k, just played for three hours without even doing the first real objective (some kind of arms deal with Penguin). So far I'm loving it. The game feels very different from Rocksteady's games, both in tone and gameplay, but not in a bad way. It's obviously built on the same foundation, but just about every little thing has been tweaked slightly.
The most noticeable thing for me is the combat. It's much faster than before. I've been playing bits and pieces of AA and AC after their GFWL patches, and Origins feels like a DMC-style Turbo Mode with a 20% speed increase or something. Enemies are much more aggressive, and they move quickly enough that you really have to be ready with those Counters. In AC you could sometimes skate if you'd accidentally hit the attack button while an enemy was winding up for an attack, but in Origins you take the hit every time. It seems like Double and Triple Counters are gone, but in their place you'll have a bunch of enemies attacking you one right after the other. You can still Evade to 'reset' any attacking goons, but I've just unlocked a new ability called Critical Counters, which gives you a x2 addition to your combo meter instead of x1 if you Counter just before an attack lands. I haven't quite worked out the timing yet, but I think it's a neat idea. In AC's combat challenges I'd almost stopped Countering altogether, just because I had more control over the situation when I was somersaulting around, but this seems like a nice risk/reward thing.
The Redirected Aerial Attack has been nerfed, for lack of a better word (the one where you Cape Stun a guy, Evade over his head, then Attack in a direction in mid-air to jump off his head and land on another guy). It has such a long animation now, that as far as I'm aware you can't cancel out of, that you pretty much can't use it without some careful planning. It's about as dangerous as the Ground Takedown now; I've been fighting with my muscle memory. I think the Bat Swarm special move is going to be more valuable now than ever, because crowd control can be pretty tough. I haven't unlocked any gadgets or special moves beyond the Instant Takedown yet, and they're really not shy about throwing you into big group fights in the early stages of the game. I'm playing on Hard, though, so I don't know if it's different on lower difficulties.
The upgrade system is totally different now, but it's a variation on AC's theme. You unlock a lot of the moves by completing challenges now, instead of just buying them, but I've yet to see anything new for Batman's abilities. The city is still bristling with puzzles and collectibles, so it's all good on that front. I want to get stuck into the story to see all the cool stuff, but the game tells you upfront that you can unlock a bunch of fast-travel stations by clearing out and un-jamming radio towers, and that's a rabbit hole I always fall down, so that cool stuff will have to wait.
k, just played for three hours without even doing the first real objective (some kind of arms deal with Penguin). So far I'm loving it. The game feels very different from Rocksteady's games, both in tone and gameplay, but not in a bad way. It's obviously built on the same foundation, but just about every little thing has been tweaked slightly.
The most noticeable thing for me is the combat. It's much faster than before. I've been playing bits and pieces of AA and AC after their GFWL patches, and Origins feels like a DMC-style Turbo Mode with a 20% speed increase or something. Enemies are much more aggressive, and they move quickly enough that you really have to be ready with those Counters. In AC you could sometimes skate if you'd accidentally hit the attack button while an enemy was winding up for an attack, but in Origins you take the hit every time. It seems like Double and Triple Counters are gone, but in their place you'll have a bunch of enemies attacking you one right after the other. You can still Evade to 'reset' any attacking goons, but I've just unlocked a new ability called Critical Counters, which gives you a x2 addition to your combo meter instead of x1 if you Counter just before an attack lands. I haven't quite worked out the timing yet, but I think it's a neat idea. In AC's combat challenges I'd almost stopped Countering altogether, just because I had more control over the situation when I was somersaulting around, but this seems like a nice risk/reward thing.
The Redirected Aerial Attack has been nerfed, for lack of a better word (the one where you Cape Stun a guy, Evade over his head, then Attack in a direction in mid-air to jump off his head and land on another guy). It has such a long animation now, that as far as I'm aware you can't cancel out of, that you pretty much can't use it without some careful planning. It's about as dangerous as the Ground Takedown now; I've been fighting with my muscle memory
The upgrade system is totally different now, but it's a variation on AC's theme. You unlock a lot of the moves by completing challenges now, instead of just buying them, but I've yet to see anything new for Batman's abilities. The city is still bristling with puzzles and collectibles, so it's all good on that front. I want to get stuck into the story to see all the cool stuff, but the game tells you upfront that you can unlock a bunch of fast-travel stations by clearing out and un-jamming radio towers, and that's a rabbit hole I always fall down, so that cool stuff will have to wait.
Makes sense though, it is their first entry in a pretty fan appreciated series, i wouldn't stray to far off the track either the first go
It takes place in Gotham City, except you now have access to the district that was flooded in Arkham City.
