The Batmobile sequences were the worst. I never felt less like a superhero or a detective than I did mowing down goons and shooting tanks. And the race sequences were awful.
I did enjoy the banter between Batman and whoever was riding in the back of the Batmobile.That was small consolation.
Also,
I was very excited when the Knight blew up the first Batmobile.
Goddamn the amount of side stuff is amazing once your little mission wheel is filled. And I like that there are narrative reasons behind each quest line. Like I love the Penguin weapons trucks and taking them out with Robin.
Still not enamored with the tank battles, though. It's just not fun to me. And they're getting hard as fuck. One of the bomb disposal side quests took me a good 5-6 tries because of how many fucking drones come at you. That shit sucks. Ditto for all the car bullshit involving the Riddler. Everything else has been great thankfully.
Just got to the part where (mid game spoilers, like 5 hours in)
Oracle kills herself. HOLY SHIT. Really hope this isn't some scarecrow toxin misdirection. I love the more mature writing, even moreso if it shows off Batman's flaws.
The game's so much better when it isn't shoehorning random batmobile arenas into everything.
The trophies are a blast to play through and are extremely more diversified than the ones in City, where you would get four or five puzzles with similar but slightly different solutions. Actually, if they had worked out some of those puzzles into the boss fights instead of gating the last two hours of the main mission through the Batmobile, the game would have been even better than it already is.
Just finished the game and my overall feeling is captured almost entirely by:
I'm glad Rocksteady finally gave us the Batman series the character deserved but it's absolutely time to move on. They have no more fresh ideas, nothing that improves the game, and the product seems tired now.
The plot overall was incredibly forgettable.
Just your standard Scarecrow spray gas everywhere drek. No imagination or anything. I was bored of him within minutes after the game started. The ending was also complete garbage and entirely out of character for Batman as he just shrugged, said fuck it, and let Scarecrow win. It's pretty clear Rocksteady was just making sure the door was absolutely slammed shut as they finished their last Batman game.
For the Arkham Knight:
My god, Jason Todd? That's what they fucking went with? From the first trailer, 99% of people probably assumed it was him and that's what they went with in the least surprising, least interesting plotline possible. It's mind-boggling.
The combat, although mechanically better than Origins felt janky because they simply added too much. There was no freedom or style to fights as, by the end, there seemed to be like a dozen enemy types that all had to be taken out in incredibly specific ways. You just robotically hammer out the appropriate combo.
By the end, I hated the fucking Batmobile. Whoever came up with this should have been shot down in the concept stages. It's not much faster than grappling and gliding for general transport and the battles are the absolute nadir of gameplay.
When I showed up to take down the Cloudburst and the 7 time-waster tanks appeared, I nearly turned the game right off.
The combat sections feel entirely like filler and detract from the Batman experience. So many hours are spent just escorting your car around or shooting bland drones.
Incredibly, every Arkham game was worse than the one that came before. Origins was mostly forgettable and had issues, but at least the plot was interesting with a few twists and there wasn't abominable filler like the Batmobile fights. I'm looking forward to what Rocksteady does next. I'm also curious as to what WB will do with Batman next. Whatever it is, it's probably already got DLC covered, I guess.
Agreed on every point, especially with regard to the ending.
Video game trilogies are wont to do that as of late, most famously with Mass Effect. It's like the people making the game are either just so sick of it that they want to kick over the castle they spent years making, or they just want to ensure nobody else can ever play with their toys.
We all know that this isn't the last Batman game. Whoever tackles the universe next is going to have some mighty big shoes to fill and they're going to have to reboot the entire thing. I don't mind the tearing down the universe on the way out trope, but it needs to be earned. We've seen Batman overcome so many more difficult challenges, so it just fell flat when he - like you said - just sort of gave up. He gave up because the story necessitated he lose in order to tear the universe down, not because the moment was earned.
Batman, he of a thousand plans, is suddenly rendered entirely useless without his belt of gadgets. Robin and Gordon are both held hostage by a single pistol weilded by somebody who is barely paying either of them a single bit of attention. Never mind the fact that we have seen Robin dodge machine gun fire and take out 30 out people. He and Gordon are useless, not because that moment was earned, but because the story necessitated Batman lose.
The Arkham Knight reveal was incredibly lame, as well. It couldn't have been anybody else, so all the misdirection from the PR team was really ridiculous. It had to be
Jason Todd
, because the story was written in such a way that it literally couldn't have been anybody else. Maybe if we had interacted with
Jason at any point during any of the games
, the reveal could have meant something. As it stands, it was just flat and dull.
And speaking of dull, the Batmobile itself could have been fine. The Bat Tank was 100% irredeemable boredom. It wasn't clever, it wasn't unique, it wasn't fun. Every time I had to turn into a tank to shoot other tanks with my tank gun, I seriously considered putting the game down. If this had been the first game in the series, and not the finale, I would have. I hated every single moment of it.
However, the core game remained fun. The combat was still good, the predator sections were still awesome, seeing more or Oracle (who delivered the best line in the entire game), more of the GCPD and zipping around rooftops remained awesome as always. The fan service remained on point and was the highlight of the entire game.
Ultimately, I feel like it was great game that was buried by developers who had sort of ran out of ideas with City, but had to write a more definitive finale.
Still, in the pantheon of Batman games, it's still pretty damn high up the list. Rocksteady really changed the face of superhero games forever. We now expect quality from a genre that had mostly only given us pap before. They deserve all the credit in the world for that.
Now, I'm ready to see what the next developer up does with Batman. I think Rocksteady should move on to other projects.
Man, lots of surprising hate for this game. As a new mechanic, I dig being able to use the batmobile. The problem here isn't the batmobile itself but how much Rocksteady forces you to use it during the story. I also feel Knight's combat is the best in the series. It's the most responsive and gives you every option you had in the past games, but with a couple more additions that make freeflow combat "flow" in an even cooler way (i.e. environmental takedowns and dual play).
The Arkham Knight reveal was easily the most disappointing thing about the story, but I didn't hate the overall story itself. From the intro to the end, it flowed pretty well with the exception of the forced batmobile sequences. The narrative beats themselves were pretty damn well done in my opinion, and as a hardcore Batman fan, it had a TON of moments that had the fanboy in me very happy.
I'm still unsure whether I think this or Origins has the best story in the Arkham series, but I do know that it's definitely between these too. I might go with Origins in the end because it was just such a well done, tightly told story that was simpler, genuinely surprising and original.
Yeah, this is easily my least favorite entry in the series. Still very much a good game and worth the cost of entry, but I won't be thinking about it afterward. I'd probably give it a 7.5-8.
Fuck the batmobile. And that is honestly one the worst string of "boss" encounters I've experienced in a while.
Ugh, I can't do the Riddler's Revenge mission under Gotham Casino for the life of me. It's the one where you have to eject from the bat mobile and glide to hit pressure plates. First is easy, second is ridiculous and I can't even get close. Am I missing something?
Agreed on every point, especially with regard to the ending.
Video game trilogies are wont to do that as of late, most famously with Mass Effect. It's like the people making the game are either just so sick of it that they want to kick over the castle they spent years making, or they just want to ensure nobody else can ever play with their toys.
We all know that this isn't the last Batman game. Whoever tackles the universe next is going to have some mighty big shoes to fill and they're going to have to reboot the entire thing. I don't mind the tearing down the universe on the way out trope, but it needs to be earned. We've seen Batman overcome so many more difficult challenges, so it just fell flat when he - like you said - just sort of gave up. He gave up because the story necessitated he lose in order to tear the universe down, not because the moment was earned.
Batman, he of a thousand plans, is suddenly rendered entirely useless without his belt of gadgets. Robin and Gordon are both held hostage by a single pistol weilded by somebody who is barely paying either of them a single bit of attention. Never mind the fact that we have seen Robin dodge machine gun fire and take out 30 out people. He and Gordon are useless, not because that moment was earned, but because the story necessitated Batman lose.
The Arkham Knight reveal was incredibly lame, as well. It couldn't have been anybody else, so all the misdirection from the PR team was really ridiculous. It had to be
Jason Todd
, because the story was written in such a way that it literally couldn't have been anybody else. Maybe if we had interacted with
Jason at any point during any of the games
, the reveal could have meant something. As it stands, it was just flat and dull.
And speaking of dull, the Batmobile itself could have been fine. The Bat Tank was 100% irredeemable boredom. It wasn't clever, it wasn't unique, it wasn't fun. Every time I had to turn into a tank to shoot other tanks with my tank gun, I seriously considered putting the game down. If this had been the first game in the series, and not the finale, I would have. I hated every single moment of it.
However, the core game remained fun. The combat was still good, the predator sections were still awesome, seeing more or Oracle (who delivered the best line in the entire game), more of the GCPD and zipping around rooftops remained awesome as always. The fan service remained on point and was the highlight of the entire game.
Ultimately, I feel like it was great game that was buried by developers who had sort of ran out of ideas with City, but had to write a more definitive finale.
Still, in the pantheon of Batman games, it's still pretty damn high up the list. Rocksteady really changed the face of superhero games forever. We now expect quality from a genre that had mostly only given us pap before. They deserve all the credit in the world for that.
Now, I'm ready to see what the next developer up does with Batman. I think Rocksteady should move on to other projects.
Yup, agreed to all of this. My post came off a little more negative than I meant it. As you mention, the core gameplay of the series and the world Rocksteady put together is fantastic. Almost every predator sequence is delightful, as always. Unfortunately, the bolded is my biggest take-away. Asylum was a masterpiece out of nowhere and City was a different, albeit equally brilliant take on Batman but it seems like they just ran out of gas there despite being forced to come up with a 3rd game.
Ugh, I can't do the Riddler's Revenge mission under Gotham Casino for the life of me. It's the one where you have to eject from the bat mobile and glide to hit pressure plates. First is easy, second is ridiculous and I can't even get close. Am I missing something?
Yup. Too many drone battles and the game's introduction to the Batmobile is pretty bad. They basically rub your nose in it for the first 1-2 hours with contrived Batmobile-centric "puzzles".
Game eases up quite a lot after
Ace Chemicals
[aside from the drone battles], but I suppose for many the damage has been done by that point.
I personally love just casually driving around with the Batmobile, it feels awesome and the design is aces. Perhaps Rocksteady should've used it more as a method of transportation and less of a center piece for many missions/puzzles. I really hope we get an in-depth post-mortem on the design decisions in the game at some point, I'd love to read about it.
So does anyone reckon there's a super hidden easter egg like the ones in Asylum and City that either explain the ending a little better, or give us a hint to where Rocksteady are going next? With Gotham being pretty big there could be one little wall you need to blow up...
I'm mopping up the last few riddler trophies. Very impressed with this game, easily the best Arkham game.
- No complains with the batmobile, other than ocasional weird camera angles or the weird control squeme, but I eventually got used to that. The batmobile is a third pillar of gameplay, joining the brawling and predator sequences... and I was surprised to find myself liking it since I was expecting it to be awful.
- I think it'd be hard to argue that unlike Origins this game improves both combat and predator gameplay with quite a few new fresh ideas, like (early gameplay spoiler)
militia adapting to your predator takedowns
or (tiny gadget spoiler)
making the rec gun a counter to electricity equiped goons
. Very impressed. Now maybe make some challenge rooms, uh?
- Biggest surprise: the writing seems much better, and in particular this game's humour is head and shoulders above the others, which I loved but I don't think they ever actually made me laugh. Naturally it is mostly due to (early, big spoiler)
Joker providing commentary of everything you do
but even the random conversations among rioters are fantastic here and there.
, thank god there was at least a checkpoint for the final phase, otherwise I would've lost it
I'm not doing the remainder of the tank side missions right away, screw tank combat for a while.
Think I like the flow of the Penguin cache sidemissions most: track van, follow, then hand to hand combat. Standard stuff, but has a classic Batman feeling to it. My favorite Batmobile sequences were the APC tank chases.
What was up with the
Hush sidequest? Kinda felt like they had more planned there, but just scrapped the entire thing. 3 skill points for one timed button press.
Also, how do you deal with heavies that have electric hands? There's one in the airship. I can't stun/flip around them to hit them behind their back, feels like I need a gadget I'm still missing.
, thank god there was at least a checkpoint for the final phase, otherwise I would've lost it
I'm not doing the remainder of the tank side missions right away, screw tank combat for a while.
Think I like the flow of the Penguin cache sidemissions most: track van, follow, then hand to hand combat. Standard stuff, but has a classic Batman feeling to it. My favorite Batmobile sequences were the APC tank chases.
What was up with the
Hush sidequest? Kinda felt like they had more planned there, but just scrapped the entire thing. 3 skill points for one timed button press.
Also, how do you deal with heavies that have electric hands? There's one in the airship. I can't stun/flip around them to hit them behind their back, feels like I need a gadget I'm still missing.
Well, the whole thing is complete if you take Arkham City into account: that same sidestory lacked an ending back then, so we got that (and only that) in Arkham Knight.
Second spoiler:
Yuuup. Take the rec gun from among the GCPD's showcases
I wish the game made it more apparent that was possible. It's neat you can get it at any time, but while I'm usually very good at exploration and fiddling with things, I somehow missed this entirely, and I just assumed it was locked away until you got more story progress. At the very least, the game should have told you where it is when it's required during one of the last Riddler missions.
I wish the game made it more apparent that was possible. It's neat you can get it at any time, but while I'm usually very good at exploration and fiddling with things, I somehow missed this entirely, and I just assumed it was locked away until you got more story progress. At the very least, the game should have told you where it is when it's required during one of the last Riddler missions.
Yeah just got it. And you could steal that from the beginning? Damn. All those puzzles/trophies I still need to get with it.
I still have like 180 trophies I need to get. Somehow this task seems way more daunting than the other games
Well, the whole thing is complete if you take Arkham City into account: that same sidestory lacked an ending back then, so we got that (and only that) in Arkham Knight.
I got that too, but it's extremely late in the game. Considering it's really useful in combat, many riddler trophies require it, and one of the riddler missions require it, I wish you were lead there earlier, or at least given hints about it.
All finished up last night and I think this is the best Batman simulator they've made, but Asylum is still the best in terms of game design.
I don't have many complaints but they are fairly significant; too much stuff relegated to being a tank sequence, a few story points falling a little flat for me, and shite boss fights.
Definitely enjoyed the Batmobile when you were given the opportunity to use it on your own terms, but there were too many enforced tank sections woven into moments that could have been portrayed differently.
That said, this is probably the best 'power fantasy' game I've played in years. Enjoyed it more than City and Origins.
I got that too, but it's extremely late in the game. Considering it's really useful in combat, many riddler trophies require it, and one of the riddler missions require it, I wish you were lead there earlier, or at least given hints about it.
We don't know if there'll be any challenge content yet. But it's story expansion has 10 trophies associated with it, so it should be 3+ hours in length, so quite hefty for a DLC.
We don't know if there'll be any challenge content yet. But it's story expansion has 10 trophies associated with it, so it should be 3+ hours in length, so quite hefty for a DLC.
I'm assuming it came out so fast because the game got delayed several times. Probably would have hit 3 months after launch or something if the game came out sooner.
So yeah, this game....I have to say, I'm really really disappointed. The story was a mess, I absolutely hated the focus on the batmobile, I'd even go so far as to say the game was designed from the ground up around the batmobile rather than it being something that supplements the gameplay experience.
I don't even know what to say about the ending and the rather bizarre decision to lock the 'real' ending behind an arbitrary wall of forcing you to complete what have to be some of the most repetitive and dull side activities imaginable.
I'd love to know what the hell they were thinking with the boss battles and the less said about how they wrapped up some of the trilogy spanning stories the better.
Hush being one example. What the fuck kind of resolution to that entire arc was that?
The AK reveal was pretty much called the second the character was revealed, so much for this being a brand new character in the universe. What bullshit.
Terrible end to what has been a pretty great series. Thank god Rocksteady can move on if this is what we can expect from them going forward. I'd much rather see WB Montreal take the reigns, at least Origins wasn't as much a convoluted or repetitive mess as this was.
Yeah, after beating the game I watched someone stream the game and they grabbed it at the start of the game too. It was a big "What :|" moment for me. I did stumble upon a lot of other optional stuff (
Finding Fox' weapon before it was finished, finding Batgirl's outfit, Bruce's answering machine, and other things
) but of course I somehow completely missed the evidence room when exploring the GCPD which actually has a gameplay difference.
I'm assuming it came out so fast because the game got delayed several times. Probably would have hit 3 months after launch or something if the game came out sooner.
The AK reveal was pretty much called the second the character was revealed, so much for this being a brand new character in the universe. What bullshit.
I tried to start this game on PS4 and I got a data corruption error. My other games are working fine its only Batman that is giving me issues. I've tried just about everything, can't get past the splash screen.
