll keep swinging through The Big Apple until I find out what’s going on. — Levi Winslow