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[Paganmoon]

Background: Arkham Knight was the first of the Rocksteady Batman games I played at launch, and it was my GotY 2015, and early this year I went back and replayed it, still loving every minute. Getting an itch for more, I bought the Return to Arkham remasters and played those as well. Wanting even more, I bought Arkham Origins on the PC last week and finished the game in a week.

Good game overall, ok story, the Joker introduction felt a little flat though, reason for that later, but still liked it, Arkham games are very much Batman and Jokers story, so liked getting to know how it all started. Gameplay is very "Arkham-like", a few new gadgets, though the shockgloves make the fights very easy overall, still, easy can be fun too.

Now, what I didn't quite like. A lot of the voice acting was very much off. I kept thinking of Skyrim whenever Gordon spoke (his voice is very distinct, even when he's not doing a nord accent), Nolan North's Penguin wasn't quite the same as in the other games, and Troy Baker's Joker was overall bad imo. He tried to emulate Mark Hamill and it didn't work, could be explained away as it being "young joker", but still, didn't quite hit the right spot, again, it felt like Troy was trying to be Mark Hamill and not the Joker, the timing wasn't quite there.
Did like Roger Craig Smith's Batman though, I wasn't even quite sure early on if it was a new voice or not.

Overall, Arkham Knight is the best one, gameplay wise, and owing a lot to the traversal being so much better than in the other games. And I guess if I'd have to rank Origins, it's a tied third with Asylum, with City being right after Knight. Again, alot of this owes to gameplay/QoL improvements/traversal being the best in Arkham Knight.

 

[SuperEpicMan]

I really quite liked Origins, I feel out of all the games it is the only one where the story didn't leave me somewhat disappointed. In terms of the game play I would rank it slightly lower than Arkham City though.

 

[kcp12304]

I just felt fatigue after playing Origins. Reusing half the map of AC and dumping snow on Gotham didn't help. I even got tired of the combat by the end which was a bizarre feeling because I enjoy that style of combat so much. Didn't like the cast of c tier villains they had. I don't need the regulars every time but the story only got interesting with some of the Joker stuff at the end. You may really enjoy it if it's your first Batman game but it doesn't hold up to Rocksteady's work.

 

[Sterling's_Gold]

I feel like this game is underrated, probably in some part due to its reputation being marred by technical issues. There's also the fact that it just didn't do a whole lot to improve upon Arkham City in the gameplay department.

That being said, I actually quite enjoyed it. I felt like the writing was substantially better than what Rocksteady did with the series. The art direction was far superior as well. I wish they had done more with the Christmastime atmosphere, but it was still kinda neat.

One thing that is hard to get over with this game is the godawful upgrade system. You had to unlock pointless upgrades to get to ones that you could go straight to in previous games iirc. The "Dark Knight System" or whatever it was called was ridiculous. Multiple challenges were practically impossible without a guide, as there were so few opportunities to perform them, and each one had to be done in sequence to unlock the next challenge.

 

[Anung]

Best story, boss fights and character designs but the game itself was starting to feel a little played out at that time.

Prefer to City and Knight if I'm honest.

 

[dex3108]

Also Origins is Batman game with best character designs in my opinion.

 

[Jangowuzhere]

I hate this game

It's just Arkham City again, but this time it's buggy, the combat is broken, the story is abysmal, and it lacks all the color and creativity that made the previous games special.

The people who will defend this game baffle me to this day. It is litteraly just a rushed rehash, and if I were to be cliche in my wording, it feels soulless. I tried giving this game another chance a couple of years after its release, and nope, everything about it is still garbage.

The only thing good about this game are the boss fights. The boss fights in all Rocksteady games are fucking terrible for some reason. However, we're talking about sections that maybe take up 5% of the actual game time. It's a win, but not a big one.

 

[dex3108]

I hate this game

It's just Arkham City again, but this time it's buggy, the combat is broken, the story is abysmal, and it lacks all the color and creativity that made the previous games special.

The people who will defend this game baffle me to this day. It is litteraly just a rushed rehash, and if I were to be cliche in my wording, it feels soulless. I tried giving this game another chance a couple of years after its release, and nope, everything about it is still garbage.

The only thing good about this game are the boss fights. The boss fights in all Rocksteady games are fucking terrible for some reason. However, we're talking about sections that maybe take up 5% of the actual game time. It's a win, but not a big one.

Story, characters, boss battles, voice acting (especially RC Smith) are better in my opinion. And I will always defend that.

 

[warheat]

Best Batman compared to Asylum and City. Haven't played Knight yet.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

Overall i loved Origins, i get the voice actor hate as it isn't as good but the rest i don't really get

 

[TheDanger]

The boss fights in all Rocksteady games are fucking terrible for some reason.

what in the actual fuck, the Mr. Freeze boss fight is like the greatest boss fight I ever played.

 

[Turin]

Kinda my favorite Arkham game tbh. Despite it having the most kinks out of the series.

 

[Nev]

Offensively derivative.

I was bored out of fatigue 20 minutes in. I'll never understand the people who say this uninspired mediocrity is the best in the series.

It takes Rocksteady's work and does absolutely nothing with it. Just a fucking chore of an experience.

 

[rmanthorp]

Secret best Arkham game. Asylum will always be the best because of how tight it was but I rank Origins above Knight and City for SURE. It had the tightest story, it was set during the best time (Die Hard Xmas) and some really neat moments. Shame about the bugs.

It also had the best evolution of the combat with enemies who tried to counter your hits BUT BECAUSE YOU'RE FUCKING BATMAN YOU CAN COUNTER THEIR COUNTER

 

[Jangowuzhere]

Story, characters, boss battles, voice acting (especially RC Smith) are better in my opinion. And I will always defend that.

That's not high praise really.

And I would argue that the story in Knight is the only game in the series that has a tale that's decent. Origins makes all the lame mistakes that bad prequels often do. All the best moments are also just ripped shamelessly from the Batman Animated Series.

 

[Paganmoon]

I feel like this game is underrated, probably in some part due to its reputation being marred by technical issues. There's also the fact that it just didn't do a whole lot to improve upon Arkham City in the gameplay department.

That being said, I actually quite enjoyed it. I felt like the writing was substantially better than what Rocksteady did with the series. The art direction was far superior as well. I wish they had done more with the Christmastime atmosphere, but it was still kinda neat.

One thing that is hard to get over with this game is the godawful upgrade system. You had to unlock pointless upgrades to get to ones that you could go straight to in previous games iirc. The "Dark Knight System" or whatever it was called was ridiculous. Multiple challenges were practically impossible without a guide, as there were so few opportunities to perform them, and each one had to be done in sequence to unlock the next challenge.

Yeah, the upgrade system was probably my least favorite thing. And the "Dark knight System" would've worked so much better if you didn't have to do them in the exact order. As you say, some challenges required specific encounters pretty much.

I played the game on PC, and I can't say I noticed alot of technical issues in the around 30 hours I played. The Physx implementation bugged out in 2 spots, and I dropped tons of frames, and I think I had 2 CTD's, while not great, isn't really in line with calling it "marred with technical issues".

Seems though, from the responses so far that it's a very polarizing game, some love it, some hate it.

@dex3108: other than Roger Craig Smith, all other VA's were pretty bad imo though. I much prefer all the voices in the Rocksteady games than this.