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LTTP: Batman: Arkham Knight and RTTP: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City

I recently bought Arkham Knight for pretty cheap during the PSN sale. I had been waiting for a sale even though the previous 2 games were some of my favourites of last gen. There was a lot of negativity surrounding this game and I was distracted by The Witcher 3 when it came out that I kind of forgot about it. So my verdict:

This game is amazing. It's not flawless by any stretch but I was expecting very little after all the negativity. Looking back on some reviews, I think I remembered the reaction to the game being worse than it was. Other that some overuse of the Batmobile, people were pretty positive about it. Except, of course, for the PC version. I'm a console gamer so it doesn't really affect me but I think the bad PC port clouded the reaction to the game which is perfectly fair. A bad PC port these days is inexcusable but I waited on this game because I thought the game underneath the shitty PC version was apparently not all that great.

First off, I'll address the Batmobile since it's the main thing people bring up about this game. Overall, I actually like it. Way more than I expected. In terms of getting around Gotham, I really liked using it and the controls and feel were pretty good. I know you can glide which is also great but sometimes it was just nice to go for a drive. I liked the platforming and puzzle sections with it in the main story. It was a neat way to freshen up the Arkham gameplay experience from its predecessors. It makes you feel like a real badass. I initially didn't like these parts but once I got used to using it remotely instead of running back to the car to jump back in which was tedious, it became fun. The fighting sections with the tank aren't so great. They're ok and can even be quite fun once you get in a rhythm but I don't think the game would be worse off without it. The poor use of the Batmobile comes with the stealth sections when you have to get up behind the Cobra tanks. That is just boring. I don't know why the felt the need to include those.

Hand to hand combat is still great. A number of games have copied Batman's combat since Asylum but Knight showed me that Batman is still the best execution of this style. Not a huge surprise there. They added a few new additions to the predator sections which are nice but ultimately, I feel they needed to do more with the stealth. I'll get into this stuff more with my RTTPs but I don't think the predator stuff has aged all that well so I think it needed more of an overhaul. It's certainly still fun and I don't consider those sections a chore but if Rocksteady were to make another one of these games which they probably won't, they really need to change it up.

The story is...fine. I already knew who the Arkham Knight was and it wouldn't have been a shocking reveal if I didn't. Instead of making a big deal about "Who is the Arkham Knight" as some crazy twist, they should have revealed it earlier and dive in deeper to their relationship. He kinda just disappears after his reveal and they do basically nothing with it. It doesn't help that his voice acting isn't great either. Scarecrow was a decent villain and he had a few good scenes. It's hard to get away from the Joker but it was ok. The side stories were fun and I loved seeing the various villains fill up the prison throughout the game. Fire guy and his missions were lame and I preferred Zsaz to that pig guy but I still generally missed some of villains from the previous games that didn't make an appearance like Croc and Deadshot. Maybe they were in DLC, I haven't bought any of it.Also, Slade Wilson was lame as hell in this game. His boss fight was just the Arkham Knight tank fight again. It did a decent job of ending a trilogy and Batman had some nice moments with his allies. He feels like a Batman that has seen a lot of shit. The ending after you complete the game 100% is a bit sudden and felt unnecessary but it was better than Nolan's ending. There was probably too many Riddler trophies for how big the world was and the pixel hunting riddles were only good in Asylum but the Riddler voice actor is so good at making him such a dipshit loser that you just want to put him in place.

Overall, a fantastic game that I probably could have gotten sooner. I think Rocksteady are an incredibly talented studio and I can't wait to see what they're working on next. I haven't been playing the billions of games coming out recently because I'm cheap so I decided to replay the previous 2 games again to 100% on hard difficulty because why not?

Arkham Asylum
This is still a hell of game. Even with the combat system being gradually improved over the years, its still fun as hell here. As I mentioned above, I don't think the predator sections have aged all that well. When I played City back when it came out and while I was playing Knight, I thought Asylum had the best predator sections due to the tighter and more focused design of the levels but really, this stuff just isn't that good anymore. It's not terrible but I remember really loving it when the game came out and now it just feels really plain.

There is something to be said about the tighter focus of the Asylum. I know a lot of people prefer this one because of it. I do really like the feel of Batman hunting down villains in a city that it's two sequels offered but Asylum's "metroidvania" aspects do make exploring the map satisfying. It was also the only time hunting down those Riddler trophies didn't feel tedious. The story is fun and they weave in the villains well. I didn't really like how easy it is to just keep the detective mode on which they toned down in the sequels but it's not a massive issue.

The Scarecrow sections stand out the most here. Well, the parts where he's fucking with you. The lame bossfights where you're hiding from a giant Scarecrow are lame. For such a good cast of villains, there is a large amount of disappointing boss fights in this series. Also, what's up with the Scarecrow's voice acting in this? The change in Arkham Knight is better even if it's a bit generic scary sounding.

Arkham City
I always thought this was a big step up from Asylum but after replaying it, I'm not so sure. I still really enjoyed it but I think the world comes off a bit blander after Knight and the weird horseshoe design is a bit off putting. There's also way too many Riddler trophies to hunt down...even if I've done them all like 3 times at this point. There are certainly improvements in the combat and the gliding does work really well. I remember being pretty skeptical of that before release.

The plot doesn't work as well as it did in Asylum but this is probably my favourite cast of villains in the series. Joker, Strange, Ras, Freeze, Penguin, Two Face, Clayface (I know he wasn't used much but I liked the twist) and Catwoman (well, not really a villain). I know a lot of these were in Knight as well but I enoyed how they were used here more. I liked the villains in the side stuff too even if they were returning from Asylum like Bane and Zsaz. Deadshot was cool too. Hush and Azrael were a bit of a cock tease that ultimately weren't used that much in Knight but I liked their additions.

Speaking of Freeze, that is a hell of a boss battle. I thought I was going to end up thinking I had remembered it more fondly than it probably deserved but no, that is still awesome. Fantastic use of the mechanics. It's weird that I don't think the predator gameplay holds up but limiting what you're able to do with it actually makes it work better. Surprised they didn't do something like this again in Knight. I wouldn't have even minding a straight copy and paste. City definitely has the best bossfights in the series for that one alone. Solomon Grundy was alright even if it was another hulking mass bossfight which the series has plenty of. Clayface was....yea, that one wasn't great.

It may be an unpopular opinion but I kinda missed the Batmobile when I was flying around.

TL;DR: Arkham Knight is a fantastic game that I wasn't expecting to like as much as I did after hearing all the negativity around it. Overall, it's an amazing trilogy that having replayed it, I'm surprised that I'm not really able to rank them as they are all pretty close in quality in my opinion. I can't wait to see what Rocksteady are working on now.

I'm still in a Batman mood after all that so I have a few questions for any experts out there:
1) Is the Arkham Knight DLC any good? I probably won't get it but I'm wondering if there's even one of the million bits of add-ons I should keep an eye on for sales.
2) Is Arkham Origins worth getting? It's pretty cheap now. Without Rocksteady, is it a bit of a dud?
3) How is the tv show Gotham? I would love a deep dive into the villains and their backgrounds. I've watched a few episodes and so far, it seems like a pretty standard procedural that's interrupted by the incredibly boring adventures of Will Smith's wife. Some of the Penguin stuff is good though.
4) Any graphic novels you would recommend? I'd find it difficult to go tracking down individual issues of stuff but I'd like to read a self-contained Batman graphic novel. Something that has a bunch of villains interweaving into the story like the game series.
 

JeTmAn81

Member
I recently played Knight and really enjoyed it. The story really goes in some interesting directions and the Batmobile was unfairly hated. Waiting for a sale on the DLC to check that out.
 

Magnus

Member
Knight was my first full dive into one of these games. I never finished it, dropping it somewhere around the AK reveal, but I really loved it. The batmobile sections occasionally became tiresome, but I actually ended up really enjoying them most of the time. The absolute thrill of tearing around a beautifully realized Gotham in the raddest fictional vehicle of all time without so much as a performance hit is really something to behold. I remember I was in awe of the visuals and controls. Really tight. Great game overall. Felt like I was playing something I could only experience in this new gen.

If AA and AC are steps up, I've clearly gotta sink into those.

What's the best way to play those right now? I have them both free via Plus on the PS3, but I'd want to enjoy them in the best fidelity possible. Heard the PS4 remasters were lackluster. Were they fixed up?
 

delSai

Member
Arkham Knight is GOAT-tier for me. Easily my favorite game of the gen so far. I'd love to replay it, but my backlog and the games that are coming out wont allow that anytime soon.
 

emag

Member
1) Is the Arkham Knight DLC any good? I probably won't get it but I'm wondering if there's even one of the million bits of add-ons I should keep an eye on for sales.

No.


2) Is Arkham Origins worth getting? It's pretty cheap now. Without Rocksteady, is it a bit of a dud?

It's okay, largely being more of the same. Combat is jankier and the world is largely that of City, but the story beats are pretty good.

3) How is the tv show Gotham? I would love a deep dive into the villains and their backgrounds. I've watched a few episodes and so far, it seems like a pretty standard procedural that's interrupted by the incredibly boring adventures of Will Smith's wife. Some of the Penguin stuff is good though.

Garbage.

4) Any graphic novels you would recommend? I'd find it difficult to go tracking down individual issues of stuff but I'd like to read a self-contained Batman graphic novel. Something that has a bunch of villains interweaving into the story like the game series.

The Long Halloween
Year One
Court of Owls
 

Dysun

Member
Battank and the lack of boss battles tarnish an otherwise really good game. Arkham Origins has the best boss battles in the entire series by a mile
 

Certinty

Member
Arkham Knight is an amazing game ruined by non-existent boss fights.

It's a shame because every game did something well but no game did all of them well. Overall I still say Arkham Asylum is the best one though.
 
I'm still in a Batman mood after all that so I have a few questions for any experts out there:
1) Is the Arkham Knight DLC any good? I probably won't get it but I'm wondering if there's even one of the million bits of add-ons I should keep an eye on for sales.
2) Is Arkham Origins worth getting? It's pretty cheap now. Without Rocksteady, is it a bit of a dud?

1. Did you like doing the combat/predator challenges in Asylum or City? Because most of the "traditional" challenges in those games was locked behind DLC.

2. Origins is pretty much more of City. There is a mechanic that breaks the combat (electric gauntlets), but it is still pretty good. I got it day one and it was riddled with glitches and bugs that hampered my enjoyment of the game. They added a couple of cool new enemy types (martial artist and mini-Banes). The story is probably the best structured of all the Arkham games, but I hate the ending.

I think the servers for the online mode were taken down which is unfortunate since it was an interesting idea. You get the thrill of doing stealth takedowns of real people.

I got the Return to Arkham collection a couple of months ago and have completely replayed Asylum and I am working my way through Riddler's challenges in City.

If I have anything to say about Asylum is that it is a great foundation for combat, predator stealth and metroidvania level design. The story works because it went on the assumption that the audience knew pretty much everything about Batman and his world.

City improved the gameplay in almost every way (the only thing I didn't like is that they got rid of the ability to throw an enemy in a combo). Level design was still great, they really cut down on the amount of grates you needed to open to progress through the game. The story is trash.

Arkham Knight had good gameplay mechanically speaking, but encounters were not structured in a way that made it engaging. Predator maps were mostly wide open roof tops which took away 99% of the challenge. Combat encounters with big groups felt too spread out to be fun. And since most of the challenge maps were DLC you couldn't get the good stuff unless you paid for it.

Batmobile's biggest sin was being monotonous.

The story was muddled. Scarecrow is not the same character he was in Asylum, I really wish the final encounter would have been a Scarecrow level like the one from Asylum. I understood why they did what they did at the end of Arkham Knight, but it would have been nice to have a throw back "back where it all began"
 

dh4niel

Member
I started playing Arkham Knight recently after picking up the season pass on Steam for just over £6 in a sale. I'm enjoying it for the most part. Batmobile stuff has been used for some interesting puzzles but the tank combat is getting pretty repetitive and I'm only a few hours in.
 
I enjoyed AK as well, the fight against Deathstroke was a disappointment however. I was expecting an epic showdown after what happened in Origins. Nope.
 

Jhoan

Member
I haven't played AK (I saw my brother play it and thought it looked fine; I know the twist) but I played the others including Origins and think that Origins is underrated. Origins' story is leaps and bounds better than Arkham City's story and I thought the boss fights were the best in the series. The combat wasn't the best though since it was off. I wish there were more Batman games focusing on his earlier years behind the cowl and less on The Joker. I also heard that the DLC is pretty good.

While it's an ongoing series, I would recommend checking out Tom King's run of the Batman Rebirth series once it comes out in trade paperback. I've only read a few issues but it's really good. All Star Batman has also been pretty fun. There was a novel called Wayne of Gotham that's supposed to be really good as well but I didn't read it so I can't comment on it.
 

Falchion

Member
I absolutely loved Knight, one of the highlights of the generation so far for me. I'm also one of those people who really enjoyed the Batmobile and I thought it added a lot to the game.
 
Glad you enjoyed the series, and I generally agree with the whole OP. I would say Asylum is too hard to go back to now, but I appreciate the foundation it set despite how barebones and "surface-level Metroid" it was. It still managed to do the impossible and make a solid Batman game that was more than "good Batman-themed platformer/shmup" and was just "good Batman game."

You should play Origins; it probably has the best story throughout (though I think the last leg of Knight was the strongest the series had) it's duration and the characterization is pretty solid. The Mr. Freeze DLC is the best piece of DLC the series had too, and I wish it could've been the standard moving forward. Just a really good standalone storyline with unique locales and some new abilities. The main game is good and the boss encounters are generally better than Asylum's and Knight's (city still has Mr. Freeze as the best). The combat has some slight flaws, but it generally as good as City's.

The story is...fine. I already knew who the Arkham Knight was and it wouldn't have been a shocking reveal if I didn't. Instead of making a big deal about "Who is the Arkham Knight" as some crazy twist, they should have revealed it earlier and dive in deeper to their relationship.

So much this; could've been an interesting retelling of the Red Hood storyline. I understand not revealing the identity before release, but pretending like it's something completely new during the game is a bit much. People are okay with retellings of stories so long as they explore something interesting.

---

I still want to see another Batman game that takes all the good parts of every Arkham game and match them all up properly.
 
Origins is absolutely worth playing through

Yep. Get Origins OP. My favorite story out of all the games.

I personally loved the batmobile in Arkham Knight. I didn't like how they overused it though. What could of been cool boss battles were replaced with batmobile scenarios.
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
Arkham Knight really dropped the ball with this franchise, for me. The story was absolutely interminable (
The Joker's blood is turning people into Joker...giving them his memories and the like?
What?) and the batmobile gameplay quickly turned out to be the most tedious gameplay mechanic imaginable.
 
Arkham Asylum

Really impressed when I first played it, the predator sections combined with the tight interior levels felt so good. Combat was fresh at the time and the story was compelling enough as well. Going back to it, it hasn't aged as well but it's still fun. It just feels far less responsive than AK, and the formula isn't as fresh now as it was back then.

Arkham City

Loved this game when it came out. Flying around the city was the best part, it really made me feel like Batman. It took the same formula and ran with it into an open world design, and it worked for the most part. I even found the story to be quite interesting too, and overall it was AA taken up a notch which was nice at the time.

Arkham Knight

Easily one of the best games in terms of visuals and performance on PS4. Really did not like the Batmobile combat, but driving was okay, just a little slow for my taste. My biggest gripe besides the Batmobile combat would have to be the open world. I was expecting it to be more alive but it was the same concept in AC, everyone has left town and you have one night to fix things. Story was a little disappointing but in terms of gameplay, it is by far the best one to play.

Ideal Batman Game

Rocksteady has done a good job of improving the formula, but it's still not there for me yet. Ideally I would like a Batman game with a day/night cycle, play as Bruce Wayne during the day and Batman at night, which would make the story that much more personal. Having a city with pedestrians would also be required, because how awesome would it be to see a store being robbed and you spontaneously save the day.
 
1) Is the Arkham Knight DLC any good? I probably won't get it but I'm wondering if there's even one of the million bits of add-ons I should keep an eye on for sales.
2) Is Arkham Origins worth getting? It's pretty cheap now. Without Rocksteady, is it a bit of a dud?
3) How is the tv show Gotham? I would love a deep dive into the villains and their backgrounds. I've watched a few episodes and so far, it seems like a pretty standard procedural that's interrupted by the incredibly boring adventures of Will Smith's wife. Some of the Penguin stuff is good though.
4) Any graphic novels you would recommend? I'd find it difficult to go tracking down individual issues of stuff but I'd like to read a self-contained Batman graphic novel. Something that has a bunch of villains interweaving into the story like the game series.

1. Seaon of Infamy and the Batgirl DLC are really the only ones worth playing but they are pretty good IMO.

2. Yes Origins might have the best story out of all of them. The combat feels off though (they messed with the rhythm of combat from all the other Arkham games) and its by far the most difficult out of all them IMO (A couple bosses are a total pain unless you know the trick to defeating them ::cough:: explosive gel spam for Copperhead ::cough::)

3. The only bit Ive watched seemed pretty terrible

4. Long Halloween, The Dark Knight Returns, Killing Joke, Court of Owls.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Echo comments that Origins is pretty great. The city isn't as enjoyable to explore and traverse, but the progression and narrative throughline is quite worth it.

Arkham Knight DLC is merely ok. Wait for a season pass sale, which happens pretty often. Much of the content is superfluous and focused on point/timed car/combat challenges. The story chapters are very short and not ultimately memorable but are still worth a few hours to experience it all if purchased cheap though.
 
Arkham Knight really dropped the ball with this franchise, for me. The story was absolutely interminable (
The Joker's blood is turning people into Joker...giving them his memories and the like?
What?) and the batmobile gameplay quickly turned out to be the most tedious gameplay mechanic imaginable.

I took the "joker infection" storyline to mean (warning: incoming speculation):
  • whatever chemical Joker fell into originally is still in his blood
  • it causes insanity with violent tendencies (and bleached skin, green hair)
  • those people infected didn't gain his memories but merely started thinking like he would through power of suggestion
  • The Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease aspect (real-life sponge brain disease) would be what eventually kills the infected including Batman, presumably (he said there's no cure)

The reason batman was afraid was because:
  • Batman is insane, a genius and obsessed with Joker to the point he has what is essentially a complete consciousness of Joker inside his own mind
  • The fear toxin coupled with the disease will eventually case Batman to go insane and allow that Joker consciousness to come to the surface

The ending with Joker in Batman's head was:
  • Batman being injected with Scarecrow's fear toxin causing his worst fear to come true (Joker consciousness taking control)
  • Scarecrow injects Batman again not realizing what is essentially the Joker is now in control
  • BatJoker is injected with fear toxin and is plunged into his own mind to face his worst fear
  • His worst fear is being forgotten, no longer being able to terrorize Gotham and Batman locking him away forever
  • Player, as Joker, is pursued by Batman
  • Batman truly locks away Joker within the Arkham Aslyum within his mind
  • Batman retains his semblance of sanity, but is still infected with the physical aspects of the sponge brain disease and makes plans for the future (which aren't made clear).

I thought that aspect of the story was crazy, but felt it was the first time the series lived up to its namesake (Arkham) and really dealt with madness in a spectacular, comic book way. It really elevated the plot and showcased how crazy Batman is, and how that intersects with his intelligence and drive for justice.
 
The biggest narrative problem with the joker-toxin shit is Batman kept having flashbacks to Jason Todd being tortured....like he was remembering something that he wasnt there to witness.
 

stn

Member
AK had barely any boss fights, definitely soured me on the game overall. Could have been a 10/10, fell to a 7/10. How do you NOT have any boss fights with that amazing gallery of villains?
 

JeTmAn81

Member
A lot of things about Origins have always turned me off (C-team developer, different voice talent) but one of the things I liked most about Knight was the hologram crash investigation section, and apparently there's a lot of that in Origins so I might have to take a look at it eventually.
 
Bumping my thread because I listened to some of your recommendations and picked up Origins for a fiver.

And yea, it's ok. Really nothing special. I said that I thought City's world felt plain after playing Arkham Knight but Origins' world is much more bland even though it re-uses a lot of City's map. I still enjoyed the gameplay which you think I'd be sick of at this point after playing through the trilogy but I guess not. There does feel like there's something a bit off about the combat but it's still mostly fun. I liked the guys that needed multiple counters. Wonder why they didn't bring that into Knight. The predator sections are actually pretty good and I enjoyed doing the challenge maps for those more than I did in City.

The story wasn't as great as I thought it was going to be given what some of you were saying but I do enjoy whenever they weave in a bunch of different villains. Batman's new voice actor was pretty weak but Troy Baker did a fantastic job with the Joker. Didn't expect to like it after hearing Hamill's performance. The boss fights were also pretty strong in this entry although none of them hit the heights of Mr. Freeze. Slade Wilson, Firefly and the last Bane fight stand out the most. The Mad Hatter's section was a lot better than the one in City. They kinda took the good aspects from the Scarecrow boss fights in Asylum for that. A lot of the other encounters were very copy and paste. Anarky's sections were basically just the Zsaz stuff from City and Black Mask's was the same thing as Bane's missions in City. Penguin's cache's were just a reread of those. The Riddler sections weren't as fun or interesting either and also had a lot of copy and paste.

It is clearly missing the polish from a Rocksteady title and it does feel like a retread of City that was mandated by WB because Rocksteady said it would take 4 years for Knight to come out after City but it was certainly worth the fiver I paid. I would have felt ripped off if I bought it at full price when it came out. I'm a little annoyed I won't be able to get the platinum because they're shutting of the online but the online seemed bad so I probably wouldn't have gone for it anyway.

I still think Knight is the best even if it doesn't seem to be a popular opinion.
 
Arkham Knight was a great game until the latter portion where it nosedived. A lot of the consequences that made the story have weight and meaning had the rug pulled from under them and the twist was so obvious I guessed it before ever even playing the game. Also, whose idea was it to lock the ending of the game behind the LITERAL METRIC DICK TONS of side content?? Also, fuck the batmobile.
 
I just couldn't get into Origins. I picked it up a couple times, pushed through, and just wasn't feeling it. The city wasn't as fun to traverse, and there seemed to be this lingering ennui I couldn't shake. It wasn't bad, but I didn't really care to continue on.

I loved all of the others, even Knight.
 

Harmen

Member
I think Arkham Knight is severely underrated on gaf, it is a really well designed game with lot's of variety and very polished gameplay mechanics. I think a lot of it's reception has to do with expectations. I went in knowing that there were less direct bossfight confrontations and the Batmobile is a big part of the game. Story can get a bit silly, but to be honest that is more often than not the case with the source material as well.

Also, the Seasons of Infamy DLC offers some nice closure to a couple of storylines from preceding games, I enjoyed it. I would've preffered two more extensive storylines instead of 4 smaller ones, but they are mre interesting than most of the Most Wanted missions in the base game.
 

GeeTeeCee

Member
The biggest narrative problem with the joker-toxin shit is Batman kept having flashbacks to Jason Todd being tortured....like he was remembering something that he wasnt there to witness.

It's been a while since I've played it, but didn't Joker film the torture session?
 
Origins is absolutely worth playing through

This game is so underrated, I honestly loved it. Best boss battles in the series, and just an all around excellent game.

AK also gets way too much hate for the batmobile sections IMO. They weren't my favorite either, but I appreciate Rocksteady trying to switch the formula up a bit, and the core gameplay wasn't bad at all- it just get a bit repetitive after having the same wave after wave of vehicles to fight off.
 

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
Arkham Asylum has never been surpassed. Arkham City is just a bunch of bloat, and Arkham Knight feels more like a kart-based spin-off.
 

hotcyder

Member
Origins is absolutely worth playing through

I don't think it's contrarian to say that Origins gets a bad wrap - enjoyed it more than Arkham Knight, and it is more fun to replay through than City for the most part.

Love them all, but Asylum is still the gold standard for me. Perfect size and scope, best implementation of Riddle Puzzles. The mechanics and options were eventually expanded and improved, but their applications were at their best in Asylum.

Best Metroidvania title since Prime 3.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Arkham Knight is a great game. People like to focus on the negatives on the internet and batmobile was a pretty big negative to people who didnt like the combat. I liked it and even i got tired of it by the end of the game.

The story is fantastic with some pretty neat plot developments and twists to keep it interesting until the final scene. best Batman story since TDK.

Graphics were spectacular too. the lack of boss fights coming from Arkham Origins really hurt and there were way too many batmobile trophies that made it a bit too frustrating.
 

EGM1966

Member
Yup that's pretty much how I saw it. Overall very good but they tried too hard to force batmobile use into the game in ways that were just dull: they should have simply cut the obviously tedious tank stealth stuff and the excessive shot/dodge tank battles.

Batmobile is best when going fast: they should have gone for more of a Mad Max vehicle combat route vs making you a mobile gun turret (which was s what a lot to of batmobile combat came down to).

Finally played it on PC for cheap (after PS4) as able to brute force performance and it does look lovely and 60fps really helps the feel of combat.
 

collige

Banned
I beat Arkham Asylum for the first time this week. While I liked the Metroidvania aspects a lot, one of my biggest takeaways is that the game is extraordinarily ugly. As in, probably the least visually pleasing game I've played in recent memory.
 

JaseMath

Member
Arkham Knight is exceptional until the third act—the boss fights in the Batmobile are atrocious. Arkham Asylum is still my favorite of the three since the setting is more intimate/atmospheric and I prefer the more story-focused narrative.
 
I beat Arkham Asylum for the first time this week. While I liked the Metroidvania aspects a lot, one of my biggest takeaways is that the game is extraordinarily ugly. As in, probably the least visually pleasing game I've played in recent memory.

At launch, it was easily one of the best looking super hero games.
 

Gurish

Member
AK is a really awesome game, could have been the best by far in the trilogy, it misses some decent boss fights, not enough good side missions, Batmobile was overall a great addition but some of those sections were bad especially the stealth parts, the boss fights with it, and a few annoying combat sections towards the end.

Gameplay was overall great, mechanics are still the best in this genre, the story was good especially the relationship with you know who, Batmobile was mostly fun especially all the puzzles solving through the campaign, visually it's seriously stunning, even today it's top 5, (looking better than TW3 imo, only lacks variety because it's always at night but overall it's superior visually) it was the first and genuine next gen wow moment for me and it still holds great today, the campaign was awesome and memorable, if only there weren't some of the bad stuff I've mentioned it could have been a perfect sequel and a GOTG tier game, still it's awesome.
 

Justinh

Member
Glad you got around to playing Knight OP. I loved it. I did grow tired of the batmobile fights, but they weren't enough to keep me from really liking the game. They might be enough to keep me from playing through it again, though.

I always was curious about Origins (for some reason, it makes me think of Mask of the Phantasm), but I still refuse to buy it because of WB saying they weren't going to fix bugs because they needed to focus on making DLC. I know it gets a lot of love around here, but I will never play that game.

Asylum will always be my favorite too.
 

Ahasverus

Member
Knight is a terrible, terrible game, infected by the Ubisoft school of Open world, filled with a pretty boring and try hard storyline, terrible use (and misuse!) of villains and just a fainting Batman flavor, exchanging the rich visual and narrative esence of the Batman mythos for a generic military, sour ambientation.

The Batmobile tank is the shit cherry on the vomit cake.

Asylum is still the closest to a "real Batman" experience.
 

Neiteio

Member
Arkham Knight is fantastic. The Batmobile handles like a dream, and I love how can plow through concrete pillars, etc, while racing around town. Swan-diving off the top of a skyscraper and landing in the Batmobile as it races up to you like an excited puppy is one of the coolest things in gaming.

I also like the tank mode, which I understand is a bit more divisive, but I thought it made for a slick twin-stick shooter where you can strafe-dodge one way while shooting another. I like how the drones explode like pinatas of particle effects.

The whole game is so pretty, especially the rain effects and the frothy waters down by the harbor. :-O
 

killroy87

Member
Arkham Knight is an incredible game, with insane production values, fun gameplay, and a solid story.

It's one of the most confusingly bashed games of this gen.
 

mindsale

Member
I get the Batmobile hate - tight corridor, nearly-rhythm action and blowing up drones isn't exactly what I think of when I think of a Ninja Detective, but I loved the game.
 
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