The open world was super overwhelming to me at first, and I still think the game's structure, specifically the side content, makes literally no sense with the "muhuhaha you will die by tonight batman, tick tick it's almost time, you will die soon lil bro, maybe find a cure if you can trololol" plot, but I really liked this!
Like, I think the overwhelming feeling was intentional, since Arkham City's one massive fucked up prison, but its pretty weird that we've got him trying to track down Deadshot on a side quest while he's a few hours away from fucking dying, especially when the story keeps pointing out how little time he has left. Makes for really weird pacing, which is funny when that's one of the things Asylum nailed.
I'm okay with that though because the actual gameplay is really solid. Gliding as Batman across the city is EXTREMELY satisfying, especially after you've gotten the grapple boost upgrade, and the stealth/combat is still fun like it was in Asylum. I found the bosses interesting here too (Mr. Freeze's was neat especially). Catwoman's traversal is awful though, and that final mission with her was really annoying.. I find it really funny how the game presents a choice with her, and upon choosing the wrong one the game just rolls the credits. I thought that was neat lol
Everyone who adores this game always points out how good the story is, and while I think the ending is really well done (love that thing with the credits), everything preceding the final hour or so of story was just alright? The story is great in the sense that it finds a good way to weave in as many batman villains as possible without it feeling too game-y, but besides that it's just an alright go-here, find-this-villain, go-there, find-this-villain, though I do question opening the game with the big "HUGO KNOWS WHO BRUCE IS" when literally nothing happens with it. I did like the Talia and Ras part but they feel out of place for whatever reason, just comes out of nowhere I guess? There's this air of stuff being a little contrived, but that's like a really stupid nitpick to make honestly considering this is both a superhero story and a videogame. Also, I have no idea how (un)popular this opinion is, but Arkham Batman/Bruce is pretty meh to me. I understand that he's stoic, and you do see little bits of emotion (he's sarcastic with Oracle sometimes), but he's about as interesting as a plank of wood, and it also sucks that the game's lead people to think Batman's always a dick and smashes random robbers' ribcages on the daily.
As a complete experience, it was pretty good, and ended right as I was starting to get tired of it. I can see why it was so beloved; way bigger scale and more grandiose than Asylum, would've blown 8 year old me's mind. I'll admit the Batman fanboy in me gave an extra half star just because you could play as Nightwing and Robin in the challenge maps (TIM HAS THE RED ROBIN SUIT AAAAAAA) (they have their own animations and gadgets!!)
Speaking of gadgets, I can't help but think of how much better this game handles them and breaking up the flow of the superhero gameplay than Insomniac did with Spider-Man (2018).
neat game !
Like, I think the overwhelming feeling was intentional, since Arkham City's one massive fucked up prison, but its pretty weird that we've got him trying to track down Deadshot on a side quest while he's a few hours away from fucking dying, especially when the story keeps pointing out how little time he has left. Makes for really weird pacing, which is funny when that's one of the things Asylum nailed.
I'm okay with that though because the actual gameplay is really solid. Gliding as Batman across the city is EXTREMELY satisfying, especially after you've gotten the grapple boost upgrade, and the stealth/combat is still fun like it was in Asylum. I found the bosses interesting here too (Mr. Freeze's was neat especially). Catwoman's traversal is awful though, and that final mission with her was really annoying.. I find it really funny how the game presents a choice with her, and upon choosing the wrong one the game just rolls the credits. I thought that was neat lol
Everyone who adores this game always points out how good the story is, and while I think the ending is really well done (love that thing with the credits), everything preceding the final hour or so of story was just alright? The story is great in the sense that it finds a good way to weave in as many batman villains as possible without it feeling too game-y, but besides that it's just an alright go-here, find-this-villain, go-there, find-this-villain, though I do question opening the game with the big "HUGO KNOWS WHO BRUCE IS" when literally nothing happens with it. I did like the Talia and Ras part but they feel out of place for whatever reason, just comes out of nowhere I guess? There's this air of stuff being a little contrived, but that's like a really stupid nitpick to make honestly considering this is both a superhero story and a videogame. Also, I have no idea how (un)popular this opinion is, but Arkham Batman/Bruce is pretty meh to me. I understand that he's stoic, and you do see little bits of emotion (he's sarcastic with Oracle sometimes), but he's about as interesting as a plank of wood, and it also sucks that the game's lead people to think Batman's always a dick and smashes random robbers' ribcages on the daily.
As a complete experience, it was pretty good, and ended right as I was starting to get tired of it. I can see why it was so beloved; way bigger scale and more grandiose than Asylum, would've blown 8 year old me's mind. I'll admit the Batman fanboy in me gave an extra half star just because you could play as Nightwing and Robin in the challenge maps (TIM HAS THE RED ROBIN SUIT AAAAAAA) (they have their own animations and gadgets!!)
Speaking of gadgets, I can't help but think of how much better this game handles them and breaking up the flow of the superhero gameplay than Insomniac did with Spider-Man (2018).
neat game !