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)