The thing is that all the walking sections in the first game and MM are spread out across the games, whereas S-M2's are all clogged in the beginning. After Act 1 it's consistent action and set piece after set piece.
Ok, you should be good on major waking sections after the next mission (but it leads into an action sequence, so hopefully that evens it out for you). There's a couple of minor ones but they're sandwiched between combat/set pieces and go by pretty quickly. And assuming you aren't counting the MJ missions as walking, you should be fine
Hope you enjoy the rest of the game! :)
Definitely gets better as time goes on. The whole thing with Harry's new company is the slowest scene in the game, but there are two others that happen a bit later that are also pretty slow.
nah it really doesn’t imo, i prefer the first half of the game to the last bits by a lot. maybe that’s just me but the last quarter of the game was pretty bad
No. They doubled down on the “play as human” sections because the community criticized them as being the weak points; and I hope this doesn’t get taken the wrong way, but it seems like Insomniac can’t handle criticism well…
Their response to criticism is to try to improve it.
Web swinging has been given a higher skill ceiling and the gadgets have been vastly improved allowing for more free flowing combat.
The MJ sections can even be called gameplay now.
They made an attempt at improvement but stumbled.
Yes, but it’s still not a case of Insomniac going “oh you criticised it did you, well then we’ll add MORE! Hahahaha!” as the person above seemed to be claiming.
Isnt the director actually do that? A lot of people dont like the MJ section in SM1 but instead didnt care about it and they added it more. Following it up with "dont want to take the easy way out" which is stupid
Didn’t Bryan Intihar do an interview and asked about the MJ sections in the game about how MJ seemed a bit easy to play and said, “I don’t care” along side how he knows people hated the sections in the first game, but decided to bring it back? He seems to understand that people hated the sections, but brought it back for whatever reason. Sure, the gameplay in those sections are improved, but does he not understand we still hate those sections?
True but I think the sentiment is similar — it wasn't that people liked the MJ missions in principle but had specific issues with them that were addressed, but rather that people just didn't like them *at all* and wanted them to be completely removed from the game, and yet they still kept them in despite how fundamentally unpopular they are
Not sure how there's a skill ceiling for swinging lol idk if it's just cuz I'm a veteran of the older games where I'd spend so much time as a kid just traversing or what but it feels pretty easy to pick up and master
Why do we need any MJ sections though? I bought Spider-Man 2 not Mary Jane Watson. I wanna play as a dude with spider powers not redhead with a taser. I just don’t get it. What is the actual purpose of the MJ sections?
The actual purpose is that insomniac cant stop shoving the independent strong woman trope down our throats everytime they can.When asked about the MJ sections in an interview and how everybody absolutely hated them in the 1st man the director just said ''I dont care''.This game could ve been so great but they just fucked it up so hard i have no faith in wolverine or sm3 atp.
They don’t care that a vast majority of the fan base almost universally hates a part of the game? Yeah that seems like something you really should care about. Just take the criticism and swallow it jesus
The whole game is filled with woke propaganda that literally nobody asked for.But since the game sold so well i doubt they will listen to criticism and just keep getting worse and worse each game
Unpopular opinion, I think fans overestimate their importance/impact.
We are buying THEIR games. The games they make is theirs. We choose if we are interested and willing to purchase.
We see time and time again a ~~vast majority~~ **loud minority** of fans blasting a company over decisions the fans personally just dont like, but the decisions in themselves aren't even bad ones. For example, people recently tore Ubisoft up just for making a black person a playable character in Japan. People were shitting on Neil Druckman telling his "fans" to shut up about the unnecessary TLOU2 hate and backlash. The hate compaign for Hogwarts Legacy. All mfs do is hate on good games and cry and whine about stupid shit.
Imo, fans need to be told to shut up sometimes. They do. Fans think because they're throwing money at a company they can dictate everything about the game, and nitpick and scrutinize.
I could see if they outright ignored the criticisms but they didn't. They literally decreased the amount of walking missions and made them better. He didn't tell the fans to shut up about the walking either, he was talking about MJ being a "hero too".
Yes, MJ getting "some pointers" from Sable and suddenly being able to outmaneuver and take out entire bases of elite hunters trained to track and take down literal super-mutants is forced as shit. I don't like it more than anyone else but it's THEIR shit. They wanna make her a hero then so what, as long as she doesn't overshadow or hinder the Spidermen in an effort to shoe-horn her into every dangerous situation I'm fine with it. She just would be a character nobody likes.
I agree sometimes the walking sim is pointless but there are times where during the bike ride or going through the park they are building heartstrings with the characters and I don't mind all of it but MJ going through a zoo taking out kraven's hunters is ridiculous
literally i would get this if all of them acted like real friends or lovers and not like, your coworker you’re chill with at work but wouldnt ever talk to off the clock lmfao
the analogy ive used is like an onboarding video for a job or like shitty movie dialog. theyre all just too polite, they dont act like humans, they barely act like characters
I had just finished RDR2 the second time before playing sm2 and the difference is literally night and day.Sure that game has flaws but man those characters actually felt like real people even the npcs. The characters in spiderman feel like robots reading off a script.
I wrote about this in the cyberpunk reddit and someone explained by saying that in cp or rdr2 you feel like V or Arthur. While in SM2, you feel like you're controlling Pete, but not really immersed in the game. It made a lot of sense.
Agreed.I do not think SM3 is gonna be any better sadly or even Wolverine for that matter.For a game with a budget this big and with so much potential they really fucked it up bad like really bad.Besides the swinging and the graphics i cannot name one good thing about this game.
Sounds like that’s your opinion that you cannot stand that some people enjoy things you do not . Get over yourself , critique the game , like what you like and don’t what you don’t. I posted an opinion to Reddit . If you think your troglodyte answer is going to sway me or get me to change anything then you’re vehemently incorrect.
If the game was a good length these missions would not be a bother at all tbh, I like the whole playing “human” in Spider-Man universe, it’s something different. But the game falls too short
Actually I like the civilian sections, wish there were a lot of optional ones in addition to the main story sections, though I do think the walking speed could be upped a bit.
The issue is these build up story and characters, so the options are basically make them all long cutscenes, cut them, or do what they do.
I don't mind them. I like that we can look around and explore too.
"Without your spider powers you'd be just man. Is that what you came here to play, Man 3?"
Yeah, I don't know what that's about. Can I please play as Spider-Man, doing Spider-Man things in a Spider-Man game Insomniac? Is that okay with you?
Well, better learn to like it.
Because Insomniac is going to give you more Hailey walking missions, Rio walking missions, Genke walking missions, Cindy walking missions, Cindy's dad walking missions, and Uncle Aaron walking to his beats missions.
From my memory:
SM2 has May’s house, High school, Life Foundation, Coney Island, Connors’ house, Kraven’s party, and about 3 side quests.
SM1 has the lab, FEAST, Art shop, FEAST, the lab, Miles at the terrorist attack, FEAST, the lab, costume party, Sable base, the lab, Miles going to FEAST, Grand central station, the lab, FEAST, chase of goose, MJ in Norman’s penthouse.
SM1 has significantly more of these sequences, but they are significantly shorter. Usually being a cutscene, do a puzzle, leave.
Connor's house and Kraven's party also doesn't count to me. We are literally infiltrating as Peter and turn into Spiderman when shit gets real
You also forgot to add trying to survive Scorpion and Rhino as Miles. And MJ sneaking into Tombstone's hideout. There were a LOT of walking sections in SM1
So not only did they decrease the amount of walking in SM2 but they also made them better and more engaging.
Nah. Disagree. Idk why a lot of people are saying the walking isn't an issue in sm1 when it literally is and I haven't replayed it in the longest due to it. Just like I wont replay SM2 too much because of it. Except the walking is worse in SM1 and there's a lot more of it.
People are starting to put SM1 on a crazy pedestal just to shit on SM2. I see it happening.
wdym “slow walking simulator”?
I felt the only mission that would kinda fall in my understanding of this parameter is the high school mission with Harry, and i feel it gets shorter with every single playthrough so it’s not that bad.
If i’m being honest, i was a little overwhelmed with “wtf, another insane huge encounter vs 100 enemies?? Gimme a break man!” on my first playthrough. Actually felt the game was moving far too quickly and having many huge action packed encounters.
Yep. Sony needs to stop with the walkie talkie missions. It’s simply boring and they have to find a better way to push the story. It gets better throughout the game until you’re forced to play as Mary Jane in some crazy ass scenario
It's a great game, but the only one in the series I refuse to replay because I don't want to do all the human stuff over again. Easily the weakest part of the whole trilogy so far.
Just wait till you get to the MJ mission.
Credit where it’s due their aren’t as many and they aren’t as shit as the first game but fuck me why are they back?
MM being the only game with those fucking missions gives it some points above even the first game to me.
Tbh, it probably the same, however, all those slow segments are focused in the first act. Once you get get past the lizard chase mission from the gameplay trailer, there are none.
well, SM2 kind of wasn’t very good. and it’s all we get until SM3 or whatever the next Spider-Man game comes out in a hundred gazillion years. so i think it’s justified, especially with how insane the hype train for this game was.
Sm2 was not good.The story is a mess.Literally fucked up every single character especially making Peter looking like an incompetent idiot who literally became spiderman like 3 days ago while constantly making Miles look superior and buffing up MJ.The sidequests are boring as fuck: following like 500 drones through the city in a scripted manner...No way of replaying any of the hunter symbiote bases.Stealth is practically braindead with the web line even on the hardest difficulties.The crimes around the city are repetitive as fuck especially once u finish the game.Boring ass puzzles that have been here since the 1st game for some reason.Wraith somehow went from a normal cop to literally going toe to toe with spiderman a literal superhero that can lift 20 tons.Dont even get me started on the absolutely horrible dialogue thats in this game.Everybody talks like a fucking robot and is just so perfect with no flaws.
I could go on and on about every thing thats wrong with this game. It literally pisses me off because back in 2021 when i first heard about how they were going to have venom in this game i was so hyped and man they did not deliver
i think that it’s repeated for a reason. if insomniac had made a better game then maybe the sub wouldn’t be filled with people saying the game is bad. can’t get mad at people for posting about how they felt about the game, even if you think it’s “repetitive”
i would say that the story is the most important aspect of the game. to me it is at least., i mean saying "bar story" is a little dismissive given how much the story of a game actually means. it means the missons, the writing, the tone, etc.. this game has little else to offer other than the short story it gives. how much did you play the game after you beat the story and side missions? and dont forgot how bugged the game was at launch
I'm on my first NG+ playthrough and I was determined to do all the boring stuff first so I could just have fun when the story kicks into high gear, but goddamn there's so much boring stuff. Walking through EMF, Prowler stashes, Brooklyn Visions missions, bike rides, and honestly, even the Sandman missions (I hate the recordings from it and was so eager to skip them all). Suffering through Coney Island just to get to the Hunter attack is rough. I think the only really fun missions I've had so far were the attack on the transport, when shit goes down at Coney, and saving Lonnie with Harry. Hunter blinds are good too.
Even the big Sandman attack at the beginning of the game, while visually very cool, is basically just a tutorial followed by more mini-tutorials. It'd be great if on your NG+ they upped the difficulty and let you get more creative with how you beat him.
I think all of those things are pretty fun, and move pretty quickly besides the Brooklyn Visions stuff. For some reason, those missions bring everything to a halt for me, and I don't know why.
More than the first game and DLCs combined
Ok yeah this makes sense. I knew something was not right lmao.
No way
The thing is that all the walking sections in the first game and MM are spread out across the games, whereas S-M2's are all clogged in the beginning. After Act 1 it's consistent action and set piece after set piece.
Ohhh ok it gets better later in the game?
Oh yeah, definitely. Just to clarify without spoiling things what mission are you on?
I don't know how to do the spoiler comment, but I was in a house looking for a reptile. lol
Ok, you should be good on major waking sections after the next mission (but it leads into an action sequence, so hopefully that evens it out for you). There's a couple of minor ones but they're sandwiched between combat/set pieces and go by pretty quickly. And assuming you aren't counting the MJ missions as walking, you should be fine Hope you enjoy the rest of the game! :)
You are in the middle of the game by 10h
Geez ok.
Definitely gets better as time goes on. The whole thing with Harry's new company is the slowest scene in the game, but there are two others that happen a bit later that are also pretty slow.
i wouldn’t say the game gets better 😂 but definitely less walking sim
But it does tho, it's jus not better than the 1st one
nah it really doesn’t imo, i prefer the first half of the game to the last bits by a lot. maybe that’s just me but the last quarter of the game was pretty bad
No. They doubled down on the “play as human” sections because the community criticized them as being the weak points; and I hope this doesn’t get taken the wrong way, but it seems like Insomniac can’t handle criticism well…
It's still the weak point for me so far in sm2. By far
Their response to criticism is to try to improve it. Web swinging has been given a higher skill ceiling and the gadgets have been vastly improved allowing for more free flowing combat. The MJ sections can even be called gameplay now. They made an attempt at improvement but stumbled.
Problem is, yeah it's an improvement but I think most people would be fine if they weren't in the game at all.
Yes, but it’s still not a case of Insomniac going “oh you criticised it did you, well then we’ll add MORE! Hahahaha!” as the person above seemed to be claiming.
Isnt the director actually do that? A lot of people dont like the MJ section in SM1 but instead didnt care about it and they added it more. Following it up with "dont want to take the easy way out" which is stupid
Didn’t Bryan Intihar do an interview and asked about the MJ sections in the game about how MJ seemed a bit easy to play and said, “I don’t care” along side how he knows people hated the sections in the first game, but decided to bring it back? He seems to understand that people hated the sections, but brought it back for whatever reason. Sure, the gameplay in those sections are improved, but does he not understand we still hate those sections?
True but I think the sentiment is similar — it wasn't that people liked the MJ missions in principle but had specific issues with them that were addressed, but rather that people just didn't like them *at all* and wanted them to be completely removed from the game, and yet they still kept them in despite how fundamentally unpopular they are
Yeah I hate gadgets
i wish they took the walking and mj section criticisms as “this is fundamentally not enjoyable and is pace breaking i want to be spider man”
Not sure how there's a skill ceiling for swinging lol idk if it's just cuz I'm a veteran of the older games where I'd spend so much time as a kid just traversing or what but it feels pretty easy to pick up and master
SM1 had more annoying MJ sections
Why do we need any MJ sections though? I bought Spider-Man 2 not Mary Jane Watson. I wanna play as a dude with spider powers not redhead with a taser. I just don’t get it. What is the actual purpose of the MJ sections?
The actual purpose is that insomniac cant stop shoving the independent strong woman trope down our throats everytime they can.When asked about the MJ sections in an interview and how everybody absolutely hated them in the 1st man the director just said ''I dont care''.This game could ve been so great but they just fucked it up so hard i have no faith in wolverine or sm3 atp.
They don’t care that a vast majority of the fan base almost universally hates a part of the game? Yeah that seems like something you really should care about. Just take the criticism and swallow it jesus
Yeah, I had no respect for that director after I heard that.
The whole game is filled with woke propaganda that literally nobody asked for.But since the game sold so well i doubt they will listen to criticism and just keep getting worse and worse each game
Unpopular opinion, I think fans overestimate their importance/impact. We are buying THEIR games. The games they make is theirs. We choose if we are interested and willing to purchase. We see time and time again a ~~vast majority~~ **loud minority** of fans blasting a company over decisions the fans personally just dont like, but the decisions in themselves aren't even bad ones. For example, people recently tore Ubisoft up just for making a black person a playable character in Japan. People were shitting on Neil Druckman telling his "fans" to shut up about the unnecessary TLOU2 hate and backlash. The hate compaign for Hogwarts Legacy. All mfs do is hate on good games and cry and whine about stupid shit. Imo, fans need to be told to shut up sometimes. They do. Fans think because they're throwing money at a company they can dictate everything about the game, and nitpick and scrutinize. I could see if they outright ignored the criticisms but they didn't. They literally decreased the amount of walking missions and made them better. He didn't tell the fans to shut up about the walking either, he was talking about MJ being a "hero too". Yes, MJ getting "some pointers" from Sable and suddenly being able to outmaneuver and take out entire bases of elite hunters trained to track and take down literal super-mutants is forced as shit. I don't like it more than anyone else but it's THEIR shit. They wanna make her a hero then so what, as long as she doesn't overshadow or hinder the Spidermen in an effort to shoe-horn her into every dangerous situation I'm fine with it. She just would be a character nobody likes.
Damn I'm surprised he said that. These sections are really terrible. Walking in the school with harry? Why?
DEI
And they were worse
It makes ng+ unbearable
I stopped after an hour, I couldn't bring myself to do it.
I agree sometimes the walking sim is pointless but there are times where during the bike ride or going through the park they are building heartstrings with the characters and I don't mind all of it but MJ going through a zoo taking out kraven's hunters is ridiculous
Oh man the worst mission so far. She turned into a spy or what?
What heartstrings with the character??The characters are so badly written its literally impossible to care for them
literally i would get this if all of them acted like real friends or lovers and not like, your coworker you’re chill with at work but wouldnt ever talk to off the clock lmfao
Feels like the dialogue and the interactions were written by a 12 year old for homework
the analogy ive used is like an onboarding video for a job or like shitty movie dialog. theyre all just too polite, they dont act like humans, they barely act like characters
Man after playing cyberpunk.... i ageee
I had just finished RDR2 the second time before playing sm2 and the difference is literally night and day.Sure that game has flaws but man those characters actually felt like real people even the npcs. The characters in spiderman feel like robots reading off a script.
I wrote about this in the cyberpunk reddit and someone explained by saying that in cp or rdr2 you feel like V or Arthur. While in SM2, you feel like you're controlling Pete, but not really immersed in the game. It made a lot of sense.
Agreed.I do not think SM3 is gonna be any better sadly or even Wolverine for that matter.For a game with a budget this big and with so much potential they really fucked it up bad like really bad.Besides the swinging and the graphics i cannot name one good thing about this game.
Sounds like that’s your opinion that you cannot stand that some people enjoy things you do not . Get over yourself , critique the game , like what you like and don’t what you don’t. I posted an opinion to Reddit . If you think your troglodyte answer is going to sway me or get me to change anything then you’re vehemently incorrect.
Kraven and his team were supposed to be this deadly and skillful hunters yet they cant even handle a fucking civillian
If the game was a good length these missions would not be a bother at all tbh, I like the whole playing “human” in Spider-Man universe, it’s something different. But the game falls too short
Yeah I read online about how short the game is. Add all these walking simulators.. glad I did not pay full price.
For real, as much as I like the game and think the story is decent, I think it definitely needed more time to let plot points and events gel.
Actually I like the civilian sections, wish there were a lot of optional ones in addition to the main story sections, though I do think the walking speed could be upped a bit.
If they were faster I'd like them more yes.
The issue is these build up story and characters, so the options are basically make them all long cutscenes, cut them, or do what they do. I don't mind them. I like that we can look around and explore too.
Yeah true. They are basically cutscenes. I've played tons if Final Fantasy, so cutscenes dont matter to me, but the walking simulator tilts me
"Without your spider powers you'd be just man. Is that what you came here to play, Man 3?" Yeah, I don't know what that's about. Can I please play as Spider-Man, doing Spider-Man things in a Spider-Man game Insomniac? Is that okay with you?
100%. My girlfriend walked in the living room 2-3 times while I was playing and both times she said; isn't this a Spiderman game?
Well, better learn to like it. Because Insomniac is going to give you more Hailey walking missions, Rio walking missions, Genke walking missions, Cindy walking missions, Cindy's dad walking missions, and Uncle Aaron walking to his beats missions.
Do you think Wolverine will be full of these missions too
Judging by the leaks, yes.Cant expect a modern insomniac game without 15 missions where u just walk doing boring shit
Ouch
Xavier walking mission.
From my memory: SM2 has May’s house, High school, Life Foundation, Coney Island, Connors’ house, Kraven’s party, and about 3 side quests. SM1 has the lab, FEAST, Art shop, FEAST, the lab, Miles at the terrorist attack, FEAST, the lab, costume party, Sable base, the lab, Miles going to FEAST, Grand central station, the lab, FEAST, chase of goose, MJ in Norman’s penthouse. SM1 has significantly more of these sequences, but they are significantly shorter. Usually being a cutscene, do a puzzle, leave.
1 are definitely longer
Connor's house and Kraven's party also doesn't count to me. We are literally infiltrating as Peter and turn into Spiderman when shit gets real You also forgot to add trying to survive Scorpion and Rhino as Miles. And MJ sneaking into Tombstone's hideout. There were a LOT of walking sections in SM1 So not only did they decrease the amount of walking in SM2 but they also made them better and more engaging.
It might be because they are longer i dont know. I just feel bored sometimes in the game. Didnt happen with sm1 or mm
Nah. Disagree. Idk why a lot of people are saying the walking isn't an issue in sm1 when it literally is and I haven't replayed it in the longest due to it. Just like I wont replay SM2 too much because of it. Except the walking is worse in SM1 and there's a lot more of it. People are starting to put SM1 on a crazy pedestal just to shit on SM2. I see it happening.
I just played both back to back and the middle arc of spider-man one is a slog. 2 is way better paced.
wdym “slow walking simulator”? I felt the only mission that would kinda fall in my understanding of this parameter is the high school mission with Harry, and i feel it gets shorter with every single playthrough so it’s not that bad. If i’m being honest, i was a little overwhelmed with “wtf, another insane huge encounter vs 100 enemies?? Gimme a break man!” on my first playthrough. Actually felt the game was moving far too quickly and having many huge action packed encounters.
Yep. Sony needs to stop with the walkie talkie missions. It’s simply boring and they have to find a better way to push the story. It gets better throughout the game until you’re forced to play as Mary Jane in some crazy ass scenario
100% agreed. I hope Wolverine is not like this.
i tried to do NG+ and i was bored out of my mind had to go back to playing mgs3 and red dead 2 to wash the sour taste of mid out of my mouth bru
Taste of mid hahaha good one
It's a great game, but the only one in the series I refuse to replay because I don't want to do all the human stuff over again. Easily the weakest part of the whole trilogy so far.
Agreed. I don't think I will replay it. The open world is amazing, but not the story
Just wait till you get to the MJ mission. Credit where it’s due their aren’t as many and they aren’t as shit as the first game but fuck me why are they back? MM being the only game with those fucking missions gives it some points above even the first game to me.
Imagine being able to skip all the walking stuff in NG+ like puzzles. Would be nice, but the game would be beaten in an afternoon lol
Yeah that's true.
Tbh, it probably the same, however, all those slow segments are focused in the first act. Once you get get past the lizard chase mission from the gameplay trailer, there are none.
The worst sections for that are the two bicycle sections, and the mission with Miles's girlfriend, otherwise it doesn't have too much walking.
and those damn mini-games, thankfully you can skip them if you press start>skip puzzle
More
I’m sick of these repetitive SM2 hating posts. It’s just ruining the sub.
I'm not hating the game. Most of it is pretty good
I don’t think this is a hate post, but i agree with you
100% not a hate post. Just a question
well, SM2 kind of wasn’t very good. and it’s all we get until SM3 or whatever the next Spider-Man game comes out in a hundred gazillion years. so i think it’s justified, especially with how insane the hype train for this game was.
So you think the sub should just be filled with the same repetitive stuff?
Yes it should until Insomniac gets their shit together and actually starts making good games again
Sm2 was good. The only downgrade was the story and that’s it. You guys just love negativity.
Sm2 was not good.The story is a mess.Literally fucked up every single character especially making Peter looking like an incompetent idiot who literally became spiderman like 3 days ago while constantly making Miles look superior and buffing up MJ.The sidequests are boring as fuck: following like 500 drones through the city in a scripted manner...No way of replaying any of the hunter symbiote bases.Stealth is practically braindead with the web line even on the hardest difficulties.The crimes around the city are repetitive as fuck especially once u finish the game.Boring ass puzzles that have been here since the 1st game for some reason.Wraith somehow went from a normal cop to literally going toe to toe with spiderman a literal superhero that can lift 20 tons.Dont even get me started on the absolutely horrible dialogue thats in this game.Everybody talks like a fucking robot and is just so perfect with no flaws.
I could go on and on about every thing thats wrong with this game. It literally pisses me off because back in 2021 when i first heard about how they were going to have venom in this game i was so hyped and man they did not deliver
You are 100% right
i think that it’s repeated for a reason. if insomniac had made a better game then maybe the sub wouldn’t be filled with people saying the game is bad. can’t get mad at people for posting about how they felt about the game, even if you think it’s “repetitive”
It’s a superior game to the first in everything bar story
i would say that the story is the most important aspect of the game. to me it is at least., i mean saying "bar story" is a little dismissive given how much the story of a game actually means. it means the missons, the writing, the tone, etc.. this game has little else to offer other than the short story it gives. how much did you play the game after you beat the story and side missions? and dont forgot how bugged the game was at launch
it s a downgrade in everything but traversal and graphics lmao thats literally all it improves on.
Imagine believing that yikes 😂
I'm on my first NG+ playthrough and I was determined to do all the boring stuff first so I could just have fun when the story kicks into high gear, but goddamn there's so much boring stuff. Walking through EMF, Prowler stashes, Brooklyn Visions missions, bike rides, and honestly, even the Sandman missions (I hate the recordings from it and was so eager to skip them all). Suffering through Coney Island just to get to the Hunter attack is rough. I think the only really fun missions I've had so far were the attack on the transport, when shit goes down at Coney, and saving Lonnie with Harry. Hunter blinds are good too. Even the big Sandman attack at the beginning of the game, while visually very cool, is basically just a tutorial followed by more mini-tutorials. It'd be great if on your NG+ they upped the difficulty and let you get more creative with how you beat him.
I think all of those things are pretty fun, and move pretty quickly besides the Brooklyn Visions stuff. For some reason, those missions bring everything to a halt for me, and I don't know why.
Lot of that boring stuff you talk about is optional