Check out the companion video where we discuss the game itself in more detail- ruclips.net/video/3jsjDIIsHbY/видео.htmlsi=499pnjbelupu7gw_ Also, a quick correction: as some people have mentioned, the Scarecrow backstory tape is referring to the doctor's backstory, not Crane's.
44:20 I think it's important to remember what happens at the very end of the book when Batman gives Harvey his coin back. Harvey flips it to decide whether or not to let Batman leave alive. Ultimately, Batman is let go, but in a later panel, we see that the side the coin landed on was the scarred side, the side which indicated that he was supposed to die. In the end, Harvey didn’t rely on the coin to make that choice, he let Batman leave by his own free will. Turning to the deck of tarot cards, arranged in a house of cards he remarks, “Who cares for you? You’re nothing but a pack of cards,” before knocking it over, showing that he doesn't need these things to make decisions anymore. This is actually a rather hopeful ending, that even despite all of the horrors of Arkham, there is still a chance for rehabilitation. Overall though, great video, great game, and great comic. Cheers!
@@velloceti6898 Yeah. There are a lot of references like that throughout the book. Grant Morrison’s script in the back of the reissues helps a lot with finding them all.
@aliquidgaming1068 Yea, tbh I thought it'd be obvious that's his cell, the Arkham guards were taking him that direction, and everything Joker's ever done should definitely be an indicator that's where he'd be
Jokers cell was in maximum security. Which is the section of Arkham we don't bet access to. Joker rides the cell there after we first encounter the titan thug and it has a heart attack. Keep in mind how in the first game we go deeper and deeper into Arkham at the start when escorting joker to show how they want to ensure joker doesn't get out this time. Also in Arkham knight Bruce throws joker into a similar cell in his mind and locks him away in it. Joker was being sent to maximum security and going to be locked away deep and far.
Another point of gross incompetence on the Arkham staff's part is the fact that Batman was able to build an ENTIRE FUCKING BATCAVE under the Asylum, without anyone noticing.
In BTAS, at least, Batman is very intimately aware of the ongoings at the asylum and even advocated for the removal of Lyle Bolton (Lock-Up) from Arkham's payroll after it became apparent that he was abusive towards the inmates. He also is pretty supportive in a number of the "villain tries to reform" episodes and even successfully redeems Ventriloquist. So that's at least one iteration of Batman shown to care. I think generally, the animated Batmen do care. It only gets sketchier when you start getting into the grittier depictions. To go back to the game, I know you're not really supposed to think about the bad guys in Arkham Asylum as much of anything other than bad guys. They're pretty one-dimensionally evil when it comes to their actions, with Harley even trying to trick you and trap you if you wind up feeling pity for her. But, at the same time, seeing the environment they live in and hearing the Arkham staff talk about them as if they're not even human always kinda felt uncomfortable to me. Even Aaron Cash, a guy you're supposed to like. For example, it's wild that they just take Killer Croc and throw him in the sewers, just occasionally doing food drops. It's one of those things that I think makes Asylum feel a bit more like a standalone game rather than a part of its own universe, because Croc seems a lot more normal/curable in Origins and pitiable in Knight where he's shown helping the other inmates of Iron Heights in combat and even shown sympathy by others for the inhumane treatment he goes through on that airship.
I’ve been forcefully committed to a mental hospital before. Although nothing horrific happened to me while I was there, I am still terrified of being hospitalized again. I was stuck there and no matter how desperately I wanted to go home, I was trapped inside. To this day I still refer to the hospital as Arkham.
I find it amazing how you and Monty Zander had such a similar outline of video, yet how extremely different each video is. Insane amount of detail and research in this man. Can’t wait to see more
@ddl3718 I'll be honest and say I became aware of the Monty video about halfway through scripting, checked it out out of curiosity and turned it off after about 5 min because I was worried it would effect the direction of mine too much. I'm glad you found there to be enough differences here, since I was a little worried about the overlap
The problem I have with this whole idea of Batman being just as evil by letting Joker live is that if Batman’s responsible for NOT killing Joker then by that logic every single person in the city is just as culpable for Jokers actions. Jokers and Joker alone is responsible for his own actions. Anyone could kill him. Batman doesn’t kill people. He’s barking up the safest tree trying to tempt Bats into committing murder. What makes Jokers life Batman’s personal responsibility? It’s like asking the parent you know will say yes and wondering why you always get what you want.
Batman’s main purpose is to rid the streets of Gotham of the evil that took his parents. This leads me to believe that Batman has little care for how the criminals become rehabilitated or reformed. Batman just wants them gone. However, I also believe that Batman views rehabilitation as Bruce Wayne’s job. Not sure if it’s seen in the Arkham games, but I know in the animated series there’s a scene where Bruce visits Harvey in the hospital after Batman defeats him. Batman might want to criminals gone, but I think Bruce Wayne truly does care.
Fair, I like the writings where he is also a tortured soul who struggles with multiple facets of himself, a protector who has to be cold and bitter and a man of means who genuinely tries to use his wealth to do right by his community even for those who would harm others.
I really like that in the modern comics they’ve turned Bruce’s mum Martha into an Arkham and she had a lot of mental illnesses through her life due to this bloodline. It makes you question Bruce’s sanity. Wondering if he would be damaged mentally even if his parents hadn’t died, because of him being half Arkham
Awesome video but just to put this out there, Batman simply doesn’t kill because it stoops to the level of his worst enemies but because he has to put faith in the system, as much as Batman can be blamed for his very callous nature torward the asylum it is also sort of not his job, he probably views himself even as unworthy given he fears he should be in there. I also think that this idea of Batman’s success being superficial comes with that bittersweet victory in city where he is able to save himself and lots of other inmates but not everyone like joker or Talia This video is awesome btw keep up the work
Definitely an important aspect of his whole psychology, although given his influence and direct contributions financially I still think he should be a little more aware of the goings on there, even if he doesn't get too directly involved And I appreciate that, thank you!
Fantastic video, I'm glad the algorithm brought me here! I've watched so many Arkham videos but there's always something new to say, truly a masterpiece.
Asad, your a spiritual successor to the heydays when Super Bunnyhop produced excellent gaming essays and commentary. Thank you for carrying that baton forward and kudos on the growth of your primary and second channels.
In the game I always saw the Asylum as kind of a ticking time bomb because the place is literally falling apart with not much renovations done to it except for the new automatic doors and TV Screens and Cameras. That made me wonder if Batman knew the asylum would eventually stop being used altogether and the city might resort back to Blackgate Prison as we all know how bad that turned out in Arkham Origins.
Something people don’t really talk about is that in the Arkham games, we’re seeing a Batman who is at the end of his journey. Yeah, we see it at the very end of Arkham Knight, but it’s right there in the open of Asylum. This has all been going on for a very long time. This is a Batman who has been staring into the abyss for far longer than even he could bear. I see his attitude towards the inmates and workers as just a well earned pragmatism. At the point the first game begins, he’s already seen and done all of this too long. He doesn’t have the same hope of improving the world that he once had…replaced by recognizing that he’s just holding a finger in the dam. He knows at that point that there’s no redeeming Gotham, all he can do is hold all of the evil at bay. That’s one reason that the supernatural elements work so well in Asylum but vanish in later games. Batman CAN’T win this fight. He puts up a more than valiant effort, but it’s still a losing one-and when we first see him in Asylum, he knows it. He’s not facing mental illness that can be treated or cured, he’s staring at genuine evil that will continue to exist long after he’s gone.
I really like how stylized your editing is and you can feel the tension of the setting through your narration you should do more horror stuff bro definitely subscribing
Always happy to see another video essay on Arkham Asylum. Somehow, every time I get to hear about something I didn't before. A detail I've seen other point out that you might find interesting for this angle is the presence of the high-tech doors in the asylum, which are sometimes just jammed into old, decaying buildings. Another video I saw read it as Bruce giving the asylum money and tech to improve the facilities, but the asylum couldn't or wouldn't use them properly. I liked how you wove some of the game scenery into your retelling of Amadeus' story. Something that I've thought about A Serious House on Serious Earth, though, is that I feel that it should be pointed out that Bruce/Batman not caring about what happens to people after he captures them is very much a 'depending on the writer' thing. It's something that has always rubbed me the wrong way about it.
This video deserves more views. The atmosphere of Arkham asylum is truly what makes the game so great. I hope you gain more subscribers bcs you deserve it.
The atmosphere is the only thing that makes it great the story is bland and is blatantly ablest and shows a frankly insulting and stigmatizing view of the mental issues that many face.
Arkham Asylum has a sheer degree of atmosphere that none of the other games in the Arkham series ever truly captured again- a choice perhaps for their betterment, as a tradeoff for the tone those games wanted to strike and as more ideas for the series developed… but Arkham Asylum remains my favorite for its unparalleled ambiance alone. The experience is not so much the actual Joker-Titan surface plot, but its dissection of the Batman mythos and a pretty stunning indictment of the existence of Arkham Asylum in the lore and critique of Batman’s ideals in his methods and modus operandi- never openly criticized by the game, but insinuated and inferred through every crack in the crumbling Asylum, its torturous medieval-looking medical equipment, the callous and unethical treatment of villains under a clinical, insidious veneer of a rehabilitation mission, and all scathingly wrapped up in the fact that for not the Joker’s breakout scheme, this would have been just another night for Batman. To capture and deposit criminals back here, to leave villains to the clutches of the Asylum and walk away with this comic mantle we place upon him as Gotham’s protector and the hero. I am so happy someone is putting to words how special Asylum is from the horror perspective, what I’ve felt but have struggled to articulate for so long.
This was a fantastic video! Albeit I would have to disagree with the idea that Batman was wrong in the comic when he disregarded the doctors choice to make two face go from a coin to a deck in order to “cure” him, when it’s shown there that all that has accomplished is that he feels so overwhelmed he can’t even go to the bathroom and soils himself constantly. Another default hat I really like is that even in such a bleak and hopeless comic, it’s Two Face himself the one that sees the hope in Batman and goes against his coin to let him be free at the end.
I have to disagree with you on the whole thing about Batman not giving a damnn, for Zsasz, he knows he wont change, he’s too far gone and needs to be contained; for 2 face, his mind was already gone and depended on choices, he knew that giving him too many choices (8-sided dies, tarot cards) would just break his mind since the choice was not coming from him but the amount of options which he couldn’t dictate which was better
In arkham shadows they reveal how the Wayne's paid for the asylum to be built and then Wayne foundation pays for it to be reopen again after orgins. It's kinda funny how crucial batman and his family were for arkham but he doesn't really care that much about their treatment, only seems to care about Dr. Y young with bane but that's about it in asylum.
Personally I assumed the reason why we didn't see jokers cell was because he was constantly changing cells because inmates didn't want him next to them or the staff didn't want him to formulate a plan to escape
Excellent analysis! It’s always been one of my favorite things about Asylum (and City as well to a similar extent), how much of the actual “story” of the game is baked into the scenery. You’ve done an amazing job covering it all here!
19:30 seems like you messed up here, in that interview it's actually Crane having his own twisted 'therapy session' with one Dr. Combs, who is the one with the dead wife and kids. I was also confused the first time i heard that interview tape, but once you realize the first person speaking IS crane it all makes sense lol
I had a whole collection of batmans books, including key moments up to Endgame. And to me, Arkahm Asylum always seemed like a nightmare batman was having.
I have a problem with external noises and i sleep with headphones on. The amount of Arkham Asylum videos I've fell asleep to over the years is definitely in the double digits. Here's one for tonight. Thanks!
i was going to listen to this while going to sleep but now i just found out about comicstorian passing away. that's fucking tragic and i'm sure he led many many more like me to falling in love with comics. rip legend
I loved that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprised their roles in the game. It made the game immediately feel "correct" i guess. It felt right to hear them
Forgive me if I’m mismembering, but regarding Scarecrow’s first interview tape, wasn’t he testing his formula on a doctor in the asylum? The first and last tapes were him using the toxin and psychoanalyzing the fear of a doctor in the first, leading to a doctor and security guards in the last tape. From the context of the first tape, he was referring to his “test subject” to have lost a wife and child. Although, it still draws a connection to Amadeus Arkham and his insanity, albeit a literal sense with Scarecrow pumping gas compared to a series of unfortunate events.
You may be right, since the whole wife/daughter thing isn't a typical part of cranes backstory. I guess it still connects just not as directly as I remembered
42:41 - 44:30 You've perfectly explained what I realized about Batman. What makes him pretty incompetent at his own self imposed mission of being a vigilante who "stops evil" isn't that he refuses to kill the bad guys, it's that he is very much okay with EVERYTHING else that can be done to those bad guys as long as they're kept alive, and we all know there are fates worse than death... I'm not sure if this has been explored in any iteration of this comic superhero, but it brings up an important question: Batman disagrees with killing villains, but does that mean he's a-okay with giving them other torturous fates as long as they're alive? If you know anything about "I have no mouth and I must scream", then you start to realize maybe Bruce SHOULD be taken somewhere far away from society like all the other villains.
No Batman is very much against torture and stuff along those lines. He might break some bones but he’s never gonna injure you in such a way that you won’t heal and recover
@@kylerpruitt1620That's good to know. I've seen some interpretations where he's actually very kind to those villains who do get redeemed or are trying to be, but those are mostly from the animated series (particularly with Harley Quinn and Ace). Meanwhile, darker interpretations don't give way to that comforting side of Batman/Bruce, and I think the one in Arkham Asylum (game) would fall into that category, since he sees through environment and audio log how many villains arent given proper treatment for true rehabilitation but he doesn't even react to it. We could make the assumption that he is affected by them and at the end of the game he forces changes to the asylum, but first of all, it's an assumption, and secondly, if he had made changes then I'm pretty sure we wouldn't see the exact same villains in the sequel games being just as bad as they always were (except for Ivy to an extent, she did sacrifice herself in Arkham Knight, but she only did it for the plantlife)
He is extremely against torture and is usually kinder to his enemies, the games just usually don’t elaborate that side of him. the Batman from the animated series is much closer to how he is in the comics than the Arkham games, although they are equally good adaptations of the characters in my opinion.
20:20 To answer your question as to what the devs might have intended with Scarface, I have my own theory. Scarface is specifically located inside of Quincy Sharp's office, which I think is subtle foreshadowing that Quincy is merely a puppet in Strange and Ra's plan for Arkham and Gotham city as a whole.
The mannequin could be of clayface because i remember he have one in his cell. So maybe it ended in the sewers in one of his escapes of arkham and having in mind he would fit though pipes makes sense
35:08 I just checked this bug in the game, and yes - it really happens in the game if you go outside with detective mode enabled. However, now another question arises - is this really a glitch in the game, or is there some kind of feature that Rocksteady did intentionally...
Knight by itself is fine but if you played the first two games it's understandable why many see Arkham Knight as an disappointment. It doesn't have the horror and fucked up lore of the first two games and instead it's more like...normal cartoon episode with bad writing.
I had already started playing this ha ha. And yes the Batman is as bad as his villains is played out, if he wasn’t there the villains would still be doing what they’d be doing.
Honestly i assume joker dosen't have a dedicated cell to make it harder too escape cause if you leave him in the one cell long enough he will find out a way too escape Much like batman you give joker enough time he can escape anything And as for the riddler trophies i always assumed the more hidden ones were actually riddler placing them in secret and the more obvious ones were placed by some if riddlers inside men once the events of asylum take place
In a distant future in that so called Capcom/DC/ShonenJump AU I wish to create, I like to make Dante Sparda from The Devil May Cry series part of The Bat-Family, and it involves Arkham being Amadeus Arkham himself through precise writing, and this can be how. Dante, Vergil, and Mary would be childhood friends in Redgrave City England. Dante and Mary would be childhood couple until Mary’s family moved had to moved to Gotham City America for an Asylum her father Amadeus Arkham help create. That Asylum of course is Arkham Asylum. Dante would be left suffering from Emotional Damage having Sparda and Eva comfort him, while amusing Vergil. Eventually the tragedy that lead to the deaths of Sparda and Eva, and Vergil’s desaparece would happen. Leaving Dante as brash yet hopeful child. His perseverance would eventually reward by bumping into Bruce Wayne aka The Batman who was following a lead over the Amadeus Arkham incident. Seeing that Dante himself was that lead, Bruce would adopt Dante take him to Gotham City were Dante would lit up in hopes of seeing Mary again. Bruce would also tell Dante about his “other job” as Batman, and with Alfred help train Dante into how to master his powers as best as they can due to their lack of knowledge on that. But in what they would indeed train him well would be in his Human Side to Superhuman Conditions. Thus becoming the “Proto-Robin.” Dante would be Bruce’s most loyal son to the other sons who were yet to come into their lives. Dante would also be one of the select few Bruce would aloud to GUNS, and LETHAL force for Dante would be Bruce’s successful attempt to later on Jason Todd’s failure into having an Anti-Hero in The Bat-Family. Eventually Dante would come out of age and with Bruce and Alfred’s blessing moved to New York City were MY interpretation of DMC3 will take place. But before MY interpretation of DMC3, Dante would have a few adventures with the TMNT, and the BPRD. My interpretation of DMC3 would be like the TRUE conclusion of the Amadeus Arkham storyline. A men who wanted to help the Mentally Ill, but lost his wife to a “Mad Dog.” A Man who turned to the Mystic Arts in a attempt to bring his wife back from the death only to become obsessed with the POWER of The Sparda Bloodline. Thus leading to MY interpretation of DMC3. After the events of MY interpretation of DMC3. Dante and Mary would rekindle their love, and get married while the City of New York will get renamed to Limbo City. A place were Humans, Demons, Aliens, and Mutants live in “Chaotic Harmony.” Think of Limbo City as Hellsgate Lot from the anime Blood Blockade: Battlefront. I just hope to make it happen someday. 😉
Check out the companion video where we discuss the game itself in more detail- ruclips.net/video/3jsjDIIsHbY/видео.htmlsi=499pnjbelupu7gw_
Also, a quick correction: as some people have mentioned, the Scarecrow backstory tape is referring to the doctor's backstory, not Crane's.
Awesome ❤❤❤
44:20 I think it's important to remember what happens at the very end of the book when Batman gives Harvey his coin back. Harvey flips it to decide whether or not to let Batman leave alive. Ultimately, Batman is let go, but in a later panel, we see that the side the coin landed on was the scarred side, the side which indicated that he was supposed to die. In the end, Harvey didn’t rely on the coin to make that choice, he let Batman leave by his own free will. Turning to the deck of tarot cards, arranged in a house of cards he remarks, “Who cares for you? You’re nothing but a pack of cards,” before knocking it over, showing that he doesn't need these things to make decisions anymore. This is actually a rather hopeful ending, that even despite all of the horrors of Arkham, there is still a chance for rehabilitation.
Overall though, great video, great game, and great comic. Cheers!
The "who cares, you're nothing but a pack of cards" is also an Alice in Wonderland quote. Such a nice touch.
@@velloceti6898 Yeah. There are a lot of references like that throughout the book. Grant Morrison’s script in the back of the reissues helps a lot with finding them all.
Okay okay okay… you convinced me, I’ll replay Arkham Asylum
You aren't the only who'll be booting up soon.
Just did for Halloween. Best time to play it
for the 10th time
I replay all the games every year, so special
@@what-xn3lv same every December. But I'll be playing them sooner now.
Pretty sure Joker's dedicated cell is extreme confinement/solitary, aka the only place we can't go in the Asylum
I commented the same thing. It was the only place on Arkham we couldn't access
It's also the cell in Knight that batman locks joker in for good.
@aliquidgaming1068 Yea, tbh I thought it'd be obvious that's his cell, the Arkham guards were taking him that direction, and everything Joker's ever done should definitely be an indicator that's where he'd be
The same cell the first Titan thug came out of, yep.
Jokers cell was in maximum security. Which is the section of Arkham we don't bet access to. Joker rides the cell there after we first encounter the titan thug and it has a heart attack. Keep in mind how in the first game we go deeper and deeper into Arkham at the start when escorting joker to show how they want to ensure joker doesn't get out this time. Also in Arkham knight Bruce throws joker into a similar cell in his mind and locks him away in it.
Joker was being sent to maximum security and going to be locked away deep and far.
Another point of gross incompetence on the Arkham staff's part is the fact that Batman was able to build an ENTIRE FUCKING BATCAVE under the Asylum, without anyone noticing.
Why would Arkham Asylum staff jump off a cliff and explore caves? Lol
I mean one of the guards said they make 15 bucks an hour, and ive worked 15 an hour jobs, i aint gaf about stuff i dont have to gaf
In BTAS, at least, Batman is very intimately aware of the ongoings at the asylum and even advocated for the removal of Lyle Bolton (Lock-Up) from Arkham's payroll after it became apparent that he was abusive towards the inmates. He also is pretty supportive in a number of the "villain tries to reform" episodes and even successfully redeems Ventriloquist. So that's at least one iteration of Batman shown to care. I think generally, the animated Batmen do care. It only gets sketchier when you start getting into the grittier depictions.
To go back to the game, I know you're not really supposed to think about the bad guys in Arkham Asylum as much of anything other than bad guys. They're pretty one-dimensionally evil when it comes to their actions, with Harley even trying to trick you and trap you if you wind up feeling pity for her. But, at the same time, seeing the environment they live in and hearing the Arkham staff talk about them as if they're not even human always kinda felt uncomfortable to me. Even Aaron Cash, a guy you're supposed to like.
For example, it's wild that they just take Killer Croc and throw him in the sewers, just occasionally doing food drops. It's one of those things that I think makes Asylum feel a bit more like a standalone game rather than a part of its own universe, because Croc seems a lot more normal/curable in Origins and pitiable in Knight where he's shown helping the other inmates of Iron Heights in combat and even shown sympathy by others for the inhumane treatment he goes through on that airship.
0:16 a perfect one?
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"what are we? Some kind of Dragon Ball Z?"
I’ve been forcefully committed to a mental hospital before. Although nothing horrific happened to me while I was there, I am still terrified of being hospitalized again. I was stuck there and no matter how desperately I wanted to go home, I was trapped inside. To this day I still refer to the hospital as Arkham.
Why were you put there?
I find it amazing how you and Monty Zander had such a similar outline of video, yet how extremely different each video is. Insane amount of detail and research in this man. Can’t wait to see more
@ddl3718 I'll be honest and say I became aware of the Monty video about halfway through scripting, checked it out out of curiosity and turned it off after about 5 min because I was worried it would effect the direction of mine too much. I'm glad you found there to be enough differences here, since I was a little worried about the overlap
The problem I have with this whole idea of Batman being just as evil by letting Joker live is that if Batman’s responsible for NOT killing Joker then by that logic every single person in the city is just as culpable for Jokers actions. Jokers and Joker alone is responsible for his own actions. Anyone could kill him. Batman doesn’t kill people. He’s barking up the safest tree trying to tempt Bats into committing murder. What makes Jokers life Batman’s personal responsibility? It’s like asking the parent you know will say yes and wondering why you always get what you want.
Batman’s main purpose is to rid the streets of Gotham of the evil that took his parents. This leads me to believe that Batman has little care for how the criminals become rehabilitated or reformed. Batman just wants them gone. However, I also believe that Batman views rehabilitation as Bruce Wayne’s job. Not sure if it’s seen in the Arkham games, but I know in the animated series there’s a scene where Bruce visits Harvey in the hospital after Batman defeats him. Batman might want to criminals gone, but I think Bruce Wayne truly does care.
Definitely. Bruce's image is that of a philanthropist and rehabilitation, funding public projects and the such in Gotham
Fair, I like the writings where he is also a tortured soul who struggles with multiple facets of himself, a protector who has to be cold and bitter and a man of means who genuinely tries to use his wealth to do right by his community even for those who would harm others.
Maybe the real horror in Arkham Asylum is how many damn Riddles there are in it.
I really like that in the modern comics they’ve turned Bruce’s mum Martha into an Arkham and she had a lot of mental illnesses through her life due to this bloodline. It makes you question Bruce’s sanity. Wondering if he would be damaged mentally even if his parents hadn’t died, because of him being half Arkham
Arkham Asylum breakdown? I'm here for it.
Awesome video but just to put this out there, Batman simply doesn’t kill because it stoops to the level of his worst enemies but because he has to put faith in the system, as much as Batman can be blamed for his very callous nature torward the asylum it is also sort of not his job, he probably views himself even as unworthy given he fears he should be in there. I also think that this idea of Batman’s success being superficial comes with that bittersweet victory in city where he is able to save himself and lots of other inmates but not everyone like joker or Talia
This video is awesome btw keep up the work
Definitely an important aspect of his whole psychology, although given his influence and direct contributions financially I still think he should be a little more aware of the goings on there, even if he doesn't get too directly involved
And I appreciate that, thank you!
Fantastic video, I'm glad the algorithm brought me here! I've watched so many Arkham videos but there's always something new to say, truly a masterpiece.
Asad, your a spiritual successor to the heydays when Super Bunnyhop produced excellent gaming essays and commentary. Thank you for carrying that baton forward and kudos on the growth of your primary and second channels.
I really appreciate that, thank you!
Wow I miss Super Bunnyhop, love to see this comparison
Agreed they’re amazing ❤❤❤
@@PuffPuff903same. 🐰 bunnyhop was amazing and it’s a great comparison 🎉❤❤ to asad!! 🎉
19:35 pretty sure the loss of wife & daughter were referring to Dr. Murphy, crane previous doctor, not crane himself
In the game I always saw the Asylum as kind of a ticking time bomb because the place is literally falling apart with not much renovations done to it except for the new automatic doors and TV Screens and Cameras. That made me wonder if Batman knew the asylum would eventually stop being used altogether and the city might resort back to Blackgate Prison as we all know how bad that turned out in Arkham Origins.
Something people don’t really talk about is that in the Arkham games, we’re seeing a Batman who is at the end of his journey.
Yeah, we see it at the very end of Arkham Knight, but it’s right there in the open of Asylum. This has all been going on for a very long time. This is a Batman who has been staring into the abyss for far longer than even he could bear.
I see his attitude towards the inmates and workers as just a well earned pragmatism. At the point the first game begins, he’s already seen and done all of this too long. He doesn’t have the same hope of improving the world that he once had…replaced by recognizing that he’s just holding a finger in the dam. He knows at that point that there’s no redeeming Gotham, all he can do is hold all of the evil at bay.
That’s one reason that the supernatural elements work so well in Asylum but vanish in later games. Batman CAN’T win this fight. He puts up a more than valiant effort, but it’s still a losing one-and when we first see him in Asylum, he knows it. He’s not facing mental illness that can be treated or cured, he’s staring at genuine evil that will continue to exist long after he’s gone.
I really like how stylized your editing is and you can feel the tension of the setting through your narration you should do more horror stuff bro definitely subscribing
Always happy to see another video essay on Arkham Asylum. Somehow, every time I get to hear about something I didn't before.
A detail I've seen other point out that you might find interesting for this angle is the presence of the high-tech doors in the asylum, which are sometimes just jammed into old, decaying buildings. Another video I saw read it as Bruce giving the asylum money and tech to improve the facilities, but the asylum couldn't or wouldn't use them properly.
I liked how you wove some of the game scenery into your retelling of Amadeus' story.
Something that I've thought about A Serious House on Serious Earth, though, is that I feel that it should be pointed out that Bruce/Batman not caring about what happens to people after he captures them is very much a 'depending on the writer' thing. It's something that has always rubbed me the wrong way about it.
This video deserves more views. The atmosphere of Arkham asylum is truly what makes the game so great. I hope you gain more subscribers bcs you deserve it.
The atmosphere is the only thing that makes it great the story is bland and is blatantly ablest and shows a frankly insulting and stigmatizing view of the mental issues that many face.
Arkham Asylum has a sheer degree of atmosphere that none of the other games in the Arkham series ever truly captured again- a choice perhaps for their betterment, as a tradeoff for the tone those games wanted to strike and as more ideas for the series developed… but Arkham Asylum remains my favorite for its unparalleled ambiance alone. The experience is not so much the actual Joker-Titan surface plot, but its dissection of the Batman mythos and a pretty stunning indictment of the existence of Arkham Asylum in the lore and critique of Batman’s ideals in his methods and modus operandi- never openly criticized by the game, but insinuated and inferred through every crack in the crumbling Asylum, its torturous medieval-looking medical equipment, the callous and unethical treatment of villains under a clinical, insidious veneer of a rehabilitation mission, and all scathingly wrapped up in the fact that for not the Joker’s breakout scheme, this would have been just another night for Batman. To capture and deposit criminals back here, to leave villains to the clutches of the Asylum and walk away with this comic mantle we place upon him as Gotham’s protector and the hero. I am so happy someone is putting to words how special Asylum is from the horror perspective, what I’ve felt but have struggled to articulate for so long.
This was a fantastic video! Albeit I would have to disagree with the idea that Batman was wrong in the comic when he disregarded the doctors choice to make two face go from a coin to a deck in order to “cure” him, when it’s shown there that all that has accomplished is that he feels so overwhelmed he can’t even go to the bathroom and soils himself constantly.
Another default hat I really like is that even in such a bleak and hopeless comic, it’s Two Face himself the one that sees the hope in Batman and goes against his coin to let him be free at the end.
Great game & great comic. Both have got such amazing aesthetics.
The comic has some of my favourite comic art ever hands down
@@AsadAnjum Same! Also forgot to say this but the section on Comicstorian was much appreciated.
I have to disagree with you on the whole thing about Batman not giving a damnn, for Zsasz, he knows he wont change, he’s too far gone and needs to be contained; for 2 face, his mind was already gone and depended on choices, he knew that giving him too many choices (8-sided dies, tarot cards) would just break his mind since the choice was not coming from him but the amount of options which he couldn’t dictate which was better
Was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by the detail and care put into this video, instant sub! Also love the RDR2 music for the Amadeus segments, fit perfectly
In arkham shadows they reveal how the Wayne's paid for the asylum to be built and then Wayne foundation pays for it to be reopen again after orgins. It's kinda funny how crucial batman and his family were for arkham but he doesn't really care that much about their treatment, only seems to care about Dr. Y young with bane but that's about it in asylum.
not much time for actual treatment when they keep breaking out every single time
I think this is the best video ever made
Facts ❤❤🎉
Agreed!
i’ve watched 15 years worth of videos about this game and this is easily top 3. fantastic analysis my friend!
Just started replaying Asylum again, this video found me at the perfect time
17:00 jokers cell is in the the intensive treatment where the first titan fight is, you see his sell in knight its one of the hanging ones
Bro imagine the Devs of the Outlast games making a Batman game.
That'd sell like hotcakes
Terrific video. Cant believe I didnt find this channel earlier.
Personally I assumed the reason why we didn't see jokers cell was because he was constantly changing cells because inmates didn't want him
next to them or the staff didn't want him to formulate a plan to escape
This is incredibly well made both in pacing and creativity
Very well crafted video in both pacing and ideal focus. Really gets me in a Batman deep dive kick.
You also need to do one on City and Origins
Wait, I thought that the Riddler was allowed to place those trophies everywhere because he escaped with the rest of the inmates!
I’ve always wanted a video like this. For this game and the comic thank you.
Cannot wait for the Arkham City video now!
Excellent analysis! It’s always been one of my favorite things about Asylum (and City as well to a similar extent), how much of the actual “story” of the game is baked into the scenery. You’ve done an amazing job covering it all here!
19:30 seems like you messed up here, in that interview it's actually Crane having his own twisted 'therapy session' with one Dr. Combs, who is the one with the dead wife and kids. I was also confused the first time i heard that interview tape, but once you realize the first person speaking IS crane it all makes sense lol
I had a whole collection of batmans books, including key moments up to Endgame. And to me, Arkahm Asylum always seemed like a nightmare batman was having.
I have a problem with external noises and i sleep with headphones on. The amount of Arkham Asylum videos I've fell asleep to over the years is definitely in the double digits. Here's one for tonight. Thanks!
I wish I could rate this video 5 stars, it is truly perfect and well made!
COMICSTORIAN DIED NO WAY
Yeah, other people have continued the channel since but Ben Potter (who ran the channel throughout the years) passed away over the summer
@AsadAnjum my day was ruined
Yea, it was really sad to find out but im glad his memory will never be forgotten.
i was going to listen to this while going to sleep but now i just found out about comicstorian passing away. that's fucking tragic and i'm sure he led many many more like me to falling in love with comics. rip legend
great vid, loved the take mixing the comics with the game
Perfect video to hit my recommended feed after recently 100%-ing Arkham Asylum
btw barbra gordon is the light bc she’s in a wheelchair 😭 her legs would lack a lot of mass
Yes, my grandmother was in a wheelchair for her last decade and despite being close to 7' tall she only weighed 158lbs.
Kinda funny how I decide to play Batman again starting from asylum & it seems like we all kinda have that itch at this moment haha. That’s awesome!
The level of subconscious confusion hearing the same voice of Arkham also welcoming me aboard the monorails of Disney World.
22:52 You'd think he would find some way to escape into the surrounding water of the island. Especially if he potentially has access to the sewer.
I loved that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprised their roles in the game. It made the game immediately feel "correct" i guess. It felt right to hear them
This was amazing. Thank you
Really well-produced and thought provoking video. I’d love to see your take on other Arkham games.
I can’t believe this is how I found out about comicstorian. I loved his videos in middle school and he even made me interested in comic books. :,((
Shout out to Ben ... Rest easy
Forgive me if I’m mismembering, but regarding Scarecrow’s first interview tape, wasn’t he testing his formula on a doctor in the asylum? The first and last tapes were him using the toxin and psychoanalyzing the fear of a doctor in the first, leading to a doctor and security guards in the last tape. From the context of the first tape, he was referring to his “test subject” to have lost a wife and child.
Although, it still draws a connection to Amadeus Arkham and his insanity, albeit a literal sense with Scarecrow pumping gas compared to a series of unfortunate events.
You may be right, since the whole wife/daughter thing isn't a typical part of cranes backstory. I guess it still connects just not as directly as I remembered
amazing video!! loveeee horror breakdowns!
18:47 Technical we do have it in the comics. In the anniversary version we get storyboard version that show him in the outfit full force.
Please, make more videos like this. Absolutely great video my man
This video is so underrated i hope it blows up in the algorithm
Perfect video. Subscribed
Excellent work on this. Good job!
42:41 - 44:30 You've perfectly explained what I realized about Batman. What makes him pretty incompetent at his own self imposed mission of being a vigilante who "stops evil" isn't that he refuses to kill the bad guys, it's that he is very much okay with EVERYTHING else that can be done to those bad guys as long as they're kept alive, and we all know there are fates worse than death...
I'm not sure if this has been explored in any iteration of this comic superhero, but it brings up an important question: Batman disagrees with killing villains, but does that mean he's a-okay with giving them other torturous fates as long as they're alive? If you know anything about "I have no mouth and I must scream", then you start to realize maybe Bruce SHOULD be taken somewhere far away from society like all the other villains.
No Batman is very much against torture and stuff along those lines. He might break some bones but he’s never gonna injure you in such a way that you won’t heal and recover
@@kylerpruitt1620That's good to know. I've seen some interpretations where he's actually very kind to those villains who do get redeemed or are trying to be, but those are mostly from the animated series (particularly with Harley Quinn and Ace). Meanwhile, darker interpretations don't give way to that comforting side of Batman/Bruce, and I think the one in Arkham Asylum (game) would fall into that category, since he sees through environment and audio log how many villains arent given proper treatment for true rehabilitation but he doesn't even react to it. We could make the assumption that he is affected by them and at the end of the game he forces changes to the asylum, but first of all, it's an assumption, and secondly, if he had made changes then I'm pretty sure we wouldn't see the exact same villains in the sequel games being just as bad as they always were (except for Ivy to an extent, she did sacrifice herself in Arkham Knight, but she only did it for the plantlife)
@100lovenana the games sadly don't rlly elaborate on any of this.
He is extremely against torture and is usually kinder to his enemies, the games just usually don’t elaborate that side of him. the Batman from the animated series is much closer to how he is in the comics than the Arkham games, although they are equally good adaptations of the characters in my opinion.
Wtf this is soo good. The quality is insane
Cool video. Just that, if a patient is happy he's quiet, that's what they mean, not the opposite.
20:20 To answer your question as to what the devs might have intended with Scarface, I have my own theory. Scarface is specifically located inside of Quincy Sharp's office, which I think is subtle foreshadowing that Quincy is merely a puppet in Strange and Ra's plan for Arkham and Gotham city as a whole.
This videos editing gives me goosebumps
The resistance 3 poster in the back is awesome
Excellent video man!!!!
I JUST BOUGHT IT AN HOUR AGO
Hopefully you enjoy it!
Why did i find out thru this video comicstorian died?? :( dude was my childhood
Same, he was also the reason I started to read comic books
I used the same light blobs on my latest vid, they're so gooood 😂❤ (the video turned out amazing, great stuff) loved the chapter titles too.
This video is top notch. Keep it up.
okay, you conviced me to read the comic in just a few words
Creepy batman video game
The mannequin could be of clayface because i remember he have one in his cell. So maybe it ended in the sewers in one of his escapes of arkham and having in mind he would fit though pipes makes sense
Watching this while replaying arkham asylum
35:08 I just checked this bug in the game, and yes - it really happens in the game if you go outside with detective mode enabled. However, now another question arises - is this really a glitch in the game, or is there some kind of feature that Rocksteady did intentionally...
new batman retrospective for me to watch, HELL YEAH
Best Batman Lore video ever made
Awsome video!
Even though City is the best
Asylum is my favorite.
Knight by itself is fine but if you played the first two games it's understandable why many see Arkham Knight as an disappointment.
It doesn't have the horror and fucked up lore of the first two games and instead it's more like...normal cartoon episode with bad writing.
Rip comicstorian such a tragedy 😢
19:30 that wasn't crane's backstory but the other doctor whom crane kidnapped
Incredible video !!! Loved watching it! Also will you maybe an arkham city one?
Absolutely, although it's probably gonna be a yearly Halloween thing so you'll have to wait some time 😅
@@AsadAnjum cannot wait for more Arkham content videos then!
LOVE THIS
They're not gargoyles, but rather grotesques.
I had already started playing this ha ha. And yes the Batman is as bad as his villains is played out, if he wasn’t there the villains would still be doing what they’d be doing.
Honestly i assume joker dosen't have a dedicated cell to make it harder too escape cause if you leave him in the one cell long enough he will find out a way too escape
Much like batman you give joker enough time he can escape anything
And as for the riddler trophies i always assumed the more hidden ones were actually riddler placing them in secret and the more obvious ones were placed by some if riddlers inside men once the events of asylum take place
The whole video is just like monty zanders but shorter
love the video, but trust me pal, the last thing we need in Suicide Squad is sexy, zesty joker 😂😭
There is a reason the latest Arkham game took inspiration from Asylum most of all.
this video was amazing
In a distant future in that so called Capcom/DC/ShonenJump AU I wish to create, I like to make Dante Sparda from The Devil May Cry series part of The Bat-Family, and it involves Arkham being Amadeus Arkham himself through precise writing, and this can be how.
Dante, Vergil, and Mary would be childhood friends in Redgrave City England. Dante and Mary would be childhood couple until Mary’s family moved had to moved to Gotham City America for an Asylum her father Amadeus Arkham help create. That Asylum of course is Arkham Asylum.
Dante would be left suffering from Emotional Damage having Sparda and Eva comfort him, while amusing Vergil. Eventually the tragedy that lead to the deaths of Sparda and Eva, and Vergil’s desaparece would happen. Leaving Dante as brash yet hopeful child.
His perseverance would eventually reward by bumping into Bruce Wayne aka The Batman who was following a lead over the Amadeus Arkham incident.
Seeing that Dante himself was that lead, Bruce would adopt Dante take him to Gotham City were Dante would lit up in hopes of seeing Mary again.
Bruce would also tell Dante about his “other job” as Batman, and with Alfred help train Dante into how to master his powers as best as they can due to their lack of knowledge on that. But in what they would indeed train him well would be in his Human Side to Superhuman Conditions. Thus becoming the “Proto-Robin.”
Dante would be Bruce’s most loyal son to the other sons who were yet to come into their lives. Dante would also be one of the select few Bruce would aloud to GUNS, and LETHAL force for Dante would be Bruce’s successful attempt to later on Jason Todd’s failure into having an Anti-Hero in The Bat-Family.
Eventually Dante would come out of age and with Bruce and Alfred’s blessing moved to New York City were MY interpretation of DMC3 will take place.
But before MY interpretation of DMC3, Dante would have a few adventures with the TMNT, and the BPRD.
My interpretation of DMC3 would be like the TRUE conclusion of the Amadeus Arkham storyline. A men who wanted to help the Mentally Ill, but lost his wife to a “Mad Dog.” A Man who turned to the Mystic Arts in a attempt to bring his wife back from the death only to become obsessed with the POWER of The Sparda Bloodline. Thus leading to MY interpretation of DMC3.
After the events of MY interpretation of DMC3. Dante and Mary would rekindle their love, and get married while the City of New York will get renamed to Limbo City. A place were Humans, Demons, Aliens, and Mutants live in “Chaotic Harmony.”
Think of Limbo City as Hellsgate Lot from the anime Blood Blockade: Battlefront.
I just hope to make it happen someday. 😉