Hey folks, thanks for stopping by! This video is almost six years old, and as I mention, the first time I'd ever tried any sort of longform video. I've learned a lot about media criticism and video making in the time since, so if you're not aware, I've been working on redoing Arkham videos using what I've learned since this original Retrospective. So far I've completed 3+ Hour videos on Arkham Asylum and City individually which you can find on my channel. Please enjoy this far less intense, far shorter Retrospective if you'd like to, but to see my newer and much more in-depth works about the games, check my channel, or the links below. Arkham Asylum - ruclips.net/video/78rihmLw6cc/видео.html Arkham City - ruclips.net/video/B8SBwkhMHS0/видео.html Videos on Origins and Knight will appear on the feed at some point when I'm able to make them (since these videos take a very long time for me to produce), so make sure to subscribe if you want to catch them. Thanks!
Hey Micah, big fan of this video and the work u put into it, this video right here was the very first retrospective I had ever seen of the Arkham series and one of the first pieces of Arkham content I had every consumed, I really love your passion for the series and the amount of time you put into this video, I always come back to this spastic retrospective because it is so enjoyable to listen to and is a great piece of work all around, I hope u are real proud of yourself for the work u put in and wish u the best Micah, take care❤️
You know what I've thought about? There's a color for each game. Green for Arkham Asylum Blue for Arkham City White (snow) for Arkham Origins Red for Arkham Knight
The Snow is just there to give an excuse to keep citizens from going outside. It made the open world look boring. City's open world has so much detail and personality. Yet it's smaller.
Or maybe: Dark purple for Arkham Asylum (i just think it matches the mood) Brown for Arkham City (Clayface. just Clayface.) White for Arkham Origins (that actually was a really good match) Black for Arkham Knight (1. Batman is majorly black. 2. It's the final game. 3. Batman dies in this so you know....black......death......you got the memo) That's just -a theory!- -A game theory!- my opinion
Okay, I need to address the Arkham City part of this retrospective. First off: What the hell is this man talking about? Has he gone absolutely insane? So there's only a handful of plot points where he acts smart and is proactive? Taunting the League of Shadows Assassin into giving him a trail to Ra's, planting a tracker on her, tricking Ra's into thinking he'll join them and taking his blood, punching out Penguin (a player interactive moment btw), Saving Catwoman, saving Ra's and then having him stab only himself (lol fail), pouring Mr. Freeze's coolant until he gives up important info, deliberately hosting a press conference so Hugo Strange takes him into the prison, interrogating Quincy Sharp to spill details on how Strange was able to create Arkham City, tricking Bane into helping him collect titan and then trap him And these are just what I can think of at 2am. I'm sorry, but what game has this fellow even played? Batman *never* struck me as an idiot. He's part of a larger system of large interests that he responds to. Complaining that he doesn't drive the plot is stupid because he is enforcing law by definition - which means wrong needs to happen *before he is tasked to make it right.* This is the entire idea of law enforcement: Crime happens, the police respond. I loved this video up until this part. Seems like you took crazy pills
Honestly, City feels like the Most Batmanish game. Batman does screw up a lot. But he also has his smart moments. He is fighting against intelligent people. In Knight, all the villains are moronic. And Natman is a sad loser.
Keep in mind that the majority of the examples you brought up regarding the LoA, Penguin, and Mr. Freeze occur within the plotline where he's trying to correct his own mistake of letting his guard down, which ultimately eclipses any of those other moments in terms of plot relevance. There's very little about how the scene where Clayface Joker tackles him was framed that reasonably justifies how Batman could have been so distracted to let himself fall victim to something as cliched as being ''attack from behind''. For comparison, in Arkham Asylum, Batman is trapped on the Island as a result of Joker's gang discreetly taking it over the asylum while he wasn't there and in Knight, he's hit with Fear Toxin while rushing to prevent it from spreading across the entire Eastern coast. Also ''deliberately hosting a press conference so Hugo Strange takes him into the prison,'' by getting arrested is dubious. It's explicitly mentioned by Bruce that getting arrested wasn't his intention. It was while he was climbing the Ace Chemicals tower to get the Batsuit. Lastly, ''Complaining that he doesn't drive the plot is stupid because he is enforcing law by definition - which means wrong needs to happen before he is tasked to make it right.'' At best that can only justify the start of the story, where the potentially illegal operations in Arkham City are underway and Batman has to stop it. In both Arkham Asylum and Knight, Batman's actions throughout both games have significant influences on how the rest of the plot unfolds.
@@bigsmoke3617 IDK if the moronic villains can be isolated to just Knight. In Arkham City we have Hugo Strange who leaves Bruce Wayne to do whatever he wants throughout most of Arkham City instead of keeping him under confinement and constant surveillance, Ra's Al Ghul who stabs himself while falling from Wonder Tower ( even the OP refers to that moment as a ''lol fail''), and Joker who chose to stab Batman in the arm, not anticipating something as simple as the flinching causing Batman to lose his grip.
I think you missed the point of Arkham City's story. It's designed like a season of 24, a day of complete hell, draining the protagonist physically, mentally and emotionally. That the protagonist gets bamboozled after victory, every success turned into a failure and continuing to stack up the odds because the suffering of our protagonist in the face of evil makes it so much more satisfying to triumph over it and is the core of the Batmam character. He suffers for the people who don't care.
Personally I think Knights story is the worst in terms of how it falls to laziness Twist with Arkham Knight villain was predictable, Scarecrow was under utilized and bland, while Jokers inclusion is the best aspect and funny it undermines the death of Joker in AC And Bat mobile is overused It’s not terrible as there’s great improvements that were established but I wouldn’t say it’s the best Still fun but deeply flawed
Golden Lantern nah I feel like in Arkham city’s bigger fights you were forced to mash triangle only to then jump away whenever the larger enemy caught up to you and there was no real freedom to attack your enemy’s
The story of Arkham origins is the origin of batman and the jokers relationship. Its not a lie, its in the title. The assassins are outlined in a cutscene within the first 20 min for the same reason that they are not suppose to be the main story, they are the inciting incident. They are merely the vessel to get the joker to batman. The story changes when they meet, and joker takes an interest in batman. To your points about the worlds, the open world appeared to be a result of lack of developement time. In my opinion, theres alot of enjoyment in feeling like the city is in its normal state (Not evacuated or in a prison), yes i acknowledge the the storm but still. The blackgate sections to me were a love letter to arkham asylum, and i genuinely look forward to those sections every time i play this game.Yes, arkham origins doesnt fit within your "dungeon" thesis, i think the story is a fantastic narrative celebrating both games and the center two characters within the series. Idk man, feels like your a rocksteady fan big time- you barely criticized about the horrid tank gameplay of knight.
no when you read the title you DONT think about batman and joker origin , you think of BATMANS origin he is right everything in the game was a lie the title is a lie the marketnig is a lie and the story was a joke. Jokers plottwist was one of the WORST things i have ever seen
joker2258 that isn’t the story,because it switch’s from what it wants to tell e.g when joker is put in prison it becomes about finding bane which is barley interesting or griping and then it goes back to the bounty on Batman’s head with a horribly linear boss fight with firefly.the game uses so many plot details from batman comics like year one ,killing joke , Knight fall but doesn’t know how to use them subtly,it’s a confused story. Even if the game is about celebrating the two main characters imo that isn’t a strong narrative to boot,you need meat on them bones.
its like 2 parts of a story and explains why bane cant remember the titan formula the joker is more zany and more fufilled with being a foil to batman freeza vs goku or joker vs batman?
@@blackvalio4060if all you can see is batman's origins when you read the title Arkham: Origins then you're extremely narrow sighted to not realize the multiple ways the title can be interpreted because of the plot of the game.
Asylum is the one with the less silly characters and story (except for Titan Joker). Personally it's the only one from the 4 that I've had fun replaying from start to finish. I like all 4 but no other game can match that feel of creepy "fun house" that Asylum has
@@BK-sh2pn I don't know. City is about a psychiatrist who is such an extreme fan boy that he wants to be what he admires. Knight is about a guy that was mad you messed up his face so he got your grumpy son to join him in a revenge plot. Origins is Batman's excuse to save Christmas while making new friends along the way.
Even tough I disagree with almost everything you said, I respect that you made this video. You had an opinion and wanted to share it. And for those who are super mad about this, it's an OPINION
@@matthewlugo2417 I enjoyed the assasins and feeling like I was actually the one being hunted, I liked the story pretty well, and the bosses were my favorite in the series....just really had a good time playing it, and even though I had a day one release copy for ps3, I never experienced a single glitch
@@tyleroutland1248 No way. I'm beyond tired of people heaping so much undeserved praise on the most relatively disappointing video game sequel since God of War 2. It expanded the core gameplay from AA well in most ways. However, the implementation of armored enemies in combat and predator was a goofy and artificial way to try to make players use automatic/loud takedowns. The titans of Arkham Asylum were simple yet viscerally satisfying enemies to fight. But in AC you just perma-stun them and mash square while Batman's head and shoulders embarrassingly clip into him. Not all proper boss fights were winners, either. Grundy was a pseudo boss fight puzzle reminiscent of the lamest parts of God of War 2, and the actual one-on-one part of the fight with Ra's was a wholly inferior version of the battle with Poison Ivy in AA. By far the shortest campaign of the four main games. Everything involving Catwoman was mediocre at best and came in strange intervals. But that absolutely horrendous story is what cripples it. The writing is like sub-par fan-fiction (if I ever read fan-fiction). Overtly nonsensical plot holes, laughably contrived events and cringe-inducingly juvenile dialogue throughout. This is the norm, not the exception. It's thematically bankrupt as it pretends to be epic and profound with (admittedly) stirring music. Look, every Arkham game has some contrivances, but they're nowhere near as bad nor as widespread as in AC. Just about every aspect of the main story can be meticulously pulled apart. It's not in any way comparable to Dini's fantastic contributions to Batman: The Animated Series and its feature films. This is not the Mask of the Phantasm of gaming. I have to say that some of the side missions like Zsasz's phone calls were actually much, much better written. Some of the major plot twists were embarrassingly self-spoiled. We could see that there was a healthy-looking Joker that gassed Batman, the real Joker coughing as he's filming Clayface Joker, and we could see Clayface Joker facing the mirror and seeing the sick Joker. I don't know how any person could be surprised by the end reveal (attempted one, anyway). I will say that the challenge mode would've been easily the best of the series, but the absolutely scummy practice of carving out DLC character and challenge maps that could've been on the disc on day one, then selling them back to gamers. Each of the four main Arkham games are guilty of this to some degree, but City is absolutely the worst offender. To top it all off, we had to stare at a purple-caped Batman for the entire game the first time through (there is a cheat code to use alternate skins, but that wasn't known until months after the game released). As a game, I definitely prefer Arkham City over Arkham Origins. But the Arkham City I played is nowhere near deserving the praise it gets. I honestly thought I had a spoof copy of the game after the first time I played it.
ZANIACK That’s what clever writing is. A lot of people didn’t notice those clues about Clayface playing Joker in their first play through. However, if you play it a second time you will notice those clues and appreciate the story even more because it was always there. And who cares if you have to a stare at a “purple” cape. First, it was blue, and second, stop nit picking. Also, are you kidding me? The Titans in Asylum got boring and repetitive after the first few times you fight them. Sure, fighting more armored guys can be tedious, but that’s what building upon gameplay is. Adding new elements to the gameplay. Arkham City is pretty much the Animated Series, but more mature and more of a continuous story. I personally feel the Arkham games are spiritual sequels to the Animated Series.
@@bombasticgamin8447 thank you! This Zaniack dude keeps spamming the same garbage everytime someone says arkahm city is their personal favorite or when someone defends it. Story has its flaws but its considered to have the best story out of all these games according to the majority.
Wise Green Wanderer Yeah, Zaniack is spewing nonsense and hate for no reason. He’s just nitpicking on minor things. Anyways, there are rumors about a new Batman Arkham type of game coming out soon focusing on the Court of Owls. Are you excited?
About your problems with city : A typical Batman vs joker even odds fight isn’t what rocksteady was going for in city they were going into a night of Hell setup which has a lot of potential and certainly isn’t not Batmany. Batman is constantly beaten down because this is Arkham city it’s a town run by criminals so of course it’s gonna be unfair which is essentially what rocksteady was going for, a feeling of unfairness and that couldn’t be communicated if the plot had Batman keep fighting and winning. Secondly I think the player can be to blame for a lot of stuff that goes wrong for Batman. The joker and Batman’s relationship is more of a mind game then a fist fight so while Batman got nocked out by the joker THE PLAYER is the one who fell for jokers trap same with me freeze and penguin but at the same time PLAYER is the one who defeats the joker me freeze and penguin.
There's also the fact that Batman is his own character, independent of the player, so it makes no sense to want to give the player agency in these moments.
I think I can pitch the story of Arkham Origins: Batman hunts down Black Mask and learns of a new villain called The Joker who is unlike anything Batman has dealt with before.
Wow you didn’t show Arkham Asylum much love, and that surprised me a lot. It does a lot of things way better than any other game in the series. 1.) Using Riddler challenges to expand the universe and our perspective on the characters inhabiting it (this game actually made listening to video logs feel worthwhile. It didn’t jus tell me about what was going on in the lead up to this game, but who all these villains were as characters) 2.) forcing you to search for a way into a building; no other Arkham game forces you to really take a route besides the front door. The only time I can think of you having to innovate a way into a building outside of Asylum is taking the chimney to get into the Steel Mill. And even then Alfred straight up tells you to take it. Every other building you jus clear the area and enter. 3.) makes traversal through the Asylum constantly feel unique. With the other 3 games, you can simply glide from one objective to another. There isn’t much to make one trip across the map feel different from any other. Your path thru the Asylum is never the same. Whether it’s crazies roaming the land, vicious plants to watch out for, snipers to beware of, being forced to find a new way into a building etc. You could get into buildings from the sewers, get in from the front door, get in from a service hatch on the roof, it was always different. 4.) forces you to be strategic with free flow combat. Although the combat of Asylum is a lot slower than its sequels, that also forces you to pay more attention to where you’re striking. In the sequels, I tend to ping pong around in big fights, jus smacking “X” until I see a certain enemy that I have to do a special move on. Batman moves so fast that a lotta times I can avoid an attack just by striking at an enemy on the other side of the screen. In Asylum, when I was surrounded by enemies I felt overwhelmed. I needed to control my positioning and prioritize my targets. In the sequels I never felt that pressure, even when surrounded Batman always felt so fast that I could jus strike before anyone even really touched me, and get to the thugs carrying weapons whenever I could get to them. In Asylum the high security thugs (ones carrying knives) felt dangerous, and they were easily identifiable. It didn’t take much for me to mark him out as a priority. In the sequels, most weapons can jus be picked up by any random thug. So even when I take down the most dangerous guy in the group (the one holding the weapon), it really doesn’t feel like I made any progress. There was never anything as satisfying as watching the animation slow as Batman arm dragged a knife weilding thug in an orange jumpsuit and breaking his wrist, knowing that particular type of enemy was down for the count PS: if you’ve made it this far into my comment, I really respect the fact that you made this video. I love that you can form and articulate your opinion on a piece of art. Everyone seems to be able to state their opinion, but articulating why we have our opinions are becoming harder and harder for a lot of ppl in this internet age
I want to add to your first point that Asylum had the perfect amount of Riddler challenges. City had an insane amount of trophies, and (I might be remembering wrong) they didn't really expand on the game's story as much as it was a copy/paste from Asylum. Knight still had a lot of challenges (but that's expected with the size of the map), but it more like Asylum where you got some background of events and characters before the game or the whereabouts of villains not seen (like Mr. Zsasz and Killer Croc). And I can't remember anything about Origins since I haven't picked it up since launch. But I have to disagree on your fourth point. City added gun crates, electric batons, shields, and brutes to add a lot more variety to combat. Having to avoid brutes/batons while stopping goons from getting to the gun crates added a sense of urgency to gameplay. And they added on to this in Knight by adding more advanced brutes with a variety of weapons and medics that would limit your ability to mash the X button, while also reviving goons to make any confrontation a bit longer/more difficult. And I don't know what difficulty you played on, but on hard it always felt like I had to counter and escape being cornered before I could get a good combo on one guy. I always had to move or take damage from an uncounteable hit.
Asylum has far better combat mechanics, that if built upon could of been something really special, but like you said it eventually became ping pong across the map, free flow focus made it even easier. If they stuck with asylum combat the batclaw and roll move would also be far more useful as you would have to make the distance in order to get a shot in, meaning players would have to do more than just press x and y as is often complained about
Expect that in those games you don't have as much control as you think, it has more illusion of control than actual control showing how you can play the game and say many different things and practically be a completely different person yet the game and story would still be largely the same and unchanged...
i think its less about being telltale-ish where u get the illusion of control, its more about trying to get batman to have an active role..he is the protagonist.. for eg- arkham asylum, batman's almost always in control...even when odds stack up..you dont see shit happening without him directly influencing the outcome whenever theres a scene on screen in city batman essentially just runs errands for everyone -get me cure -find freeze -break jammers -save cops -free freeze -beat penguin -find ras al ghul etc etc its not him actively making the decision to do it..he is being pushed into it
@@Demonically_Inspired Isn't that the whole point of the game? Batman was so out of depth in that hellish city that most of the times he got thrown around only to come back at the last minutes.
Arkham Origins quick plot breakdown: this is the time in Batman's life where he's transitioning from taking down mob bosses and thugs and into the more "masked" villians fans of the series know and love. This is a "year two" Batman story where he's been on the scene for a while but has been handling mostly low life criminals and mafia type organizations. Joker's entrance into this story, along with a few of the other characters, marks the time when Batman is up against a very special type of foe: a masked/costumed character just like himself.
City’s story was awesome. Your point is that the player isn’t the one that drops the cure. That’s called a quick time event. They suck. It had a good story even if the player doesn’t do everything. Sometimes the coolest thing in a game is when something unexpected happens that the player has no control over. Most people know about the Batman lore anyway so I understand that one of your point is it would not make since if you didn’t but that’s what the game is made for. Batman fans which know the lore.
abc4781 no they don’t, when done correctly. Qte’s are quick and snappy reaction challenges. When done correctly, qte’s can allow big bombastic set pieces that can’t be done when the player is in control, and are not engaging when done in a cutscene. Qte’s can perfectly blend cutscenes and gameplay if done right. They get a bad wrap nowadays because of misuse of them in recent games.
Arkham origins has some great boss battles, I would say the best of the series ( apart from the Mr freeze battle in arkham city), the only problems I had with origins is the technical issues, the arkham series is awesome overall, your problems with the series are very nitpicking and things players really don't think about, we just have fun and enjoy it
I played Arkham Asylum so fucking much back when I was 7-9. I must have replayed that game like a hundred times. I used to know every voice line and sound effect by heart. I still remember scanning my last Riddler riddle when I 100% it for the first time. I replayed both Arkham Asylum and City a few days ago on PC, and god, these games are still fucking sick.
It really bothers me that in Knight you can't go to the batcave because there is a theme in the game that whoever you talk to on batman's communication system you can go to face to face. Lucius-bruce's office, barbara-watchtower, Gordon-gcpd, catwomam-riddler's hideout, Robin and nightwing-certain sections of the main story and side missions, but you can't go to Alfred in the batcave. With that in mind and as big as the map is it dosn't make any sense why rocksteady omitted the batcave from arkham Knight.
well I just find it really out of place that rocksteady's whole tag line for the game was "be the batman" and how they expect us to do that when you can't go to his base of operations. and I believe the batcave was actually completed and then taken out because one of the game's trailers showed a 2 second shot of alfred in the batcave next to one of the batsuit chamber's like bruce has in his wayne enterprise office but that shot is nowhere in the final game.
I hate seeing this complaint, and have hated it since launch. The design philosophy for Knight was generally have as much of everything as possible in the single map that is Central Gotham. What do we know about the Batcave? It's far away enough that it takes a few minutes flight time in Origins- it would be disconnected from the action. Do you really want to drive back and forth from the Batcave constantly like how you had to fly back and forth between Origins?
@@MarkDannenberg Makes about as much sense as,"The city is under siege, lets do Riddler races, and collect 240 of his stupid trophies while also doing side missions that have absolutely nothing to do with the hunt for Scarecrow, and Arkham Knight".
The dlc packs where you play as other characters like catwoman, redhood, nightwing ect proves that rocksteady's formula is not only perfect for batman but also works well with pretty much any character. Spiderman ps4 is also an example of this. You could make an entire video game of pretty much any hero or villain with rocksteady's arkham formula, the possibilities are endless and that's why i love them so much. Take the arkham series formula, replace the model with another hero or villain, tweak the animations and voicework a bit and replace batman gadgets with wraponry related to that character and you're pretty much done. It's amazing how versatile the system is.
Do people really want to play the same game with a different skin, though? If DC licenses other superheroes for video games, I hope they give us gameplay experiences unique to those characters, even if they borrow here and there from _Arkham_ or whatever else. Who really wants a Green Arrow game that's just _Batman: Arkham Arrows_ or _Batman: But Green_?
Good video, though I think you take it a bit too far with shitting on Arkham Asylum. I actually prefer it's limited scope to the subsequent games, as they feel bloated and convoluted to me, and the big open world severely takes away a lot of the atmosphere, which AA delivers so well. Similarly, I find the smaller groups of enemies much more elegant to fight than the absurd amounts of enemies thrown at you in the later games. In AA it was really fun to never break your combo-counter and to come up with the coolest way to utilize your gadgets in the fights. Fewer enemies also means fewer "wrong" dodges due to the autofocus not getting confused which enemies you mean to hit, which was a little bit frustrating in City and Knight.
Thanks for watching, and for the response! My analysis of Arkham Asylum is slightly split across the World Design section and it's own overview, mostly to save on time, so for the record you're right, it's not at all the strongest part of the video; I think the game is good, particularly in the context of it's time of release. I do not think the gameplay would stand up if it was placed into any other environment than the one it is in, so to it's credit it's very in-tune with the asylum itself. The exploration of vent crawling and battling the decrepit nature of the asylum is novel, unique for the series and does wonders for atmosphere and the feeling of the asylum. I don't think the combat stays effective or enjoyable across the entire story given how little it progresses in either abilities or enemy types. There are so few of either. Only two gadgets are usable in combat, only one of which is fluid or even effective. To praise it's combat elements too highly would diminish the achievement of the improvements I feel the later games made; long story short, punching three incompetent men in a hallway in the exact same, extremely effective way so many times in the game is not fun and does not successfully convey a feeling of power, especially when the world does such a good job of putting the player through their paces. The system is clearly a base of a system, it uses slow motion far too frequently, particularly on instant takedowns, so it's focus appears to be skewed between spectacle and brevity given the size of it's enemy groups, which are contradictory goals. I like the combat, I want to do it for longer periods of time with more freedom over it's elements, with more types of opposition to my power, and I lead with my reasoning behind that in the Combat/ Stealth segment. It's stealth does hold up better, given that atmosphere is the games strength. I did, however, conclude that I still think it holds up, and on whole I think I railed much harder against City and Origins. I think the length of time I spent praising it's world (and that I more or less opened the whole retrospective with it), and it's aiming for the right things in story speaks for itself. As I said in my conclusion segment, it is what it is, and if you happen to enjoy what it is more than City or Origins or Knight, that's obviously more than okay. Thanks again for taking the time to respond, I hope you enjoyed the rest of the video.
Yeah no worries, I still think your analysis is valid and the rest of the video is so spot on, that it really tripped me up when you came out with AA is merely a launchpad for the later titles. Thanks for the in-depth response!
Dude, chalange fight rooms have "alota enemies" especialy on extreme, yet its still fun because its satisfing how bat does that, actualy its even more epic in asalum, while you do strategy not only while stealth but also at the combat. But the most fun in stealth is to clear room with no detection and fast, coz it imagine like you are a thug, and in 5 seconds 5 guys of your 7 group are down... and sudenly the other guy screams and then silence, its only you and the worst of all nightmares.
Paul Dini was a writer on City. I think that could explain why it may rely on external knowledge. Although I don’t think it does. You can learn everything you need to know about those characters from the game. Mr. Freeze needs to be kept at Sub-Zero temps and is motivated by his wife, Ra’s needs a successor to take his daughter for a wife so he can finally die, Catwoman and Batman are kind of FWB’s even though she does her own thing, etc.
I beat the main story of Arkham Knight about 20 minutes ago, and I am so glad to say that I loved it. Like seriously, I binged a good 9 hours today of playing and beating the rest of the game, which is so rare for me to do. It made me want to go back and play the other games again, just to do it and compare like what you must have done as well. But first, I want to 100% Arkham Knight, and it's not because I feel I have to, it's because I want to. I want to fight The Riddler, I want to clean the streets. It's such a powerful game, and who knows, maybe that'll wear off. But at the moment, I am at a lost for words. I'm glad to see someone else liked this game as much as me. Thanks for the video.
Thank you so much for giving Arkham Knight its due. I am very tired of the same old criticisms of the “predictable” identity of the Knight and the game having “too much Batmobile,” when there’s so much to unpack in terms of story, gameplay, and world building outside of those criticisms. I am planning on creating a retrospective on the three Rocksteady Arkham Games as well, and although I think we have some clear differences on the first two games, I am glad to see and encouraged to find that I’m not the only person who has such an enthusiastic opinion on Arkham Knight. I hope you don’t mind that I steal some of your observations on why Knight works as well as it does when (if) I get to making my retrospectives.
Arkham origins is my favorite. It had by far the best boss fights and I just love the story. I didn't let anyone spoil it for me until it came out. Stayed away from the forums. Also, it was the only game that did deathstroke justice. Knight slapped him in the face.
So Origins sucks, Asylum is "boring, but fine", City had the worst story in the series and I haven't even made it to Knight. Honestly, I'm surprised you put in as much effort as you did making this video, about a game series you clearly don't even like all that much.
I think that he doesn't go all too deep into these games if you ask me. Criticizing them either for their narrating if he doesn't like it or their gameplay if he doesn't like it. Arkham Asylum is in his opinion 'meh' because of the gameplay. Arkham City is not so good because of the Story and the gameplay which is improved is mentioned merely briefly. He isn't consistent with his critique.
@@Nightmare29a Exactly... and he doesn't seem to understand the idea of judging something for their time. He thinks Asylum's gameplay is boring because he loves Knight and the gameplay was much faster then. How is that fair? Of course Knight has superior gameplay, it's the third in the series. But for being the first game, Asylum literally had groundbreaking gameplay, which is why everyone copied its combat system thereafter and he should judge it on those grounds... NOT compared to Knight. Also, I'm sorry... but saying City had the worst story in the series and just a bad narrative in general is nothing short of hysterical. It clearly had a much better narrative than Knight, which he surprisingly likes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those Knight-haters who thinks it was a disappointing game (the gameplay is simply way too good, which is why I've put the most hours into it) but the story was weak (at best). They literally copied the whole "Batman is poisoned" from City, except in Knight it doesn't make any sense and he praises Knight for it, yet criticizes City for it? "Because Batman is reactive"... he says that as if it's a bad thing. City is supposed to be a story about Batman being one step behind. Protocol 10 was a conspiracy. Knight was NOT, therefore it makes more sense he is more proactive. How about the lame Arkham Knight reveal, which was so on the nose, it was pathetic. He criticizes City for relying on our comic book knowledge. That's probably a fair statement, but how is this not true for Knight? Sure, they added some forced Jason Todd torture scenes, which were well done, but made the Arkham Knight reveal all the more predictable. Also, the Knight himself had a horrible personality: they made him a whiny bitch. At least they got the characters right in City.
I've played every game extensively and I honestly never noticed any gliding problems in Origins. I didn't play them back to back though, and I can't disagree with your appraisal. I loved the story so much I forgave any flaws. As to arkham city, you must realize this isn't Comics Batman, this is Adaptation Batman, and a large part of that changes the character according to conventions of the adapted medium. Example: Batman 1989. He murders so many people, the one thing Comics Batman absolutely never does, and yet it's a great Batman movie. Because in action movies of the time, the bad guys have to die. It's considered immoral NOT to kill someone like The Joker. Superman killed General Zod and the other criminals in Superman II. At least he did that in the comics too though. Videogame Batman therefore must change to fit the medium, and providing gameplay IS the purpose of the story. You can't logically fault it for that though it is a crude and inelegant process in some cases. I personally liked the story, the guts of killing joker off and what they used that for in Knight. You're entitled not to like it, but I did and I'm a thirty year comics fan. I've seen way worse Batman stories. It's fine for Batman to not be controlling the situation and reacting to chaos, read No Man's Land sometime, when Gotham was abandoned after the big earthquake in Cataclysm and for a year it was cut off and not even part of America anymore. He had no control then, even the cops were just another gang fighting for territory. He stayed and even refused help from the other superheroes. You might say that's a dumb decision but it made sense in context. Great characters can survive less than optimal adaptations, if you're looking for the best Batman stories as stories, read the comics. You're never going to find them in the videogames or even the movies. I have recommendations if you'd like. Have you actually read the Knightfall trilogy? It's my favorite period of stories. Bruce made the dumbest choice in the world by picking Azrael to be Batman and not Dick Grayson. He wanted Dick to be his own man as Nightwing. Every story that next year came from that one bad decision. Azrael became a murderer and Bruce had to retrain and retake the mantle of the bat from Azrael in Knightsend. This is totally typical Batman storytelling. Heroes make mistakes, big ones. What about when Batman created Brother Eye, a sentient super computer satellite that almost took over the world? That affected the entire DCU cosmos in Infinite Crisis, and it was one bad decision by Batman. He mistrusted the superheroes because they wiped his memory with magic. Or how about Tower of Babel, when villains stole Batman secret plans on how to defeat each JLA member and used them to take out the whole team and again, take over the world? One bad decision by Batman. And these are all great stories. I agree games should have good stories and are capable of it. I do feel that it's secondary though to good gameplay, as the gameplay is the unique element and the sole reason for the adaptation to exist in the first place.
I still think Arkham Asylum is the best game in the series. Though it feels a little limiting if you're going into it right after a newer Arkham game, you adjust quickly. It's the most focused in tone and atmosphere. I'd trade AC's polish and brisk pace for AA's atmosphere any day of the week. The Scarecrow sequences and the childhood flashbacks are the height of the series. Great insights, especially into Origins. A real shame about it because I absolutely loved Joker's playable 'Killing Joke' sequence and a few other character moments but the game really struggles to go anywhere or do anything. I swear I don't even remember a thing about it and i've played it twice.
How can you compare Arkham Asylum to later games? You're talking about it like they removed things from Arkham City and Knight. But the reality is they added things in later games. It's not how it works buddy.
my favorite thing about knight happened during the main story. at a certain point i thought i was going too fast so i completely abandoned the main story for several hours, only to have me jump into several street fights, one of which had me turn my character only for one of them to reskin into the joker. this was an absolute treat, also to see various streetsigns change when you look twice at them felt absolutely awesome to me
I really admire the way you've captured, unpacked, deconstructed and analyzed these 4 games but I still feel like you failed to understand Arkham City as a whole. Either way, great video m8 (thank you for giving Knight some more love, my favorite in the series ;) )
Should have called the Arkham Knight “The Red Hood” from the start, it would have gotten rid of the disappointing reveal and actually fit the character of Jason Todd
Let me just congratulate you for making literally the best Batman Arkham analysis ever. Because I love these games so much(even Origins, mostly because of Deathstroke and the Bane's portrayal), I watch any Arkham analysis I can find , and yours was by far the most intelligent, well argued and forces me to reevaluate my own thoughts.
Hey man, I get it. I was disappointed by that. But only Origins had a good hand-to-hand boss fight. All the other boss fights in the Arkham games were really basic(except for Mr. Freeze). Honestly, just play Injustice 1 and 2 if you want straight-up fist fights. That's what I do.
Weird how you didn't say much about the Batmobile which was the worst about Knight, sure you said it let you do everything in Knight from combat stealth and gagets(batmobile). But its not fun the tank battles were used way too much and it not optional you need to complete all side activities to end the game
Mordercai Near the side activities had way more weight behind them than city or origins,and the game gives you time to do them so doesn’t feel like it’s overriding the main plot.
There is a hook for Arkham Origins. The story: It’s Christmas night. Ruthless gangster Black Mask has hired 8 assassins to kill the mythical Batman, whom is still an infamous outlaw to the police of Gotham and a nightmarish myth to its criminals and residents. In this game, Batman is younger, so he’s far less restrained, more aggressive, etc. I can continue?
There are 2 reasons why people dislike this video 1: because he didn't say the word masterpiece every two seconds while talking about city and asylem 2: 1:13:16 this clip
56:15 I would absolutely recommend new players to start with Arkham Asylum then move on to the rest, especially if you'd say the other games are more fun. If you do it the other way and come to Arkham Asylum last, you'll experience the various limitations batman has in it compared to the other games that make it less fun and it won't be as enjoyable that way
Exactly, starting with Arkham Asylum is the best thing to do. Plus it's the most narrative and atmosphere focused and has a lot of great psychological horror and gothic goregousness.
@@sneaky_eclipse a lot of people complain about "too much" Batmobile, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Using it in AK reminds me of the early scene in The Dark Knight where he interrupts Scarecrow's meeting. Remote controlling it, busting straight through concrete barriers, and being impervious to small arms. A lot of people complain that it's a tank, but why would he have anything less?
@@sneaky_eclipse The story for Arkham Knight was good though it had its moments where it was predictable. I mean the reveal that Jason Todd was the Arkham Knight felt a bit obvious in my opinion.
Best Parts: AA - Great foundation and feel for the series AC - Great boss fights (Mister Freeze, Grundy, Clayface), Improvements on gliding, Worldspace, Animated Series and Batman Beyond skins. AO - More Batman (I guess), The best Deathstroke and Bane boss fights. AK - The best combat (Team up fights being awesome),The Joker throughout, and the Batman movie skins and cars. The Worst Parts: AA - Boss Fights, slow combat, and smallest amount of content (Low replayability). AC - Main story was too short, and Catwoman missions. AO - Weakest story, World exploration (including Joker trophies), and combat downgrade. AK - Tank sections, and certain parts of story.
YoungCat Il accept that City is better, but imo Knight is only better than Origins on a technical level. The story in Origins was much more enjoyable than Knights to me. Plus the Hush mission was probably the biggest letdown in the series.
One of the problems i have with Knight is that in Asylum Scarecrow injects Batman with the fear toxin that he himself says is enough to drive 10 men insane, and Batman just powers trough it (he does the same with the Titan formula when Joker shoots him). So why is he affected by the toxin in Knight?
Dion Panday It's a more powerful toxin than the one used in Asylum. In Arkham City a boat can be found which, when entered, shows that Scarecrow is not only alive, but also is experimenting with a new toxin, as shown to have killed a Joker Thug inside. Also, Scarecrow's mask can be found near the boat, which when scanned unlocks an Arkham City Story that mentions Scarecrow floating across the Gotham Bay River on a crate of TITAN, which is one of three possible post-credit scenes randomely triggered at the end of Arkham Asylum. This hints toward TITAN being used in Crane's new formula, explaining its more powerful effects.
When Batman gets the shots at the end of the game and powers through it, it's because he put Joker behind him forever, he ¨killed¨ him. But in the process Bruce Wayne did die at the same time, where he says ¨ Gotham needs something darker¨ , he's not scared anymore, he destroy the manor and everything related to Bruce Wayne and goes full-on Batman.
Origins had the most unique story change my mind. It’s about as Alfred says, “a young man with a trust fund and too much anger.” Bruce has been Batman for around two years and continues down a dark path for those years, letting his anger and rage get the best of him. He continues dismissing the fact that he is going down the dark path. Even though we saw little of Bruce as a character in this game, it’s clear to see that the Batman in this game, is not Batman. This is Bruce, angry and fueled by his parents death. He is not the calm cool and collected Batman that we see in Asylum, City, and Knight. This is Bruce getting his feet in the water, and learning the ropes on how to utilize his allies and the Batman character. This is the ORIGIN story of the Joker and the Batman so idk y ppl are so mad that Joker is the main villain. Anyhow, to answer your question, the story of Arkham Origins is the story of Bruce becoming Batman. Plain and simple
i just want you to know this is my favorite video i have seen/listened too. i have listened to this video so many time. your work is amazing and a inspiration.
I feel like I’m the only one who’s favourite Arkham game is Arkham Knight. Am I? I often feel like I am, as I see videos all the time of people constantly bashing it.
True Story: A guy I knew rented Arkham Asylum from a Hollywood Video. They closed down during his rental period. Unable to return it, the only option was to keep it.
Arkham Asylum is the one I go back to the most. The setting and the atmosphere just fits Batman. Arkham City is also a lot of fun, and the combat is so much better. Arkham Origins was ok, but that boss fight with deadshot was ridiculous. I legit spent a few days trying to beat him. After I did, I'm not sure what I was doing differently, which lead to confusion. The rest of it is a bit of a blur for me. I haven't played Arkham Knight, but I'll be getting it soon.
Genuinely shocked how much of this video is just bitching about Batman’s characterization in Origins and City. He’s not the player’s Avatar, he’s Batman. And he’s not always going to be the instigator in his ventures. Hell, most Batman stories are reactive stories- Batman being placed into situations that are no fault of his own, and yet he must escape from in order to achieve an ultimate goal. In City, the opening cutscene itself says EXACTLY Bruce’s ultimate motivation in this story- Shut Arkham City down. It’s out of control. And when he first gets into the city, he goes after intel about Protocol Ten, which leads him to Joker, which leads him to getting poisoned. So the rest of the game is simple- chase the cure, and stop Hugo Strange from killing everyone in Arkham City. He’s not being stupid, he’s reacting to a place where, like Asylum, the bad guys are in charge.
So your bitching about someone bitching about a mediocre game that is considered a masterpiece at least he knows how to give a good argument instead of screaming because someone said his game is not best 😢
I have never seen a person look so hard for something to complain about. It's a game. Most TV shows, movies and games have no weak plotlines and loop holes. The point of game before, after and while playing is. Did you, have you and are you having fun. It was entertaining.
Well I enjoyed the video, it felt like you geuinely didn't enjoy 3/4 games which is disheartening and makes me wonder if what you say is out of honesty or spite. For example, Origins is still a functioning video game tha can be played and enjoyed. It's not utter garbage, that's absurd to state that. Ride to Hell: Retribution is utter garbage. Batman: Arkham Origins? Not so much.
Excellent video. Your positivity towards Knight and thoughtful criticism towards the other three games came out during a time when many claimed City was the absolute best, Asylum’s flaws are overlooked, and Origins was underrated. All while Knight was viewed as a failure for its very few flaws. Very courageous and I agree with your thoughts and enjoyed your masterful way of articulating it all. I can assure you that many of the commenters here have changed their minds dramatically since Gotham Knights came out. All of a sudden Knight is a masterpiece to everyone. As far as how I personally feel, time has treated each of these games differently. Asylum becomes harder to come back to, City stays just fine, and Knight gets better and better with each playthrough. (I don’t have Origins. Only played it once back on ps3. Thought it was fine at the time) Anyways loved this video.
I don't often get feedback on this video anymore, seeing as how I'm taking another crack at these titles in more recent videos, but thanks for sharing these thoughts with me. Reminded me a bit of how hard I worked on this video at the time even if there's a lot that I don't like about it now. Thanks for giving it a look!
Arkham Origins feels so lacking in creativity, and I think it deserved a lot of the hate it got. Like, I remember being hyped when the game was about to come out to see what was originally beyond Arkham City's border walls, and what Wonder Park looked like without Strange's barrier; but it looked almost identical. Like, that map functions almost the exact same way it did when it was a prison.
Sorry for the long comment Arkham origins is a story where he is fighting someone like himself for the very first time. Also when "Black Mask" speaks you can hear a bit of joker in him at points. I really did like the shock gloves. Batman isn't aggressive towards joker because he has people with guns trained on him as in other scenes the gun guys are all taken out. Also I like to think of origins as a tribute to the arkham city, asylum, and knight (although no mention of anything to do with knight) Arkham Knight was a great choice because it ties in with the joker being an unreliable narrator he says "I might've told you a teeny tiny lie" when Jason reveals himself. Arkham Knight shouldve had a hand to hand fight after the stealth fight with jason but oh well. I do think Arkham Knight should've been a new and the main character because those points when he is the main villian is some of the best in the game. This game is about joker last trick his last laugh. Joker taking a trusted soldier and turning against him and joker (unintentionally) caused this to happen by taking over the asylum and setting everyone free and yes hush should've been a part of the main story as well. This game has 2 main problems for me (the boss fights are a problem but just not that big) Arkham Knight feeling like a side character and too much batmobil Something I think they could've done in City was make Harley Quinns revenge a part of the main story like batman gets a call from jim saying go investigate this building we think harley quinn is in there you go and then investigate the cops blood trail and it cuts to robin taling to barbra lik 3 weeks later i think it was but you have to pay for it. They also could've made the catwoman bit a part of the main game and added something like where you can rob people glowing red people like riddlers guys but you rob them and get artifacts you can view and she has something to say about them like spider-man ps4 when you collect the backpack , but that is just my opinion
I think we should not allow this awesome video to distract us from the fact that the narater has a Batman fan made movie he made when he was 15 on one of his hard drives somewhere.... the real question is, who was that teddy and what did he thank Batman for? 🤔🤔🤔
I wouldn't be nearly as critical (or even critical at all) of City, but I think the points about Knight should be heard. I wish this was just a video about that so that people could have appreciated it for what it is, a love letter to Knight which is an incredible game. It being obvious that AK was Jason isn't a real criticism, it is BATMAN. Some things you're just going to know and that is fine, it makes perfect sense that Bruce himself wouldn't realize it, and it does a good job at making it less obvious for those who wouldn't know immediately (and I think that's why they went AK instead of Redhood). And as for the Batmobile...I love it for the sake of gameplay diversity, it is enjoyable, challenging on harder difficulties and tight in design...it's "clunky" in terms of how different it feels, but that uniqueness to me keeps the game feeling fresh. Driving a car is clunky in comparison to running around...I am not going to say life is designed poorly.
This is not an even handed review. Arkham Knight is overall worse than the sum of its parts. 1.Joker's death being undermind. The hallucinations took away from other characters instead of reinforcing Batman's insanity. 2.The Batmobile segments being repetitive. 3.You praise the sidemissions, yet you dont speak about their quality. Non of them (outside of manbat) are truely memorable. 4. ScareCrow is COMPLETELY underutilized. 5. The Jason Todd "Twist", is terribly executed. 6. Batman "Winning" means nothing. You pointed out NO NEGATIVES in Arkham Knight, and that is why this review was a waste of time. You were too harah on Asylum and Knight. Yet, you think simply saying AK "Isnt perfect", makes your assessment less bias? No.
1:33:35 Granted, it's brief, but he does mention the varying quality of the side missions. ''Non of them (outside of manbat) are truely memorable.'' ''2.The Batmobile segments being repetitive.'' If they didn't bother him, then he's likely not going to criticize it. That's subjective from person to person. I honestly got a kick out of the Penguin/Knightwing, Professor Pyg and the Riddler/Catwoman sidemissions. Deacon Blackfire and Azrael sucked for me, and I liked the Militia stuff despite the anticlimactic Deathstroke match ( though looking for those bombs can be a bit too difficult). My favorites are Season of Infamy sidequests, but those were originally DLC only. BTW, this comment isn't meant to invalidate your evaluation of AK.
If you count it as a boss fight, and I do, the batman/joker 'fight' at the end of arkham knight is in my opinion one of if not the best boss fight in any game ever. It epitomises the relationship between batman and joker, which is the premise of the whole series. I disagree with people who say joker shouldnt have been in arkham knight as the series itself isnt about batman, its about his relationship with the joker.
Man I'm sorry that you hated Origins so much, it used to be my favorite in the series, but that title is now owned by Knight. You said the world was bland, which I suppose it is, but I did like the Christmas theme it had going on. Still think it has the best boss fights, which I know you don't really care about, but I just think boss fights are refreshing after having to do the same things over and over again throughout all four games (predator and combat) I also liked the music that played in Origins when you were just exploring Gotham; those bells give me little chills. But yeah, nothing new was really added combat-wise, and those 2D fire sprites were horrible. The Joker honestly should've never been in the game, but they have to shove him into every Arkham title somehow.
35:11 Very easy to answer that question actually. The "elevated pitch" is Batman learning his trade. Forget about the hook for a minute and look for the theme. It is the first time in the series that we see Batman making mistakes: he can't save Lobbs in time, a thug he questions passes out, he's totally blindsided by the Joker thinking his enemy is Blackmask, Alfred questions his every decision, his Bat-Cave gets totally wrecked! Batman faces failure and learns from it. It's a GREAT STORY.
Absolutely stunning review of Arkham Knight (not only because its my fav game of the series!) You must be the only one on RUclips who understands the masterful presentation in terms of cutscenes and cinematography!
Ik this was from before SMPS4 but it’s actually more like Spider-Man 2 than Arkham with the combat system and it doesn’t feel like Arkham because there isn’t as much rhythm to the attacks.
Origins is my favorite game loved the Christmas setting the boss fights were the best in the series as were the side missions and the story was on par with asylum
Excellent video. Thanks to this video I have a bit of a clearer sense of how to understand a game and pick it apart, and not necessarily just in only the topics you covered. I plan to be involved in game development in the future, and so it's useful to know the ways I can approach certain elements of game design to contribute to creating a good game. This made me think about things I never thought about before, and from now on I think I will be a teensy bit more critically minded when playing other games, and think more about what makes them what they are. I hope to see some more good content from this channel in the future, I enjoy analyses like these.
While I think your critiques at times are a bit harsh, this series and in particular arkham city being my favorite of all time, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate someone dedicating so much time and putting in so much work to cover games I hold so dear, even origins. Thank you for this.
I honestly think you're a little too biased with the Knight. You've held the older games to a standart in reviewing, but did not follow that up with the Arkham Knight. I appreciate the effort but, to me(I can't stress this enough--TO. ME.) video was ultimately a waste of time and potential.
The story of Arkham Knight is by far the weakest out of the series & all the damn Bat-Tank battles nearly ruined the game. The actual fighting is the best it's ever been but all the fuckin tank battles/missions/riddles/races/ even tank stealth sequences! *really* make replaying the game a chore.
I will say the tank battles were a little overboard at times, and the Arkham Knights reveal could’ve been better. However, Arkham Knight in my opinion is the best in the series at truly exploring the psychology of Batman as well as the Joker. The entire last set piece of the game inside of Batman’s mind, purging the Joker from him and through sheer perseverance resists the fear toxin and puts Scarecrow in his place was one of the most well done and incredible moments not just in the franchise but in Batman media in general. Arguably Knight has the second best story in the franchise due to how well realized Batman’s psyche is, and how truly damaged this man is, and it also is the ultimate testiment to how driven Batman is in his mission
Arkham origins, I completely agree, is subjective. I absolutely love this game because it was the first one I played and the first game I got through. it has sentimental value because I didn't know about the series at the time. as a kid I also didn't take note of the voice acting and cutscene direction, and I only really cared about the gameplay, which because it was my first batman game or game like this at all, I loved the gameplay.
Wow! As a fan of the Rocksteady Batman Arkham series, and as someone who has made it a hobby to get better at the amazing combat system in these games, I thank you. This is not only one of the finest game reviews I have ever seen, but one of the best written, edited and documented RUclips videos I have ever seen. It was worth every minute of the two-hour runtime. Thank you for the work you put in. Well done!
All this scenes were you are "forced to look" and can't really do anything is why I liked Arkham Knight so much and it translated very well in Arkham VR. The intro of Arkham VR is basically you witnessing the death of your parents, and I was petrified. At the end the game uses the same tricks forcing you to turn your head to allow the scripts to move forward in close spaces. It's something Rocksteady used in Arkham Asylum for the first time and is a great example of good narration involving the player.
I find it amusing how assuredly you state that Arkham Knight's story is "pretty good" when... a) the big twist was as predictable as people feared, in spite of Rocksteady outright lying that the titular Arkham Knight was a "new" character. b) Scarecrow was all talk no substance, and his plan makes as much sense as the worst parts in City when you really think about it. (I mean, what was all that rubbish at Ace Chemicals about? Was he banking on Batman stopping him?) c) the stuff about the people with Joker's blood and the hallucinations felt like backtracking and a complete failure to commit to their decision to kill him. Joker should have been limited to meaningful flashbacks in my opinion. I'll take Origins, City and Asylum's stories over Knight's any day of the week. And no, I don't think the gameplay in Knight is, in totality, better than City's either, but that's a whole other arena.
I had the most fun with Arkham Knight. I did EVERYTHING except the riddler shit. I only got half way done with his mission because I had to collect fucking TROPHIES. I did everything else though.
Sir Edward, I just beat Arkham Knight a few days ago after playing AA and AC earlier this year. Yes, I ended up collecting all the riddler trophies and solving all the puzzles. Why? I’d already seen the extended cutscene on RUclips, but I got too far in the story to get any ending without beating it completely. It was tedious, but getting to beat down the Riddler with Catwoman‘s help was SO satisfying. Then taking him to GCPD and getting to Activate the FULL Knight Protocol was Awesome! I knocked them out in about a weeks time.....
One of the best video game reviews on youtube , especially on RUclips.So thorough yet concise and right on point too. I disagree on Arkham City especially on Joker's death , you don't just care because he is the Joker , you care because it questions Batman philosophy : this whole time he refused to kill the Joker despite showing no signs of redemption and slaughtering inocent people.And in the end , he just dies from a disceased by his own fault while no-one exept Harley mourns him.This leaves him in pain as he wonders if he should have killed him when they first met
Hey folks, thanks for stopping by! This video is almost six years old, and as I mention, the first time I'd ever tried any sort of longform video. I've learned a lot about media criticism and video making in the time since, so if you're not aware, I've been working on redoing Arkham videos using what I've learned since this original Retrospective. So far I've completed 3+ Hour videos on Arkham Asylum and City individually which you can find on my channel. Please enjoy this far less intense, far shorter Retrospective if you'd like to, but to see my newer and much more in-depth works about the games, check my channel, or the links below.
Arkham Asylum - ruclips.net/video/78rihmLw6cc/видео.html
Arkham City - ruclips.net/video/B8SBwkhMHS0/видео.html
Videos on Origins and Knight will appear on the feed at some point when I'm able to make them (since these videos take a very long time for me to produce), so make sure to subscribe if you want to catch them. Thanks!
Hey Micah, big fan of this video and the work u put into it, this video right here was the very first retrospective I had ever seen of the Arkham series and one of the first pieces of Arkham content I had every consumed, I really love your passion for the series and the amount of time you put into this video, I always come back to this spastic retrospective because it is so enjoyable to listen to and is a great piece of work all around, I hope u are real proud of yourself for the work u put in and wish u the best Micah, take care❤️
Good man. You can really respect the humility and positive reaction to criticism you’re showing here
You know what I've thought about?
There's a color for each game.
Green for Arkham Asylum
Blue for Arkham City
White (snow) for Arkham Origins
Red for Arkham Knight
The Snow is just there to give an excuse to keep citizens from going outside. It made the open world look boring. City's open world has so much detail and personality. Yet it's smaller.
Bob Gray I like it
Big Smoke I AGREE 100% DUDE!
Or maybe:
Dark purple for Arkham Asylum (i just think it matches the mood)
Brown for Arkham City (Clayface. just Clayface.)
White for Arkham Origins (that actually was a really good match)
Black for Arkham Knight (1. Batman is majorly black. 2. It's the final game. 3. Batman dies in this so you know....black......death......you got the memo)
That's just -a theory!- -A game theory!- my opinion
Sans R. You are very wrong
0/10 why didn’t you talk about the best Arkham game, Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate for the Nintendo 3DS
It's also on PC now
Shut up im not going back to origins
What? No PSP love? lol
@@BEYONDTHESPIDERFILMS you mean ps Vita it didn't release on psp
@@walterwhite8563 Yes
Okay, I need to address the Arkham City part of this retrospective. First off:
What the hell is this man talking about? Has he gone absolutely insane?
So there's only a handful of plot points where he acts smart and is proactive?
Taunting the League of Shadows Assassin into giving him a trail to Ra's, planting a tracker on her, tricking Ra's into thinking he'll join them and taking his blood, punching out Penguin (a player interactive moment btw), Saving Catwoman, saving Ra's and then having him stab only himself (lol fail), pouring Mr. Freeze's coolant until he gives up important info, deliberately hosting a press conference so Hugo Strange takes him into the prison, interrogating Quincy Sharp to spill details on how Strange was able to create Arkham City, tricking Bane into helping him collect titan and then trap him
And these are just what I can think of at 2am. I'm sorry, but what game has this fellow even played? Batman *never* struck me as an idiot. He's part of a larger system of large interests that he responds to. Complaining that he doesn't drive the plot is stupid because he is enforcing law by definition - which means wrong needs to happen *before he is tasked to make it right.* This is the entire idea of law enforcement: Crime happens, the police respond.
I loved this video up until this part. Seems like you took crazy pills
Honestly, City feels like the Most Batmanish game. Batman does screw up a lot. But he also has his smart moments. He is fighting against intelligent people. In Knight, all the villains are moronic. And Natman is a sad loser.
Derick thank you
Big Smoke be quiet kid or else you shall be....DELEEEEEETEEED!!! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!
Keep in mind that the majority of the examples you brought up regarding the LoA, Penguin, and Mr. Freeze occur within the plotline where he's trying to correct his own mistake of letting his guard down, which ultimately eclipses any of those other moments in terms of plot relevance. There's very little about how the scene where Clayface Joker tackles him was framed that reasonably justifies how Batman could have been so distracted to let himself fall victim to something as cliched as being ''attack from behind''. For comparison, in Arkham Asylum, Batman is trapped on the Island as a result of Joker's gang discreetly taking it over the asylum while he wasn't there and in Knight, he's hit with Fear Toxin while rushing to prevent it from spreading across the entire Eastern coast.
Also ''deliberately hosting a press conference so Hugo Strange takes him into the prison,'' by getting arrested is dubious. It's explicitly mentioned by Bruce that getting arrested wasn't his intention. It was while he was climbing the Ace Chemicals tower to get the Batsuit.
Lastly, ''Complaining that he doesn't drive the plot is stupid because he is enforcing law by definition - which means wrong needs to happen before he is tasked to make it right.''
At best that can only justify the start of the story, where the potentially illegal operations in Arkham City are underway and Batman has to stop it. In both Arkham Asylum and Knight, Batman's actions throughout both games have significant influences on how the rest of the plot unfolds.
@@bigsmoke3617 IDK if the moronic villains can be isolated to just Knight. In Arkham City we have Hugo Strange who leaves Bruce Wayne to do whatever he wants throughout most of Arkham City instead of keeping him under confinement and constant surveillance, Ra's Al Ghul who stabs himself while falling from Wonder Tower ( even the OP refers to that moment as a ''lol fail''), and Joker who chose to stab Batman in the arm, not anticipating something as simple as the flinching causing Batman to lose his grip.
I think you missed the point of Arkham City's story. It's designed like a season of 24, a day of complete hell, draining the protagonist physically, mentally and emotionally. That the protagonist gets bamboozled after victory, every success turned into a failure and continuing to stack up the odds because the suffering of our protagonist in the face of evil makes it so much more satisfying to triumph over it and is the core of the Batmam character. He suffers for the people who don't care.
Lewis Davidson IKR
batmam
Thank you
Still not as good as Knight's Story...
Personally I think Knights story is the worst in terms of how it falls to laziness
Twist with Arkham Knight villain was predictable, Scarecrow was under utilized and bland, while Jokers inclusion is the best aspect and funny it undermines the death of Joker in AC
And Bat mobile is overused
It’s not terrible as there’s great improvements that were established but I wouldn’t say it’s the best
Still fun but deeply flawed
Asylum- best setting/atmosphere
City- best character design (including cat woman)
Origins- best boss fights
Knight- best gameplay/combat
I love origins but I felt like all the game was is boss fights and also with Arkham knight the fit the batmobile in everything they could
City had the best fights and origins had the best idea of introducing everything. design should go to Knight without doubt
Golden Lantern nah I feel like in Arkham city’s bigger fights you were forced to mash triangle only to then jump away whenever the larger enemy caught up to you and there was no real freedom to attack your enemy’s
City had the best Bruce Wayne face design, tho it doesn't say much. All of em looked terrible
Mr. Freeze: Am I a joke to you?
The story of Arkham origins is the origin of batman and the jokers relationship. Its not a lie, its in the title. The assassins are outlined in a cutscene within the first 20 min for the same reason that they are not suppose to be the main story, they are the inciting incident. They are merely the vessel to get the joker to batman. The story changes when they meet, and joker takes an interest in batman. To your points about the worlds, the open world appeared to be a result of lack of developement time. In my opinion, theres alot of enjoyment in feeling like the city is in its normal state (Not evacuated or in a prison), yes i acknowledge the the storm but still. The blackgate sections to me were a love letter to arkham asylum, and i genuinely look forward to those sections every time i play this game.Yes, arkham origins doesnt fit within your "dungeon" thesis, i think the story is a fantastic narrative celebrating both games and the center two characters within the series. Idk man, feels like your a rocksteady fan big time- you barely criticized about the horrid tank gameplay of knight.
no when you read the title you DONT think about batman and joker origin , you think of BATMANS origin he is right everything in the game was a lie the title is a lie the marketnig is a lie and the story was a joke. Jokers plottwist was one of the WORST things i have ever seen
joker2258 that isn’t the story,because it switch’s from what it wants to tell e.g when joker is put in prison it becomes about finding bane which is barley interesting or griping and then it goes back to the bounty on Batman’s head with a horribly linear boss fight with firefly.the game uses so many plot details from batman comics like year one ,killing joke , Knight fall but doesn’t know how to use them subtly,it’s a confused story. Even if the game is about celebrating the two main characters imo that isn’t a strong narrative to boot,you need meat on them bones.
its like 2 parts of a story and explains why bane cant remember the titan formula
the joker is more zany and more fufilled with being a foil to batman
freeza vs goku or joker vs batman?
@@blackvalio4060if all you can see is batman's origins when you read the title Arkham: Origins then you're extremely narrow sighted to not realize the multiple ways the title can be interpreted because of the plot of the game.
@@blackvalio4060 Somebody hurt you... ???
Did you just say Arkham asylum was just fine? Blastephomus!
Asylum is the one with the less silly characters and story (except for Titan Joker).
Personally it's the only one from the 4 that I've had fun replaying from start to finish. I like all 4 but no other game can match that feel of creepy "fun house" that Asylum has
Melody Stacey I love Arkham Asylum, though I like City more
In my opinion it's really the one that most noticeably has a defined style and it's so great, I replayed it the most
The Guardian Asylum is the most silly actually. It’s about joker making titan monsters to destroy Gotham......
@@BK-sh2pn I don't know. City is about a psychiatrist who is such an extreme fan boy that he wants to be what he admires. Knight is about a guy that was mad you messed up his face so he got your grumpy son to join him in a revenge plot. Origins is Batman's excuse to save Christmas while making new friends along the way.
Even tough I disagree with almost everything you said, I respect that you made this video. You had an opinion and wanted to share it. And for those who are super mad about this, it's an OPINION
and the people who think it was a shitty video have their opinion as well - so what is your point?
@@didimean exactly my thoughts...
@@didimean Because opinions can be expressed in well-written comments, instead of lazily dismissing the video as shitty or trash. Idiot.
@@darkseid6341 even the guy who made this video said it was utter shit lmao
@@didimean and the people who think this vidoe is great too
Origins was not as bad as people say it is
like he said in the review it really depends on the person that plays it...
Origins is actually my favorite
@@jrvbamafan1 do you have a reason?im curious
@@matthewlugo2417 I enjoyed the assasins and feeling like I was actually the one being hunted, I liked the story pretty well, and the bosses were my favorite in the series....just really had a good time playing it, and even though I had a day one release copy for ps3, I never experienced a single glitch
It was much worse.
Okay I'm fine with the idea that City isn't a great story-based experience, but saying that it does not hold up? Absolute BS.
Arkham city's story was amazing
@@tyleroutland1248
No way. I'm beyond tired of people heaping so much undeserved praise on the most relatively disappointing video game sequel since God of War 2.
It expanded the core gameplay from AA well in most ways. However, the implementation of armored enemies in combat and predator was a goofy and artificial way to try to make players use automatic/loud takedowns. The titans of Arkham Asylum were simple yet viscerally satisfying enemies to fight. But in AC you just perma-stun them and mash square while Batman's head and shoulders embarrassingly clip into him. Not all proper boss fights were winners, either. Grundy was a pseudo boss fight puzzle reminiscent of the lamest parts of God of War 2, and the actual one-on-one part of the fight with Ra's was a wholly inferior version of the battle with Poison Ivy in AA. By far the shortest campaign of the four main games. Everything involving Catwoman was mediocre at best and came in strange intervals.
But that absolutely horrendous story is what cripples it. The writing is like sub-par fan-fiction (if I ever read fan-fiction). Overtly nonsensical plot holes, laughably contrived events and cringe-inducingly juvenile dialogue throughout. This is the norm, not the exception. It's thematically bankrupt as it pretends to be epic and profound with (admittedly) stirring music. Look, every Arkham game has some contrivances, but they're nowhere near as bad nor as widespread as in AC. Just about every aspect of the main story can be meticulously pulled apart. It's not in any way comparable to Dini's fantastic contributions to Batman: The Animated Series and its feature films. This is not the Mask of the Phantasm of gaming. I have to say that some of the side missions like Zsasz's phone calls were actually much, much better written.
Some of the major plot twists were embarrassingly self-spoiled. We could see that there was a healthy-looking Joker that gassed Batman, the real Joker coughing as he's filming Clayface Joker, and we could see Clayface Joker facing the mirror and seeing the sick Joker. I don't know how any person could be surprised by the end reveal (attempted one, anyway).
I will say that the challenge mode would've been easily the best of the series, but the absolutely scummy practice of carving out DLC character and challenge maps that could've been on the disc on day one, then selling them back to gamers. Each of the four main Arkham games are guilty of this to some degree, but City is absolutely the worst offender.
To top it all off, we had to stare at a purple-caped Batman for the entire game the first time through (there is a cheat code to use alternate skins, but that wasn't known until months after the game released).
As a game, I definitely prefer Arkham City over Arkham Origins. But the Arkham City I played is nowhere near deserving the praise it gets. I honestly thought I had a spoof copy of the game after the first time I played it.
ZANIACK That’s what clever writing is. A lot of people didn’t notice those clues about Clayface playing Joker in their first play through. However, if you play it a second time you will notice those clues and appreciate the story even more because it was always there. And who cares if you have to a stare at a “purple” cape. First, it was blue, and second, stop nit picking. Also, are you kidding me? The Titans in Asylum got boring and repetitive after the first few times you fight them. Sure, fighting more armored guys can be tedious, but that’s what building upon gameplay is. Adding new elements to the gameplay. Arkham City is pretty much the Animated Series, but more mature and more of a continuous story. I personally feel the Arkham games are spiritual sequels to the Animated Series.
@@bombasticgamin8447 thank you! This Zaniack dude keeps spamming the same garbage everytime someone says arkahm city is their personal favorite or when someone defends it. Story has its flaws but its considered to have the best story out of all these games according to the majority.
Wise Green Wanderer Yeah, Zaniack is spewing nonsense and hate for no reason. He’s just nitpicking on minor things. Anyways, there are rumors about a new Batman Arkham type of game coming out soon focusing on the Court of Owls. Are you excited?
About your problems with city :
A typical Batman vs joker even odds fight isn’t what rocksteady was going for in city they were going into a night of Hell setup which has a lot of potential and certainly isn’t not Batmany. Batman is constantly beaten down because this is Arkham city it’s a town run by criminals so of course it’s gonna be unfair which is essentially what rocksteady was going for, a feeling of unfairness and that couldn’t be communicated if the plot had Batman keep fighting and winning. Secondly I think the player can be to blame for a lot of stuff that goes wrong for Batman. The joker and Batman’s relationship is more of a mind game then a fist fight so while Batman got nocked out by the joker THE PLAYER is the one who fell for jokers trap same with me freeze and penguin but at the same time PLAYER is the one who defeats the joker me freeze and penguin.
There's also the fact that Batman is his own character, independent of the player, so it makes no sense to want to give the player agency in these moments.
Hungry Husky sometimes mr will autocorrect to me on an iphone
How the hell do you misspell "Mr. Freeze" two times? It's a simple name. Mr. Not Me. I'm so confused.
Alexander Hernandez if you type “mr” with no period on iPhone is automatically corrects to me
What about Batman from the 1980s and Dcau Batman and Adam west Batman come on I wanna know how hard or easy it would be for them!
I think I can pitch the story of Arkham Origins:
Batman hunts down Black Mask and learns of a new villain called The Joker who is unlike anything Batman has dealt with before.
RebFilms that’s a very very very brief summary which misses most of the game.
And it takes place during Christmas. So you got a Batman Christmas Movie and a Batman Christmas game.
212013114 find that awesome
I got so disappointed over learning that The Joker took over the role as the main villain and black mask wasn't the brain over the operation.
@Cypher Gordon's
Wow you didn’t show Arkham Asylum much love, and that surprised me a lot. It does a lot of things way better than any other game in the series.
1.) Using Riddler challenges to expand the universe and our perspective on the characters inhabiting it (this game actually made listening to video logs feel worthwhile. It didn’t jus tell me about what was going on in the lead up to this game, but who all these villains were as characters)
2.) forcing you to search for a way into a building; no other Arkham game forces you to really take a route besides the front door. The only time I can think of you having to innovate a way into a building outside of Asylum is taking the chimney to get into the Steel Mill. And even then Alfred straight up tells you to take it. Every other building you jus clear the area and enter.
3.) makes traversal through the Asylum constantly feel unique. With the other 3 games, you can simply glide from one objective to another. There isn’t much to make one trip across the map feel different from any other. Your path thru the Asylum is never the same. Whether it’s crazies roaming the land, vicious plants to watch out for, snipers to beware of, being forced to find a new way into a building etc. You could get into buildings from the sewers, get in from the front door, get in from a service hatch on the roof, it was always different.
4.) forces you to be strategic with free flow combat. Although the combat of Asylum is a lot slower than its sequels, that also forces you to pay more attention to where you’re striking. In the sequels, I tend to ping pong around in big fights, jus smacking “X” until I see a certain enemy that I have to do a special move on. Batman moves so fast that a lotta times I can avoid an attack just by striking at an enemy on the other side of the screen. In Asylum, when I was surrounded by enemies I felt overwhelmed. I needed to control my positioning and prioritize my targets. In the sequels I never felt that pressure, even when surrounded Batman always felt so fast that I could jus strike before anyone even really touched me, and get to the thugs carrying weapons whenever I could get to them. In Asylum the high security thugs (ones carrying knives) felt dangerous, and they were easily identifiable. It didn’t take much for me to mark him out as a priority. In the sequels, most weapons can jus be picked up by any random thug. So even when I take down the most dangerous guy in the group (the one holding the weapon), it really doesn’t feel like I made any progress. There was never anything as satisfying as watching the animation slow as Batman arm dragged a knife weilding thug in an orange jumpsuit and breaking his wrist, knowing that particular type of enemy was down for the count
PS: if you’ve made it this far into my comment, I really respect the fact that you made this video. I love that you can form and articulate your opinion on a piece of art. Everyone seems to be able to state their opinion, but articulating why we have our opinions are becoming harder and harder for a lot of ppl in this internet age
I want to add to your first point that Asylum had the perfect amount of Riddler challenges. City had an insane amount of trophies, and (I might be remembering wrong) they didn't really expand on the game's story as much as it was a copy/paste from Asylum. Knight still had a lot of challenges (but that's expected with the size of the map), but it more like Asylum where you got some background of events and characters before the game or the whereabouts of villains not seen (like Mr. Zsasz and Killer Croc). And I can't remember anything about Origins since I haven't picked it up since launch.
But I have to disagree on your fourth point. City added gun crates, electric batons, shields, and brutes to add a lot more variety to combat. Having to avoid brutes/batons while stopping goons from getting to the gun crates added a sense of urgency to gameplay. And they added on to this in Knight by adding more advanced brutes with a variety of weapons and medics that would limit your ability to mash the X button, while also reviving goons to make any confrontation a bit longer/more difficult. And I don't know what difficulty you played on, but on hard it always felt like I had to counter and escape being cornered before I could get a good combo on one guy. I always had to move or take damage from an uncounteable hit.
you made me decided to play Asylum again
Asylum has far better combat mechanics, that if built upon could of been something really special, but like you said it eventually became ping pong across the map, free flow focus made it even easier. If they stuck with asylum combat the batclaw and roll move would also be far more useful as you would have to make the distance in order to get a shot in, meaning players would have to do more than just press x and y as is often complained about
It’s my second favorite behind Knight.
King Savage97 Arkham knight makes you find a way into a building... by..... using the bat mobile every time *sigh* nvm lol
"That's not a dungeon! It's a straight line" Oh, this guy probably hates Skyrim.
>_
LOL
Perry Cummins Skyrim’s dungeons are VERY linear.
Better than the fucking maze dungeons in the previous ES games.
Well, Skyrim does suck
It kind of sounds like he just wants Arkham city to be a telltale game where the player controls the narrative.
Expect that in those games you don't have as much control as you think, it has more illusion of control than actual control showing how you can play the game and say many different things and practically be a completely different person yet the game and story would still be largely the same and unchanged...
i think its less about being telltale-ish where u get the illusion of control, its more about trying to get batman to have an active role..he is the protagonist..
for eg- arkham asylum, batman's almost always in control...even when odds stack up..you dont see shit happening without him directly influencing the outcome whenever theres a scene on screen
in city batman essentially just runs errands for everyone
-get me cure
-find freeze
-break jammers
-save cops
-free freeze
-beat penguin
-find ras al ghul
etc etc
its not him actively making the decision to do it..he is being pushed into it
The Burger King u couldn’t be more wrong
When you forget to watch the vidoe
@@Demonically_Inspired Isn't that the whole point of the game? Batman was so out of depth in that hellish city that most of the times he got thrown around only to come back at the last minutes.
Arkham Origins quick plot breakdown: this is the time in Batman's life where he's transitioning from taking down mob bosses and thugs and into the more "masked" villians fans of the series know and love. This is a "year two" Batman story where he's been on the scene for a while but has been handling mostly low life criminals and mafia type organizations. Joker's entrance into this story, along with a few of the other characters, marks the time when Batman is up against a very special type of foe: a masked/costumed character just like himself.
City’s story was awesome. Your point is that the player isn’t the one that drops the cure. That’s called a quick time event. They suck. It had a good story even if the player doesn’t do everything. Sometimes the coolest thing in a game is when something unexpected happens that the player has no control over. Most people know about the Batman lore anyway so I understand that one of your point is it would not make since if you didn’t but that’s what the game is made for. Batman fans which know the lore.
Saying quick time events sucks is such a shallow statement.
Teben but qte's do suck.
abc4781 no they don’t, when done correctly. Qte’s are quick and snappy reaction challenges. When done correctly, qte’s can allow big bombastic set pieces that can’t be done when the player is in control, and are not engaging when done in a cutscene. Qte’s can perfectly blend cutscenes and gameplay if done right. They get a bad wrap nowadays because of misuse of them in recent games.
Only games that do qtes correct shenmue and asuras wrath and maybe god of war the old ones not that awful new one
You know any game that has game play has QTEs right?
Arkham origins has some great boss battles, I would say the best of the series ( apart from the Mr freeze battle in arkham city), the only problems I had with origins is the technical issues, the arkham series is awesome overall, your problems with the series are very nitpicking and things players really don't think about, we just have fun and enjoy it
@@novielie9864 Electrocutioner was good, but others aren't overrated
"Do you want to know something funny..? After everything you've done, I would have saved you."
Legendary line.
I played Arkham Asylum so fucking much back when I was 7-9. I must have replayed that game like a hundred times. I used to know every voice line and sound effect by heart. I still remember scanning my last Riddler riddle when I 100% it for the first time. I replayed both Arkham Asylum and City a few days ago on PC, and god, these games are still fucking sick.
I also played almost as much Arkham City as I did Arkham Asylum. I was obsessed with these games.
It really bothers me that in Knight you can't go to the batcave because there is a theme in the game that whoever you talk to on batman's communication system you can go to face to face. Lucius-bruce's office, barbara-watchtower, Gordon-gcpd, catwomam-riddler's hideout, Robin and nightwing-certain sections of the main story and side missions, but you can't go to Alfred in the batcave. With that in mind and as big as the map is it dosn't make any sense why rocksteady omitted the batcave from arkham Knight.
well I just find it really out of place that rocksteady's whole tag line for the game was "be the batman" and how they expect us to do that when you can't go to his base of operations. and I believe the batcave was actually completed and then taken out because one of the game's trailers showed a 2 second shot of alfred in the batcave next to one of the batsuit chamber's like bruce has in his wayne enterprise office but that shot is nowhere in the final game.
Yeah, it's a shame that rocksteady didn't included Batcave as an HQ in this game
I hate seeing this complaint, and have hated it since launch. The design philosophy for Knight was generally have as much of everything as possible in the single map that is Central Gotham. What do we know about the Batcave? It's far away enough that it takes a few minutes flight time in Origins- it would be disconnected from the action. Do you really want to drive back and forth from the Batcave constantly like how you had to fly back and forth between Origins?
@@bl4ckw1ngz64 Uh...yeah. It would have actually made the batmobile tolerable.
@@MarkDannenberg Makes about as much sense as,"The city is under siege, lets do Riddler races, and collect 240 of his stupid trophies while also doing side missions that have absolutely nothing to do with the hunt for Scarecrow, and Arkham Knight".
The dlc packs where you play as other characters like catwoman, redhood, nightwing ect proves that rocksteady's formula is not only perfect for batman but also works well with pretty much any character. Spiderman ps4 is also an example of this. You could make an entire video game of pretty much any hero or villain with rocksteady's arkham formula, the possibilities are endless and that's why i love them so much. Take the arkham series formula, replace the model with another hero or villain, tweak the animations and voicework a bit and replace batman gadgets with wraponry related to that character and you're pretty much done. It's amazing how versatile the system is.
Do people really want to play the same game with a different skin, though? If DC licenses other superheroes for video games, I hope they give us gameplay experiences unique to those characters, even if they borrow here and there from _Arkham_ or whatever else.
Who really wants a Green Arrow game that's just _Batman: Arkham Arrows_ or _Batman: But Green_?
Good video, though I think you take it a bit too far with shitting on Arkham Asylum. I actually prefer it's limited scope to the subsequent games, as they feel bloated and convoluted to me, and the big open world severely takes away a lot of the atmosphere, which AA delivers so well.
Similarly, I find the smaller groups of enemies much more elegant to fight than the absurd amounts of enemies thrown at you in the later games. In AA it was really fun to never break your combo-counter and to come up with the coolest way to utilize your gadgets in the fights. Fewer enemies also means fewer "wrong" dodges due to the autofocus not getting confused which enemies you mean to hit, which was a little bit frustrating in City and Knight.
Thanks for watching, and for the response!
My analysis of Arkham Asylum is slightly split across the World Design section and it's own overview, mostly to save on time, so for the record you're right, it's not at all the strongest part of the video; I think the game is good, particularly in the context of it's time of release. I do not think the gameplay would stand up if it was placed into any other environment than the one it is in, so to it's credit it's very in-tune with the asylum itself. The exploration of vent crawling and battling the decrepit nature of the asylum is novel, unique for the series and does wonders for atmosphere and the feeling of the asylum. I don't think the combat stays effective or enjoyable across the entire story given how little it progresses in either abilities or enemy types. There are so few of either. Only two gadgets are usable in combat, only one of which is fluid or even effective. To praise it's combat elements too highly would diminish the achievement of the improvements I feel the later games made; long story short, punching three incompetent men in a hallway in the exact same, extremely effective way so many times in the game is not fun and does not successfully convey a feeling of power, especially when the world does such a good job of putting the player through their paces. The system is clearly a base of a system, it uses slow motion far too frequently, particularly on instant takedowns, so it's focus appears to be skewed between spectacle and brevity given the size of it's enemy groups, which are contradictory goals. I like the combat, I want to do it for longer periods of time with more freedom over it's elements, with more types of opposition to my power, and I lead with my reasoning behind that in the Combat/ Stealth segment. It's stealth does hold up better, given that atmosphere is the games strength. I did, however, conclude that I still think it holds up, and on whole I think I railed much harder against City and Origins. I think the length of time I spent praising it's world (and that I more or less opened the whole retrospective with it), and it's aiming for the right things in story speaks for itself. As I said in my conclusion segment, it is what it is, and if you happen to enjoy what it is more than City or Origins or Knight, that's obviously more than okay.
Thanks again for taking the time to respond, I hope you enjoyed the rest of the video.
Yeah no worries, I still think your analysis is valid and the rest of the video is so spot on, that it really tripped me up when you came out with AA is merely a launchpad for the later titles. Thanks for the in-depth response!
PHILL SHIVELY dude your such a nerd 😂😂😂😂 though I didn't agree with him shitting on Asylum and city though I agree when it comes to origins .
PHILL SHIVELY You made four separate comments just to try to make him respond to you. Pretty sad if you ask me lmao
Dude, chalange fight rooms have "alota enemies" especialy on extreme, yet its still fun because its satisfing how bat does that, actualy its even more epic in asalum, while you do strategy not only while stealth but also at the combat. But the most fun in stealth is to clear room with no detection and fast, coz it imagine like you are a thug, and in 5 seconds 5 guys of your 7 group are down... and sudenly the other guy screams and then silence, its only you and the worst of all nightmares.
Paul Dini was a writer on City. I think that could explain why it may rely on external knowledge. Although I don’t think it does. You can learn everything you need to know about those characters from the game. Mr. Freeze needs to be kept at Sub-Zero temps and is motivated by his wife, Ra’s needs a successor to take his daughter for a wife so he can finally die, Catwoman and Batman are kind of FWB’s even though she does her own thing, etc.
I beat the main story of Arkham Knight about 20 minutes ago, and I am so glad to say that I loved it. Like seriously, I binged a good 9 hours today of playing and beating the rest of the game, which is so rare for me to do.
It made me want to go back and play the other games again, just to do it and compare like what you must have done as well.
But first, I want to 100% Arkham Knight, and it's not because I feel I have to, it's because I want to. I want to fight The Riddler, I want to clean the streets. It's such a powerful game, and who knows, maybe that'll wear off. But at the moment, I am at a lost for words. I'm glad to see someone else liked this game as much as me. Thanks for the video.
It's not perfect but it just makes you FEEL like Batman.
4 years later, did you ever 100% it? Just curious
the major unanswered question from Arkham Asylum is "why is the moon so fuckin' big?"
Thank you so much for giving Arkham Knight its due. I am very tired of the same old criticisms of the “predictable” identity of the Knight and the game having “too much Batmobile,” when there’s so much to unpack in terms of story, gameplay, and world building outside of those criticisms.
I am planning on creating a retrospective on the three Rocksteady Arkham Games as well, and although I think we have some clear differences on the first two games, I am glad to see and encouraged to find that I’m not the only person who has such an enthusiastic opinion on Arkham Knight. I hope you don’t mind that I steal some of your observations on why Knight works as well as it does when (if) I get to making my retrospectives.
Honestly AC has the best designs of the characters and environment
Especially Batman
Is it just me or does Batman de aged
From Asylum to City
Except Riddler, he looks old
Wait a minute?! 58:30 You can slide to open those thing? I've played every game since Asylum's release and just realized this ...
Fabian Vegas literally same
Also for obvious reasons you can’t do that in asylum
works only(?) in city
You idiot.
Your point about boss fights is excellent, thank you.
Arkham origins is my favorite. It had by far the best boss fights and I just love the story. I didn't let anyone spoil it for me until it came out. Stayed away from the forums.
Also, it was the only game that did deathstroke justice. Knight slapped him in the face.
So Origins sucks, Asylum is "boring, but fine", City had the worst story in the series and I haven't even made it to Knight. Honestly, I'm surprised you put in as much effort as you did making this video, about a game series you clearly don't even like all that much.
I somehow have the same feeling. I'm all for criticism even If I personally like a game. But this feels like tearing down games because of nitpicks.
@@Nightmare29a I agree, most of his criticism was pretty lazy if you ask me.
I think that he doesn't go all too deep into these games if you ask me. Criticizing them either for their narrating if he doesn't like it or their gameplay if he doesn't like it.
Arkham Asylum is in his opinion 'meh' because of the gameplay. Arkham City is not so good because of the Story and the gameplay which is improved is mentioned merely briefly. He isn't consistent with his critique.
@@Nightmare29a Exactly... and he doesn't seem to understand the idea of judging something for their time. He thinks Asylum's gameplay is boring because he loves Knight and the gameplay was much faster then. How is that fair? Of course Knight has superior gameplay, it's the third in the series. But for being the first game, Asylum literally had groundbreaking gameplay, which is why everyone copied its combat system thereafter and he should judge it on those grounds... NOT compared to Knight.
Also, I'm sorry... but saying City had the worst story in the series and just a bad narrative in general is nothing short of hysterical. It clearly had a much better narrative than Knight, which he surprisingly likes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those Knight-haters who thinks it was a disappointing game (the gameplay is simply way too good, which is why I've put the most hours into it) but the story was weak (at best). They literally copied the whole "Batman is poisoned" from City, except in Knight it doesn't make any sense and he praises Knight for it, yet criticizes City for it? "Because Batman is reactive"... he says that as if it's a bad thing. City is supposed to be a story about Batman being one step behind. Protocol 10 was a conspiracy. Knight was NOT, therefore it makes more sense he is more proactive.
How about the lame Arkham Knight reveal, which was so on the nose, it was pathetic. He criticizes City for relying on our comic book knowledge. That's probably a fair statement, but how is this not true for Knight? Sure, they added some forced Jason Todd torture scenes, which were well done, but made the Arkham Knight reveal all the more predictable. Also, the Knight himself had a horrible personality: they made him a whiny bitch. At least they got the characters right in City.
@@Nightmare29a Also, Origins was by no means a bad game. Weaker than the others? Sure. But not bad.
I've played every game extensively and I honestly never noticed any gliding problems in Origins. I didn't play them back to back though, and I can't disagree with your appraisal. I loved the story so much I forgave any flaws.
As to arkham city, you must realize this isn't Comics Batman, this is Adaptation Batman, and a large part of that changes the character according to conventions of the adapted medium. Example: Batman 1989. He murders so many people, the one thing Comics Batman absolutely never does, and yet it's a great Batman movie. Because in action movies of the time, the bad guys have to die. It's considered immoral NOT to kill someone like The Joker. Superman killed General Zod and the other criminals in Superman II. At least he did that in the comics too though. Videogame Batman therefore must change to fit the medium, and providing gameplay IS the purpose of the story. You can't logically fault it for that though it is a crude and inelegant process in some cases. I personally liked the story, the guts of killing joker off and what they used that for in Knight. You're entitled not to like it, but I did and I'm a thirty year comics fan. I've seen way worse Batman stories.
It's fine for Batman to not be controlling the situation and reacting to chaos, read No Man's Land sometime, when Gotham was abandoned after the big earthquake in Cataclysm and for a year it was cut off and not even part of America anymore. He had no control then, even the cops were just another gang fighting for territory. He stayed and even refused help from the other superheroes. You might say that's a dumb decision but it made sense in context.
Great characters can survive less than optimal adaptations, if you're looking for the best Batman stories as stories, read the comics. You're never going to find them in the videogames or even the movies. I have recommendations if you'd like. Have you actually read the Knightfall trilogy? It's my favorite period of stories. Bruce made the dumbest choice in the world by picking Azrael to be Batman and not Dick Grayson. He wanted Dick to be his own man as Nightwing. Every story that next year came from that one bad decision. Azrael became a murderer and Bruce had to retrain and retake the mantle of the bat from Azrael in Knightsend. This is totally typical Batman storytelling. Heroes make mistakes, big ones.
What about when Batman created Brother Eye, a sentient super computer satellite that almost took over the world? That affected the entire DCU cosmos in Infinite Crisis, and it was one bad decision by Batman. He mistrusted the superheroes because they wiped his memory with magic.
Or how about Tower of Babel, when villains stole Batman secret plans on how to defeat each JLA member and used them to take out the whole team and again, take over the world? One bad decision by Batman. And these are all great stories.
I agree games should have good stories and are capable of it. I do feel that it's secondary though to good gameplay, as the gameplay is the unique element and the sole reason for the adaptation to exist in the first place.
I still think Arkham Asylum is the best game in the series. Though it feels a little limiting if you're going into it right after a newer Arkham game, you adjust quickly. It's the most focused in tone and atmosphere. I'd trade AC's polish and brisk pace for AA's atmosphere any day of the week. The Scarecrow sequences and the childhood flashbacks are the height of the series.
Great insights, especially into Origins. A real shame about it because I absolutely loved Joker's playable 'Killing Joke' sequence and a few other character moments but the game really struggles to go anywhere or do anything. I swear I don't even remember a thing about it and i've played it twice.
How can you compare Arkham Asylum to later games? You're talking about it like they removed things from Arkham City and Knight. But the reality is they added things in later games. It's not how it works buddy.
my favorite thing about knight happened during the main story. at a certain point i thought i was going too fast so i completely abandoned the main story for several hours, only to have me jump into several street fights, one of which had me turn my character only for one of them to reskin into the joker. this was an absolute treat, also to see various streetsigns change when you look twice at them felt absolutely awesome to me
My favorite line in the Arkhamverse:
"Ivy? Gee, you look like crap. Maybe I can sneak ya some shampoo . . . "
I really admire the way you've captured, unpacked, deconstructed and analyzed these 4 games but I still feel like you failed to understand Arkham City as a whole. Either way, great video m8 (thank you for giving Knight some more love, my favorite in the series ;) )
19:27 “Walking is the main draw of the games” 😂
Should have called the Arkham Knight “The Red Hood” from the start, it would have gotten rid of the disappointing reveal and actually fit the character of Jason Todd
That wouldn't make since, especially when the entire series has "Arkham" in it's title.
@Deathboy XX the reveal was def dissatisfying. I know who he was before the game even started
Late comment but, get ready for this.....
Batman: Arkham Todd
Let me just congratulate you for making literally the best Batman Arkham analysis ever. Because I love these games so much(even Origins, mostly because of Deathstroke and the Bane's portrayal), I watch any Arkham analysis I can find , and yours was by far the most intelligent, well argued and forces me to reevaluate my own thoughts.
This means a lot. Thank you.
Hey man, I get it. I was disappointed by that. But only Origins had a good hand-to-hand boss fight. All the other boss fights in the Arkham games were really basic(except for Mr. Freeze). Honestly, just play Injustice 1 and 2 if you want straight-up fist fights. That's what I do.
Having Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill voicing Batman and Joker was icing on the cake!
Weird how you didn't say much about the Batmobile which was the worst about Knight, sure you said it let you do everything in Knight from combat stealth and gagets(batmobile). But its not fun the tank battles were used way too much and it not optional you need to complete all side activities to end the game
Not fun for you........
i loved the tank battles
Mordercai Near the side activities had way more weight behind them than city or origins,and the game gives you time to do them so doesn’t feel like it’s overriding the main plot.
Arkham knight is the worst. Everything about it is the weakest through level design writing and story.
@@grandpaeren6839 you have no idea what you're talking about lmao
There is a hook for Arkham Origins. The story:
It’s Christmas night. Ruthless gangster Black Mask has hired 8 assassins to kill the mythical Batman, whom is still an infamous outlaw to the police of Gotham and a nightmarish myth to its criminals and residents. In this game, Batman is younger, so he’s far less restrained, more aggressive, etc.
I can continue?
i thought origins wasnt that bad
trash
@@blackvalio4060 you want trash?
Xbox.
Origins biggest problem is the fact the other games exist.
mariokarter13 yep
@@blackvalio4060 In your opinion
Maybe the Origins game was trying to portray a Batman that was just starting out and didn't have all his skills honed yet.
There are 2 reasons why people dislike this video
1: because he didn't say the word masterpiece every two seconds while talking about city and asylem
2: 1:13:16 this clip
56:15 I would absolutely recommend new players to start with Arkham Asylum then move on to the rest, especially if you'd say the other games are more fun. If you do it the other way and come to Arkham Asylum last, you'll experience the various limitations batman has in it compared to the other games that make it less fun and it won't be as enjoyable that way
Exactly, starting with Arkham Asylum is the best thing to do. Plus it's the most narrative and atmosphere focused and has a lot of great psychological horror and gothic goregousness.
To me, Arkham Origins has always been the story of how Joker fell in love with Batman. It’s a twisted romance.
I’m pretty sure Arkham refined the Spider-Man 2 combat
In a good way or a bad way?
Nicholas Hawkins good definitely
It popularized it
OH MY GOD YOUR RIGHT!
One of the best-written and researched analysis of the greatest game series ever made.
FINALLY
Someone who liked and appreciated Arkham Knight as much as I did
Mr. Waffles the story for Arkham Knight was amazing
@@sneaky_eclipse a lot of people complain about "too much" Batmobile, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Using it in AK reminds me of the early scene in The Dark Knight where he interrupts Scarecrow's meeting. Remote controlling it, busting straight through concrete barriers, and being impervious to small arms. A lot of people complain that it's a tank, but why would he have anything less?
@@sneaky_eclipse The story for Arkham Knight was good though it had its moments where it was predictable. I mean the reveal that Jason Todd was the Arkham Knight felt a bit obvious in my opinion.
Best Parts:
AA - Great foundation and feel for the series
AC - Great boss fights (Mister Freeze, Grundy, Clayface), Improvements on gliding, Worldspace, Animated Series and Batman Beyond skins.
AO - More Batman (I guess), The best Deathstroke and Bane boss fights.
AK - The best combat (Team up fights being awesome),The Joker throughout, and the Batman movie skins and cars.
The Worst Parts:
AA - Boss Fights, slow combat, and smallest amount of content (Low replayability).
AC - Main story was too short, and Catwoman missions.
AO - Weakest story, World exploration (including Joker trophies), and combat downgrade.
AK - Tank sections, and certain parts of story.
43:11 Nobody at all wants to talk about how Bruce's face looks like lump of clay with a James Charles glow up.
Totally underrated comment.
Asylum, City, and Knight. To me (as in my opinion relax) are video game perfection
So refreshing to see an Arkham video where the person doesn't instantly and blindly suck off City. Origins wasn't that bad though.
Origins wasn't horrible but compared to the Rocksteady tittles, it is a real downgrade.
YoungCat Il accept that City is better, but imo Knight is only better than Origins on a technical level. The story in Origins was much more enjoyable than Knights to me. Plus the Hush mission was probably the biggest letdown in the series.
“The highest praise I can give it is it’s not a train wreck” That’s the worst opinion of asylum I’ve ever fucking heard
One of the problems i have with Knight is that in Asylum Scarecrow injects Batman with the fear toxin that he himself says is enough to drive 10 men insane, and Batman just powers trough it (he does the same with the Titan formula when Joker shoots him). So why is he affected by the toxin in Knight?
Dion Panday It's a more powerful toxin than the one used in Asylum. In Arkham City a boat can be found which, when entered, shows that Scarecrow is not only alive, but also is experimenting with a new toxin, as shown to have killed a Joker Thug inside. Also, Scarecrow's mask can be found near the boat, which when scanned unlocks an Arkham City Story that mentions Scarecrow floating across the Gotham Bay River on a crate of TITAN, which is one of three possible post-credit scenes randomely triggered at the end of Arkham Asylum. This hints toward TITAN being used in Crane's new formula, explaining its more powerful effects.
Tbf batman does fight it off by pushing the joker away at the end of the game.
he refined his formula since city (as seen in his boat hideout) and batman is still poisoned by jokers blood
When Batman gets the shots at the end of the game and powers through it, it's because he put Joker behind him forever, he ¨killed¨ him. But in the process Bruce Wayne did die at the same time, where he says ¨ Gotham needs something darker¨ , he's not scared anymore, he destroy the manor and everything related to Bruce Wayne and goes full-on Batman.
Because at the end of asylum while joker is holding him he uses the antidote on himself
Origins had the most unique story change my mind. It’s about as Alfred says, “a young man with a trust fund and too much anger.” Bruce has been Batman for around two years and continues down a dark path for those years, letting his anger and rage get the best of him. He continues dismissing the fact that he is going down the dark path. Even though we saw little of Bruce as a character in this game, it’s clear to see that the Batman in this game, is not Batman. This is Bruce, angry and fueled by his parents death. He is not the calm cool and collected Batman that we see in Asylum, City, and Knight. This is Bruce getting his feet in the water, and learning the ropes on how to utilize his allies and the Batman character. This is the ORIGIN story of the Joker and the Batman so idk y ppl are so mad that Joker is the main villain. Anyhow, to answer your question, the story of Arkham Origins is the story of Bruce becoming Batman. Plain and simple
Dude Asylum is a masterpiece, only thing is it's boring after the story.
i just want you to know this is my favorite video i have seen/listened too. i have listened to this video so many time. your work is amazing and a inspiration.
I feel like I’m the only one who’s favourite Arkham game is Arkham Knight. Am I? I often feel like I am, as I see videos all the time of people constantly bashing it.
I am glad to see somebody who loves and enjoys arkham knight as much as me
True Story: A guy I knew rented Arkham Asylum from a Hollywood Video. They closed down during his rental period. Unable to return it, the only option was to keep it.
Stonks
Awesome
Arkham Asylum is the one I go back to the most. The setting and the atmosphere just fits Batman.
Arkham City is also a lot of fun, and the combat is so much better.
Arkham Origins was ok, but that boss fight with deadshot was ridiculous. I legit spent a few days trying to beat him. After I did, I'm not sure what I was doing differently, which lead to confusion. The rest of it is a bit of a blur for me.
I haven't played Arkham Knight, but I'll be getting it soon.
Genuinely shocked how much of this video is just bitching about Batman’s characterization in Origins and City. He’s not the player’s Avatar, he’s Batman. And he’s not always going to be the instigator in his ventures.
Hell, most Batman stories are reactive stories- Batman being placed into situations that are no fault of his own, and yet he must escape from in order to achieve an ultimate goal.
In City, the opening cutscene itself says EXACTLY Bruce’s ultimate motivation in this story- Shut Arkham City down. It’s out of control.
And when he first gets into the city, he goes after intel about Protocol Ten, which leads him to Joker, which leads him to getting poisoned.
So the rest of the game is simple- chase the cure, and stop Hugo Strange from killing everyone in Arkham City.
He’s not being stupid, he’s reacting to a place where, like Asylum, the bad guys are in charge.
So your bitching about someone bitching about a mediocre game that is considered a masterpiece at least he knows how to give a good argument instead of screaming because someone said his game is not best 😢
@@mgood356 one, his arguments are shit.
Two, these aren’t my favorite games, dimwit. I’m just stating facts that this moron ignores.
Learn to read.
I started watching that 2007 batman movie trilogy and getting drunk then i feel asleep sitting up during the first movie lol
I'm glad to see Knight get its well-deserved love. It's my favorite in the series as well, and it gets WAY too much hate.
Origins gets WAY too much hate
I have never seen a person look so hard for something to complain about. It's a game. Most TV shows, movies and games have no weak plotlines and loop holes. The point of game before, after and while playing is. Did you, have you and are you having fun. It was entertaining.
Well I enjoyed the video, it felt like you geuinely didn't enjoy 3/4 games which is disheartening and makes me wonder if what you say is out of honesty or spite. For example, Origins is still a functioning video game tha can be played and enjoyed. It's not utter garbage, that's absurd to state that. Ride to Hell: Retribution is utter garbage. Batman: Arkham Origins? Not so much.
Arkham Origins has multiple unfixed gamebreaking bugs.
A Olson such as?
@@aolson1111 played today on ps3, didn't noticed any glitches
Excellent video. Your positivity towards Knight and thoughtful criticism towards the other three games came out during a time when many claimed City was the absolute best, Asylum’s flaws are overlooked, and Origins was underrated. All while Knight was viewed as a failure for its very few flaws. Very courageous and I agree with your thoughts and enjoyed your masterful way of articulating it all. I can assure you that many of the commenters here have changed their minds dramatically since Gotham Knights came out. All of a sudden Knight is a masterpiece to everyone.
As far as how I personally feel, time has treated each of these games differently. Asylum becomes harder to come back to, City stays just fine, and Knight gets better and better with each playthrough. (I don’t have Origins. Only played it once back on ps3. Thought it was fine at the time)
Anyways loved this video.
I don't often get feedback on this video anymore, seeing as how I'm taking another crack at these titles in more recent videos, but thanks for sharing these thoughts with me. Reminded me a bit of how hard I worked on this video at the time even if there's a lot that I don't like about it now. Thanks for giving it a look!
Arkham Origins feels so lacking in creativity, and I think it deserved a lot of the hate it got. Like, I remember being hyped when the game was about to come out to see what was originally beyond Arkham City's border walls, and what Wonder Park looked like without Strange's barrier; but it looked almost identical. Like, that map functions almost the exact same way it did when it was a prison.
Sorry for the long comment
Arkham origins is a story where he is fighting someone like himself for the very first time. Also when "Black Mask" speaks you can hear a bit of joker in him at points. I really did like the shock gloves. Batman isn't aggressive towards joker because he has people with guns trained on him as in other scenes the gun guys are all taken out. Also I like to think of origins as a tribute to the arkham city, asylum, and knight (although no mention of anything to do with knight)
Arkham Knight was a great choice because it ties in with the joker being an unreliable narrator he says "I might've told you a teeny tiny lie" when Jason reveals himself. Arkham Knight shouldve had a hand to hand fight after the stealth fight with jason but oh well. I do think Arkham Knight should've been a new and the main character because those points when he is the main villian is some of the best in the game. This game is about joker last trick his last laugh. Joker taking a trusted soldier and turning against him and joker (unintentionally) caused this to happen by taking over the asylum and setting everyone free and yes hush should've been a part of the main story as well. This game has 2 main problems for me (the boss fights are a problem but just not that big) Arkham Knight feeling like a side character and too much batmobil
Something I think they could've done in City was make Harley Quinns revenge a part of the main story like batman gets a call from jim saying go investigate this building we think harley quinn is in there you go and then investigate the cops blood trail and it cuts to robin taling to barbra lik 3 weeks later i think it was but you have to pay for it. They also could've made the catwoman bit a part of the main game and added something like where you can rob people glowing red people like riddlers guys but you rob them and get artifacts you can view and she has something to say about them like spider-man ps4 when you collect the backpack , but that is just my opinion
I think we should not allow this awesome video to distract us from the fact that the narater has a Batman fan made movie he made when he was 15 on one of his hard drives somewhere.... the real question is, who was that teddy and what did he thank Batman for? 🤔🤔🤔
Wow, the Arkham Knight analysis is an astonishing piece of work
They need to remaster Arkham Origins...and fix all of it's problems
game is trash cant be fixed
@Dennis Galindez i am
chuck norris explain why you hate origins so much. Did it kill your puppy?
Fugit1ve Gaming plot twist: rocksteady paid him to say origins was bad
@@blackvalio4060 damn why you hate origins so much? Is it because it wasn't made by rocksteady?
I wouldn't be nearly as critical (or even critical at all) of City, but I think the points about Knight should be heard. I wish this was just a video about that so that people could have appreciated it for what it is, a love letter to Knight which is an incredible game. It being obvious that AK was Jason isn't a real criticism, it is BATMAN. Some things you're just going to know and that is fine, it makes perfect sense that Bruce himself wouldn't realize it, and it does a good job at making it less obvious for those who wouldn't know immediately (and I think that's why they went AK instead of Redhood). And as for the Batmobile...I love it for the sake of gameplay diversity, it is enjoyable, challenging on harder difficulties and tight in design...it's "clunky" in terms of how different it feels, but that uniqueness to me keeps the game feeling fresh. Driving a car is clunky in comparison to running around...I am not going to say life is designed poorly.
This is not an even handed review. Arkham Knight is overall worse than the sum of its parts.
1.Joker's death being undermind. The hallucinations took away from other characters instead of reinforcing Batman's insanity.
2.The Batmobile segments being repetitive.
3.You praise the sidemissions, yet you dont speak about their quality. Non of them (outside of manbat) are truely memorable.
4. ScareCrow is COMPLETELY underutilized.
5. The Jason Todd "Twist", is terribly executed.
6. Batman "Winning" means nothing.
You pointed out NO NEGATIVES in Arkham Knight, and that is why this review was a waste of time. You were too harah on Asylum and Knight. Yet, you think simply saying AK "Isnt perfect", makes your assessment less bias? No.
You are biased.
Incognito Fool 1:32:53
Incognito Fool totally agree
Space Marine Chaplain hes saying that he doesn’t go as deep into it’s flaws as he does the other games
1:33:35 Granted, it's brief, but he does mention the varying quality of the side missions.
''Non of them (outside of manbat) are truely memorable.''
''2.The Batmobile segments being repetitive.''
If they didn't bother him, then he's likely not going to criticize it.
That's subjective from person to person. I honestly got a kick out of the Penguin/Knightwing, Professor Pyg and the Riddler/Catwoman sidemissions. Deacon Blackfire and Azrael sucked for me, and I liked the Militia stuff despite the anticlimactic Deathstroke match ( though looking for those bombs can be a bit too difficult). My favorites are Season of Infamy sidequests, but those were originally DLC only.
BTW, this comment isn't meant to invalidate your evaluation of AK.
If you count it as a boss fight, and I do, the batman/joker 'fight' at the end of arkham knight is in my opinion one of if not the best boss fight in any game ever. It epitomises the relationship between batman and joker, which is the premise of the whole series. I disagree with people who say joker shouldnt have been in arkham knight as the series itself isnt about batman, its about his relationship with the joker.
Couldn't agree more!
Man I'm sorry that you hated Origins so much, it used to be my favorite in the series, but that title is now owned by Knight. You said the world was bland, which I suppose it is, but I did like the Christmas theme it had going on. Still think it has the best boss fights, which I know you don't really care about, but I just think boss fights are refreshing after having to do the same things over and over again throughout all four games (predator and combat) I also liked the music that played in Origins when you were just exploring Gotham; those bells give me little chills. But yeah, nothing new was really added combat-wise, and those 2D fire sprites were horrible. The Joker honestly should've never been in the game, but they have to shove him into every Arkham title somehow.
Let's go bowling? 🤷🏼♂️
35:11 Very easy to answer that question actually. The "elevated pitch" is Batman learning his trade. Forget about the hook for a minute and look for the theme. It is the first time in the series that we see Batman making mistakes: he can't save Lobbs in time, a thug he questions passes out, he's totally blindsided by the Joker thinking his enemy is Blackmask, Alfred questions his every decision, his Bat-Cave gets totally wrecked! Batman faces failure and learns from it. It's a GREAT STORY.
Absolutely stunning review of Arkham Knight (not only because its my fav game of the series!) You must be the only one on RUclips who understands the masterful presentation in terms of cutscenes and cinematography!
Ik this was from before SMPS4 but it’s actually more like Spider-Man 2 than Arkham with the combat system and it doesn’t feel like Arkham because there isn’t as much rhythm to the attacks.
1:32:14
Thats the whole point of telltales batman
Origins is my favorite game loved the Christmas setting the boss fights were the best in the series as were the side missions and the story was on par with asylum
Excellent video. Thanks to this video I have a bit of a clearer sense of how to understand a game and pick it apart, and not necessarily just in only the topics you covered. I plan to be involved in game development in the future, and so it's useful to know the ways I can approach certain elements of game design to contribute to creating a good game. This made me think about things I never thought about before, and from now on I think I will be a teensy bit more critically minded when playing other games, and think more about what makes them what they are. I hope to see some more good content from this channel in the future, I enjoy analyses like these.
While I think your critiques at times are a bit harsh, this series and in particular arkham city being my favorite of all time, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate someone dedicating so much time and putting in so much work to cover games I hold so dear, even origins. Thank you for this.
I honestly think you're a little too biased with the Knight. You've held the older games to a standart in reviewing, but did not follow that up with the Arkham Knight.
I appreciate the effort but, to me(I can't stress this enough--TO. ME.) video was ultimately a waste of time and potential.
Origins was actually my favorite Arkham game. The story may have some problems but it’s still great.
Its trash
The story of Arkham Knight is by far the weakest out of the series & all the damn Bat-Tank battles nearly ruined the game.
The actual fighting is the best it's ever been but all the fuckin tank battles/missions/riddles/races/ even tank stealth sequences! *really* make replaying the game a chore.
replayed the game loved it i disagree i think it has the best replay value out of all the games and i was on a spree of replaying the games
Yeah the tank battles were overused. I keep trying to imagine Origins' Deathstroke duel happening in Knight
I will say the tank battles were a little overboard at times, and the Arkham Knights reveal could’ve been better. However, Arkham Knight in my opinion is the best in the series at truly exploring the psychology of Batman as well as the Joker. The entire last set piece of the game inside of Batman’s mind, purging the Joker from him and through sheer perseverance resists the fear toxin and puts Scarecrow in his place was one of the most well done and incredible moments not just in the franchise but in Batman media in general. Arguably Knight has the second best story in the franchise due to how well realized Batman’s psyche is, and how truly damaged this man is, and it also is the ultimate testiment to how driven Batman is in his mission
boredXsomethingXIDK a lot of people said go change the difficulty on the tank battles to breeze through them all
The battles are fun you just have been brainwashed
Arkham origins, I completely agree, is subjective. I absolutely love this game because it was the first one I played and the first game I got through. it has sentimental value because I didn't know about the series at the time. as a kid I also didn't take note of the voice acting and cutscene direction, and I only really cared about the gameplay, which because it was my first batman game or game like this at all, I loved the gameplay.
This video should be renamed: Why Arkham Knight is the definitive Batman game.
Wow! As a fan of the Rocksteady Batman Arkham series, and as someone who has made it a hobby to get better at the amazing combat system in these games, I thank you. This is not only one of the finest game reviews I have ever seen, but one of the best written, edited and documented RUclips videos I have ever seen. It was worth every minute of the two-hour runtime. Thank you for the work you put in. Well done!
So im watching the video, im liking the video, then I'm like "why the hell was this in my subscription box?"
Bobby Dadude I was under a different username (The Prophet) for a long time, and deleted all my old content as well. Sorry about any confusion!
Something I found interesting about Asylum is the fact it feels more like a licence game than the others in the series
I hear they are making a new Batman. Please.. no more Riddler trophy's!!!!
There's only gonna be like 175 and the Riddler stuff is fun
All this scenes were you are "forced to look" and can't really do anything is why I liked Arkham Knight so much and it translated very well in Arkham VR. The intro of Arkham VR is basically you witnessing the death of your parents, and I was petrified. At the end the game uses the same tricks forcing you to turn your head to allow the scripts to move forward in close spaces. It's something Rocksteady used in Arkham Asylum for the first time and is a great example of good narration involving the player.
I find it amusing how assuredly you state that Arkham Knight's story is "pretty good" when...
a) the big twist was as predictable as people feared, in spite of Rocksteady outright lying that the titular Arkham Knight was a "new" character.
b) Scarecrow was all talk no substance, and his plan makes as much sense as the worst parts in City when you really think about it. (I mean, what was all that rubbish at Ace Chemicals about? Was he banking on Batman stopping him?)
c) the stuff about the people with Joker's blood and the hallucinations felt like backtracking and a complete failure to commit to their decision to kill him. Joker should have been limited to meaningful flashbacks in my opinion.
I'll take Origins, City and Asylum's stories over Knight's any day of the week.
And no, I don't think the gameplay in Knight is, in totality, better than City's either, but that's a whole other arena.
I had the most fun with Arkham Knight. I did EVERYTHING except the riddler shit. I only got half way done with his mission because I had to collect fucking TROPHIES. I did everything else though.
Sir Edward, I just beat Arkham Knight a few days ago after playing AA and AC earlier this year.
Yes, I ended up collecting all the riddler trophies and solving all the puzzles. Why? I’d already seen the extended cutscene on RUclips, but I got too far in the story to get any ending without beating it completely. It was tedious, but getting to beat down the Riddler with Catwoman‘s help was SO satisfying. Then taking him to GCPD and getting to Activate the FULL Knight Protocol was Awesome! I knocked them out in about a weeks time.....
One of the best video game reviews on youtube , especially on RUclips.So thorough yet concise and right on point too.
I disagree on Arkham City especially on Joker's death , you don't just care because he is the Joker , you care because it questions Batman philosophy : this whole time he refused to kill the Joker despite showing no signs of redemption and slaughtering inocent people.And in the end , he just dies from a disceased by his own fault while no-one exept Harley mourns him.This leaves him in pain as he wonders if he should have killed him when they first met