This game honestly gets way too much hate and I’m not really sure why. I mean yeah, it’s not as impactful as the rocksteady titles in a number of ways, but this game did a lot right. The combat is still as great as it was in City (honestly a little more challenging too considering how small the window for counterattacking is and how there’s even more enemy variety than before), the fast travel system is fantastic and honestly I have no idea why they decided to ditch it in Arkham Knight as it works really well here, you have most of your gadgets from the get go, the crime scene investigations are a fun addition that would later get expanded on in Arkham Knight, and honestly while the atmosphere is different I grew to really appreciate it. Not just the Christmas aesthetic with the snow, lights, and decorations (although it is a reminder of how much I love Christmas in general lol), I like the fact that Batman is still considered a myth and an urban legend at this time. It is a prequel after all so it’s actually kind of cool to see so many people get freaked out by his presence, and often claiming that he isn’t supposed to be real. The voice performances are great too. Roger Craig Smith is no Kevin Conroy (honestly nobody is when it comes to Batman) but he does a fantastic job at playing a younger dark knight. Similarly, Troy Baker does a surprisingly really good Joker too. I guess one of my main issues would have to be most of the side content. You usually get flooded with pointless busywork in the form of the Black Mask drugs, Penguin ammo crates, Riddler (again), the Bird mobs, and none of it is really engaging or fun. Other more interesting quests like Mad Hatter are quickly dealt with within minutes. The upgrade system also took a hit, instead of letting us choose whatever we wanted to upgrade like in City, the main combat upgrade path is linear: you need to unlock one upgrade before you can unlock the next, it’s just limited and a downgrade from before. The bosses are fine, I guess. Aside from upping the spectacle they don’t really offer much in terms of engaging gameplay and design, most are incredibly formulaic, and some just flat out suck (the final Bane encounter comes to mind). It all mainly just sort of lacks a unique identity compared to other games in the franchise, but regardless of that, this is still a really solid Arkham title that I definitely think is worth checking out.