Although Spider-Man: Miles Morales takes place a year after the events of Marvel's Spider-Man, Miles is still learning the ropes of being a superhero. That includes getting pointers from Peter Parker about quipping, something Miles finds a lot harder than punching bad guys.
Although Peter Parker is largely absent from Spider-Man: Miles Morales, he's still on hand to train Miles via holographic training simulators located around New York. These simulators allow players to pick up new skills, earn activity tokens to acquire new suits and gadgets, and offer a challenge for them to beat with tiered levels of success. While Miles is participating in any challenge, Peter offers anecdotes and advice through recorded messages. It's a fun insight into some of Peter's past adventures and a look at how Peter has been mentoring Miles.
But while Miles might be improving at stealth takedowns and web-swinging, his quips still need some work. During one side activity, Miles helps a construction worker whose giant crane has become encased in ice due to the winter weather. As Miles knocks off icicles with his web shots, he remarks "Ice to meet you," before taking a beat and sadly lamenting "Now I see why Peter gave me a C in quipping." Miles continues one terrible ice pun after another for the rest of the activity, clearly hoping that one of them will be a stroke of genius. Sadly for Miles (but to the delight of players) they are all laughably bad.
How Miles Morales Evolves as a Superhero
Besides being a wink at the terrible winter puns of Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin, the puns are another snapshot of how Miles is wrestling with how to be his own kind of superhero. It's clear from his interactions with Peter Parker/Spider-Man in both Marvel's Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales that Miles idolizes Peter and wants to do his best to emulate his mentor in every way. That includes his attempts to be light-hearted and irreverent at all times during super-heroing, whether the situation is life-threatening or a mundane task. But part of Miles's journey is figuring out that he has is own way of being a hero, and he doesn't have to match Peter beat for beat.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a fantastic spotlight on New York's newest hero that gives Miles a chance to shine. What's more, the game allows Miles to connect with the city on a more intimate level than Peter did in the first game. Miles is just as invested in finding out who is trying to ruin local businesses as he is as stopping an explosion from wiping out the city. Spider-Man: Miles Morales might be a fairly short game, but it packs a lot of heart into the hours it spends with players.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales is available on PS5 and PS4.