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[Alienous]

Maybe, but that's pretty funny as the first two (and to some degree the spin off) absolutely were. They were great games that I actually went back and replayed after beating.

That said, I'm not going to blind myself to the fact that I'm not having fun with the game just because I enjoyed the previous entries in the series or because I'm a fan of the character.

It also has nothing to do with the genre choices as I really enjoy almost every quality racing game (arcade or sim) and love car combat games. This just feels like a bad one to me. One with a slick veneer and a noteworthy IP attached, but still poor gameplay at it's core.

Fair enough.

I didn't enjoy Arkham Knight as much as I enjoyed Asylum and City. I actually agree with most of your points (not 2, 6 or half of 4, but the rest have merit to me). But it's only a slightly disappointing game for me because it came after two near perfect experiences, IMO. It's just under a super high bar. But I didn't find it nearly as bad as you suggest.

 

[Beelzebufo]

So I finished this yesterday. Thought I was getting tired of the formula, but they held me for another round. I enjoyed the game. Batmobile was pretty neat.

FUCK THE BAT TANK.

Omg... So many times I almost dropped the game for good during this tired-ass bland as fuck boring shit.

This game's biggest sin is the fact that this crap takes up such a large % of the game, and even worse, it dominates the AR challenges.

Whatever.

Now I wait to play as Batgirl. Thankfully no bat tank for her.

There are as many Bat-Tank AR challenges as there are combat AR challenges 😁

 

[Alienous]

There are as many Bat-Tank AR challenges as there are combat AR challenges 😁

The Bat-Tank isn't only in the Bat-Tank specific AR challenges. It's part of a hybrid race/Bat-Tank set of AR challenges too.

 

[zoukka]

Hehe not gonna bother with this game after reading a lot of comments here. Maybe I should pick up City instead, I only played AA.

 

[Hero]

I hate everything about the Batmobile in this game.

 

[Zakalwe]

Hehe not gonna bother with this game after reading a lot of comments here. Maybe I should pick up City instead, I only played AA.

Just a many comments that contrast the negative ones. :3

I'd play City first, if you still fell like you need more grab Knight. It's a fantastic game, and you might be one of the lucky ones who end up loving the Batmobile in all its forms.

 

[krameriffic]

I agree with you. In fact I've been bitching about this in the batmobile thread.

I'm not sure if this was intentional or not. If they wanted to convey that a vehicle this size and weight could not possible handle like a racecar, then they've succeeded.

Otherwise, the batmobile just has inadequate brakes, tire grip and suspension too soft to be a racecar.

It's still cool and fun as hell though, I just don't enjoy fighting with the vehicle's weight and size every time I'm trying to chase down a car.

I didn't have to fight with it at all, even using the legendarily terrible-for-driving keyboard and mouse controls.

 

[TheFatMan]

Am I the only one trapped in a weapons cache while looking for a missing firefighter? I really don't want to start over :-/

If your save has you stuck there I believe you can load older saves at the saved game menu by hitting square or some such. Should only lose a little progress as this game saves all the time.

 

[SomewhatGroovy]

Hehe not gonna bother with this game after reading a lot of comments here. Maybe I should pick up City instead, I only played AA.

. You may very well like this. It's City with an extra mechanic, better story, better graphics.. Some people were expecting more of the same that previous entries offered. Your basis of judging this game will be vastly different than theirs. Theres also a possibility that people are being more vocal about the negatives than those who have little issue. I think City is a lesser game than Knight.

 

[Lasty95]

Hehe not gonna bother with this game after reading a lot of comments here. Maybe I should pick up City instead, I only played AA.

Careful now - if you're basing your purchases on gaf consensus alone, the only Arkham game you'd end up playing would be Origins.

Strange, strange place this.

 

[Ambitious]

Man, the weather inside GCPD's parking garage sure sucks.

Oh, come on.

 

[highrider]

Hehe not gonna bother with this game after reading a lot of comments here. Maybe I should pick up City instead, I only played AA.

Good to consider impressions here, bad to let them inform purchasing decisions.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

And yeah Knight's title screen is a total snooze compared to City.

Thanks to Suspend/Resume on PS4 I never really saw much of AK's title screen. Otherwise this probably would have bothered me.

I'd have to agree with you on that, although his voice is great and he's a great actor, it doesn't fit with Gordon.

I found it kid of off at first but, a short way in, I thought he did a great job. Going back now and replaying Asylum and I can't help but wish Banks was voicing him in the first game as well.

Oh, come on.

Restarting the game should fix it.

 

[Beelzebufo]

The Bat-Tank isn't only in the Bat-Tank specific AR challenges. It's part of a hybrid race/Bat-Tank set of AR challenges too.

But even then, it's not necessary in all of them, and you do different stuff. Like there's combat in the predator stuff as well.

 

[Drek]

Fair enough.

I didn't enjoy Arkham Knight as much as I enjoyed Asylum and City. I actually agree with most of your points (not 2, 6 or half of 4, but the rest have merit to me). But it's only a slightly disappointing game for me because it came after two near perfect experiences, IMO. It's just under a super high bar. But I didn't find it nearly as bad as you suggest.

I don't think it's an awful game. To put it in perspective, I picked up The Order on Best Buy's recent sale at the same time as AK and AK is worlds better than that.

But I think you hit on it pretty well. It is just thoroughly underwhelming to me in the wake of Asylum and City. Those were A to A+ games for me. This is a B level game. Acceptable, sometimes even good, but not enough of the good new stuff and too much of the bad new stuff.

I actually have no problems with the Bat Tank parts, since there apparently is a toggle option, horribly introduced/explained yet fairly enjoyable, but the driving is just not satisfying in comparison to it's peers. By that I mean other open world driving games. Someone said up thread that it feels like Rocksteady wanted to show just how poorly such a large body and high powered engine would really drive and I couldn't agree more, but that exercise doesn't make for a fun game.

Not even major changes would have been needed either. Slightly less weight in the ass end, less over steer on the front, and more stopping power from the brakes would have actually made it a really fun experience.

 

[Evolved1]

Hehe not gonna bother with this game after reading a lot of comments here. Maybe I should pick up City instead, I only played AA.

I rarely finish games these days. Like, ever. But I played this one all the way through and have even picked it up for AR challenges since then.

The Batmobile is honestly pretty neat. Sure the tank sucks, but this was a fun game. Even though I complained about the tank I would still highly recommend the game.

Rocksteady lost the plot here and there weighting the game too heavily toward tank combat (if it was once or twice, would have been fine, but they tapped that well too many times) nevertheless, this was a really fun game.

Worth playing, imo. I like it better than City.

 

[Waylon Drums]

If your save has you stuck there I believe you can load older saves at the saved game menu by hitting square or some such. Should only lose a little progress as this game saves all the time.

I didn't even notice that. Thanks!

 

[Ambitious]

Thanks to Suspend/Resume on PS4 I never really saw much of AK's title screen. Otherwise this probably would have bothered me.



I found it kid of off at first but, a short way in, I thought he did a great job. Going back now and replaying Asylum and I can't help but wish Banks was voicing him in the first game as well.



Restarting the game should fix it.

Is that so? Thanks, gonna try it.

I assume this has already been brought up in this thread, but I hadn't followed it before as I started the game just yesterday.

 

[Lasty95]

I'm not sure exactly where I stand with AK yet, or where I'd put it in the trilogy (don't accept Origins exists) but what is clear already is that AK is still a wonderful game in it's own right.

The Batmobile's an interesting one. Certainly seems to be dividing opinion. Personally I love it. Not just 'can tolerate' it, or 'don't mind it', I actively think it's brilliant. Handles brilliantly and the way it's incorporated into Bat's utility belt and used in puzzles etc is just typical RS genius.

Spoiler

Early on when you drive it up on to the roof was amazing - never done that before in a game.

Gotham's an amazing place - although during the campaign you'd barely notice it. So effortless is the traversal now, so easy is it to launch into the air or smash through the streets in the Batmobile that you'll whizz past everything without really taking any of it in. Moping up the Riddler stuff now is actually a really welcome change of pace and has allowed me to actually see some of the glorious detail that's out there in Gotham.

That brings me to one major omission here that the others did so well - environmental puzzles. AA and AC often made getting from A to B a game in itself. There'd be a little bit of platforming, some shimmying across ledges and plenty of zip-lining all over the place. In AK there's none of that, and I think that's a loss.

But then there's always AA and AC to go back to and they did all that stuff so well. Part of what I loved about AC was that it wasn't just a rehash of AA - it was it's own game with it's own way about it. That's certainly true of this one too. AK is it's own experience with it's own things it brings to the table that the others don't have. For my money it sits comfortable alongside the the first two to make what I reckon is one of the greatest trilogies of all time.

I really hope they do re-release the other 2 . Would be epic to play through the 3 of them back to back.

Screw it - THE best trilogy of all time.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

The main problem I have with the combat is the camera (which can be annoying at times, with enemies charging at you from out of nowhere, or striking you without much warning) and Batman whiffing his strikes.

At first the amount of special enemies and combos were a little daunting, but after exploring the system fully I really enjoy it. Batman has so many options, it's really fun mixing it up.

I read people criticise the combat for being typical AAA easymode, but I rarely see anyone fully explore the system. I've not seen one interesting video on youtube so far, it's just people using the bare minimum to get by. I don't understand that kind of play-style, seems so boring. Someone likened this game's combat to you being a fight choreographer for a movie, why would you want to choreograph the dullest fight sequence ever?

Yes, I have discussed these minor flaws ad nauseum. Most people's frustrations center around the overuse of the batmobile, but I certainly feel and others agree that the combat is much less refined this time around.

I do think the amount and frequency of the special enemies takes away from that 'fight choreographer' thing you're talking about.

It constrains your options, and allows you to be less inventive with how you take people down. In Arkham City the challenge was never "I've got to stun this guy, then disable this person's electric field, watch out for tacklers" etc, it was "Ok, how am I going to do this fight as stylishly as possible?". So you could be a bit more creative and 'freeflowing', I found.

I find with Arkham Knight I have to, more that in City, evade and play defensively. There's a lot of people to mentally keep track of, unique enemies with different abilities, enemies that can interact with other enemies. But when I do something like the dual-play and it feels a lot more like City. Less thinking, more "I'm going to look so cool taking these guys down".

Yes, I had to play defensively a whole lot more, because I felt like I was often fighting the camera as much as the enemies.

I'm finding the things that were messing up my flow to not be inconsistent. You just have to work out the new conditions for each enemy attack. For example, I think Batman will whiff against the red charging enemies, if you aren't in freeflow focus. So you have to be mindful and wait to evade over them or just hit them with a batarang. Quickfire gadgets also require more strict directional input. If you're not aiming in the direction of a specific enemy, the gadget will likely miss. The entire system seems to have been retooled so that the player can't just rely on the same safe tricks from the previous games.

I'm not sure what the deal is with the ground takedown off a cape stun is though. Did they take it out just so people weren't finishing every fight with it or am I just not doing it right?

Batman would whiff against any enemy.

You have multiple ways to take down all of these enemies, for every new type introduced you have a few way to deal with them. I've never felt constrained.

The variety of enemy types also means the player has to be engaged more, which is an improvement over the former systems imo. You can still create stylish combat encounters, you just have to think about it a little more.



It's not just the red charging enemies he whiffs against, the minimal distance required to land a hit before you build up momentum sometimes feels inconsistent. I'm fine with the aiming of quickfire gadgets, but the camera and whiffing can be annoying.

I'm not sure what causes it exactly, maybe it is a fault with something I'm doing.


Which one was that again?

Its not you, its a questionable game design change. They had it perfect in Arkham City, why did they change it?

One thing I will add to this that happened in almost every encounter at least once is that Batman would target the wrong enemy to attack. For example, there are four goons, one electrified, Batman would frustratingly attack the electrified one. This was at its absolute worst and most annoying during the battles with Catwoman.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

The Batmobile handles beautifully. The only thing that's an issue is the stupid cinematic chase camera that engages when you're being pursued, when you make a large jump, or when you drive on a wall or ceiling. First person camera fixes this, but not everyone enjoys that view.

It doesnt handle (as you put in italics) beautifully. It's mostly just fine, but every so often racing along the street it would lose traction and just flip over.

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

I'm sure this has been asked but this thread is so large haha.

I just picked up the game. Should I be playing the Harley add-on before the main game? Or does it not matter?

 

[JohnnyFootball]

The Bat-Tank isn't only in the Bat-Tank specific AR challenges. It's part of a hybrid race/Bat-Tank set of AR challenges too.

Yeah, I actually kind of liked those.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I'm sure this has been asked but this thread is so large haha.

I just picked up the game. Should I be playing the Harley add-on before the main game? Or does it not matter?

You can if you want. It wont really add much. You will get a nice shiny silver trophy when done.

People have bitched about it like mad, but I don't know why people expect hours of content on something that is fucking pre-order content.

Its about 30 minutes long and if you judge it as something that is free its just fine.

 

[Golgo 13]

I'm sure this has been asked but this thread is so large haha.

I just picked up the game. Should I be playing the Harley add-on before the main game? Or does it not matter?

No need. It's just a short, silly extra that has no bearing on the game.

 

[Ephemeris]

I really hope they do re-release the other 2 . Would be epic to play through the 3 of them back to back.

Screw it - THE best trilogy of all time.

I'd loooooooooove if the combat and gadget-swap was consistent between all 3

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

You can if you want. It wont really add much. You will get a nice shiny silver trophy when done.

People have bitched about it like mad, but I don't know why people expect hours of content on something that is fucking pre-order content.

Its about 30 minutes long and if you judge it as something that is free its just fine.

No need. It's just a short, silly extra that has no bearing on the game.

Ah okay thanks. If it's short and has not much beating then I guess i just save it for later.

 

[Vire]

I'd loooooooooove if the combat and gadget-swap was consistent between all 3

So Ephermeris, what's your thoughts? Where do you rank it among the rest now that you've played a bit?

 

[Beelzebufo]

I'd loooooooooove if the combat and gadget-swap was consistent between all 3

Yeah, this ones a lot preferable to city combat wise. I wouldn't mind the change.

 

[Rnr1224]

Finished all of the sidequests except for the riddler trophies now. most likely wont go back to get them all though. I also just tried out the character free roam mod and I find it pretty fun. I do wish I had the red hood dlc so I could play as him as well. He is probably my favorite bat-family character. even though his design in this game is pretty stupid imo.

 

[Anung]

23 Riddler trophies left to get

 

[Lasty95]

23 Riddler trophies left to get

Haven't really started them yet.

How'd they compare to AC?

The campaign ones I thought were really great.

 

[Beelzebufo]

Haven't really started them yet.

How'd they compare to AC?

The campaign ones I thought were really great.

The actual challenges (to rescue Catwoman) are probably the best the Riddler's been used so far, but as far as everything is concerned I think I'm just getting burned out of collecting hundreds of things.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

Haven't really started them yet.

How'd they compare to AC?

/QUOTE]

I thought they were better than AC's.

 

[Travo]

Jesus do Riddler races suck. The last one is like a big fuck you from the game as a reward for bothering to do the other ones.

First person mode, man. It's a life saver.

 

[ComputerBlue]

First person mode, man. It's a life saver.

Agreed, the last one was a dirty rotten bastard until someone suggested first person mode, then it was only a bastard, lol.

 

[Lasty95]

The actual challenges (to rescue Catwoman) are probably the best the Riddler's been used so far, but as far as everything is concerned I think I'm just getting burned out of collecting hundreds of things.

Yeah, the Catwomen bits were class.

Not ventured out into the wild yet though and some of the those look pretty complex.

Looking forward to lazily chipping away at them, probably over months if AC is anything to go by (got there in the end though).

Are they reset for NG+ or do they carry over?

 

[Anung]

Haven't really started them yet.

How'd they compare to AC?

The campaign ones I thought were really great.

The 9 story ones are actually really good. The trophies themselves are a mixed bag. Some are really well placed others are a bit lazy. I never bothered with them in AC so I can't really compare. I'm glad it has less than AC as its a bloody grind.

 

[Vire]

The 9 story ones are actually really good. The trophies themselves are a mixed bag. Some are really well placed others are a bit lazy. I never bothered with them in AC so I can't really compare. I'm glad it has less than AC as its a bloody grind.

I think my favorite one in the world is:

*Riddler Trophy Spoilers*

Spoiler

The one where you have to EMP the green forcefield above you with the batmobile, then sky launch yourself out of the car above the forcefield before it comes back online, fire the line launcher and create a wire so that you can sit above the forcefield and then throw the batarangs at the switches.

Felt like a Metroid Prime or Zelda puzzle.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Once again, this game improves on its predecessor in ways that will likely keep me from going back to past games in the series. The predator gameplay saw the most improvement imo. General traversal obviously is great (the sliding input is awkward though — preferred it in City). I love how feat takedowns are earned and stuff like turrets demand more planning and disabling of enemy equipment in advance. Fear takedowns just expedite what the player would be doing normally if they popped out into the open. Helps to make stealth more aggressive in a very appropriate way. A lot more I could say here.

There are changes to combat that make it more fun, yet there's some added jank, though this may be due to me being so used to the way things worked before. I still need to get used to the "hold" commands for gadgets as I tend to forget about them and use them out of a strange feeling of obligation. Batmobile takedowns and combat in general can bug out a bit depending on placement in the world. I can forgive some animation jank considering the game has to calculate the position of the 'mobile, random criminals' cars passing by (which you can do those on-foot counters on), and fights in almost any location. Picking up enemies and the new ground takedown are my favorite additions so far.

It's been a while since a vehicle has been this satisfying to use in so many different ways. Managing to drive with finesse and smashing through everything/everyone are equally fun. The sound design for it is godly, something I haven't mentioned, but should have. I still hit the wrong button to brake sometimes, but since I use the default controls, switching to the tank mode actually helps a lot. Speaking of, tank battles can be satisfying, but mostly with the upgrades — fundamentally solid mechanics, but to be the equivalent of the hand-to-hand, you to be able to "knock down" enemies in one hit, something upgrades allow. There also needed to be more freedom for different tactics in the tank fights, like making it more feasible to zip around some buildings then ram into enemies from a different direction — with that upgrade, you can drive straight through them and immediately blow them up by boosting. I'd like to do that more often as it mixes things up enough to keep those fights fresh. I actually like the cobra fights more because of the inherently exciting "hit and flee" dynamic you see in the regular predator gameplay.

The story was great in this one compared to oast games. The one notable misstep for me was the main villain reveal. Merely the way the reveal itself was done, not the identity, which was fine. There weren't enough candidates for who it could be to keep people guessing.

I just need to fight Riddler for 100 percent. I want to go back through it to evaluate the gameplay further. It's a step up over past games in a lot of ways,especially being able to land on enemy cars while they're moving. That alone encapsulates Rocksteady's understanding of Batman in a single gameplay mechanic. They are true Batman fans.

 

[Ephemeris]

So Ephermeris, what's your thoughts? Where do you rank it among the rest now that you've played a bit?

I'm torn to be honest.

I'll let you know when I get this silly 100% for the true ending.

But there's a ton they did right and a million small things that add to the overall experience. The combat's never been better; the pickup move alone is worth anything they may have removed. From animations, to some of the side-missions to how if you don't

Spoiler

shoot anyone in the intro, they mention it later.

I love the addition of the batmobile, but yeah.. sometimes too much tank action.

Taking out the Serpent drones is one of my fave things to do in the series.

Disappointed in these spoilery bits:

Maybe I was expecting more for the

Spoiler

Scarecrow encounter.

*shrugs*
I definitely was expecting more for the

Spoiler

Arkham Knight, Hush and Deathstroke

encounters.


Overall it's the best Batman sim there is, but not sure where it places among the trilogy yet.

 

[AsfaeksBR]

Okay, after a lot of hesitation, picked it up for the PS4. And I must say...

The game is incredible!
The city is huge, the story is really good so far with a really dark theme absent from the other games, the gameplay is better than ever, and the batmobile is actually fun to play with after changing the control scheme.

I'm still at the

Spoiler

Ace Chemical

part, going after

Spoiler

Scarecrow

now, but I can see myself spending countless hours in this game.

Spoiler

What's wrong with me?

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Okay, after a lot of hesitation, picked it up for the PS4. And I must say...

The game is incredible!
The city is huge, the story is really good so far with a really dark theme absent from the other games, the gameplay is better than ever, and the batmobile is actually fun to play with after changing the control scheme.

I'm still at the

Spoiler

Ace Chemical

part, going after

Spoiler

Scarecrow

now, but I can see myself spending countless hours in this game.

Spoiler

What's wrong with me?

It's funny seeing someone be right at the beginning of the game, essentially. There's so much more that happens than I was expecting and I remember thinking it'd all be pretty straight forward like this segment.

 

[SuperEpicMan]

I'm at around 79% through the story mode, if I were to finish the main story can I then go on new game plus and finish the side content, or should I do it now?

 

[ComputerBlue]

My play bugged out, I cleaned all blocks on all islands, but on Bleak Island now I have 0% done.
I tried to follow a guide to doublecheck if my memory is faulty or really the game bugged, and yes, all those areas are clean, so I can't do them again, and I'm stucked with 0%.

Did you try loading the backup save?

 

[Waylon Drums]

Oy. Every time I think I don't hate the Batmobile, I have to chase some asshole down and I'm reminded really quickly.

 

[this_multiverse]

Just 100% it, great trilogy imo. Loved the Batmobile also, lol. Ending was a bit confusingly ambiguous though..

 

[this_multiverse]

I'm at around 79% through the story mode, if I were to finish the main story can I then go on new game plus and finish the side content, or should I do it now?

Recommend you finish the side stuff first

 

[Succinct Verbosity]

Hehe not gonna bother with this game after reading a lot of comments here. Maybe I should pick up City instead, I only played AA.

Arkham Knight isn't a bad game by any means, but City is a lot better IMO (and cheaper)

 

[DrGonzo615]

So question about the final 100% ending.......

Spoiler

who is the batman in that final scene? I guess it would be azrael given the "knightfall" initiative but i would have thought they would make it more obvious