Despite it's cryptic, magical, nonsensical elements, this game feels so incredibly down to earth, so human.
It's a game that reminds you that every person has their own lives, their own struggles, their own pasts. The southern gothic imagery paired with the pleasant ambient soundtrack makes this game go down like smooth whiskey. The reader is asked for patience, as some part of the game did bore me and the story often lost me in it's surrealism, but looking back on all of it I find myself with the feeling that this is a game that I will cherish for a really long time.
Not just one of the best games I've ever played but one of the best stories I've ever experienced.

i loved this game

i have issues with it but i still don't know if i'd change anything, as the issues i have are also a result of things that i love!

it reminds me a lot of 428 shibuya scramble, one of the few visual novels i unabashedly and without reservation love in its entirety, in the way you play through various branches to try to find the right ending - albeit a lot simpler, as there's only one character's path you really follow, instead of the... five? in 428? i forget, but anyway it's more than one

but something different about this one is that a lot of the character beats, the moments of huge growth and connection, just don't happen in the path that i assume is meant to be the true ending, since it's when the book gets closed

one of the best moments in the game for me was when luka and beck are hanging out in beck's room during the storm, and they open the window and scream to vent their feelings of frustration at life... it was very sweet and cathartic and felt like a real, if cheesy, moment of connection between the two... buuuut! that moment never happens in the true ending's path, and i think that's a shame?

but it's also fitting, this is just how life works, any given moment is a result of the choices you and others make before you get there, there's no such thing as "fate" leading you to those moments of connection, you just kind of stumble upon them

so it's frustrating but also... correct

ahhh but beyond that the art, the presentation, the polish, the music, the everything, it's just so good!

In an interview with IGN in 2020 Senior Producer Fleur Marty commented about Gotham Knights, Warner Brother's newest Batman game that it's, and I quote:

"is very much not designed as a game-as-service."

Now I don't blame him for this comment, it's part of his job when doing PR rounds to help sell the product. I can only imagine with the negative outlook the title was receiving that the Eye of Sauron at Warner Brothers was watching intently. The thing is the reason I don't believe him is to give credit to the talented people that work on WB Montreal as I refuse to believe they would design such an awful system if it wasn't a live service game initially that was repurposed. Now I like the premise of it, playing as the sidekick's when Batman is gone and the launch trailer is superb at really emphasizing that feeling. I like the idea of having the game co-op and having upgradeable RPG mechanics but the way it's implemented is just dreadful.

So it's an open world game similar to it's predecessors where Gotham City is the playground. When you are let loose to explore there are basic repetitive crimes on the map where you can scan to find them then interrogate criminals to find pre meditated crimes and it's utterly pointless. Simply finding them organically exploring would have been better and more interesting. When stopping crimes sometimes there are chests that have resources in them or blueprints for new gear you can make. The resources are just various shades of colours with huge numbers that are never explained. Playing with a friend to tell them I'd found "some green" which I already had 100,000 of just means nothing and is extremely unexciting. I had random unexplained resources coming out of my ears, blueprints for weapons and armour I'd never use equally spilling out of my bat belt pouch. To compound matters further creating one of these items you can do on the fly but you can't equip it until you return to the Belfry which the game makes you do constantly. It just seems to want to break it's own flow all the time with these "not designed as live service" mechanics.

The game generally is a bit of a rough state in various areas. The movement around the city will have you feel constantly stuck on objects like perches and lampposts that Batgirl seems to glue to with the worlds strongest adhesive like she'd made a lifelong commitment she refuses to break. Bless her. Additionally there are constant little things like the lack of a proper jump being only contextual leaving questions if it will actually work, running into other players or walls kills all momentum and you freeze for no reason, a choppy frame rate and playing online co-op auto stops my headset working in private chat forcing me to mute and unmute again in mid conversation for just no reason. All small things, nothing stopping the game being unplayable but they can get frustrating over time.

The thing is if you strip those mechanics out and look past the niggling technical issues there is actually the foundation of a good game here. When playing specific story missions and it's focused on the plot and unique locations it's really good. I like the characters and narrative, there are some touching scenes and funny moments. There is the framework of a great game here just held back by an obviously difficult development and initial design pivot regardless of what Fleur Marty may have been stating on his PR rounds. My friend and I did have fun playing it regardless and certainly don't regret it. Riding through Gotham on a bat-cycle launching into the air to land on an unsuspecting criminal and doing a finisher with a brutal kick to the jaw is really satisfying. I also loved playing as Batgirl and wanted more of that ever since the Arkham Knight - A Matter of Family DLC. Whilst it just doesn't reach that level of quality it was still fun, just extremely flawed.

Worth a try if you're curious as it's constantly on sale, hard one to recommend but it's not as bad as some people make out I feel.

+ Story premise is really good.
+ I like the characters and story beats.
+ I like the presentation though it's not as dense and gothic as it's predecessors.

- Upgrade and open world systems are just awful, clearly was designed as a live service game that pivoted in development but the damage is there.
- Combat and movement isn't smooth enough.
- Some minor bugs and frame rate issues.