Batmazement: Knightly Man Bruce

[SecretAsianMan]

I finished up the main story for the game.  Last night I wrapped up the Riddler side quest, the most satisfying part of which was finally getting to punch the Riddler in the face because god he's annoying.  Also I was extremely annoyed that in order to collect all of the Riddler trophies, you have to get the freeze blast upgrade which I spent the entire game expecting to get during the story.  NOPE.  It's just a random thing hanging around in one of the bat-hideouts.  I probably could have picked it up at any time except I didn't even know it was there.  Why didn't you just start with it if they're not going to make it part of the story or give you a prompt?  It's completely unnecessary for anything besides the Riddler stuff (I know because I played the entire game up to this point without it). 

 

Anyway the only thing I have left is a checkpoint I can't seem to find.  Also the story is lame.

[Ben X]

Anything you enjoyed about the game? You mentioned it was fun, but have only listed your annoyances so far!

[SecretAsianMan]

I actually am enjoying the game for the most part.  I liked Asylum, I liked City even more.  Knight is mostly more of the same but I'm ok with that.  I've seen a few posts from people here that the combat seems overly complicated to them because of the number of gadgets that Batman has.  It's true that he does have a lot of toys to use in combat but I got proficient at using them in City and the ability to quickly fire off a gadget is rather satisfying to me.  Stealth is also mostly the same but I do appreciate them at least trying to come up with some counters to just sneaking up behind everyone, like them actually working in pairs, having medics revive people, having them look at grates and stuff before you pop out, or having one enemy type track you when you use detective mode.  Granted they're not very good at that but hey, they're henchmen.  I particularly enjoy sabotaging their equipment then scaring them into trying to use it.  The multi fear takedowns and additional environmental things are also fun to use.

 

The Batmobile is pretty fun although I enjoy running around without it more.  I think the race tracks are dumb but a few have some clever twists.  Batmobile combat I'm also ok with.  In a way it feels like a bullet hell because you're dodging lots of enemy fire while lining up shots but you have some fun gadgets at your disposal as well.

 

In general I'd say the game is mostly an iteration on the previous games which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Nothing especially revolutionary but they also didn't mess it up by trying to reinvent everything.  The one thing I would have loved is if the Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor could have been implemented in this game instead.  You already have multiple factions and enemies with different strengths/weaknesses, plus a system that puts fear into your enemies.  I think that would have taken it from good to great.

[Bjorn]

In general I'd say the game is mostly an iteration on the previous games which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Nothing especially revolutionary but they also didn't mess it up by trying to reinvent everything.  The one thing I would have loved is if the Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor could have been implemented in this game instead.  You already have multiple factions and enemies with different strengths/weaknesses, plus a system that puts fear into your enemies.  I think that would have taken it from good to great.

 

The Nemesis system would work wonderfully in a superhero game, particularly if you could combine the emergent element of it with some developer guidance.  Instead of having fixed minibosses, each player's miniboss could in fact be a henchman that had developed through the Nemesis system.  There would even be the possibility of having a new super villain being born through it with the right circumstances. 

[SecretAsianMan]

I finished up the rest of the missions and got the 100% ending, which was predictably cliché and dumb.  I started a new game+ but I'm not sure that I'll finish it.  I'm also not touching any of the DLC because frankly none of it looks appealing to me based on what I've heard.  I'm also not doing a bunch of the AR missions, especially the races.  I hate the races.

 

Despite all the complaining I've been doing, I did like playing the game.  I think the gameplay is solid, although I admit it can probably be overwhelming if you're not at least somewhat familiar with it from the other games.  In particular I think the stealth is more fun as there are now more viable ways to deal with enemies that feel satisfying, at least to me.  Of course the regular way of just sneaking up and silently taking everyone out works too but I really liked using the remote hacking device to set off environmental things.  The one gadget I miss is the sonic batarang that attracts enemies, which is ironic since I never used it in any other game.  It would work so well with the multi-fear takedown in this game.

 

One thing I have to complain some more about is the story.  It's such garbage.

Jason Todd as the Arkham Knight was so damn obvious.  I figured it would be him before I started playing and as soon as the game started talking about him I knew I was right.  Also they literally do nothing with him at the end.  He's just gone. 

 

Scarecrow is really not a good main villain.  Despite his motif, I don't find him intimidating at all.  His fear toxin is just way too convenient (it's so powerful it goes through clothing and gas masks!). 

 

I didn't find the public unmasking of Batman to be Bruce Wayne convincing.  Batman's been unmasked before in the comics and has gotten around it.  This is the guy who has a plan for everything, I'm sure he has a contingency for that as well (besides faking is own death).  Not to mention it felt like everyone already knew who he was.  He doesn't really do a good job of hiding it since he talks to Alfred and Lucius using that holographic projector.  Also Knightwing and Oracle call him Bruce in public.

 

I never really liked the Riddler but my god was he annoying in this game.  I really enjoyed punching him just to shut him up.

 

The treatment of women has never been great in the Arkham games and this one is no better.  While I didn't hear Catwoman called bitch (something I should note I personally never had an issue with in City but I can see where it would bother other people), all of the women in the game basically had no agency.  Catwoman gets captured by the Riddler, forcing you to solve his puzzles to save her life.  Oracle gets captured by the Knight, forcing you to save her/avenge her supposed death.  Ivy needs protection in her plant and sacrifices herself to save the city.  Maybe the only one who's somewhat effective is Harley but even then she's still just pining over Joker.  And why are there no women criminals who aren't supervillains?  I guess Batman can't beat up a woman the same way he can a man (the exception I suppose is the female ninja in City).

 

One final thing of note that really surprised me.  One of the conversations I overheard was a militia dude talking to another militia dude about their civilian lives.  One of the dudes says something along the lines of "My other half is a human rights lawyer.  He thinks I'm on a business trip" (emphasis mine).  I was kind of amazed to hear this and had to stop for a second.  It was a cool thing to hear in a game that's so heavily bro'd out.

[Ninety-Three]

One thing I have to complain some more about is the story.  It's such garbage.

I didn't find the public unmasking of Batman to be Bruce Wayne convincing.  Batman's been unmasked before in the comics and has gotten around it.  This is the guy who has a plan for everything, I'm sure he has a contingency for that as well (besides faking is own death).  Not to mention it felt like everyone already knew who he was.  He doesn't really do a good job of hiding it since he talks to Alfred and Lucius using that holographic projector.  Also Knightwing and Oracle call him Bruce in public.

 

Heck, Batman could've solved the problem just by wearing a Some Other Dude mask under his bat mask.

 

Arkham Asylum did a great job of making you feel like big powerful Batman (slamming the Joker against the wall in the elevator rather than having him escape thanks to mandatory cutscene incompetence, going out of his way to save criminals, getting a one-shot cutscene KO on Harley), and the series has been working hard to undo it ever since. City had you get sucker-punched by literally every big villain, and by Knight you're running over people with a tank and

when the villain gives Bats an evil ultimatum, rather than go in and rescue the hostages like a big hero, Bats just says "Okay" and surrenders like a schmuck.

[SecretAsianMan]

My biggest story annoyance in City was that Catwoman literally did nothing to save Batman.  You get the option to either leave Arkham City as her which results in a bad ending, or go and save Batman.  Except when you get there, all you do is help him stand up.  You don't have to fight off any bad guys or save him from a death trap or even dig him out of the rubble.  You just grab his hand, haul him to his feet, then take off.  It was the most pointless thing ever.

[Ninety-Three]

My biggest story annoyance in City was that Catwoman literally did nothing to save Batman.

 

My biggest annoyance was a completely trivial moment when Penguin cutscene-hits Bats with an ice ray. Bats breaks free in seconds, with no narrative consequences, but it still ruined things for me. As it happened, I had been shouting at the screen "You idiot, don't just-" *sigh*. It wouldn't have happened to a competent protagonist, it wouldn't have happened to me in gameplay, and the fact that they managed to get cutscene competence right in Asylum made it all the worse that they messed it up here.

[SecretAsianMan]

Despite what I said earlier I did finish that NG+ 100%.  I was kind of hoping for a different ending because I was extremely unsatisfied by the regular one. 

 

I really hope this is legitimately the last one.  I've had fun with the series but I think they've gotten everything out of the idea that they can.

[Dr Wookie]

I picked this up in the latest Steam sale, after getting a new pc to replace my dying one. I have a 1080 for VR Elite, so was pretty confident of brute forcing my way through the infamous performance issues. I have to say, it looks great, with benchmarks averaging 59 fps with everything on max :).

 

I'm a couple of hours in, and it definitely feels like another Rocksteady Batman game, which is a good thing, if familiar. The batmobile has added the hands-down worst elements of play, but also some interesting new solutions to various problems.

 

I didn't enjoy the very first bit at all, especially since I wasn't entirely clear on what the button prompt was asking... tapping? Pressing Once? Holding? As a result it was dragged out and probably even more grisly than intended. 

[Dr Wookie]

I just finished the game (up to the point that it offers new game +). I took over 29 hours, including 3 of the 4 DLC most wanted stories (I got so creeped  out by Killer Croc in Arkham Assylum, I'm not sure I could face him again). I definitely enjoyed it, but could have done with cutting it down to about half its length, basically taking out those interminable drone battles. I would almost be happy with ditching the batmobile completely, but there were some things I though were very cool.

 

I had no idea who the Arkham Knight was,but then I only really know Batman from the films and the Rocksteady games (and Frank Miller Dark Kight Returns). The Joker has always been one of my favourite characters, and I really enjoyed his various appearances.

 

I'm definitely glad to have played it, but also that I bought it in a sale.