Arkham Origins is something of a black sheep within the Arkham franchise. It was the only game in the series to not be developed by rocksteady and it’s nowhere near as fervorously beloved or critically acclaimed as Arkham Asylum or Arkham City. It’s also not as venomously criticized as Arkham Knight either. Instead it was a game largely met with passionless indifference on its release and in some ways i do understand why. The open world is devoid of the high quality and engaging pieces of side content of Arkham City, the setting lacks the same unique and immersive atmosphere of Arkham Asylum, and the gameplay is effectively a carbon copy of the prior games with little changed or added substantially or mechanically. Honestly though? I’ve always loved this game despite its shortcomings and i feel as though it has only become easier to appreciate its merits with the benefit of retrospect. The strength of Arkham Origins definitely lies in its writing, its story and character building, and in how it handles and fleshes out those characters. Particularly the latter. Batman, Gordon, Alfred, The Joker, The Assassins, all of these characters are written near flawlessly and they are woven into Batman’s character development throughout the course of the story incredibly well. Batman’s initial domineering attitude shifts throughout the game as he becomes more trusting of allies after nearly losing Alfred. He begins the game as a younger, angrier, less experienced, more vulnerable version of himself and by the end he shares a far closer resemblance to the more tempered Batman we see in the other games. It’s rather brilliant character writing and a genuinely meaningful character arc rather than a meager predetermined means to an end. So this game may not do a great deal to expand the gameplay of the series as a sequel, it may not do much to differentiate itself from the other games, and it may lack in deep side content but it certainly does plenty to expand the story and characters of the Arkham series. This is still a rock solid Batman game at the end of the day. The gameplay is smooth and polished, the boss battles are varied and engaging, and it tells a very well paced story with interesting and richly developed characters. Arkham Origins is a more than fitting addition to the stellar Arkham series and it might even be better than you remember.