So, it's tied to Riddler trophies, and there are no other means to get it, or other alternative endings? If that's the case, I'll just go for the regular one, as I hate the Riddler challenges.
The main story has one ending. You can get an epilogue to that if you 100% a certain amount of side missions. Then, if you 100% the game, you'll get an extended epilogue.
Personally, I finished the main story and completed everything but the Riddler trophies to see the one epilogue, then just looked up the extended one on Youtube. The thought of tracking down all those ? did not sound like fun.
The main story has one ending. You can get an epilogue to that if you 100% a certain amount of side missions. Then, if you 100% the game, you'll get an extended epilogue.
Personally, I finished the main story and completed everything but the Riddler trophies to see the one epilogue, then just looked up the extended one on Youtube. The thought of tracking down all those ? did not sound like fun.
Correct. I finished the main story, then continued on with side quests until I was given the option to "initiate the Knightfall protocol," which is the epilogue cut scene.
Correct. I finished the main story, then continued on with side quests until I was given the option to "initiate the Knightfall protocol," which is the epilogue cut scene.
Correct. I finished the main story, then continued on with side quests until I was given the option to "initiate the Knightfall protocol," which is the epilogue cut scene.
OK, I'm done with this. Asylum is the only game in the series I've really liked but this is becoming such a chore to play I can't stand it (68% into the story), the fighting, sneaking with Bats, the endless shooting and sneaking (!) with the damn car.
It looks nice though.
Deleted it and never buying a Batman game from Rocksteady again.
So I've finally gone ahead and requested a refund from GMG for the season pass, there being no word from WB on if they're going to do anything make it up to people who kept (whether they had a choice or not) the game and/or the pass on top of there being no real info as to when the content will actually be released on PC and topped off with how underwhelming the content has been I figure I might as well get my $24 back.
OK, I'm done with this. Asylum is the only game in the series I've really liked but this is becoming such a chore to play I can't stand it (68% into the story), the fighting, sneaking with Bats, the endless shooting and sneaking (!) with the damn car.
It looks nice though.
Deleted it and never buying a Batman game from Rocksteady again.
While I don't hate the game that much, and will be playing it through, I agree that many parts of it are just tedious. The car sections in particular, and chasing something around the city and fighting against groups of thugs feel like a chore. As for the Riddler trophies, less is more, and I wish developers would make the sidequests in open world games less plenty and more meaningful. The story is interesting though, and I love the sections with
the Joker.
Last night I faced
three of his progeny
, and I think it's amusing that the highlight of the game so far was confined within a building, instead of being an open world section. I wish they'd return to the Asylum formula, but I guess that's not bound to happen due to the open world fad.
While I don't hate the game that much, and will be playing it through, I agree that many parts of it are just tedious. The car sections in particular, and chasing something around the city and fighting against groups of thugs feel like a chore. As for the Riddler trophies, less is more, and I wish developers would make the sidequests in open world games less plenty and more meaningful. The story is interesting though, and I love the sections with
the Joker.
Last night I faced
three of his progeny
, and I think it's amusing that the highlight of the game so far was confined within a building, instead of being an open world section. I wish they'd return to the Asylum formula, but I guess that's not bound to happen due to the open world fad.
If anyone finds the fighting tedious now, it means they never really liked it in the first place. It's fundamentally the same, and objectively improved that user above must have only liked Asylum because of its backdrop and that it was something new at the time.
I've noticed quite a few people value the story-centric elements in this series over gameplay. I too found the story interesting for the second time in the whole Arkham series, but it's the predator/combat sequences out in the open world that are the pinnacle of gameplay in a Batman video game. Having the choice of approaching from any angle, planning ahead by disabling/sabotaging weapons and drones+turrets, managing new enemy types, and so forth is the best. Adding the Batmobile into hand-to-hand combat is great, though underutilized as it's mostly a bonus. I've still dicked around for ages with calling the Batmobile to stop nearby and throwing guys into it while it's still moving, shocking them. Or driving at patrolling militia, launching out of it while they continue firing at the car, landing silently behind them and doing a fear takedown chain on them all. All the systems in the game work well and work well in tandem it's why I still have high hopes for DLC since there's so much more that could be done with the groundwork here.
Just playing the game is great, regardless of how it's contextualized, and it's contextualized decently this time around. It's astonishing how barebones Asylum is in comparison to City, let alone Knight. I couldn't go back to that even before Knight maybe even with Origins so I definitely can't now. I genuinely believe anyone who wants a return to the Asylum formula are looking for a real Metroid-like game more than a Batman game. There's nothing wrong with that, but there are actual Metroid-likes out there that accomplish that type of gameplay/progression far, far better there's just such slim pickings that people latch onto merely halfway decent ones like AA.
If anyone finds the fighting tedious now, it means they never really liked it in the first place. It's fundamentally the same, and objectively improved — that user above must have only liked Asylum because of its backdrop and that it was something new at the time.
I've noticed quite a few people value the story-centric elements in this series over gameplay. I too found the story interesting for the second time in the whole Arkham series, but it's the predator/combat sequences out in the open world that are the pinnacle of gameplay in a Batman video game. Having the choice of approaching from any angle, planning ahead by disabling/sabotaging weapons and drones+turrets, managing new enemy types, and so forth is the best. Adding the Batmobile into hand-to-hand combat is great, though underutilized as it's mostly a bonus. I've still dicked around for ages with calling the Batmobile to stop nearby and throwing guys into it while it's still moving, shocking them. Or driving at patrolling militia, launching out of it while they continue firing at the car, landing silently behind them and doing a fear takedown chain on them all. All the systems in the game work well and work well in tandem — it's why I still have high hopes for DLC since there's so much more that could be done with the groundwork here.
Just playing the game is great, regardless of how it's contextualized, and it's contextualized decently this time around. It's astonishing how barebones Asylum is in comparison to City, let alone Knight. I couldn't go back to that even before Knight — maybe even with Origins — so I definitely can't now. I genuinely believe anyone who wants a return to the Asylum formula are looking for a real Metroid-like game more than a Batman game. There's nothing wrong with that, but there are actual Metroid-likes out there that accomplish that type of gameplay/progression far, far better — there's just such slim pickings that people latch onto merely halfway decent ones like AA.
The group fights were tedious in the previous games as well, but I've always liked the predator sequences. It's just that in the post-Asylum entries, there are too much negatives that cloud the whole, at least from my perspective. And I generally like Metroidvania structure more than open world, especially as most 3rd person action-adventures have been open world this gen.
I figured. It's just Asylum really isn't that great a Metroid-like when it comes down to it. Great approach when it came out though. It allowed the promising yet barebones gameplay a way to feel more substantial than it actually was. By meting out new gadgets that unlocked the subsequent areas throughout the game (albeit in a completely linear and scripted way), players could get a sense of progression despite the combat only increasing the number of enemies throughout, and the predator sections only adding booby-trapped gargoyles. It's Metroid-like in the most artificial way, and nothing on the level of Axiom Verge or Metroid Prime.
Even if it truly deserved the "Metroid-like" classification, there's indication (beyond the sequels taking a completely different approach) that Rocksteady intended to make a Batman-simulator, and the scope of Asylum was only chosen because they were just starting out. Being confined to a single area or just interiors is not a good fit for any lengthy Batman media. A single graphic novel, or even a short (animated) movie could carry that premise, if making an isolated story is the goal. Making a game that is in any way meant to be "comprehensive" (in this case, letting the player be Batman), then it will only feel limiting.
There's more than one comic writer out there doing Batman (universe) stuff, so it won't feel like a missed opportunity in a one-off takes place entirely in one spot, or even if nothing tremendous happens. There's only one company making good Batman games right now, and another Asylum that just traps the player in one place the whole game will be a missed opportunity at this point.
Asylum got away with it because it was far better than anyone could've hoped for at the time. Considering there are at least two years between each title, people asking for another Asylum are asking for a step back in a lot of ways. In other media, plenty of big Batman stories have been told, ones that explore the most prominent aspects of the character. The equivalent for "story" in video games is gameplay, and there's still so much room to grow and refine what the player can do (which the Arkham series has done in that regard, specifically with each Rocksteady game). In City, I could swoop down on a criminal from the rooftops and save someone they were assaulting, but there's a few ways that could be improved. If the sequel was entirely in a hospital or maze or something, then there'd be no iteration on that aspect that relies on there being a more open game world.
It's like how people have no problem with a Pokémon Pinball being released because there's always going to be a "mainline" Mario game around the corner. If something like Metroid Prime: Federation Force comes along after an eight-year drought, that's different. A closer analogy might be Red Faction: Guerrilla having fantastic destruction, yet Armageddon scales everything back for a "tighter experience" despite there being so much potential to build beyond Guerrilla's gameplay not a lot of people are doing true, detailed destruction in games, and Armageddon was a missed opportunity. That's something I would hate to have happen to the first good, comprehensive Batman games ever made.
I figured. It's just Asylum really isn't that great a Metroid-like when it comes down to it. Great approach when it came out though. It allowed the promising yet barebones gameplay a way to feel more substantial than it actually was. By meting out new gadgets that unlocked the subsequent areas throughout the game (albeit in a completely linear and scripted way), players could get a sense of progression despite the combat only increasing the number of enemies throughout, and the predator sections only adding booby-trapped gargoyles. It's Metroid-like in the most artificial way, and nothing on the level of Axiom Verge or Metroid Prime.
Even if it truly deserved the "Metroid-like" classification, there's indication (beyond the sequels taking a completely different approach) that Rocksteady intended to make a Batman-simulator, and the scope of Asylum was only chosen because they were just starting out. Being confined to a single area or just interiors is not a good fit for any lengthy Batman media. A single graphic novel, or even a short (animated) movie could carry that premise, if making an isolated story is the goal. Making a game that is in any way meant to be "comprehensive" (in this case, letting the player be Batman), then it will only feel limiting.
There's more than one comic writer out there doing Batman (universe) stuff, so it won't feel like a missed opportunity in a one-off takes place entirely in one spot, or even if nothing tremendous happens. There's only one company making good Batman games right now, and another Asylum that just traps the player in one place the whole game will be a missed opportunity at this point.
Asylum got away with it because it was far better than anyone could've hoped for at the time. Considering there are at least two years between each title, people asking for another Asylum are asking for a step back in a lot of ways. In other media, plenty of big Batman stories have been told, ones that explore the most prominent aspects of the character. The equivalent for "story" in video games is gameplay, and there's still so much room to grow and refine what the player can do (which the Arkham series has done in that regard, specifically with each Rocksteady game). In City, I could swoop down on a criminal from the rooftops and save someone they were assaulting, but there's a few ways that could be improved. If the sequel was entirely in a hospital or maze or something, then there'd be no iteration on that aspect that relies on there being a more open game world.
It's like how people have no problem with a Pokémon Pinball being released because there's always going to be a "mainline" Mario game around the corner. If something like Metroid Prime: Federation Force comes along after an eight-year drought, that's different. A closer analogy might be Red Faction: Guerrilla having fantastic destruction, yet Armageddon scales everything back for a "tighter experience" despite there being so much potential to build beyond Guerrilla's gameplay not a lot of people are doing true, detailed destruction in games, and Armageddon was a missed opportunity. That's something I would hate to have happen to the first good, comprehensive Batman games ever made.
What a wall of text... I'll just answer briefly on my part.
I actually played Arkham Asylum in 2011, 1½ years after its release and a year before Arkham City, and it didn't feel like it had aged poorly at all. The combat and bossfights are better in the sequel, but everything else is better in the original, and it felt like there was just too much combat in Arkham City. Finding and solving the Riddler trophies was so satisfying back then, whereas now they're more tiresome than fun, and I don't even want to bother with them.
As for Metroidvania structure, Asylum's progression reminded me of Soul Reaver, where the abilities acquired opened new paths. Sprawling and intertwined gameworld always beats open world in my book. All the best games I've played have been more or less linear experiences, like Bloodborne, which also shares some similarities with SR and AA. The experience is just so much better, when you aren't bothered with dozens of trivial things, and have one main road to go with few branching paths along the way. Different strokes for different folks.
That wasn't meant as a jab. Like the Finnish proverb goes, lyhyestä virsi kaunis, which roughly translates: a short hymn is beautiful. And it exhausts me to write a wall of text myself.
so um... how is the game? most love it or hate it? i remember everyone hated the bat mobile when it was revealed
the thing is when the first 2 batman games came out there was a ton of buzz for both for a while but this one.. not so much. it seemed to be forgotten pretty quick. i was going to buy it when it came out but i lost interest
I finished it 100% last week - the riddles aren't too hard, although I used the IGN guide to find them all.
I liked the story, but I had a few gripes with gameplay, which made the experience slightly frustrating. A option to turn the post-death cutscenes off would have made it less annoying.
I finished it 100% last week - the riddles aren't too hard, although I used the IGN guide to find them all.
I liked the story, but I had a few gripes with gameplay, which made the experience slightly frustrating. A option to turn the post-death cutscenes off would have made it less annoying.
I finished it 100% last week - the riddles aren't too hard, although I used the IGN guide to find them all.
I liked the story, but I had a few gripes with gameplay, which made the experience slightly frustrating. A option to turn the post-death cutscenes off would have made it less annoying.
Finished the game about a week ago and thought it was great. Now, I'm trying to get all the riddles so I can get the full knightfall protocol, but I gotta say, hiding the real/full/more satisfying ending behind so many tiresome riddles was a kick in the nuts. I don't know if there are other games like this out there, but I haven't come across one that denies you an ending like this.
I'm really trying to solve all riddles since the game did a great job interesting me in completing all secondary objectives, and I hardly do so in other open world games, but man... I have more than a 100 left and it's fucking tiresome. On top of that, I have to keep looking for green dudes so I can interrogate them so I can unlock more challenges.
I just wanted to vent, because it's been a long time since something annoys me the way this design decision has. I'm almost rdy to quit and watch the damn thing on Youtube, but I feel like all those hours trying to get there would be a waste.
Anyway, the game is awesome and I had a great time with it. Batman felt nice to control and I think Scarecrow was a pretty awesome villain. Also,
the joker being on Batman's head was great.He was pretty well written as well. Made me laugh quite a few times.
Felt kinda sad locking him away.
Kinda regret having missed Arkham City and Origins.
fight is even more annoying than the fight against the
Cloudburst tank.
The Batmobile was such a needless addition to the game, which only made it worse. I wish I could just skip the section to see the story through. On a side note, I also wish games would give the players the opportunity to rate parts of them, so the developers could see what the players actually liked and hated about them.
fight is even more annoying than the fight against the
Cloudburst tank.
The Batmobile was such a needless addition to the game, which only made it worse. I wish I could just skip the section to see the story through. On a side note, I also wish games would give the players the opportunity to rate parts of them, so the developers could see what the players actually liked and hated about them.
I think Assassins Creed did that. I know GTA has the like/dislike button. The thing that kinda amazes me is that its year over year and I don't think game devs get it or they are just ordered too.
The Riddler trophies? Aren't fun. The Riddles are great and they should have just kept them in as a nod to all the easter eggs. Those I would have done without a guide but I did them with a guide cause there were so many other riddles that weren't fun and it sucked the fun out of the game.
Same with the Batmobile. How can someone not sit in that studio and say "there is too much batmobile, not enough stealth, and its not that fun". I think Arkham has some really great highs in the game. But the parts that go to mediocre and absolutely atrocious are batmobile related.
I think Assassins Creed did that. I know GTA has the like/dislike button. The thing that kinda amazes me is that its year over year and I don't think game devs get it or they are just ordered too.
The Riddler trophies? Aren't fun. The Riddles are great and they should have just kept them in as a nod to all the easter eggs. Those I would have done without a guide but I did them with a guide cause there were so many other riddles that weren't fun and it sucked the fun out of the game.
Same with the Batmobile. How can someone not sit in that studio and say "there is too much batmobile, not enough stealth, and its not that fun". I think Arkham has some really great highs in the game. But the parts that go to mediocre and absolutely atrocious are batmobile related.
Oh, I didn't know those games had the feature, as I haven't played neither of them. I wish all games had it.
One of the most surprising and lacking parts of AK is its boss fights. That was where AC shone, and it's strange that they went backwards in that regard. The same goes for the predator sections in the main story. Dunno if the sidequests have more of them, at least
Two-Face
quest had few.
And I couldn't agree more with your last paragraph.
Oh, I didn't know those games had the feature, as I haven't played neither of them. I wish all games had it.
One of the most surprising and lacking parts of AK is its boss fights. That was where AC shone, and it's strange that they went backwards in that regard. The same goes for the predator sections in the main story. Dunno if the sidequests have more of them, at least
Two-Face
quest had few.
And I couldn't agree more with your last paragraph.
I think its odd. Cause Arkham City had a fantastic boss fight with Mr Freeze.
Then Arkham Origins comes out and the new Developers basically say "While we won't change the gameplay and ruin Rocksteady's progress, we are going to try and have as many Mr. Freeze-esque boss battles as possible" and while they weren't all great, they had a lot of good stuff in here.
Arkham Knight comes out and its tough to find a memorable boss battle. The final battle was interesting from a cinematic point of view but didn't require any puzzle elements, the
battle when Jason Todd reveals himself
fight was really just stealth. Same with
Two-Face, Deacon, Firefly
were really just rehashed elements from taking out a room, combat, and APC chases. The rest were kinda bad.
Can't quote that without seeing behind the spoiler tags.
Yeah, Mr. Freeze fight was good. I haven't played Origins, so it's news to me it had many fights like that. Sounds like perhaps too many. Variety is good, and I think the Batman games would benefit from the kind of bossfights Soul Reaver had. Every one of them was different, and you had to figure out the way to beat them.
Can't quote that without seeing behind the spoiler tags.
Yeah, Mr. Freeze fight was good. I haven't played Origins, so it's news to me it had many fights like that. Sounds like perhaps too many. Variety is good, and I think the Batman games would benefit from the kind of bossfights Soul Reaver had. Every one of them was different, and you had to figure out the way to beat them.
Ack, sorry. All you really needed to know is that with the exception of one side quest having a pretty cool fight, the rest of them are rehashed portions of existing gameplay without any additional puzzles to solve.
Its how I really felt like with the sidemissions in general. A couple of them are great, a couple of them are mediocre but they took the mediocre ones and made them long to pad out how much gameplay there was instead of just making fewer but more compelling sidemissions.
Ack, sorry. All you really needed to know is that with the exception of one side quest having a pretty cool fight, the rest of them are rehashed portions of existing gameplay without any additional puzzles to solve.
Its how I really felt like with the sidemissions in general. A couple of them are great, a couple of them are mediocre but they took the mediocre ones and made them long to pad out how much gameplay there was instead of just making fewer but more compelling sidemissions.
That's disappointing to hear. I've really liked the parts with
Joker
, and the beginning sequence was amazing, but it was all downhill from there.
I really dislike the direction the game took, and how it's become partly a shooter, partly a racer. The more methodical approach of AA/AC was much more fitting to the theme, and much more to my liking.
The Crimefighter DLC is up on EU PSN. It includes 4 new combat challenges for Robin, Nightwing, Catwoman and dual play Batman/Robin and two new predator maps for Batman, with one of them being one of the Two face heists of the base game
I am pretty happy with it but it will take at least two more challenge packs for the game to feel complete
It's funny seeing people Knight was too action heavy compared to City when the same complaint was levied against City when it came out. And I even recall some saying there was too much fighting in Asylum ¯\_(ツ_/¯
I think its odd. Cause Arkham City had a fantastic boss fight with Mr Freeze.
Then Arkham Origins comes out and the new Developers basically say "While we won't change the gameplay and ruin Rocksteady's progress, we are going to try and have as many Mr. Freeze-esque boss battles as possible" and while they weren't all great, they had a lot of good stuff in here.
Arkham Knight comes out and its tough to find a memorable boss battle. The final battle was interesting from a cinematic point of view but didn't require any puzzle elements, the
battle when Jason Todd reveals himself
fight was really just stealth. Same with
Two-Face, Deacon, Firefly
were really just rehashed elements from taking out a room, combat, and APC chases. The rest were kinda bad.
City did have a fantastic boss fight. The final boss was pretty good as well. That was it. And none of the boss fights in Arkham Asylum were any good — the final one was abjectly terrible. Unless The Knight DLC has some great boss encounters in it, it'll be fair to consider City's boss fight(s) a fluke. AK's
Pyg
and
Riddler
actually have something amounting to boss fights —
Two-Face, Deacon and Firefly
definitely shouldn't count as bosses compared to those.
Origins' boss fights/encounters were serviceable, but in what way are they Mr. Freeze-esque, outside of the obviously similar one in the DLC? Virtually every boss fight outside of Deathstroke is a spin on existing types of gameplay (which I actually prefer to QTE-heavy fare).
Killer Croc - group fight + brute
Copperhead - group fight
Bane #1 - group fight + charging brute
Deathstroke - QTE fight
Bane #2 - Group fight + brute
Bane #3 - Closest to Mr. Freeze in main game, but none of the player's abilities do anything
Firefly - QTE heavy, unique
Anarky (side mission) - group fight
Shiva (side mission) - Group fight
Deadshot (side mission) - Predator sequence with "can't takedown highlighted enemy" modifier
Bird (side mission) - Group fight
They were good distractions to change up pace, but nothing came close to Freeze. Just reaffirms my belief that the basic combat in this game doesn't work for boss fights, particularly ones that are one-on-one with another fighter.
Arkham Asylum's combat is barebones. Its sequels still allows for Asylum's mindless approach that you loved at lower-tier fights, yet it ramps of the difficulty as a game should.
Oh yes - the loading times on the PS4 were a bit long.
The tank combat was ok in small doses - one of my main gripes was when you're fighting a crowd and one of them has electric shocks or is electrified, it's almost impossible NOT to be hit, as it just tends to randomly drift towards the nearest enemy.
The tank combat was ok in small doses - one of my main gripes was when you're fighting a crowd and one of them has electric shocks or is electrified, it's almost impossible NOT to be hit, as it just tends to randomly drift towards the nearest enemy.
It's definitely possible. The bat claw gets rid of the electricity, and that's available from the beginning. If there isn't time to do that, you can flip over them, you can freeze them, you can shock them yourself, etc.
The electrified (or shielded, or unarmed) big guys can be shocked with the REC causing them to spin, knocking out surrounding enemies. This has been around since City though.
Oh yes - the loading times on the PS4 were a bit long.
The tank combat was ok in small doses - one of my main gripes was when you're fighting a crowd and one of them has electric shocks or is electrified, it's almost impossible NOT to be hit, as it just tends to randomly drift towards the nearest enemy.
The electrified thugs aren't that big of a problem for me, after I learned how to encounter them, but I can't say I'd really enjoy the group fights where there are multiple different kind of thugs, including those with guns.
It's funny seeing people Knight was too action heavy compared to City when the same complaint was levied against City when it came out. And I even recall some saying there was too much fighting in Asylum ¯\_(ツ_/¯
City did have a fantastic boss fight. The final boss was pretty good as well. That was it. And none of the boss fights in Arkham Asylum were any good — the final one was abjectly terrible. Unless The Knight DLC has some great boss encounters in it, it'll be fair to consider City's boss fight(s) a fluke. AK's
Pyg
and
Riddler
actually have something amounting to boss fights —
Two-Face, Deacon and Firefly
definitely shouldn't count as bosses compared to those.
Origins' boss fights/encounters were serviceable, but in what way are they Mr. Freeze-esque, outside of the obviously similar one in the DLC? Virtually every boss fight outside of Deathstroke is a spin on existing types of gameplay (which I actually prefer to QTE-heavy fare).
They were good distractions to change up pace, but nothing came close to Freeze. Just reaffirms my belief that the basic combat in this game doesn't work for boss fights, particularly ones that are one-on-one with another fighter.
Arkham Asylum's combat is barebones. Its sequels still allows for Asylum's mindless approach that you loved at lower-tier fights, yet it ramps of the difficulty as a game should.
Fair enough. I guess I didn't recall Arkham Origins as well as I did. I do remember them saying that during an e3 though.
I will say that I think Arkham Aslyum had way better atmosphere than City/Origins. Up until Arkham Knight, Gotham felt very meh. Without citizens, the environment didn't really feel like Gotham. maybe a couple buildings here and there, but the rest felt bland and empty.
I am someone who would have preferred more stealth than anything but I think overall the animations in Knight are by far the best of the series.
Ugh. Rocksteady please make classic challenges... who thought it was a good idea to remove them?
I love playing as Catwoman but giving her those annoying ass robots. Jesus. Robin's the most fun since it's infinite. But I want that for everyone.
The fact that so many playable characters are in this game yet it's so restricted and limited pisses me off. Every single character has the ability to play the same way so why did they do this? I don't understand it.