Do you use AI to put them in the video? It's crazy the fact that there are free subtitles there in the video for literally every word you say in 20 minutes of discussion
My one problem with Arkham Knight’s map design is that most of the buildings were too short. The biggest buildings are Wayne international plaza, Wayne Enterprises and the Grand avenue station. I was expecting a Gotham similar to that of the backdrop in Arkham City. I think it would be a really cool experience weaving and gliding through gothic skyscrapers so high in the air. If Arkham Knights Gotham tried to incorporate more of that Batman The Animated Series verison of Gotham it would’ve arguably been a lot more memorable and in parr with the other games. I also wish Arkham Knight had the Batcave and civilians in it too. I also wish it had more dark alleys of course we did get that to an extent. Nonetheless still an amazing map design and I understand why they couldn’t make the skyscrapers taller because it was probably too hard and they chose to make up for it by crafting a map with so much more detail and Im thankful for that.
i agree with you but buildings are pretty tall, grand avenue is taller than eifell for example but not enough, there could have been more murders to solve too and catch like zsasz
yeah, like most criticisms of knight it all comes back to the batmobile. If we had to exclusively grapnel boost and glide to get around, we wouldn't have such wide roads, so few small alleyways, and the buldings would probably be taller on average so you could glide further.
Arkham City had the more memorable landmarks that you would affiliate to characters: The Steel Mill - Joker and Harley Quinn The Museum - Penguin The Old GCPD Building - Mr. Freeze The Courthouse - Two-Face Krank Co. Toys - Bane Monarch Theater - Clayface Wonder Tower - Hugo Strange
The reason knight's map beats the city for me is 'cause I hate having to go around the wonder tower when gliding around. If you could glide through the wonder tower area it would beat knight in my opinion. Both are amazing 🤩.
@@MilenaMcDonaldonce the subway opens, it’s a good path from the Bowery to the Industrial District. Fun to explore as well since it’s so atmospheric down there
Arkham Asylum/Island had the best atmosphere because you are trapped in an insane asylum. Arkham Origins had the best weather. It is also one of the only superhero games that you can play on Christmas. Arkham Knight was the most open and biggest map design. It still looks good in 2023. Arkham City was the most memorable map design. I think it was the best map design because you can remember the city without having to look at the map.
@@Fourexponent Your comment has me confused, when you said this; I began thinking of all areas that could be considered 'complicated', but I could not remember any single one area wouldn't be easy on the second try. Can you bring up any examples?
@@lakshaykochhar6799Hard disagree. A lot of the island is very similar looking corridors, which makes getting lost extremely easy. Whenever I play Asylum I constantly get turned around. I get lost more often in Asylum than ANY of the other games despite it having the smallest map by far, because it's a borderline labyrinth. I love Arkham Asylum, and the atmosphere is great, bit getting around is a pain.
@@HOTD108_ I can't say that I relate to this, because I managed to navigate the entire sewer to intensive treatment without any issues and without even checking the map during my first attempt; and rest of the areas are too small to get lost in.
10:51 "Here's a clip of me using a web shooter to get some cheezits" That came out of nowhere and just went back into the ether as quick as it came. What the heck was that?! 🤣
i think origins and knight are neck and neck in terms of personality. since both of them took place on different holidays and had distinct weather patterns, they feel unique. asylum went for more of the rainy east coast night vibe, whereas arkham city is just generic winter with the perpetual snow
@@TaytaystegallYou can definitely see it, I don’t remember from what vantage point tbh. Don’t you have to stake a snapshot of it as one of the Riddler trophies or something?
Honestly, nothing will ever quite reach that feeling of stepping out of Intensive Treatment through the rock tunnel, walking out over that ledge and hearing the music crescendo as we see the full scope of the asylum under an insanely large full moon for me.
Knight does an amazing job of making every building and street look unique enough so I can identify which island I'm on and which compass direction I'm facing.
I do wish that Kights city looked more like the gotham you can see in the background of Arkham City. The absolutely massive gothic skyscrapers just make the city seem so imposing
That’s exactly what I’m saying. Arkham City’s Gotham background had more skyscrapers and looked like the Gotham City from the Batman animated series. I wish they incorporated THAT Gotham instead of the one we got, but it is what it is. Hopefully in a future Batman game we could get something like that.
@@thesmic1224 it's funny how the closest we got was New Gotham in Origins. I understand why Knight had the Gotham it did, and given even with those technical limitations the fact it looks the way it does is astounding, but I can dream
well imo bleack island does look like the gotham in arkham citys background tho. And i think it was also a very good decision to make each island look different and recognizable
I love Origins’ map for providing a look at a cleaner Gotham City. Compared to City and Knight there’s not as much chaos in the streets. It’s closer to what you see in the movies or the animated series.
I don't know if it's a map-related issue, but I don't like Origins because the grapnel boost traversal was intentionally hampered in order to force us to use fast travel.
@@r0bw00d I think it had to do more so with the map’s loading time. They ran into the issue of City’s speed not giving enough time for it to load in all the features, so they made it slower. You can actually play some tricks to try and go a little taster, but that only stops you while the game loads
It's a tie between Asylum and City. Asylum is kinda hard to compare to the others given the open world size, but where it really shines is its horror comic book style design and variety (Intensive Treatment, Mansion, Botanical Gardens, Caves, Medical Facility, Penitentiary, etc.). As for City, it has the most original open world design of the sequels since it really feels like you're stuck in a city sized prison rather than just another free-to-roam city surrounded by water. Add to that how its sectioned off between the Tyger controlled area and the thirds controlled by Penguin, Two Face and Joker and it really feels like you're in the middle of a miniature war zone.
City really feels like a unique city, both in design, colors and overall visuals; moreso than Asylum, but Asylum doesn't waste any area and you can pretty explore every nook and cranny of it and that's a another point for it.
Adding to the miniature warzone feeling in City, the game helps with that showing how the gangs advance through the quarters during the game: After Penguin's defeat at the museum, Two Face's and Joker's gangs take The Bowery and the metro areas, the Amusement Mile is crowded with Joker's henchmen right before going to get the cure from Mr Freeze (noting that before that moment you can't pop the twelve Joker balloons on that area) while before it was mostly empty and at the end of the game the base of Wonder Tower is taken by TYGER guards and you see the corpses of the Joker's henchmen who were there before. It was a very well constructed game and it shows every minute you play it, specially when you start observing the subtle details.
They're all fantastic in their own way, but I have to give it to Asylum. The thing that always stood out to me - even when I was younger and didn't have the words for it - was just how unbelievably heavy the atmosphere is. The locations are not just a pretty backdrop for a game. Almost every inch of the island is chalked full of incredible world building, perfectly setting the tone that it is not a place you want to be. All of the decay on the buildings, from the dirty carpets and chipping paint of the mansion to the cracked tiling in the medical center, perfectly details an island that is scarred due to its history. The way I see it, Arkham Asylum isn't just a map for Batman to traverse. It is its own living, breathing character that is the centerpiece of the story. I feel as though the more intimate and subdued nature of the map has a lot to do with this. The other three games lose this oneness with the setting, as the devs were clearly more focused on creating an open world sandbox. Which is totally fine, I love those games. But the feel of their respective maps can't even begin to hold a candle to Asylum. In my opinion, it's a no contest. As a side note: I'd give Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth a read if you haven't already. From what I can gather, it served as the primary inspiration for Rocksteady when creating their version of the Asylum.
Yeah, not mentioning that bridge was odd, and makes it the weakest in terms of map design. Luckily fast travel means only crossing the bridge once (except for when dealing with Enigma Data Packs, and for the Firefly section.
I personaly love the Arkham Origins atmosphere, the weather, the big old biuldings with their arhitecture and lights shining on them (also the streets in the new area looking and the big biuldings its neat too), the cold colors in contrast with the city lights and not to mention the background map music.
My favourite is Arkham asylum because of the atmosphere it captured and the feeling of emptiness, loneliness and fear are amazing to experience and its by far the one i adore the most because of how the lore expanded the history of each building!!!
I completely understand why anyone would choose asylum, city, or orgins for map design but for me its my favorite in general is 100% knight. It makes me feel powerful like people are truly terrified of me like when you shoot out into the sky and people see you picking of person one by one on rooftops or driving around in a tank and jumping out at like 60 rioters in the street and only 10 of them fight me while the rest run in fear or when you help out some cops with some random thugs and you hear them scared for there life. To me it's just unmatched
Seeing Origins cleaner alive city and seeing it 10 years later in Arkham city but, dead, dirty, and corrupted, really makes you question if Batman really makes Gotham a better place. If you think about it’s him who brings out the worst of villains. They do the most horrid shit to get his attention or one up him.
Well...before batman, the bad guys were mobsters like black mask. But when batman shows up, this makes room for the real crazies to cone out. This theme has been touched on many times in batman media. Dark knight, we buy semi automatics, they get automatics, we get body Armour, they get armor piercing rounds, now your running around in a tank wearing a combat suit. The joker is the next escalation.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for the built in captions. I can have a hard time hearing and understand videos occasionally and just wanted to say thank you for the effort!
Asylum is the best map design because by virtue of being so small, there is truly a bunch of detail packed into every single inch of the map, the game in and of itself will always be the greatest love letter from video-game developers to comic book fans, Arkham Asylum is a game made for comic book readers, if you've read at least a tenth of Batman's canon that was avialable in 2009 , the game just felt...familiar, you feel at home, it's comic books into a motion picture format. I read a comment suggesting that Arkham City has the best map because you can quickly memorize it without needing to open the map, Arkham Asylum to comic book fans feels like a place you already know your way around on your first playthrough, for this and much more, Arkham Asylum will always be the best game in the franchise to me, of course it has the best map.
I think the Arkham Asylum map is objectively the best in terms of map design. It’s feels like every inch of that map was designed with so much care and passion. Everything flows together so well, and I still feel like I’m being watched or like something could jump out at me any moment when I play this game. The level design is amazing and there are so many hidden parts. For example, the best one is easily the the Warden’s Secret Room in the Arkham Mansion, which cannot simply be found with detective mode or anything. There’s so much world building in this game. The cells of iconic Batman villains, the tapes that are spread out across the map hinting at an extremely vast and lived in world. Being able to look at the skyline of Gotham from the island is just the cherry on top. As a side note, we never really get to see that version of Gotham City even though we do eventually go to Gotham in later games, which is kinda sad to me.
I've been replaying all the Arkham games on PC recently. With Origins, I really didn't enjoy it as much as the others. A big part of that was the "Dark Knight Challenge" system. Playing it again on PC with mods, and console commands to get all the upgrades, it was a much more enjoyable experience. I don't know why, but I feel like when I originally played it on 360, I didn't really appreciate a lot of the game, the map included. Like you said, it does reuse some assets from City. However with the weather, combined with the architecture of the buildings, I feel like it really reminds me of the aesthetic of the Burton Batman movies. Going from Origins to Knight, I feel like there is a very stark difference in the 2 maps in regards to the vibe. The map in Knight is beautiful and immersive. However it doesn't feel dangerous. Not like something nefariously bad lurks around every corner. Gotham in Origins has that feeling. Gotham in Knight feels like it might not be a too bad of a place to visit as long as you don't stay past dark. The map in Origins feels dangerous and oppressive.
That's odd because I'm the opposite the map is the worst part about Origins; it isn't inviting to explore, but the story is superb and probably the best of the 4. In knight I feel like I could be a victim of a crime no matter where I go.
I think that’s because in something like Arkham Asylum or City, you’re meant to feel like Batman isn’t entirely in control, he’s in enemy territory and needs to be smart. In Knight you’re meant to feel powerful, you’re in Batman’s home turf and he has all his tools at his disposal, and he needs to be a one man army if he’s going to stop Scarecrow.
37 seconds in and here’s my personal opinions Origins: for the snow and Christmas theme, and it’s the only game that doesn’t take place at night so I like it for being different Asylum: the atmosphere and eerie vibe it has, perfect game to play during Halloween City: the run down look of the map and the little bit of snow it has Knight: purely for the rain itself but it’s a fun map to spend hours grinding in
Y'know... It's quiet unsettling roaming around the empty and quiet asylum after you beat the game. I always feel on edge, that something will jump on me even though there's nothing to be afraid of.
I think the biggest leap between games was from Asylum to City. The detail, the scale/scope, narrative, gadgets, combat, traversal, mysteries, riddles, intrigue, everything. I think it even keeps a bit of that alone and claustrophobic feeling. Alone because Bats is the only hero (aside from some quick appearances) in the City and everyone else inside has it out for him. Claustrophobic because many of the buildings are so tight together, the alleyways twist and wind and the content of the game often makes you interact with the map on that smaller scale. Some of the areas are so dirty and cluttered, it makes you think you're the only person in years to have set foot in this little gap between buildings. Such a huge step between Asylum and City.
Personally my favorite map is Arkham city and I say it’s one reason that takes the cake, the world building levelution. Arkham Asylum had this but not at the scale of City. What do I mean by this? Levelution in Arkham games to me is how the maps change throughout the games, you revisit a lot of areas throughout the games and often times there are distinct changes, in Asylum you can see the mansion section and other sections fall under the control of jokers men, see Joker stick snipers in the towers, the insane patients come out, and ivy rip the island apart, & through all that joker builds his face on the visitor center. However in City the world takes full advantage the ensuing gang war, every faction has their turf, Joker has the Steel mill and Amusement Mile, Two face controls the Bowery and Courthouse, & eventually penguins turf, and Penguin has the whole museum district as an impressive fortress. Through the game factions will move around and do certain actions that effect the over world, the obvious example being Joker & Twoface putting the squeeze on the weakened Penguin, but a better example could be when Joker makes his gang advance into twig face territory while searching for Freeze and that two faces men can be seen on rooftops trying to stay out of Joker’s way while they plan a counter offensive. It’s stuff like that I admire while playing Arkham City, being able to stop and listen to Jokers men terrorize standard inmates or find the stranded penguin mercs outside of Jokers turf or rooting out the Penguin Loyalists in the museum.
@ZayCantey I know, but I mean specifically the boss bottles. As a kid, I thought it was kinda stupid how, in Arkham city they had all these amazing Boss battles that I could never go straight to without having to replay the game. (Don't get me wrong, I love these games and replay them annually.) But as an adult now, I still find it annoying how you still can't go straight to the battles you want with a feature like that, especially with all the remasters and new ports of the game coming out in recent years.
I personally think that City has better Atmosphere than Asylum (Asylum still has great atmosphere). There’s just something about the concept of a mega prison made out of a walled off part of Gotham that is really cool. The tall walls erected around the city with spotlights shining into the city, the patrol helicopters flying around with their spotlight and having prisoners react to them, the flooded nature of Amusement Mile and its state of disrepair, and how lively outside Gotham looks compared to Arkham City really does a great job of creating this foreboding atmosphere. Arkham City really feels like a prison where criminals are just carelessly thrown into without much thought of their wellbeing. It’s great.
SADLY Gotham Knights, as it's very close to how Gotham is structured in the comics. Both have the three main islands, with a few smaller ones, but the way GK's ones are arranged is much closer to the comics than how the ones in AK are.
Being closer to the comics from a structural point doesn’t better from a creative point of view, or any point of view for that matter. GK Gotham looks bland and uninspired compared to AK Islands.
I agree with the Asylum. When I finished the game I just wandered around and asked myself, What now? And I look at the Wayne tower which is one of Riddler's riddles like dang I can't believe the other side was Gotham and if you scan it it's very dark and captivating, sad and you wished you could go there..
Arkham asylum is great but I can't help but wonder who's designing a mental asylum with human size ventilation ducts and entire hallways in-between walls
I think asylum has the best looks- color scheme & layout makes you feels lost depressed and you can get lost pretty easy if not paying attention and a lot of hidden passage ways you can find
Asylum (atmosphere especially the medical facility, croc's lair, Botanical gardens and penetentiary and the catacombs showing us the asylum's decaying foundations) City (The Steel Mill, Museum, wonder city, wonder tower and the court house) the perfect showcase of Gotham city's decay the history of Gotham with old Gotham being built on top of. Origins (it cleaned up the old slums but it showcases the corruption of Gotham especially the GCPD mission) Knight (it represents the future and hope of Gotham but it's still Gotham with it's winding roads and tight alleyways)
I understand there were probably some engine limitations, but I wish gotham city in knight was much bigger. The skyscrapers of Gotham in Arkham City were literally towering over Wonder Tower. It was huge with unique buildings that stood out and had a purpose. Wish we could've gotten something more similar to Arkham City's Gotham.
@@RacingSnails64 only if he brings out the stupid op suits. Jiren doesn’t have an exploitable weakness like kryptonite. Batman would have to overpower him
Incase you haven’t heard the news about suicide squad KTJL, they let out a major spoiler by accident to do with the world and character of Batman here’s the spoiler… Batman’s Bruce Wayne…
asylum has been my favourite game of all time since it came out, and I believe that its map design (and story, honestly) is the best of the series - but I assumed I was in the vast minority with that take! especially going up against city and knight; cool to see you had similar thoughts to mine
I really think the Asylum was the best map design, nothing felt wasted in that map, it didn't have the same unique and somewhat colorful look of the city, but it felt well-utilized.
Personally to me, Arkham City & Arkham Knight are the best maps simply because during my play through, I barely ever have to use the map. The level design is so distinctive that I can always tell where I am at any given moment. Also as great as Arkham Asylum’s map is I think the critical flaw with it is that there’s really nothing to do after you beat the main story and get all the Riddler trophies. Maybe there was responding enemies It could help its case? Like imagine if you return to the hospital wing and there’s a predator map ready for you at any time or maybe some random joker henchman are gathered in the outdoor sections talking about how crazy it is that Batman defeated Titan Joker just for you to glide kick into them and start a fight.
Personally I think Asylum had the best map design mainly because of how you go from section to section of the island as you progress the story. May be bleak after you beat the game but even then it’s still atmospheric
As a kid when I first played Arkham Asylum I kind of liked the map but I didn't fully understanding concepts like the difference between "penitentiary" and "intensive treatment" Then when I played the other games with the bigger maps I was so excited because I could explore more Now that I look back, though, I understand that bigger doesn't mean better even though I still really like the map from Knight which has so many iconic points and is overall majestic
Great stuff. Asylum is definitely the best when it comes to atmosphere. I'm not used to considering that when it comes to map design, since I'm more of a nuts and bolts kind of player. For me, traversal and exploration are higher priority when it comes to evaluating it. City is great, but it can get tiring having to cross the entire map. Origins isn't as good, especially with the bridge being as large as it is, along with the issues you mentioned. Knight is probably the best in terms of exploration and traversal, but that's also because of the mobility upgrades compared with the other games. So it really comes down to personal preference when it comes to the criteria for evaluating. Atmosphere is another layer that I consider separately from layout.
I have no issues traversing in Arkham city with the accelerator and dive bombing. Imo it’s a lot more of a chore in origins, even though I really like the vibe or origins map too.
The Arkham island map fit the darkness of the Arkhamverse it was so creepy and honestly imo Arkham Asylum can pass as a horror game🤷🏿♂️ but Arkham City was perfect and it did the most Gotham thing I could think of😂
Since december i've been replaying the Arkham Series, starting with Origins and now i'm close to finish Knight and, it's been quite the journey. Before my recent playthroughs i would say (without a doubt) that Arkham City is my favourite Arkham map but now, after exploring (on foot, wheels and gliding) Gotham City and going to the depths of each island i can surely say that Arkham knight has (in my opinion) the best designed, layered and detailed map in the series. The architecture, level design, art direction, color palette, lighting and more brings this city to life, and then some. Each island has it's distinct personality and secrets, i've been waiting to hunt for the riddler trophies the whole canpaign up until the moment Bruce has to surrender to Crane just so i can freely roam the city. Arkham City's map is equally beautiful and has the same level of care, detail, architecture and personality as Gotham, and it was indeed my personal favourite map for years, but now it stands as a close second. Last time i played Arkham Knight was 5 years ago, so i came to it almost blindly, but Gotham City has stole my heart.
did anyone else feel a sadness like no other after jumping off wonder tower only to realise its a separate area and you can't divebomb down to arkham city
Just finished replaying Arkham asylum and I realized that I took that game for granted when I was younger because I tried to speed run it the first time I played it to get to Arkham city faster and man I didn’t realized how good and creepy the environment of the asylum was, there were parts where I felt creeped out walking around because there were no goons or security, just Batman’s footsteps or alarms going off or nothing
I think it depends on the mood you’re in when it comes to which is the best map. If you want closed in, eerie, and dramatic then it’s asylum but if you want open world, lots of locations, and rainfall then it’s knight etc. Overall it depends imo
The background of Arkham City. I would turn gravity off and explore that area. In my headcanon that part of gotham is another part of Gotham and we don’t see it in Knight. Bruce Wayne has 3 towers in Knight. Wayne Tower, Wayne International plaza and the Wayne Enterprise building from the background of Arkham City.
Tbh the games remind me of the generations of movies. You have asylum like the 90 films, you have city and Nolan’s, and then you have Arkham knight and the Batman. Everytime a game or movie came out it was divisiveness, but I like to just love them all for what they are and how I can go to any of them and experience Batman in whatever way I want. Arkham knight is great at making you feel like the Batman , evening the odds , fighting on your terms, and defending a whole city ripe with lore that fills it with life. Asylum is excellent at experiencing what it is to fight against Batman’s rogues in a setting that is horrifying and is also my personal favorite. City is the staple mark of this series for good reason, every place is so memorable for sure and the map is fun to free roam. As much as I love the Batmobile it just felt like it was required far too often and with its design limited it to skins specific to it otherwise you couldn’t utilize it full potential and I really love just cruising in the 69 Batmobile man it’s sick 😂 my point being no matter which is the best, I think they all have something special about them that makes them the best at allowing you to experience Batman exactly how those games are designed around him being. No matter which you play though , it’s always a great time I fucking love these games man they’re timeless. I’m replaying the trilogy rn and am getting origins again for my pc soon, but fr though can we talk about Lego Batman’s level design being god tier ? The first one is my childhood man haha
I think you’re confusing map design with world building which asylum did better than most games. I don’t like that asylum doesn’t make great use of the Metroidvania aspects it has and frankly neither do the other ones. Every path the story needs you to go on is stated and you go there right after you get your gadgets. There should be some major shortcuts you can take that will make great use of any gadgets that the rest of the area may not focus around. A Metroidvania with Batman should be full of stuff that could change the story by probably finding important characters earlier. Imagine getting to Jim Gordon when Harley still has him at the entrance, not letting the doctor die, or getting to Croc’s layer without anyone knowing where you are. I just realized I listed every time you encounter scarecrow so maybe they could allow you to get the jump on him without him poisoning you perhaps if you use all three shortcuts in one run. I don’t dislike the game or scarecrows sequences as I love both. This is the only game that I got the platinum trophy in because the others’ challenge modes are too damn long and repetitive with hard modes, 3 missions in a row, hard mode for those, and then making it necessary with all characters. I remember a Batman comic focusing on the Riddler in which you make choices and are told what panels to go to for the continuation. All of those paths lead to Batman losing and the only way to see Batman win is by not playing the game. With a Metroidvania it should be similar as not playing the game in the intended way is usually made intentional in Metroidvanias through secrets and unconventional use of upgrades or mechanics. Right now I’d just call them puzzle games that have you unlocking moves along the way. The reason that this probably wasn’t done is because this game is in 3D and has recognizable things to use all of your gadgets on. Vents mean claw, walls mean gel, chasms mean line, and etc. This game also made detective vision so secrets would probably be easy to find as most of those things stand out in that mode. Only Riddler makes use of going back with upgrades and I don’t like his trophies anyway. They’re just small sources of exp for me. Anyway, the game I think has the best use of its map is Knight. I love how it makes use of its map design. The don’t goad the Batman line came from the fact the devs knew most people would go to the entrance instead of jumping through the window. The own the road missions are full of puzzles that take map design into account. As you need to look from different angles to get new perspectives with some having you find secret doors for the Batmobile to get in. You say how it’s more fun to fly anyway but the car is used very well alongside gliding by launching you. I love using it to get a fast start across the water or go over buildings to avoid turning. It can then teleport back if you don’t use detective vision or look straight at it. Unrelated but the tank also gives me nostalgia for Wii plays tank. This also best involves side quests at least some of them like the firefighters which you can find across the map instead of being notified like a bunch of other side quests. City’s Bane and Deadshot missions are similar as I started both since they stood out with people yelling out about wanting your attention or how they’re breaking into a building. My least favorite map is City as I think Riddler’s challenges are too abundant and seeing big green marks across walls takes away from the experience. This would be the case in Knight but they stand out less (sometimes) as I only notice some of them when I get close. I also dislike going around the center of the map as it makes most traversal take forever. At least the map screen is usable unlike Knight which is flooded by a bunch of icons that have similar shades of green. I can’t read anything there as I’d have to waste time squinting.Sorry for making this so long.
I liked that fast travel was the way to high dive straight down in origins I have each game and love them all but they all have something unique that gets forgotten about
I absolutely loved origins map whenever I played it as a kid, the idea of people in their homes feet away from you, as you’re beating the shit out of criminals on their rooftop. However, traveling across the map was terrible and had they left out fast travel, it would have been nearly unplayable. The amount of side quests made traveling that specific map more enjoyable as well.
For me 1. Origins for aesthetics for sure 2. Arkham City was huge and had tons of different elements for each district 3. Arkham Asylum, has the best atmosphere 4. Arkham Knight, it’s built great for the batmobile but i honestly think in terms of feel, it’s the most boring
Keep it up on your work and this video and channel I love this video and channel Thanks you for your video and channel I love Batman Arkham all franchise
@@TooTurntTokyo I think that too. If you see the menu of batman VR, the 3 island are together, like a mailand. That's how i wanted gotham in arkham knight
@astadeclover8411 just got done looking it up, and you're right it does look like a mainland it certainly looks more like Gotham should look, and it also looks more lively. I really hated how they incorporated the batmobile into Knight but only gave us the 3 small ass islands to drive it on with very narrow turns. Literally, there was no wiggle room for the batmobile on the map.
I personally like city the best because each villain kind of has their own building if not section of the map it’s a big enough map to do plenty of things in and it’s easy to remember where you are going because of the way they split up the map with the different villains and their territory
Apologies for the subtitles being a little hard to read since they lack outlines. Had some technical difficulties last minute. Hope you still enjoy!
Do you use AI to put them in the video? It's crazy the fact that there are free subtitles there in the video for literally every word you say in 20 minutes of discussion
@@thescorpion575I manually type all the subtitles for the video!
@@GothamPaladin Wow that's crazy, you really put a lot of work into these videos
You should have a lot more subscribers
The subtitles are super appreciated, thanks very much!!
"Batman can beat Zeno"
It's crazy to think Arkham Knight could have dropped TODAY and still hold up graphics wise
Fr especially with hdr on ps5 it makes Gotham knights look old
@@sissyissokindIdk Gotham knights is kind of overhated
@@SpiderCruncherNo it isn’t. Lazy development and half assed story telling deserves the scrutiny
@@SpiderCruncherit’s hated because the game was just meant to be a cash grab.:.no hate if you like the game though.
@@SpiderCruncherBro its well deserved the game is ok but the hate is not deserved.
Probably the one with Batman in it
Man it's never the case with these two-shaped bats.
Dude fr
Fr
Nah it’s got to be the one with joker in it
Real
My one problem with Arkham Knight’s map design is that most of the buildings were too short. The biggest buildings are Wayne international plaza, Wayne Enterprises and the Grand avenue station. I was expecting a Gotham similar to that of the backdrop in Arkham City. I think it would be a really cool experience weaving and gliding through gothic skyscrapers so high in the air. If Arkham Knights Gotham tried to incorporate more of that Batman The Animated Series verison of Gotham it would’ve arguably been a lot more memorable and in parr with the other games. I also wish Arkham Knight had the Batcave and civilians in it too. I also wish it had more dark alleys of course we did get that to an extent. Nonetheless still an amazing map design and I understand why they couldn’t make the skyscrapers taller because it was probably too hard and they chose to make up for it by crafting a map with so much more detail and Im thankful for that.
Same I think if you’re going to design a city in a timeline make sure it’s the same in every game
Pretty sure that's what they wanted considering the concept art they had and whatnot, but I believe they were restricted with the game engine
i agree with you but buildings are pretty tall, grand avenue is taller than eifell for example but not enough, there could have been more murders to solve too and catch like zsasz
yeah, like most criticisms of knight it all comes back to the batmobile. If we had to exclusively grapnel boost and glide to get around, we wouldn't have such wide roads, so few small alleyways, and the buldings would probably be taller on average so you could glide further.
Origins' section of Gotham had more skyscrappers I wish it was accessible in Knight
Arkham City had the more memorable landmarks that you would affiliate to characters:
The Steel Mill - Joker and Harley Quinn
The Museum - Penguin
The Old GCPD Building - Mr. Freeze
The Courthouse - Two-Face
Krank Co. Toys - Bane
Monarch Theater - Clayface
Wonder Tower - Hugo Strange
The reason knight's map beats the city for me is 'cause I hate having to go around the wonder tower when gliding around. If you could glide through the wonder tower area it would beat knight in my opinion. Both are amazing 🤩.
The games did Two-Face so dirty tho.
@@kjd-s5bcs nobody cares abt him
@@MilenaMcDonaldonce the subway opens, it’s a good path from the Bowery to the Industrial District. Fun to explore as well since it’s so atmospheric down there
@@kjd-s5bAnd they did Nightwing even dirtier.
Arkham Asylum/Island had the best atmosphere because you are trapped in an insane asylum.
Arkham Origins had the best weather. It is also one of the only superhero games that you can play on Christmas.
Arkham Knight was the most open and biggest map design. It still looks good in 2023.
Arkham City was the most memorable map design. I think it was the best map design because you can remember the city without having to look at the map.
What you said for City could also said for the Asylum, the map is really easy to remember.
@@lakshaykochhar6799ehhhhh, depends on the area
@@Fourexponent Your comment has me confused, when you said this; I began thinking of all areas that could be considered 'complicated', but I could not remember any single one area wouldn't be easy on the second try. Can you bring up any examples?
@@lakshaykochhar6799Hard disagree. A lot of the island is very similar looking corridors, which makes getting lost extremely easy. Whenever I play Asylum I constantly get turned around. I get lost more often in Asylum than ANY of the other games despite it having the smallest map by far, because it's a borderline labyrinth. I love Arkham Asylum, and the atmosphere is great, bit getting around is a pain.
@@HOTD108_ I can't say that I relate to this, because I managed to navigate the entire sewer to intensive treatment without any issues and without even checking the map during my first attempt; and rest of the areas are too small to get lost in.
10:51 "Here's a clip of me using a web shooter to get some cheezits"
That came out of nowhere and just went back into the ether as quick as it came. What the heck was that?! 🤣
I know right but he was talking about wow fcator
For some reason I think Origins map has a very eerie feel to it.
Which further adds to the juxtaposition between Christmas and the darkness of Gotham
i think origins and knight are neck and neck in terms of personality. since both of them took place on different holidays and had distinct weather patterns, they feel unique.
asylum went for more of the rainy east coast night vibe, whereas arkham city is just generic winter with the perpetual snow
It just screams corruption
Thats exactly what I was thinking. Like tome it just has this feeling of dystopian corruption that it sells so well.@@RedRanger_
One thing I do love about the Arkham knight map is that you can see Arkham asylum, Arkham city, even Wayne manor, and more oh the horizon
yeah, you can see all the previous game loacations and the batgirl dlc funpark in the horizon
Don't forget that you can also see the South Gotham, that Royal Hotel really stands out.
Wait where do u see Wayne manor
@@Taytaystegall founders island
@@TaytaystegallYou can definitely see it, I don’t remember from what vantage point tbh. Don’t you have to stake a snapshot of it as one of the Riddler trophies or something?
Honestly, nothing will ever quite reach that feeling of stepping out of Intensive Treatment through the rock tunnel, walking out over that ledge and hearing the music crescendo as we see the full scope of the asylum under an insanely large full moon for me.
Too 🤩
Knight does an amazing job of making every building and street look unique enough so I can identify which island I'm on and which compass direction I'm facing.
I do wish that Kights city looked more like the gotham you can see in the background of Arkham City. The absolutely massive gothic skyscrapers just make the city seem so imposing
That’s exactly what I’m saying. Arkham City’s Gotham background had more skyscrapers and looked like the Gotham City from the Batman animated series. I wish they incorporated THAT Gotham instead of the one we got, but it is what it is. Hopefully in a future Batman game we could get something like that.
Yea I think about that everytime I play City. It’s a dream.
@@thesmic1224 it's funny how the closest we got was New Gotham in Origins. I understand why Knight had the Gotham it did, and given even with those technical limitations the fact it looks the way it does is astounding, but I can dream
well imo bleack island does look like the gotham in arkham citys background tho. And i think it was also a very good decision to make each island look different and recognizable
Arkham Asylum’s map is just too iconic, when you think of Arkham Asylum you think abt this map
I love Origins’ map for providing a look at a cleaner Gotham City. Compared to City and Knight there’s not as much chaos in the streets. It’s closer to what you see in the movies or the animated series.
It really looks like something that you would see in comics or Tim Burton movies.
I don't know if it's a map-related issue, but I don't like Origins because the grapnel boost traversal was intentionally hampered in order to force us to use fast travel.
@@r0bw00d I think it had to do more so with the map’s loading time. They ran into the issue of City’s speed not giving enough time for it to load in all the features, so they made it slower.
You can actually play some tricks to try and go a little taster, but that only stops you while the game loads
@@eileenscatNot buying it. Keeping the grapnel location atop the Ace Chemicals sign, for example, wouldn't have affected the game's loading.
Yeah there was more focus on corruption hidden under a clean exterior. Rather than straight up chaos in the streets. It was cool to see
Whatever we decide is our favorite we can all agree every Arkham game is unique, fun, and iconic in their own right.
It's a tie between Asylum and City.
Asylum is kinda hard to compare to the others given the open world size, but where it really shines is its horror comic book style design and variety (Intensive Treatment, Mansion, Botanical Gardens, Caves, Medical Facility, Penitentiary, etc.).
As for City, it has the most original open world design of the sequels since it really feels like you're stuck in a city sized prison rather than just another free-to-roam city surrounded by water. Add to that how its sectioned off between the Tyger controlled area and the thirds controlled by Penguin, Two Face and Joker and it really feels like you're in the middle of a miniature war zone.
City really feels like a unique city, both in design, colors and overall visuals; moreso than Asylum, but Asylum doesn't waste any area and you can pretty explore every nook and cranny of it and that's a another point for it.
Adding to the miniature warzone feeling in City, the game helps with that showing how the gangs advance through the quarters during the game: After Penguin's defeat at the museum, Two Face's and Joker's gangs take The Bowery and the metro areas, the Amusement Mile is crowded with Joker's henchmen right before going to get the cure from Mr Freeze (noting that before that moment you can't pop the twelve Joker balloons on that area) while before it was mostly empty and at the end of the game the base of Wonder Tower is taken by TYGER guards and you see the corpses of the Joker's henchmen who were there before. It was a very well constructed game and it shows every minute you play it, specially when you start observing the subtle details.
They're all fantastic in their own way, but I have to give it to Asylum. The thing that always stood out to me - even when I was younger and didn't have the words for it - was just how unbelievably heavy the atmosphere is. The locations are not just a pretty backdrop for a game. Almost every inch of the island is chalked full of incredible world building, perfectly setting the tone that it is not a place you want to be. All of the decay on the buildings, from the dirty carpets and chipping paint of the mansion to the cracked tiling in the medical center, perfectly details an island that is scarred due to its history.
The way I see it, Arkham Asylum isn't just a map for Batman to traverse. It is its own living, breathing character that is the centerpiece of the story. I feel as though the more intimate and subdued nature of the map has a lot to do with this. The other three games lose this oneness with the setting, as the devs were clearly more focused on creating an open world sandbox. Which is totally fine, I love those games. But the feel of their respective maps can't even begin to hold a candle to Asylum. In my opinion, it's a no contest.
As a side note: I'd give Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth a read if you haven't already. From what I can gather, it served as the primary inspiration for Rocksteady when creating their version of the Asylum.
Arkham origins had that huge bridge in the middle which was a pain to cross
Yeah, not mentioning that bridge was odd, and makes it the weakest in terms of map design. Luckily fast travel means only crossing the bridge once (except for when dealing with Enigma Data Packs, and for the Firefly section.
I personaly love the Arkham Origins atmosphere, the weather, the big old biuldings with their arhitecture and lights shining on them (also the streets in the new area looking and the big biuldings its neat too), the cold colors in contrast with the city lights and not to mention the background map music.
My favourite is Arkham asylum because of the atmosphere it captured and the feeling of emptiness, loneliness and fear are amazing to experience and its by far the one i adore the most because of how the lore expanded the history of each building!!!
Yooooo ABP, what a coincidence
@@IntenseGamer17 Coincidence, i think... probably
For me it's City because it's bigger than Asylum but not too big. I feel not all alone and the areas are too memorable.
I completely understand why anyone would choose asylum, city, or orgins for map design but for me its my favorite in general is 100% knight. It makes me feel powerful like people are truly terrified of me like when you shoot out into the sky and people see you picking of person one by one on rooftops or driving around in a tank and jumping out at like 60 rioters in the street and only 10 of them fight me while the rest run in fear or when you help out some cops with some random thugs and you hear them scared for there life. To me it's just unmatched
Happy Holidays mate. Thank you for keeping the Arkhamverse relevant.
Seeing Origins cleaner alive city and seeing it 10 years later in Arkham city but, dead, dirty, and corrupted, really makes you question if Batman really makes Gotham a better place. If you think about it’s him who brings out the worst of villains. They do the most horrid shit to get his attention or one up him.
Would it be better if there wasn't anyone to stop villains like black mask, mad hatter or ra's al ghul?
Well...before batman, the bad guys were mobsters like black mask. But when batman shows up, this makes room for the real crazies to cone out. This theme has been touched on many times in batman media. Dark knight, we buy semi automatics, they get automatics, we get body Armour, they get armor piercing rounds, now your running around in a tank wearing a combat suit. The joker is the next escalation.
All of the Arkham games were masterpieces. All of them. Even Origins was using the Rocksteady formula, but was immaculate
Well, the performance issues prevented that from being immaculate, but it is outstanding otherwise, for sure.
@@crazydud3380 it’s very polished now, but fair enough
I just wanted to say thank you so much for the built in captions. I can have a hard time hearing and understand videos occasionally and just wanted to say thank you for the effort!
Asylum is the best map design because by virtue of being so small, there is truly a bunch of detail packed into every single inch of the map, the game in and of itself will always be the greatest love letter from video-game developers to comic book fans, Arkham Asylum is a game made for comic book readers, if you've read at least a tenth of Batman's canon that was avialable in 2009 , the game just felt...familiar, you feel at home, it's comic books into a motion picture format.
I read a comment suggesting that Arkham City has the best map because you can quickly memorize it without needing to open the map, Arkham Asylum to comic book fans feels like a place you already know your way around on your first playthrough, for this and much more, Arkham Asylum will always be the best game in the franchise to me, of course it has the best map.
I think the Arkham Asylum map is objectively the best in terms of map design. It’s feels like every inch of that map was designed with so much care and passion. Everything flows together so well, and I still feel like I’m being watched or like something could jump out at me any moment when I play this game. The level design is amazing and there are so many hidden parts. For example, the best one is easily the the Warden’s Secret Room in the Arkham Mansion, which cannot simply be found with detective mode or anything. There’s so much world building in this game. The cells of iconic Batman villains, the tapes that are spread out across the map hinting at an extremely vast and lived in world. Being able to look at the skyline of Gotham from the island is just the cherry on top. As a side note, we never really get to see that version of Gotham City even though we do eventually go to Gotham in later games, which is kinda sad to me.
One thing I love about city’s map is how in some areas the prison wall basically slices through buildings cutting them in half
I've been replaying all the Arkham games on PC recently. With Origins, I really didn't enjoy it as much as the others. A big part of that was the "Dark Knight Challenge" system. Playing it again on PC with mods, and console commands to get all the upgrades, it was a much more enjoyable experience. I don't know why, but I feel like when I originally played it on 360, I didn't really appreciate a lot of the game, the map included. Like you said, it does reuse some assets from City. However with the weather, combined with the architecture of the buildings, I feel like it really reminds me of the aesthetic of the Burton Batman movies.
Going from Origins to Knight, I feel like there is a very stark difference in the 2 maps in regards to the vibe. The map in Knight is beautiful and immersive. However it doesn't feel dangerous. Not like something nefariously bad lurks around every corner. Gotham in Origins has that feeling. Gotham in Knight feels like it might not be a too bad of a place to visit as long as you don't stay past dark. The map in Origins feels dangerous and oppressive.
That's odd because I'm the opposite the map is the worst part about Origins; it isn't inviting to explore, but the story is superb and probably the best of the 4. In knight I feel like I could be a victim of a crime no matter where I go.
I think that’s because in something like Arkham Asylum or City, you’re meant to feel like Batman isn’t entirely in control, he’s in enemy territory and needs to be smart. In Knight you’re meant to feel powerful, you’re in Batman’s home turf and he has all his tools at his disposal, and he needs to be a one man army if he’s going to stop Scarecrow.
37 seconds in and here’s my personal opinions
Origins: for the snow and Christmas theme, and it’s the only game that doesn’t take place at night so I like it for being different
Asylum: the atmosphere and eerie vibe it has, perfect game to play during Halloween
City: the run down look of the map and the little bit of snow it has
Knight: purely for the rain itself but it’s a fun map to spend hours grinding in
Arhkam Origins is definitely underrated
Y'know... It's quiet unsettling roaming around the empty and quiet asylum after you beat the game. I always feel on edge, that something will jump on me even though there's nothing to be afraid of.
3:24 subtitles say aslume
great vid. funniest shit is at 3:22 with the aslume lol
Glad I'm not the only one who caught that
I think the biggest leap between games was from Asylum to City. The detail, the scale/scope, narrative, gadgets, combat, traversal, mysteries, riddles, intrigue, everything. I think it even keeps a bit of that alone and claustrophobic feeling. Alone because Bats is the only hero (aside from some quick appearances) in the City and everyone else inside has it out for him. Claustrophobic because many of the buildings are so tight together, the alleyways twist and wind and the content of the game often makes you interact with the map on that smaller scale. Some of the areas are so dirty and cluttered, it makes you think you're the only person in years to have set foot in this little gap between buildings. Such a huge step between Asylum and City.
Personally my favorite map is Arkham city and I say it’s one reason that takes the cake, the world building levelution. Arkham Asylum had this but not at the scale of City.
What do I mean by this? Levelution in Arkham games to me is how the maps change throughout the games, you revisit a lot of areas throughout the games and often times there are distinct changes, in Asylum you can see the mansion section and other sections fall under the control of jokers men, see Joker stick snipers in the towers, the insane patients come out, and ivy rip the island apart, & through all that joker builds his face on the visitor center.
However in City the world takes full advantage the ensuing gang war, every faction has their turf, Joker has the Steel mill and Amusement Mile, Two face controls the Bowery and Courthouse, & eventually penguins turf, and Penguin has the whole museum district as an impressive fortress. Through the game factions will move around and do certain actions that effect the over world, the obvious example being Joker & Twoface putting the squeeze on the weakened Penguin, but a better example could be when Joker makes his gang advance into twig face territory while searching for Freeze and that two faces men can be seen on rooftops trying to stay out of Joker’s way while they plan a counter offensive. It’s stuff like that I admire while playing Arkham City, being able to stop and listen to Jokers men terrorize standard inmates or find the stranded penguin mercs outside of Jokers turf or rooting out the Penguin Loyalists in the museum.
Arkham city made you go back to earlier locations, which I really liked, plus they changed when you did return
One issue with asylum is once you took out all the enemies that was it they stop spawning
One issue with all the arkham games in general is that they failed to put in a mission replay option in every single one of them.
@@TooTurntTokyo3/4 games have new game plus, whatever you missed you can certainly do it again
@ZayCantey I know, but I mean specifically the boss bottles. As a kid, I thought it was kinda stupid how, in Arkham city they had all these amazing Boss battles that I could never go straight to without having to replay the game. (Don't get me wrong, I love these games and replay them annually.) But as an adult now, I still find it annoying how you still can't go straight to the battles you want with a feature like that, especially with all the remasters and new ports of the game coming out in recent years.
@@TooTurntTokyo that’s a great point hopefully they do in ssktjl
Bro really lived out my childhood dream with that web shooter
3:18 Aslume
I love the Arkham Asylum map because of the creepiness but if we're talking about overall map design that would be Arkham Knight for me
3:25 aslume confirmed
I personally think that City has better Atmosphere than Asylum (Asylum still has great atmosphere). There’s just something about the concept of a mega prison made out of a walled off part of Gotham that is really cool. The tall walls erected around the city with spotlights shining into the city, the patrol helicopters flying around with their spotlight and having prisoners react to them, the flooded nature of Amusement Mile and its state of disrepair, and how lively outside Gotham looks compared to Arkham City really does a great job of creating this foreboding atmosphere. Arkham City really feels like a prison where criminals are just carelessly thrown into without much thought of their wellbeing. It’s great.
SADLY Gotham Knights, as it's very close to how Gotham is structured in the comics. Both have the three main islands, with a few smaller ones, but the way GK's ones are arranged is much closer to the comics than how the ones in AK are.
Being closer to the comics from a structural point doesn’t better from a creative point of view, or any point of view for that matter. GK Gotham looks bland and uninspired compared to AK Islands.
Drinking game: take a shot every time he says, "Metriodvania." Take a double shot at the end if you don't know what that means.
I agree with the Asylum. When I finished the game I just wandered around and asked myself, What now? And I look at the Wayne tower which is one of Riddler's riddles like dang I can't believe the other side was Gotham and if you scan it it's very dark and captivating, sad and you wished you could go there..
Broooo YOU ARE EXTREMELY UNDERRATED❤❤
Arkham asylum is great but I can't help but wonder who's designing a mental asylum with human size ventilation ducts and entire hallways in-between walls
I think asylum has the best looks- color scheme & layout makes you feels lost depressed and you can get lost pretty easy if not paying attention and a lot of hidden passage ways you can find
Asylum (atmosphere especially the medical facility, croc's lair, Botanical gardens and penetentiary and the catacombs showing us the asylum's decaying foundations)
City (The Steel Mill, Museum, wonder city, wonder tower and the court house) the perfect showcase of Gotham city's decay the history of Gotham with old Gotham being built on top of.
Origins (it cleaned up the old slums but it showcases the corruption of Gotham especially the GCPD mission)
Knight (it represents the future and hope of Gotham but it's still Gotham with it's winding roads and tight alleyways)
I understand there were probably some engine limitations, but I wish gotham city in knight was much bigger. The skyscrapers of Gotham in Arkham City were literally towering over Wonder Tower. It was huge with unique buildings that stood out and had a purpose. Wish we could've gotten something more similar to Arkham City's Gotham.
"Batman can beat Jiren" 😭💀 *12:17*
With enough prep time
@@RacingSnails64 only if he brings out the stupid op suits. Jiren doesn’t have an exploitable weakness like kryptonite. Batman would have to overpower him
I’m a better man now for have watching you attempt to grab those cheese it’s with your web shooter? Thank you I’ll never forget this.
Incase you haven’t heard the news about suicide squad KTJL, they let out a major spoiler by accident to do with the world and character of Batman here’s the spoiler…
Batman’s Bruce Wayne…
Open world - Arkham knight
Individuality - Arkham asylum (except his years)
3:17 "aslume" the brain rot is affecting us all I see. Is there a lore reason for that?
asylum has been my favourite game of all time since it came out, and I believe that its map design (and story, honestly) is the best of the series - but I assumed I was in the vast minority with that take! especially going up against city and knight; cool to see you had similar thoughts to mine
“Also, heres a clip of me using a web shooter on some cheezitz”😂😂 bro where tf did that come from?
Royal Hotel is still the best of the dungeons I had to explore in the Arkham games. That whole section was pretty cool
Honestly if they had found a way to merge all the maps together I think it would have been one of the greatest things ever.
"Batman can beat godzilla." Simply based
10:54 that was so random😂
I really think the Asylum was the best map design, nothing felt wasted in that map, it didn't have the same unique and somewhat colorful look of the city, but it felt well-utilized.
Personally to me, Arkham City & Arkham Knight are the best maps simply because during my play through, I barely ever have to use the map. The level design is so distinctive that I can always tell where I am at any given moment.
Also as great as Arkham Asylum’s map is I think the critical flaw with it is that there’s really nothing to do after you beat the main story and get all the Riddler trophies.
Maybe there was responding enemies It could help its case? Like imagine if you return to the hospital wing and there’s a predator map ready for you at any time or maybe some random joker henchman are gathered in the outdoor sections talking about how crazy it is that Batman defeated Titan Joker just for you to glide kick into them and start a fight.
This is a really good video broski.
2015 Knights Bat cape graphics is better than the new suicide squad game
Personally I think Asylum had the best map design mainly because of how you go from section to section of the island as you progress the story. May be bleak after you beat the game but even then it’s still atmospheric
I think all around Arkham Knight for me but they all have really solid map design.
take a shot for every “metroidvania”
As a kid when I first played Arkham Asylum I kind of liked the map but I didn't fully understanding concepts like the difference between "penitentiary" and "intensive treatment"
Then when I played the other games with the bigger maps I was so excited because I could explore more
Now that I look back, though, I understand that bigger doesn't mean better even though I still really like the map from Knight which has so many iconic points and is overall majestic
Great stuff.
Asylum is definitely the best when it comes to atmosphere. I'm not used to considering that when it comes to map design, since I'm more of a nuts and bolts kind of player. For me, traversal and exploration are higher priority when it comes to evaluating it.
City is great, but it can get tiring having to cross the entire map.
Origins isn't as good, especially with the bridge being as large as it is, along with the issues you mentioned.
Knight is probably the best in terms of exploration and traversal, but that's also because of the mobility upgrades compared with the other games.
So it really comes down to personal preference when it comes to the criteria for evaluating. Atmosphere is another layer that I consider separately from layout.
i didn’t like knight because it was so futuristic i preferred the rundown look of gotham like it was in city
I have no issues traversing in Arkham city with the accelerator and dive bombing. Imo it’s a lot more of a chore in origins, even though I really like the vibe or origins map too.
The Arkham island map fit the darkness of the Arkhamverse it was so creepy and honestly imo Arkham Asylum can pass as a horror game🤷🏿♂️ but Arkham City was perfect and it did the most Gotham thing I could think of😂
Since december i've been replaying the Arkham Series, starting with Origins and now i'm close to finish Knight and, it's been quite the journey. Before my recent playthroughs i would say (without a doubt) that Arkham City is my favourite Arkham map but now, after exploring (on foot, wheels and gliding) Gotham City and going to the depths of each island i can surely say that Arkham knight has (in my opinion) the best designed, layered and detailed map in the series.
The architecture, level design, art direction, color palette, lighting and more brings this city to life, and then some. Each island has it's distinct personality and secrets, i've been waiting to hunt for the riddler trophies the whole canpaign up until the moment Bruce has to surrender to Crane just so i can freely roam the city.
Arkham City's map is equally beautiful and has the same level of care, detail, architecture and personality as Gotham, and it was indeed my personal favourite map for years, but now it stands as a close second. Last time i played Arkham Knight was 5 years ago, so i came to it almost blindly, but Gotham City has stole my heart.
I’ve been doing that as well. Started with a full origins playthrough on Christmas and continuing it up to Halloween.
10:09 Isn’t Christmas also the theme for one of Tim Burton’s Batman film too?
did anyone else feel a sadness like no other after jumping off wonder tower only to realise its a separate area and you can't divebomb down to arkham city
Arkham City is my favorite set design because it reminded me of escape from NY where the whole city is a prison.
I love you for having the budokai 2 opening song as outro music!
Just finished replaying Arkham asylum and I realized that I took that game for granted when I was younger because I tried to speed run it the first time I played it to get to Arkham city faster and man I didn’t realized how good and creepy the environment of the asylum was, there were parts where I felt creeped out walking around because there were no goons or security, just Batman’s footsteps or alarms going off or nothing
It's a crime there's no Wonder City praise as it was one incredible big creepy puzzle room
I love the cheez it break, how is no one commenting on it
I still find it crazy Asylum is in the same universe as Knight, which isn't a bad thing, it shows how much has just evolved since then
I think it depends on the mood you’re in when it comes to which is the best map. If you want closed in, eerie, and dramatic then it’s asylum but if you want open world, lots of locations, and rainfall then it’s knight etc. Overall it depends imo
The background of Arkham City. I would turn gravity off and explore that area. In my headcanon that part of gotham is another part of Gotham and we don’t see it in Knight. Bruce Wayne has 3 towers in Knight. Wayne Tower, Wayne International plaza and the Wayne Enterprise building from the background of Arkham City.
Tbh the games remind me of the generations of movies. You have asylum like the 90 films, you have city and Nolan’s, and then you have Arkham knight and the Batman. Everytime a game or movie came out it was divisiveness, but I like to just love them all for what they are and how I can go to any of them and experience Batman in whatever way I want. Arkham knight is great at making you feel like the Batman , evening the odds , fighting on your terms, and defending a whole city ripe with lore that fills it with life. Asylum is excellent at experiencing what it is to fight against Batman’s rogues in a setting that is horrifying and is also my personal favorite. City is the staple mark of this series for good reason, every place is so memorable for sure and the map is fun to free roam. As much as I love the Batmobile it just felt like it was required far too often and with its design limited it to skins specific to it otherwise you couldn’t utilize it full potential and I really love just cruising in the 69 Batmobile man it’s sick 😂 my point being no matter which is the best, I think they all have something special about them that makes them the best at allowing you to experience Batman exactly how those games are designed around him being. No matter which you play though , it’s always a great time I fucking love these games man they’re timeless. I’m replaying the trilogy rn and am getting origins again for my pc soon, but fr though can we talk about Lego Batman’s level design being god tier ? The first one is my childhood man haha
I think you’re confusing map design with world building which asylum did better than most games. I don’t like that asylum doesn’t make great use of the Metroidvania aspects it has and frankly neither do the other ones.
Every path the story needs you to go on is stated and you go there right after you get your gadgets. There should be some major shortcuts you can take that will make great use of any gadgets that the rest of the area may not focus around. A Metroidvania with Batman should be full of stuff that could change the story by probably finding important characters earlier.
Imagine getting to Jim Gordon when Harley still has him at the entrance, not letting the doctor die, or getting to Croc’s layer without anyone knowing where you are. I just realized I listed every time you encounter scarecrow so maybe they could allow you to get the jump on him without him poisoning you perhaps if you use all three shortcuts in one run. I don’t dislike the game or scarecrows sequences as I love both. This is the only game that I got the platinum trophy in because the others’ challenge modes are too damn long and repetitive with hard modes, 3 missions in a row, hard mode for those, and then making it necessary with all characters.
I remember a Batman comic focusing on the Riddler in which you make choices and are told what panels to go to for the continuation. All of those paths lead to Batman losing and the only way to see Batman win is by not playing the game. With a Metroidvania it should be similar as not playing the game in the intended way is usually made intentional in Metroidvanias through secrets and unconventional use of upgrades or mechanics.
Right now I’d just call them puzzle games that have you unlocking moves along the way. The reason that this probably wasn’t done is because this game is in 3D and has recognizable things to use all of your gadgets on. Vents mean claw, walls mean gel, chasms mean line, and etc. This game also made detective vision so secrets would probably be easy to find as most of those things stand out in that mode. Only Riddler makes use of going back with upgrades and I don’t like his trophies anyway. They’re just small sources of exp for me.
Anyway, the game I think has the best use of its map is Knight. I love how it makes use of its map design. The don’t goad the Batman line came from the fact the devs knew most people would go to the entrance instead of jumping through the window. The own the road missions are full of puzzles that take map design into account. As you need to look from different angles to get new perspectives with some having you find secret doors for the Batmobile to get in. You say how it’s more fun to fly anyway but the car is used very well alongside gliding by launching you. I love using it to get a fast start across the water or go over buildings to avoid turning. It can then teleport back if you don’t use detective vision or look straight at it. Unrelated but the tank also gives me nostalgia for Wii plays tank. This also best involves side quests at least some of them like the firefighters which you can find across the map instead of being notified like a bunch of other side quests. City’s Bane and Deadshot missions are similar as I started both since they stood out with people yelling out about wanting your attention or how they’re breaking into a building.
My least favorite map is City as I think Riddler’s challenges are too abundant and seeing big green marks across walls takes away from the experience. This would be the case in Knight but they stand out less (sometimes) as I only notice some of them when I get close. I also dislike going around the center of the map as it makes most traversal take forever. At least the map screen is usable unlike Knight which is flooded by a bunch of icons that have similar shades of green. I can’t read anything there as I’d have to waste time squinting.Sorry for making this so long.
Idk why, but i like Origins the most out of all arkham games. Idk why.
I liked that fast travel was the way to high dive straight down in origins
I have each game and love them all but they all have something unique that gets forgotten about
I absolutely loved origins map whenever I played it as a kid, the idea of people in their homes feet away from you, as you’re beating the shit out of criminals on their rooftop. However, traveling across the map was terrible and had they left out fast travel, it would have been nearly unplayable. The amount of side quests made traveling that specific map more enjoyable as well.
For me
1. Origins for aesthetics for sure
2. Arkham City was huge and had tons of different elements for each district
3. Arkham Asylum, has the best atmosphere
4. Arkham Knight, it’s built great for the batmobile but i honestly think in terms of feel, it’s the most boring
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I love Batman Arkham all franchise
I played Origins first so playing through City and it being the same map was awesome for me, felt like a full circle moment.
“Batman can beat Zeno” bro just hid that in the subtitles huh
I love how he sometimes put a few secrets in his subtitles.
If Arkham Knight had the origins and city map, would be the best
It definitely would've! That was my main issue with Knight, Gotham felt small as hell
@@TooTurntTokyo I think that too. If you see the menu of batman VR, the 3 island are together, like a mailand. That's how i wanted gotham in arkham knight
@astadeclover8411 just got done looking it up, and you're right it does look like a mainland it certainly looks more like Gotham should look, and it also looks more lively. I really hated how they incorporated the batmobile into Knight but only gave us the 3 small ass islands to drive it on with very narrow turns. Literally, there was no wiggle room for the batmobile on the map.
@@TooTurntTokyo maybe, rockterday make a map 50x bigger than arkham knight
@@astadeclover8411 I hope so.
I’m glad more people are counting Arkham Origins in things like this
Best design is definitely asylum but my favorite one to play is knight
Playing Arkham origin in one night that too on Christmas night hits different
I need this song what a name of it at 1:13?
Im tried to find it for MONTHS!!!!!
I personally like city the best because each villain kind of has their own building if not section of the map it’s a big enough map to do plenty of things in and it’s easy to remember where you are going because of the way they split up the map with the different villains and their territory