Now that the bats have settled what is your TRUE and HONEST final assessment of the Arkham universe as an adaptation and on it's own merits?
>>153846891Origins was the only good one because it wasn’t an awful mishmash of the hits like AA, AC, and AK.
>>153846891Asylum and City still hold up. I liked how the Arkham Batman was the "average" Batman and most of the villains were distilled to cool versions of themselves (though some, like Penguin, were weird).Knight was shit and had an awful story.Also as a Cassfag I'm very upset that she never appeared, even in a world where Barbara is firmly in the wheelchair.
>>153846891Asylum was the only good one because it worked as a one-off story set in the comics but with B:TAS influence (though Poison Ivy felt forced because Dini ran out of plot after Harley was dealt with). Once the sequels started spinning it off into its own canon, it started getting dumber and more contrived.
>>153846891Arkham Origins and Shadow have the best stories, City is the best playing, Knight is the best looking and Asylum is the best overall package
>>153846891Asylum had the best atmosphere and got the ball rollingCity had the best gameplayKnight had the best Gotham/visualsOrigins had the best storyCity had a weird plot that kinda undermined Hugo Strange, and I didn't like the tryhard take on Penguin. The Batmobile overstayed its welcome in Knight, and the twist was fucking dumb since everyone called it (studio even lied pre release about Jason). How is it that fucking LEGO Batman is the ONLY Batman game to have a legit Batcave where you can race out of it with the Batmobile?
>>153846969I agree he should of just been Redhood the Dark Batman shit was lame, and not worth the twist.
They had the balls to actually kill Joker, and then undermined it with that stupid Joker tulpa bullshit.
>>153847067>and then undermined it with that stupid Joker tulpa bullshit.So fucking lame. It's like Batman can't be Batman without the annoying fucking clownThey gotta be married through fights or something
>>153847230>>153847067I don't like it either but think of it like this: if you're shooting your shot to make the most Batman games ever made, you've gotta included all the cliches and tropes, the Arkham games are pretty much the zeitgest of Batman in the aughts and the 2010's, but to their credit they didn't stoop to Batgod so I give Rocksteady some credit on that score
>>153847017>>153847035Arkham Knight was Barbara GordonGeoff Johns changed it to Jason, then used the Titans TV Show to double down on his Red Hood Scarecrow pairingTomasi, the writer of the Arkham Knight tie in comics, later wrote Detective Comics, and the Arkham Knight was a woman, because that was the original plan
>>153846891Arkham City was the beginning of the end for Harley Quinn. >>153846972For me, Arkham Ayslaum and the first Lego Batman game were the perfect Batman games. They were the perfect time capsules of the late 90s and early 2000s for the major characters. >>153847017Yeah, I found the glass bottle monocle stupid.
>>153847419This is some incredible fanfiction
Knight has the best gameplay (except the Batmobile), best aesthetic, best Gotham environment, best music, best villain with Scarecrow played to perfection by John Noble, SHITTIEST story (though City had some really stupid shit too) but best side missions. People are naturally hard on it because of the dumb shit with Jason.
>>153847640>Knight has the best gameplayNo it doesn't. It has the worst gameplay in the series. They just made the game larger but didn't have a single good idea for new content.
>>153846891>as an adaptationit gets a lot of things right, but also more than a few bad/odd choices>prosBats and J have their definitive VAsHarley's VAs also good, prefer Strong for Arkhamverse ( better fit for psycho Harls)Hugo Strange = perfectionAlfred = perfectionHarvey Dent: good design and VA ( not nearly enough done with him storywise)Catwoman sexo in City (slight downgrade in Knight)Robin has no role in Asylum and is an afterthought in City (not counting DLC)no Batfam in Asylum and Citybest Penguin rep in City (downgrade in Knight)Riddler: A-tier presentation in City ( Knight was a downgrade) (fuck the Ridder trophies in City)Ra's al Ghul bretty gudBatman arsenal always getting expanded in each new gameBatmobile design in asylum and knight are fantasticCity Batsuit best overall>on its ownplot is retarded to various degrees in all Rocksteady games ( Knight is the worst offender esp with Jason)irrespective of everything, will always appreciate joker getting killed off and staying deadProtocol 10 plot is a massive detour/ stalling strategy.combat and stealth gameplay in Knight = perfectionDriving Batmobile is funtank gameplay is fine ( there is just too many tank combat sections in main story and side missions. Should've been maximum 5 tank battles in main story, including Cloudburst).jason shoehorned in timeline is dumb because of retconsJokeritis in Knight for the Panessa patients was REALLY retarded.no map creator/editortoo many tank fights in replayable challenges.never got a catfight between Talia and Catwomanblackfire shitty shoein in Knightwill always love that deathstroke gets oneshotted in a cutscene in Knight, but FUCK the preceding boss tankbattle.
If Origins was just Black Mask and Bane as the main villains with Joker relegated to a DLC like Cold, Cold Heart, it would have been perfect.
>>153846891It was fun, but definitely overplayed the "all in one night" thing. It worked for Asylum since it was on a small island, but once we got to small chunks of Gotham (and just about the entire damn "city" state/whatever in Knight), it just felt silly. The plots could still be the same, but wouldn't feel quite as absurd if they had given some time to let things breathe.Combat was definitely solid, and got better with each game, which is one reason that new Lego game seems pretty cool since it appears meatier than the 'one two" punching of the previous Lego Batmans
>>153848127True, but I will say they should have had monster Bane happen because Batman deliberately overloads him and manages to fry his brain. As it was, Bane just looks like a retard who overdoes it and hurts himself, which docks points from his otherwise brilliant portrayal.Also, that DBZ super speed punching of Joker was stupid.
>>153846969It's tough being a Cassfag, they won't even give her a LEGO version yet let alone put her in an actual game. I cope with mods (although I wish this one had black eyes instead of white)
>>153847932>tank gameplay is fine ( there is just too many tank combat sections in main story and side missions. Should've been maximum 5 tank battles in main story, including Cloudburst)I feel like if they had at least mixed up the variety somewhat, that would have helped things. Like maybe sometimes the militia strap goons and any straggling Gothamites to their tanks. That alone would have at least encouraged some careful strategy when taking out the groups because Batman wouldn't want to hurt the people (even if he'd probably hilariously knock out the goons for simply being goons). Of course, the tanks being unmanned did fee like a copout when they could have just had the things get damaged and then you either drive into the militia dudes to knock them out or get out for a brief scuffle.
>>153848304Yeah, I can buy Bane doing it as a very desperate last resort but I would have preferred it if Batman OD him or Black Mask pulled the trigger to get Batman.
>>153848304the stupidest thing is that some form of Knightfall happened between Origins and Asylum, so basically Bane deduced Batman's identity, broke into the batcave, got his shit fucked up and forgot all that, then did it all AGAIN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRXtjPRIj7Uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qvx4KFVS1Yhttps://youtu.be/kKNvTSIgqMk?si=smRqKgDLCD64z9P9
>>153846891I played the first two games and they're pretty retarded.
>>153847419Source: Your ass
I know everyone was over the moon about Hamill and Conroy but Jesus, Hamill sounds fucking ROUGH by the time of Knight especially with that lisp that makes him sound like a jewish grandma
They should just do a new Batman game and learn from all the good/missteps of Arkham. Here's the wishlist>Freely able to visit The Batcave via The Batmobile. Not a load screen, just drive through secret tunnels>Batcave has the penny, t-rex, other trophies, armory, and a batcomputer you can use>Car is a feature, not a requirement like in Knight>Don't try and reinvent the wheel, just have a solid original Batman story with things people want from these characters/villains>Free roam Gotham with actual people/citizens>Stop random crimes>Able to play Batgirl, Nightwing, Robin, Cass, Steph, and Catwoman on the open world map
I would have taken an Arkham Beyond game over Knight.
>>153851404So basically Gotham Knights but not dogshit
Hypothetically Rocksteady could have made Batman games until the end of time if they based each one on different eras and continuities. Imagine a full colorful and retarded Silver Age one.
>>153851449You can drive to the Batcave in GK?
>>153851624Don't think so, but that did have just about every character aside from Batman since he's "dead"
I love the Arkham games but Batman, as a character, sucks in them. He's not too bad in Asylum, but he has basically no character in that one. And in City, Origins, and Knight, he's an unreasonable one-dimensional hardass. Yeah, he's dying in City and Knight and Origins is all about muh character arc but it's retarded how in 4 games we never actually get to see Batman.. act like Batman. He has no charm, no wit, he never says anything insightful or wise or nuanced. He's just a dumb meathead. He's basically Kratos in a Batsuit, except he doesn't kill
>>153847000I don't like VR, but I was surprised by how much Shadow managed to feel like a proper Arkham entry.
>>153846891First two games are solid. It's all downhill from there.
>>153848260Agreed. It feels like it would have benefitted from breaking it up across several days - you go in, do several story missions, some shit happens, you go back to the batcave, get to explore a little bit, get some sweet upgrades, and then go back in only now the zone's a little different a little rougher and some new areas have been opened up. rinse. repeat.
>>153846891its really cool, lots of enjoyable moments, gr8 designs, its just a bit ridiculous how theyre all joker focused and try to take place over one night. This becomes the most ridiculous in Arkham Knight. And they try to make Arkham Knight AKA red hood into leading an army so that theres a million enemies with tanks to fight. Which would be fine with a different villain that has that in the lore maybe. But its a big excuse to have tank batmobile and city widde threat, clearly they didnt see Scarecrow alone as a threat. Andd it still tries to say the game happens over like 8hours. Come on lmfao. Its perhaps only believable in first game Asylum.Also if you really think about it these games are the last good depictions of Harley Quinn
>>153852778>Also if you really think about it these games are the last good depictions of Harley QuinnThey were also patient zero for what we were about to get.
>>153853248Yeah but its fine if shes still sexy and heterosexual they had not implemented those inversions yet. In fact keeping her sexy was a priority still.
>>153852536Exactly, and they could have made it a shorter time for Knight to make it "tense", especially with the whole Joker psychosis thing. If they were keen on the one-night stuff happening again, could have maybe done it with DLC missions or whatever set at different parts of the main story.
>>153846891I think it's weird they made Tim the one dating Barbara and not Dick.
IT'S DA FREAKIN BAT
I enjoyed the gameplay with knight being the best minus the awful Batmobile sections, but I really fucking hated the appearances of the robins and night wing in these games. They were so ugly. I hate adult robins. I hate them so much.
>>153847670They made the combat and stealth more challenging and that’s like 90% of the enjoyment that comes from games. If they aren’t challenging then why even play a game? Just go watch a film or show instead. Asylum basically plays itself in comparison.>>153847932
>>153846891these games influenced the movies. after the game, the Batman fight scenes started looking more like the games with all the combinations and stuff
>>153846891It's very busy. If it were a comic it would have to be hugely ling or he'd have to meet and defeat villains within pages. While also progressing along the main story villain's arc.
>>153846969Basically this. Knight was mediocre all around except for the Joker hallucination sequence at the end, that was great
>>153847932The Bat-tank is shit and you're shit for liking it
>>153846891Honestly, while there's good stuff, sometimes I feel like it's trying too hard to be edgy. Stuff like "Joker kidnapped a kindergarten class, chopped them into pieces, stitched them back together, and mailed them to their families" sounds too over the top, but it's right there in the Arkham continuity.
>>153847067>>153847230>>153847374Joker being in Arkham Knight as a hallucination was an inevitability the moment that they confirmed Scarecrow was in the game. The thing is, I figured it would be for one or two parts of the game, not basically non-stop after the first act was over. And while some parts were funny, mainly the musical and Joker making fun of Batman's dead parents, it just felt like too much. Especially when they already sidelined Hugo Strange in City in order to give Mark Hamill's Joker a permanent send-off.Also, the multiple Jokers shit was awful and I don't think the writers even thought about how it retroactively makes Joker into a victim since he's arguably just as vulnerable to the blood corruption as the rest.
>>153847640Knight Scarecrow never shuts the fuck up and isn't even scary. I liked him more in Asylum where he was a cackling villain and actually did things.
>>153848127Keep the eight assassins, with Black Mask as the main villain, and maybe a hint of Joker coming in at the end. A side mission that ends on the Nobody worth mentioning achievement popping up in response to "Who's The Joker?" would've been great.
>>153846891This may be contraversial, but I love Arkham Knight and the militia. I feel like that game is the Dark Knight Rises we didn't get in theater. Also Origins has the best soundtrack hands down.
>>153848304>>153848540>>153848554I don't even know why Bane had to go full retard at the end of Origins. Asylum already implied that Bane was getting a dose of Titan for the first time, which is reason enough for him to be made larger than normal. He could've just looked like Origins Bane until then and there would've been no issue. It also doesn't help that the reason he does it in the first place is "Read the comics to find out my backstory. Not even the Arkham universe comics. Just general Batman comics. I'm not gonna explain shit."
>>153852459Yeah, I know it's fun to play as him, but Bruce as a character is just an unpleasant asshole 90% of the series. And that 10% is pretty much just Asylum, some of Shadow, and maybe Origins: Blackgate. Felt like a waste of Kevin Conroy, particularly when you look at how warm his Bruce Wayne (and even Batman) was in BTAS.
>>153856326as I recall wasn't the whole point of Joker sending his blood out to unsuspecting hospitals supposed to be because of the Titan virus infection, so how did it become some kind of literal Joker virus that turns you into society? Did the new writers just forget?
>>153846891They're all solid games. I prefer Asylum's more evergreen take on Batman and the setting, even if I dislike many of the character designs (including Batman's). I don't think any of them have terribly good stories, but I love how Asylum uses environmental details (even if the number of skeletons you'll come across is goofy as fuck).
I don't think Batman was an asshole in these games he was just stoic. You guys forget that when these games came out it was basically the peak of Batman being a grim brick with the barest minimum humanity. And as the story progresses we're supposed to feel he's becoming more extreme and withdrawn because Talia and Joker died. You'll notice towards the midway point in Knight his humanity remerges too after the Jason reveal.
>>153856502but it takes place in one night. So Batman literally defeats an entire army with tanks in one night. And they invade gotham for one night. It makes him look profoundly retarded and incompetent. I mean, I like him too and if it was written better id like him even more. Thats just always in the back of my mind.
>>153858482it's not even that, on it's face it means the militia not only invaded Gotham but dug in to such an extent they had thousands of vehicles, drones, equipment, and personnel and deeply entrenched headquarters all over and under the city within a few hours AND while they were doing all that presumably the ENTIRE EVACUATION of 5+ million citizens was going on. Too much of Knight literally hinges on 'it's capeshit' as a deflection because much of it stretches any and all suspension of disbelief
Does anyone else hate fighting those minigun faggots where it's like Batman punches the guy 10000 times and he doesn't even react, how lame and emasculated does that make Batman look
>>153851404Put the Batcave under Wayne Tower, you can drive straight out in the Batmobile, launch yourself from the top of the tower to glide about, or use the subway rocket to fast travelTrophies should appear as you defeat bosses like they did in Knight, armory lets you focus on what upgrades you want to research and customize your suit, and the Batcomputer takes over from the detective vision so you have to come back to examine crime scenes in the Batholodeck
Batman moves like he's made out of rubber and has no skeleton in Knight. The way he flings himself back and forth across the room without even a pretense of realistic body movement and becomes a rubberhose cartoon is laughable when you watch it happening. And why the FUCK does he need to do a backflip up into the air to knock a thug out when he's lying directly at his feet?
>>153859054>And why the FUCK does he need to do a backflip up into the air to knock a thug out when he's lying directly at his feet?extra momentum for a harder hit?idk why, but i do like it.
>>153858762>Batcomputer takes over from the detective vision so you have to come back to examine crime scenes in the Batholodecknot a fan of this. detective vision makes sense for Batman to expedite solving cases, and it is already linked to the batcomputer iirc. >Bat Cave under Wayne TowerMake this a secondary cave to operate out of, while keeping the main Bat Cave under Wayne Manor.
>>153858482>>153858525I thought the comic written by Tomasi showed that the Arkham Knight had been in Gotham for months, biding his time and getting all the villains on board. It was a dedicated effort, rather than something they just winged. It also retroactively explains why Bane didn't appear (because he was merc'd by Jason)Or am I misremembering?
>>153859301you're right about the comic and bane, but the game treats it as non canon. in the game, bane is away on Santa prisca.personally, for batman missing militia movements and not intercepting them before game events, I always treated it as Batman being so overwhelmed with grief about Talia and joker that he doesn't wear the cowl at all between Harley quinn DLC and the start of Knight, since after Arkham City, crime had gone down significantly. and he may have thought there is no need to regularly patrol Gotham while being in such a state.
>>153859455>personally, for batman missing militia movements and not intercepting them before game events, I always treated it as Batman being so overwhelmed with grief about Talia and joker that he doesn't wear the cowl at all between Harley quinn DLC and the start of Knight, since after Arkham City, crime had gone down significantly. and he may have thought there is no need to regularly patrol Gotham while being in such a state.This honestly tracks. It was clear in the Harley Quinn DLC that Batman has not been in a good headspace since Joker, and it's clear that he only gets worse over the proceeding months. Like some of the comments psychic Joker spouts such as the upgraded Batmobile into a tank make you think he's been focused on other things for a while.
>>153859455Wasn't Gordon saying within the first few minutes of Knight that crime in Gotham was worse than ever now that all the villains could cooperate openly without Joker being a constant interference?
>>153859606nope, Gordon says "crime actually fell".
>>153858261Origins was particularly bad about this. Joker kills about 2000 people in that game based on the number of dead bodies you find every time he shows up.
>>153858249Everything about the blood plot was already dumb, since there's no way they wouldn't have noticed the blood incident before City if it was such a widespread problem. But Knight feels like either a retcon or that the new guy just ignored what came beforehand.>Joker sends out blood to all of the hospitals>tons of people die>Batman himself needed multiple deus ex machinas to survive the night>there is no cure whatsoever by the end of the game due to Ra's being gone and Joker destroying the last one>suddenly, all of the blood is "rounded up">suddenly, there are survivors
>>153859301ok he was in gotham for months planning the ultimate batman takedown which then after months of planning lasted 6-8 hours and Batman took out his entire army in that time....
>>153859301The funny thing is that the game outright contradicts that by saying Bane was off getting rehab and busting up drug rings.
>>153859054Batman was replaced by Barry Allen in Arkham Knight.
>>153846891Fun gameplay-wiseCharacters are goodStory is okay
>>153854460I hated the bat mobioe in knight.
>>153846891Some of the best games I'll ever play. Treasured memories.
