Great to hear the stealth and detective segments are even better, and there are little waypoints but more trusting of the player for certain side quests.
Read all the reviews, and compiled the negative criticisms (aside from Arkham Knight's mystery being figured out early on and the Batmobile combat unanimously being a chore or not being tight enough to handle for some challenges) just in case anyone wants a summary:
Some of the open world quests are generic fetches
US Gamer - Mike Williams
"Some of the quests are story- or character-driven, but a number of them are open-world busywork. You'll have to destroy watchtowers, flying drones, city checkpoints, and mines around the city to free Gotham's three islands from the Arkham Knight's control. I finished all of these missions, but I feel like it's possible to complete the game without diving into the generic open-world quests."
Gamesradar - Sam Roberts
"There are also a few excellent sidequests that offer narrative surprises on the level of Hush or Mad Hatter from Arkham City. Theyre not all winners: rubbish arson-happy Arkham Origins villain Firefly returns via three terrible chase sequences around the city that made me swear a lot, and others are just repetitive fetch quests with little flavour, but theres plenty of game to keep you exploring this gorgeous city."
Scarecrow
Gamereactor - Gillen McAllister
"Previous side threat Scarecrow is now central antagonist, popping up to menace you in a now-evacuated Gotham via loudspeakers and building billboards. He's looking to break the Bat, through his grandiose monologues about the strength of fear lack menace given we've trumped him in other Arkham adventures, and he proves a poor one-dimensional successor compared to the nuance and insanity that the Joker brought to the same role."
Weak first few hours
"The weak first few hours seems at odds with the brilliance of the first five minutes, a brazen collage of cinematics and shifting gameplay moments that from the off captures the attention. It's so confident in its delivery that you suspect you feel something's amiss the next few hours, that you've been shown a trick that's yet to finish."
Car stealth
Gamesradar - Sam Roberts
"But theres another side to the vehicle combat thats far more offensive: car stealth.
Later in the story, larger tanks called cobras enter the fray, which cant be destroyed head-on like the others, and punish you with a near-instant death if youre caught by them. Cobras can only be taken out by sneaking up on them, usually from behind a building (in a car, which is daft) and carefully lining up a shot on their rear weak point. I really dislike these sequences, and I feel they require the luck of not being trapped in a corner by their line of fire more than actual skill; the cobras can so thoroughly get in the bin. One especially busy cobra assault later in the story is so poorly designed that it dragged down my overall impression of Arkham Knights final act, which is a shame."
A bit predictable and hammy
Gamespot - Kevin VanOrd
"There are some tense story beats and moving events, but your two primary goals--to stop Scarecrow's evil toxin plot, and to confront and unmask the Arkham Knight--are too predictable to be compelling."
"Batman is a troubled hero, and past Arkham games haven't shied away from exploring his dark side. Arkham Knight is no exception: the caped crusader growls his way through one confrontation after another in which he must question his role in Gotham's current crisis. We've seen these themes before, many times over, and Batman: Arkham Knight's villains repeat them ad nauseum, as if you weren't already choking on heavy-handed metaphors at every turn. It's fortunate, then, that Arkham Knight, for all its ham-fisted storytelling and frequent returns to well-trod ground, features the qualities developer Rocksteady has infused its previous games with: superb production values, hard-hitting combat, and a wonderful sense of freedom as you soar above the skies of Gotham."
