“Spider-Man: Miles Morales” enriches the already prosperous New York

Today, November 12, 2025, “Spider-Man: Miles Morales” celebrates its 5th anniversary. Below, we explore how this semi-sequel uses less space to tell a more intimate story.

Miles Morales staggered past a small grocery store, where snowflakes caught the streetlights. At his feet, vendors huddled together in heavy coats, music blared from corner taverns, and the streets of Harlem shone in the winter chill. The city's rhythm seemed to match his own drive – fast, hopeful, energetic. It's familiar territory, but not quite the same New York that Peter Parker protected before. The city feels different now, more personal. This is Miles' home.

When Spider-Man: Miles Morales launched with the PlayStation 5 in November 2020, it didn't look like a revolution. It's not a full sequel, it doesn't span new boroughs, and it doesn't introduce an entirely new rogues' gallery. On the surface, it's a stopgap measure—a smaller spin-off designed to showcase Sony's new console and tide fans over until the next big thing arrives.

But that understates what Insomniac actually makes. Rather than expanding outward, the studio looks inward. It takes the same foundation that made Marvel's Spider-Man such a success and reimagines it through a different lens. The result is a tighter, more emotional, and more focused adventure that does what few open-world games have attempted: it makes a familiar world feel new again.

Created in 2018, New York City Insomniac has come alive. The challenge is not to make things bigger, but to make things more meaningful.

Miles Morales takes place during the winter holidays, when the roofs are covered with snow and the light reflects off every cold windowpane. It's the same city, but seen through different eyes. The changing seasons reflect Miles himself: young, still growing, but confident enough to leave his mark on a field that once belonged to others.

Much of the story unfolds in Harlem, and the cultural pulse here is palpable. Street murals commemorate local heroes, Puerto Rican flags fly from apartment balconies, and conversations switch effortlessly between English and Spanish. Miles himself is of Puerto Rican and African-American background, and he switches between the two throughout the story.

This New York is a living reflection of the new Spider-Man. This is no longer Peter's city. This is Miles' world, filled with his rhythm and energy.

“This is the full arc of Miles Morales that started in Spider-Man,” said Insomniac creative director Brian Horton. entertainment weekly before the game is released. “We're really completing the growth of this hero in the game. It's a complete story.”

Spider-Man: Miles Morales narrows the focus in a way that makes it more powerful. While Peter's story in the first game revolved around coming of age, heroism, and a host of villains, Miles' journey is quieter, more focused, and more personal.

“When we started making it,” Horton said. “We realized that with a tighter storytelling style, we could tell a very emotionally powerful story that would be a perfect fit for Spider-Man 1 and the (Miles Morales) experience and do justice to the character.”

That focus paid off. The stakes of this story aren't apocalyptic – they're local. When Harlem becomes the center of conflict between Roxon Energy and the Tinker-led underground, it feels deeply personal. This is to protect the home.

Too often, open world games treat their worlds as disposable. After the story ends, the setting is abandoned, and the NPC's life is frozen in time as it wanders the streets. Miles Morales takes a different approach.

By revisiting the same city and re-contextualizing it through Miles's eyes, Insomniac proved that open worlds don't need to be replaced to stay relevant—they can keep evolving. Snowfall and holiday decorations bring a new visual identity to Manhattan, but it's the emotional context that truly changes the way players experience it. Familiar streets now take on new meaning as the characters who inhabit them see them differently.

This approach shows the value of continuity. Reusing assets is not a shortcut; This is an opportunity to refine and enrich an already proven approach. Harlem's sense of community, Uncle Miles' mixtapes, and the sounds of neighbors echoing outside the windows all keep the city alive.

This is a design philosophy that other developers can learn from. Instead of aiming for massive scale, studios can allow their worlds to age and transform along with their characters. Imagine a series where time actually passes, where familiar places carry traces of past adventures. Miles Morales hints at this kind of storytelling – the world grows along with the hero. Of course, this is easier said than done. Spider-Man is a household name, but it's still something to try.

On the surface, Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a technological showcase for the PS5. Its reflections flicker with ray tracing, fast movement is instantaneous, and every frame highlights the power of the hardware. But its real power comes from something more subtle: restraint.

Over the course of about ten hours, the main story progresses with purpose. There's less filler here than in almost every other open-world adventure. The pace reflects Myers' growth—bursts of energy balanced by quiet confidence. By the time the story ends, players have watched him grow from an uncertain apprentice to a hero worthy of New York's trust.

This focus gives the game a rhythm rarely seen in open-world design. It doesn't require players to clear endless icons or complete side quests that have no bearing on the story.

Insomniac then expanded on the formula again with Spider-Man 2, a bigger, flashier sequel that merged Peter and Miles' stories into a city-spanning epic. But the lessons of Miles Morales remain.

This spinoff proves that being smaller doesn't mean being smaller. It shows that revisiting a familiar world through new eyes can be just as exciting as exploring a completely new place. It reminds players that open worlds don't need to endlessly expand—sometimes, they just need to evolve.