Though Batman: The Enemy Within builds upon its predecessor and begins solidly, the series eventually devolves into a succession of dull detective work, tantalizing but unrewarding dialogue, and an ending which is inconclusive and poorly executed.

There is a lot to admire about Batman: The Enemy Within, even if it is ultimately fruitless. The character design, the art direction, the voiceover work, and many of the setpieces are top notch. Moreover, the first two episodes of this five part series do an excellent job in the narrative department.

Where Batman: The Enemy Within fails though is with its gameplay and the clear lack of agency. QTEs abound, some of which are executed quite clumsily or seem without purpose. As for agency, though some choices do have large consequences, these consequences often feel driven more by the pre-directed narrative than your own actions.

While I had high hopes in the first couple of episodes, they were let down as I continued to play. As it stands, and though there is certainly much that is novel and interesting about Batman: The Enemy Within, I'm not sure it was a tale worth the often arduous experience.

Content: Single-Player Campaign
Difficulty: N/A (None)
Source: Steam
Input: Mechanical Keyboard & Mouse
Display: Monitor
Audio: Headphones
Location: Home
Audience: Solo
Tweaks & Mods: N/A (None)

Though dark, brooding, and often surprising in both function and form, Batman: The Telltale Series never delivers on its innate promise of being a compelling journey with much player agency. There are certainly a variety of choices players can make, but the consequences of these choices feel few and far between with little impact on the outcome.

This wouldn't be a problem, as the illusion of choice is often just as satisfying as the real thing. However, this illusion is often broken by laughable moments, technical glitches, poor sound design, and an altogether intellectually offensive story in which events are easily predictable, character motivations are wacky, and episodes feel disjointed.

There are, of course, aspects I did enjoy: the art style is superb, the music is sublime, the themes tackled within are interesting, and the setpieces are sometimes awe-inspiring. Moreover, the work plays with player-agency in an interesting - if ultimately clumsy - fashion.

I didn't dislike all of Batman: The Telltale Series. In fact, one episode in particular of this five part series stood out to me as extremely solid. Nonetheless, when the series ended, I couldn't help but feel that nothing was gained or lost. The journey to get to the conclusion was futile and, while a very "playable" experience, it lacks the proper engagement and story-telling to make it worthwhile.

Content: Single-Player Campaign
Difficulty: N/A (None)
Source: Steam
Input: Mechanical Keyboard & Mouse
Display: Monitor
Audio: Headphones
Location: Home
Audience: Solo
Tweaks & Mods: N/A (None)

Though full of captivating moments, a unique art style, and amazing sound design, upon finishing Return of the Obra Dinn I find it difficult to say that I fully enjoyed it. The story is interesting, the voice acting is superb, and it is exceptionally tightly written.

However, it is also marred by a horrendous interface that is not conducive to a pleasant experience. As much of the game is spent in this interface, I often found myself losing engagement with the mystery to be solved while becoming frustrated at how much time I was simply spending in menus; an issue that could easily be rectified in more ways than one.

Moreover, while I was initially impressed by the puzzles, they quickly devolved into a guessing game that was less than challenging. Sure, it's satisfying to solve all the little mysteries contained within the larger mystery that is the story of the Obra Dinn itself. But, that story was largely known to me before solving a vast majority of the clues.

I generally enjoyed my time with Return of the Obra Dinn and would love to see more games created in this style. However, I'd be hard-pressed to experience a (pseudo-)sequel without a major overhaul of the UI, an increased difficulty in the puzzles themselves, and a reimagined narrative structure.

Content: Single-Player Campaign
Difficulty: N/A (None)
Source: Steam
Input: Mechanical Keyboard & Mouse
Display: Monitor
Audio: Headphones
Location: Home
Audience: Solo
Tweaks & Mods: N/A (None)