A certain youtuber has popularized a certain meme that this game “makes you feel like Batman” but honestly this game makes you feel as batman as any other action character I can think of.

Many would hail the Arkham series as one of the best adaptations of capeshit within the video game landscape, but really the competition just isn’t all that tough to begin with. To my knowledge, the only ones that people even respect to a very high degree in the first place are the recent Spidey games by Insomniac and the beloved Lego games which are still honestly pretty brain-dead games. Honestly though, this game is just as simple as those lego games but it works very well for the most part.

One thing these games do that “makes you feel like Batman” is definitely its presentation. The sparse use of colors with everything tending to be very dark and monotone really sells that this is indeed a batman game that can be placed quite comfortably with its other incarnations in other mediums such as the Nolan movies or the original animated series. Maybe it's just me but the animation models how Batman runs and fights also feel awfully familiar to how you’d see him in the cartoon or comics recreating that campy feeling. Surprisingly it doesn’t clash at all with the overly serious grimdark setting of Arkham and just feels like another episode of Batman’s adventures.

Though despite being an iteration of Batman’s adventures, this is honestly quite light on the storytelling for what happens to be a superhero story. Basically, Batman puts Joker into Arkham only for it to be a trap where Joker then proceeds to put Batman into his playground against his rogue’s gallery. This is effective in platforming this action game but doesn’t really make the player really pay attention to the actual narrative beyond “whoa Batman is up against this villain next”. Granted, it honestly doesn’t have to be anything more than what it is since its fun for what it’s worth in running around Arkham Asylum in the first place.

The gameplay is honestly just pretty good, but nothing actually substantial. I’m quite disappointed that the combat has this weird auto-lock to enemies where you don’t really have to control Batman’s direction all that much and really just mash the attack button while occasionally using the counter button whenever the visual indicator for it appears. What’s the actual highlight however is definitely the exploration and stealth in trying to maneuver through the different buildings without getting caught and solving easy but interesting puzzles on the way to your next destination. This part really does feel like an episode of BTAS where Batman has to solve a situation a villain has put him through which I do appreciate.

I like Batman Arkham Asylum. If you like the caped crusader, it's definitely a game worth playing. One thing I forgot to mention actually is the element of horror of the unknown in being in an asylum which I found very engaging. This is especially heightened with the Scarecrow segments which really got me immersed as this being a Batman story. Sometimes the models and combat can feel a bit stiff though, but that is more so because it's a PS3 game more than anything. Good time to be had with this one, worth the 15 hours I put into it.

I don’t need to tell you this game is a masterpiece, everyone else already has.

But now that I’ve completed it for the second time with this being done on PC, I have a few brief comments I would like to share in my experience with playing this game. Most notably, I can’t think of another game I’ve played that utilizes its format as a storytelling medium the same way this game does it. So instead of just going about how each factor I usually think of in a game and how well it does it, I’d like to provide some thoughts I had as I finished every route.

The A route is honestly amazing as is, even if it barely actually uncovers what this game is about, it’s an incredibly great hook for a masterfully solid action game with some cool mysteries that leaves you yearning for more as it does a great job in setting the foundation of the Android v Machine war. Honestly, they could literally just sell this game with route A alone and I would argue it's already worth purchasing at full price with how expansive the world and beautiful the game is and the depth gameplay it has with its combat and customization even if it's just a 13 hour story. Luckily, we are even more spoiled for content.

To be quite honest, I have some mixed feelings with how the B route is. I do like that there is a separate campaign as the lovable shota character’s perspective, but at the same time I really feel like they could have easily integrated both perspectives into one campaign. 9S’s moveset is definitely different enough from 2B with how fun the hacking is being a Shmup and kind of making combat easier, but retreading the same plot points is kind of tiring even if it does bring new story elements in. It's a blessing that they made this route much shorter than route A, but essentially doing large parts of the same campaign is quite tedious.

What truly puts this game above and beyond as an experience onto its own is definitely Route C/D. Like the second half of a battle shounen where characters no longer reside in the status quo, Nier:Automata finally reveals itself to be Yoko Taro’s magnum opus in presenting this wild ride that's captured the hearts of many players and tugged them through a whole range of contrasting emotions. Just this duality of actions between the 2 playable characters in parallel really made it difficult to put the controller down as this emotional rollercoaster makes one beg for something conclusive to everything happening. This game will make you keep thinking way after the credits roll, but even when the credits roll Nier:Automata is still its own kind of game.

Route E is simply genius. A culmination of the game’s narrative into the ultimate finale where it's beyond character and game, as this feels like a dialogue between player and creator. If the shmup sections felt like a weird juxtaposition to the action heavy combat gameplay before, it all clicks at the very moment you finally beat this game as it becomes evident how meticulous every design aspect this game made to get you to reach this point. I can’t imagine anyone not getting goosebumps every time they died drying to complete this route. The final choice you are given honestly brings me a tear to my eye, knowing this is a game for the GAMERS everywhere. This is the only game I can think of where going online really does mean something as a community as someone who doesn’t care much for online multiplayer games.

Of course, I still have some gripes nonetheless despite how mindblowing this game is. As iterated in my thoughts with route B, the game really does feel repetitive with how you’re redoing certain tasks again and again. Travelling also becomes a pain after a while since although there is a fast travel mechanic, some locations you’ll backtrack to are still pretty far from any point you can travel to. What makes this extra annoying is that this game has some annoying invisible walls with some setpieces looking like you can pass through them only to be halted, while in other scenarios you assume you’re gated off a path only for it to actually be jumpable. Also an issue I have with a lot of PlatinumGames I’ve encountered with MGR and Transformers which is present here as well is that the lighting and camera can really suck sometimes when you’re in the heat of a battle. Nothing that actually ruins the experience, but has those few problems that can irk me at times.

Overall, Nier:Automata is just a unique experience. Maybe there’s others like it, especially in Yoko Taro’s portfolio that I haven’t experienced yet, but for now it's definitely a game that is all to its own in my eyes. One thing I should also say is that for something so special, it also happens to be very accessible which I appreciate as the message and story of the game is worth getting as many people to witness this shining gem of a game. Anyways, 9/10 because my favorite character is 9S.

This is JUST the original game, and that’s why I don’t like it.

Resident Evil 4 Remake just seems outright unnecessary to me. Resident Evil 2 and 3 were originally fixed camera games and their remakes provided fresh takes on a completely new experience of these original games while still maintaining a sense of horror and dread through claustrophobically dark rooms and levels and its scarce resource management (less so in RE3R but there was still that element of terror). Here in RE4R, Leon is just this unstoppable force and never once am I ever really afraid of any possible horrors that Leon can’t handle. Even in the original RE4, despite it being action heavy it felt more as if Leon is just trying to survive the hellscape with how little the player is given and how much the atmosphere makes things tense be it in the villages, castle or laboratory.

This game obviously looks good for the most part as it's the same RE engine used for RE2R and RE3R so dem graphics are going to look gorgeous in portraying the location it's set in. However, like mentioned above the presentation just doesn’t sell the horror to me. It just feels like playing an action game that occasionally gives you a jumpscare here and there which just feels cheap at times. If I were to compare it to the original, the laboratory scene comes to mind where the original had the perfect lighting and ambience with the strange creature approaching, the horror is in just that fear knowing the inevitable is coming. With the remake, a moment that pissed me off is really just opening a door and suddenly some monster was already behind it giving it a cheap surprise. The presentation is just missing that special sauce to me. Also what the fuck did they do to Ada Wong, holy shit her new voice is so bad now WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS TO HER I AM SO MAD SO MAD SO MAD SO MAD- anyways I used a mod that fixes her voice so I’m gucci.

Story-wise it is exactly the same as the original RE4 but with some events shuffled which I actually appreciate since it presents said old ideas in new ways I can appreciate. Sure they toned down Luis being a creep to Ashley and the fact that Ashley is way more mature than how she was originally but I’m honestly fine with that. Cheesiness is all but gone unfortunately as the events are taken much more seriously, with more emphasis on Leon’s PTSD over the events of Raccoon City and him just cracking less goofy one liners. The bickering between Leon and Ashley is still there but it's more like Leon is reassuring a child rather than the back and forth of the original. There’s definitely an intentional tonal change between the 2 games but I don’t really mind it that much as it means that they are trying to do something different which I appreciate a remake to do.

As an action game, I might actually consider this to be a really great game. The knife parrying feels so rewarding to do and the action sequences with guns in trying to clear an area is satisfying to an extent. However, the tin says Resident Evil and that’s the standards I will be adhering to. Although on the surface it is great not being limited by tank controls anymore, it also means that so many other factors like the enemy movements and such have to be changed according to what you can do. The limitations of the original really added an element of terror in the limited things Leon can do with the scarce resources, paired with the slow moving enemies really created that horror gameplay experience of just a gradual escalating tension of panic. In comparison, the remake is just an action game that plays really well, but nothing particularly distinct or Resident Evil about it for me.

Honestly, I’m probably not even being fair to this game. My biggest issue is the fact that it's incredibly close to the original game without enough that makes it unique enough for me to recommend as its own experience. But at the same time, I have to admit this is a solid project and I can see many considering this to be the definitive Resident Evil 4 experience. I wish I could tell people to play the original instead, but I know there are aspects to it some folks just can’t get past like the tank controls and this game does serve well as a modern version just without actually being very distinct on its own compared to many other remakes I really like. Other than that, it's a solid game that I just fundamentally disagree with.