I can never get enough of the Arkham series. I have been interested in it since I saw trailers of it back in 09. The gameplay and voice acting is just amazing. I love these games portrayal of Batman and his rouge's gallery. It's almost perfect.
Same! This one of my all time favorite video series, with the only series above it being God of War, BioShock, and Mortal Kombat. And I’m so happy about the new Suicide Squad game carrying on the universe.
Jason was always cocky, always so sure that he could do whatever he wanted. He's so convinced that he knows everything about the Batman that he gets repeatedly knocked on the back foot by how different he is by Arkham Knight. This Batman has the next best thing to power armor, a tank, his entire arsenal, and is even more brutal in his methods.
One could say that is the point for this batman. That for this bruce wayne, his trauma was so dramatic, the Bruce Wayne half barely exists. That his thoughts of being batman are so all consuming, that he's okay with killing off that half of himself in order to protect his family and continue the mission. That bruce wayne can't survive in this version.
Yeah I see that, would be cool to incorporate some sort of Gala or charity that inevitably gets hijacked in which we gotta play as Bruce and stop them/change into Batman through all the chaos
Arkham joker still sits with me years later. I may have been disappointed that so much of Knight was tank combat, but the brutal torture joker put jason through still fucks with me even after 7 years. How he mutilated, tortured, manipulated and traumatized a child. In the comics he beat him.with a crowbar and just blew him up. Thus joker branded him. Beat him. Hung him by his arms to dislocated them, bound him yo a chair with barbed wire which permanently changed his posture, joker drugged him, electrocuted him, unspeakable horrors every night, slowly eroding Jason's only hope of being saved by showing him pictures of Bruce and tim... it's absolutely horriffic.. he was only around 16 or 17 years old and he endured levels of torture that would be considered war crimes if done on POWs
Same, dude. It's a sadistic mashup of Jason's original Death in the Family storyline with the torture of Tim Drake from The Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
Origins may not have been finished, but from a pure story standpoint, it is the best of the games. Like seriously, the game is superbly written. Especially the characters.
@@DarthTingleBinks Not really, the story is nothing special, just villains trying to kill batman. They don't even have a reason apart from the reward. By the way, the plot twist of Joker impersonating Black Mask is really bad.
@@sddlol19 Villains trying to kill Batman isn't the story, though. It's not even close to the story. That is a plot point. It's multiple plot points, actually. But it's not in any way the story. Edit: And I wouldn't say the plot twist is bad. They didn't try to hide it. The name Joker was mentioned throughout the game long before the "twist" moment. It's not supposed to actually surprise you, just make you try to guess how many times you had actually seen Joker impersonating Black Mask previously, and how many times it was actually Black Mask.
@@sddlol19 tell me how Joker undermining Strange and Ra's storylines while stealing any potential of exploration of how Strange fasci police came to be and having Solomon Grandy randomly appear is better writen than having each assassins at least get enough time to show themselves as own characters with quirks and having the best potrayal of Bane which shows flaws of Batman as poorly done. Origins does a great job of establishing actual character and ideas in someone like Anarchy, not even don't start me on Joker having actual character progression with great designed levels like Hotel to show true brutality of Joker.
That could still be part of their mutual permissive sport. The no-kill rule is part of the rules that Batman follows in this sport of theirs and when he breaks that rule Joker wins the game and Batman loses. The game is over. That also ties in to why Batman later on says to Joker that he'll never let him win.
Arkhams Joker especially sits with me years after I’ve even touched the games. Batman is usually the same, and I even think I may like this one a little less because of the lack of Bruce and that side that makes him so complex. But it makes up for it with the true rivalry and weird romanticism the duo hold as both nemesis’ and yet strangely, partners in a way.
I love that you're covering games now, particularly the Arkham series. These are one of my favourite games of all time and I'm happy to see your take on their stories and characters.
10:45 I disagree. Seeing them in their earlier mind frames and understanding how twisted Joker is for thinking Batman needs him, while Batman is only living up to his code was done perfectly and only adds to the dichotomy. At least for me. Always nice to see someone talk about Origins. I don't understand why you said it's unfinished tho. Sucks that your game didn't work. It's getting close to that time for me where I bring out the Arkham quad. I just don't want to do the Arkham Knight Riddler races 🙄. Nice work, as usual. And since you didn't ask I'll go ahead and post my ranings. Asylum, City, and Origins: A. Knight: B+. The gameplay was super tight and perfected for batman, but the Batmobile was a C experience at best.
Much as I have my own issues with Origins, I feel it’s a bit reductive to call it so pedestrian. It certainly wants to do different things than Rocksteady, but in many ways it serves as a warning of what comes about in Knight, which is impressive given the teams allegedly didn’t work that closely together.
Speaking as a lifelong Batman fan and someone who insanely went out of his way to look at all the extra Arkham materials that Paul Dini wrote, you did Origins a horrible disservice by ignoring the foundation of this version of Batman and Joker’s relationship. And Paul Dini always saw them as characters, not just archetypes. I don’t know why you think that even in the Arkham series they’d be one and not the other.
@@DrDolan2000 Origins made me feel the most like a near perfect all around Batman. The combat was still there and solid. The stealth was also still great...though IMO, it was made even better with the introduction of the line launcher, which allowed you to snag villains from a far, and to this date, was one of Batman's most useful gadgets...almost overpowered! Most of all, though, there was more "detective mode" stuff. Scan this, follow that clue, check on this guy, look over there...so much detective stuff and more than any of the other games. Very enjoyable game so underrated!
"You just can't get it through your thick skull, WE BOTH EXIST BECAUSE OF THEM!" favourite Joker quote of all time tbh, it's like he's desperately trying to get Bruce to understand the connection he sees between their origins
I agree for the most part... However origins has always been discounted way too much. The games narrative is great for what it is, if you remove the feeling of betrayal for the joker twist. Most of the villians have a peak in origins narratively speaking, even if the game play isnt the greatest. Plus, the deathstroke boss fight
Arkham Knight might be one of the most frustrating sequels I've ever witnessed. So much potential gets thrown away by it, and the plot is... honestly kind of weak. The way the game wastes Hush honestly made me put down my controller and stare at the ceiling. And I'm gonna be real: Scarecrow can't carry a game, even if his fear toxin gets upgraded to full-on _magic_ by this game. There's connective tissue that hints at a larger world beyond Gotham, but because of the weird plot, it ends up more confusing than anything. The game confirms the existence of Batwoman, and all but spells out the existence of Superman, Green Arrow, and the Flash. I know Batman is a hard-headed loner, but come on. "Don't call in the other superheroes or we'll BLOW UP SOME MINES!" Are you telling me that Superman is gonna _wait_ for Batman to call him before helping?
I'd forgotten how much I wanted to replay these. Knowing some of the OG wrote these, makes it more palpable. They were truly great. Minus the tank bs..
this is the most short sweet and to the point retrospective of these games ive ever seen. beyond the quality of your critiques, i felt like you respected my time while i was watching this video.
Every Arkham game has plenty of issues with its stories or gameplay. I do think though, even of how lackluster Arkham Knight felt at times, it was the best in the series, both in gameplay and story
My brothers and I are major Arkam series fans. I've got 100% on all 4 games. And Orgins is till one of my our favorite. I understand the appeal feeling like your living in the work that Asylumn and City give you but I personally love the feeling of building the world that Orgins gives.
I think the pinnacle of good gaming is making the gameplay the narrative. I mean everyone still talks about the twist of Bioshock because it turns the gameplay, doing missions that pop up on a screen and following directions, into the narrative, mind control.
I'm maybe gonna be controversial: but I think Origins story is the only game in the series besides Asylum with good pacing and good use of characters, while giving actual conflict with character dynamics and best Bane use. Arkham series has good ideas as plot starters which have something to say about what Batman effect on society .... BUT HERE'S JOKER TO STEAL PLOT ONCE AGAIN. It feels that Paul Dini and Rockstead team, with all my respect, tries to make evergreen Batman like BTAS, but with no compelling writing decisions which made BTAS great. Ironically, it seems WB Montreal are the ones actually interested in exploring Batman's lore as actual narrative with message to say, a thing which Rocksteady did something similair with Arkham Knight, only for it to be a display of how little thought out it was and how it is too much Joker centric it really is.
I always like your videos, this included! But for me Origins got a little more impact because for me it lets you explore the becoming of both Batman and Joker into symbols of chaos and hope, which is a link that keeps building up on Christmas night, where in the end, a lonely figure finds someone so consumed to follow his game and the Joker don't have to play alone anymore, for Batman yes, it maybe yet another year one kind of story with the autodiscovery journey, but when done in Joker even for me it feels refreshing. plus I like The Man Who Laughs reference on the Hotel's mission, which leads me to ask, would you like to do reviews of Batman comics or any other comic book characther? I dont know if you still want to keep up the classic Spidey reviews but I would like your view on comic books works, it doesnt have to be even super hero stories, anyway thank you as always! Great video!!
@@Ncholasbloom exactly, thanks! You know, I've been thinking and maybe I have a different opinion than Leo about Origins because the essay was mostly focused from a videogame narrative design and storytelling while to me Origins appeal comes from a comic reader pov rather than a gamer's , and so Im subconciously analyzing how they translate the source material visually and narratively instead of how they link an interactive media with an original arquetype of storytelling.
fantastic video man. your writing manages to keep me interested. not mention you’re talking about the GOAT batman. cant wait to se more vids from u dawg!
8:34 that’s rough, bubby. Seriously though it’s a great example why they need to remaster origins, because it’s getting more buggy as it ages and it’s not available on current gen systems. 12:15 you probably missed Arkham city’s dlc of Harley Quinn’s revenge, they had alluded that she probably had a false pregnancy or a miscarriage as in the office room with a baby crib and a lot of pregnancy tests all saying negative.
I played the first three Arkham games all on my old PS3 as they released and continued until right as COVID hit. Never once had a game breaking glitch in any of them. Zero. Nada. Perfectly smooth every time. Never even had to reload a checkpoint because of a glitch. Ever.
I know most choose City as the best one, but for me it is Asylum, easy. It was the first and best. Everything about it, the mood, colors, gritty world environment, enemies, story.....etc itneas perfect imo. Most of all the feeling I have playing it. I got it and played it in one of the best parts of my life so far. It's nostalgia, but not. Hard to explain...but I love Asylum.
I am currently doing a 100% completion for the Arkham games. I am close to finishing Asylum and man it felt good to go back through the story of it. Granted the gameplay was rough but its the whole “first in the series”. To mw the Arkham series is one of the best stories told about the Bat. I am definitely gonna have a rough time when it comes to the riddles for city and knight. I don’t have origins so if i get my hands on it I will add it to my collection.
Riddler trophies for city aren’t that bad. It’s gonna involve a lot of flying around and looking up guides but it doesn’t take too long. The key thing to remember is that the killer croc Easter egg and subsequent riddle only occurs at one part of the game
One I suggest Reviewing Transformers Animated and the Cybertron games. Arkham Asylum: Great for the atmosphere it set. I can play it over and over. Quite a lot of it is Basic and that's the point Arkham City: It's Gameplay isn't perfection but it's Story is top tier. And that's what makes paying attention to it really good Arkham Origins: The story isn't perfect. Could of not brought Joker back and let Black Mask have the spotlight for once. But we get what we get and we just accept it because of the Boss Fights. Deathstroke's boss fight feels AMAZING! Especially on new Game + without the counter meter. Then Bane's fight. It feels Amazing as well. Feels like we are actually fighting him. Trying to not get grabbed or hit as his attacks are really scary. Get touched your health is going down Arkham Knight: It's Story is Flawed. Very. It's boss fights. Aren't really the best. It's atmosphere needs work. But what makes this Game better at the one thing the past 3 games couldn't make better than anything else in there games. It's the Combat. The past 3 games most definitely had gameplay that didn't just feel the same each time but improved if big or small. But this. This game gave us what the past two games couldn't. It gave us the ability to ABSOLUTLY Fuck up every enemies body, Scare the living shit out of them, and let us glide like a god. The best part is the Predator sections. Can you imagine what it is like being those criminals? Let me give you a scenario and you tell me what you think. You and your friends are wobbling around because of the Joker. But he doesn't tell you about Batman being around or anything. Then as you are just looking around admiring the scenery when all of a sudden it becomes quiet. You don't hear anybody walking or talking with another friend. So you start looking around and see absolutely NO ONE. So you start looking around for them and start yelling out for them. No one says anything. Just silence. Then you ask if someone is out there. And your question is answered from behind you with a simple "I am" Tell me your not shitting your pants while your shitting your pants. It's a fun scenario that could happen if you time everything right as Batman. Silent takedown everyone in spots they won't be seen and make sure the last guy doesn't come across his teammates. With that. You win. It would be much better if Joker couldn't say on the speaker that someone is down. But it would be great. Especially if you could customize your Predator maps and your own fights. That would be a fun next Arkham Game. With that and a few more adds. Hmm
I think that was the point of the whole arkham game series; to show batman slowly losing his humanity the more he went into the darkness to fight for humanity And how his war on crime was having a negative effect on his city as well as the people in his life! 😁😉💯🔥👍
Knight's main story was great, with the Joker bits and some cool twists. They really should have brought the writer on for the rest though. I'm sure he could have worked with what they had in mind and made it even better. Also, Batmobile was fun for a bit but quickly became tedious. Stealth and Combat didn't have any changes to make them fresh, either. But all in all still like an 8.5/10
While I want the ending to be hopeful by having Bruce kill Batman and set himself and the city free of his demons, I also can't get enough of the epilogue. We were never meant to know if it was THE Batman or just the concept of him living on in the minds of those who wrong Gotham City (the same way Joker lived inside of Bruce), but I always interpreted it as either Bruce himself or his myth reaching its logical and tragic conclusion: he allowed the Joker (his darkest impulses) to win and was overcome by the Scarecrow (his deepest fears) in order to become VENGENCE, THE NIGHT, THE BATMAN.
The merger of the two perspectives has a father, and it's hidden in the genre. This is a key feature of most stealth franchises. Why? Hideo Kojima. You can see it across the genre, from Metal Gear to Splinter Cell to Assassin's Creed to Batman.
I thnk knight wouldve been better if instead of random militia people they kept the city approach of the rogues controlling different parts of the city but this time you had to take them down to clue together where scarecrow was and who so instead of side quests theyre main story beats that could be tackled in any order.
When I here " Because of Batman the city needs bigger prisons" I don't here Batman is arresting innocent people or Batman makes more people want to do crime I hear the cops were so inefficient at the job they didn't even know that they needed bigger persons.
My biggest issue with the main trilogy is Arkham knight. They went detail crazy on next-gen and it looks like a completely different universe sometimes. That gothic-deco look was replaced by a quazi blade runner look at some points. Not to mention the story took the impact of jokers blood from city and made it useless, instead of people dying they just turn into joker. Which makes jokers death and Batman’s need for a cure confusing. Plus the Arkham knight Jason Todd thing was way too obvious, just make it an under the red hood kind of game, and call it “Arkham Penance” or something. People would have ate that up. Make side missions of more consequence, the build up to hush was terrible. Too much bat-tank, I miss my limo-mobile. poison Ivy kaiju plants were kinda weird. It seemed very disconnected
only the hush thing disappointed me...i wanted him to the big bad along side scarecrow n red hood he could have been extremely menacing and well used... superlow hanging fruit that the writers passed on
Hi! Recent subscriber of your excellent content. I'm not a Patron and I have no footing to make requests at this time. But I've been a Batman fan all my life and a Kevin Conroy fan for 30 years. His voice was a cornerstone of my life and to have just lost him, I grieve. And youtubers are rushing out their tribute content, some more tactful and comforting than others. If anyone has the articulation to pay respects at this time, I'd like to hear you. Thank you for your time and all your hard work on this channel. You've done amazing things here.
I still think arkham origins was amazing (I didn’t have the game issues you did on Xbox 360). It’s just so good being the lone vigilante, Batman, where no one thinks you can do anything, but they’re about to find out Great video as always
I clicked on this thinking it was an oboeshoes video (channel icon is roughly similar) so I was really confused for a solid 2 minutes until I finally decided to check
It was retconned. Dini left after the main game of Arkham City was finished and never wrote for the DLC. The other writers hated the idea of Harley having a kid so they changed it.
7:58 IMO Joker shouldn't have been in Origins and Knight's "Batman's still infected with Joker's blood despite curing himself of Titan" subplot wasn't needed.
14:15 I got seriously distracted by the inclusion of 'O Holy Night' and had to rewind after comparing the lyrics of that carol to the story of Arkham Knight.
It's very rare for a piece of media as a series to be so consistently good. Batman fans are so spoiled to have not one, but four amazing Arkham games that are all basically a love-letter to Batman and his Rogues' Gallery
The Arkham games are a rare series for me in that I love all of them (sans Origins) equally. Arkham Asylum was the best story for me with the weakest part being the return to gameplay. Arkham City was the best fanservice for me with the weakest part being Tara Str- the feeling of traversing the titular City. And Arkham Knight is the one I can always return to and get an absolute joy out of either gliding, fighting, marveling, or, yes, even the tank driving. And the only real weak point to me was the story. As a Batman fan, even as someone with more of a love towards JRPGs and Fighters, these games remain among my absolute favorites in gaming. Origins I want to love more, but my console experiences involve bad frame drops and my PC experience involves glitches everywhere. While elements such as the Deathstroke boss fight are fantastic, I take similar issue with the upgrade system. It's back to zero with not enough to entice me to play it for long stretches of time like the other three.
Silly question. With these games being so awesome, pertaining to design/artwork, can these games be just watched as a movie, rather than play the game?
Can't agree with your point of view on origins, Shame you do what a lot of "video game experts" say about that game, is it hard to admit it has the best boss fights and DLC in the Arkham anthology? Also it has a more intriguing a la Nolan style narrative.
I never really cared for the Arkham Knight ending. It was kinda weird and the whole "As his world grew darker, so did ours" I interpeted that as well how it all started. His world was fine until his parents were killed in front of him.
I guess you can look at it like this. If a game has a god awful story but incredible gameplay I’ll still play it. But if it has bad Gameplay but a good story. (Death stranding) I won’t.
Honestly I really just wish the Arkham series hadn’t ended Wish that there was a new game called Arkham Legacy or something Play as Nightwing/Batman Or hell Damian Wayne
I'm surprised you disliked Origins for making Batman and Joker less archetypical. I honestly find that aspect in their relationship to be boring. Batman's arc is pretty familiar, but Joker's arc was refreshing. It was fascinating to see him go from another mob boss wannabe with a gimmick to the psychopath obsessed with Batman. Also, the boss fights were probably at their strongest (AC Mr. Freeze aside, of course) Also, I find Arkham City's writing and story kind of overrated. Talia and Hugo Strange were treated in a very disposable manner and the story is mostly just a fetch-quest. You could tell the struggle between story and game design was already manifesting there.
I can never get enough of the Arkham series. I have been interested in it since I saw trailers of it back in 09. The gameplay and voice acting is just amazing.
I love these games portrayal of Batman and his rouge's gallery. It's almost perfect.
Really well said
Swap the ''rouge's'' with ''rogues'' and i'll delete this response
@@rlira8072 nah you are killer queen, I want you here
Same! This one of my all time favorite video series, with the only series above it being God of War, BioShock, and Mortal Kombat. And I’m so happy about the new Suicide Squad game carrying on the universe.
@@rlira8072 they did it
14:03 And you'd think Jason, who was trained by Bruce would have a better plan than "I'll just throw more tanks at him."
Tbf jasons not exactly playing with a full deck
Jason was always cocky, always so sure that he could do whatever he wanted. He's so convinced that he knows everything about the Batman that he gets repeatedly knocked on the back foot by how different he is by Arkham Knight. This Batman has the next best thing to power armor, a tank, his entire arsenal, and is even more brutal in his methods.
I think deep down, he wanted Batman to stop Scarecrow
My only problem with the Arkham series is that Bruce is barely a person in it.
Agreed one of the best parts of city was the intro playing as bruce being thrust into this new situation its was so refreshing and fun
I get your point but I give them a pass since all the games take place over single long nights
The games take place in one night , a night that NEEDS Batman no time for Bruce, also it’s the BATMAN Arkham series not Bruce wayne series lol
One could say that is the point for this batman. That for this bruce wayne, his trauma was so dramatic, the Bruce Wayne half barely exists. That his thoughts of being batman are so all consuming, that he's okay with killing off that half of himself in order to protect his family and continue the mission. That bruce wayne can't survive in this version.
Yeah I see that, would be cool to incorporate some sort of Gala or charity that inevitably gets hijacked in which we gotta play as Bruce and stop them/change into Batman through all the chaos
Arkham joker still sits with me years later. I may have been disappointed that so much of Knight was tank combat, but the brutal torture joker put jason through still fucks with me even after 7 years. How he mutilated, tortured, manipulated and traumatized a child. In the comics he beat him.with a crowbar and just blew him up. Thus joker branded him. Beat him. Hung him by his arms to dislocated them, bound him yo a chair with barbed wire which permanently changed his posture, joker drugged him, electrocuted him, unspeakable horrors every night, slowly eroding Jason's only hope of being saved by showing him pictures of Bruce and tim... it's absolutely horriffic.. he was only around 16 or 17 years old and he endured levels of torture that would be considered war crimes if done on POWs
What's a POW ?
A pow is a prisoner of war
Same, dude. It's a sadistic mashup of Jason's original Death in the Family storyline with the torture of Tim Drake from The Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
nah i love all the batmobile portions of the game...i also complete riddler first his challenges are actually really enjoyable in the arkham knight
*rated T for Teen*
Origins may not have been finished, but from a pure story standpoint, it is the best of the games. Like seriously, the game is superbly written. Especially the characters.
Saying origins has superb writing is like saying Sonic Forces had a good writing team.
@@sddlol19 Wouldn't know, I don't play Sonic games.
Regardless, though, it has the best story and character writing of the series.
@@DarthTingleBinks Not really, the story is nothing special, just villains trying to kill batman. They don't even have a reason apart from the reward. By the way, the plot twist of Joker impersonating Black Mask is really bad.
@@sddlol19 Villains trying to kill Batman isn't the story, though. It's not even close to the story. That is a plot point. It's multiple plot points, actually. But it's not in any way the story.
Edit: And I wouldn't say the plot twist is bad. They didn't try to hide it. The name Joker was mentioned throughout the game long before the "twist" moment. It's not supposed to actually surprise you, just make you try to guess how many times you had actually seen Joker impersonating Black Mask previously, and how many times it was actually Black Mask.
@@sddlol19 tell me how Joker undermining Strange and Ra's storylines while stealing any potential of exploration of how Strange fasci police came to be and having Solomon Grandy randomly appear is better writen than having each assassins at least get enough time to show themselves as own characters with quirks and having the best potrayal of Bane which shows flaws of Batman as poorly done. Origins does a great job of establishing actual character and ideas in someone like Anarchy, not even don't start me on Joker having actual character progression with great designed levels like Hotel to show true brutality of Joker.
Hits different after todays news.
R.I.P Kevin Conroy.
rip conroy❤... i wish they did the suicide squad game better as his swan song
“The bomb’s payload is exposed, I can use the power winch to trigger a controlled explosion”
Anyone here after Rocksteady gave Kevin the worse send off possible?
Not Rocksteady iirc, WB paid for the port
7:30 I think this moment was more about Batman's no-kill rule than Batman's mutual permissive sport with the Joker
That could still be part of their mutual permissive sport. The no-kill rule is part of the rules that Batman follows in this sport of theirs and when he breaks that rule Joker wins the game and Batman loses. The game is over. That also ties in to why Batman later on says to Joker that he'll never let him win.
Now Arkham Knight is the real ending to Batman. It gets a whole new meaning... After Kevin Conroy passed away. Batman died in the real world too. 😭
Arkhams Joker especially sits with me years after I’ve even touched the games. Batman is usually the same, and I even think I may like this one a little less because of the lack of Bruce and that side that makes him so complex. But it makes up for it with the true rivalry and weird romanticism the duo hold as both nemesis’ and yet strangely, partners in a way.
Mark Hamill and Troy Baker play that romanticism more than any others I've seen
“Only youuuuuuu”- man what a fantastic end credits
Their dynamic is legitimately the best thing from this franchise
I love that you're covering games now, particularly the Arkham series. These are one of my favourite games of all time and I'm happy to see your take on their stories and characters.
10:45 I disagree. Seeing them in their earlier mind frames and understanding how twisted Joker is for thinking Batman needs him, while Batman is only living up to his code was done perfectly and only adds to the dichotomy. At least for me. Always nice to see someone talk about Origins. I don't understand why you said it's unfinished tho. Sucks that your game didn't work. It's getting close to that time for me where I bring out the Arkham quad. I just don't want to do the Arkham Knight Riddler races 🙄. Nice work, as usual. And since you didn't ask I'll go ahead and post my ranings.
Asylum, City, and Origins: A. Knight: B+. The gameplay was super tight and perfected for batman, but the Batmobile was a C experience at best.
"Ludologists and Narratologists" I just learned that there is a name for everything
These games are some of my favorites of all time.
The best adaption of the characters I think they do it in all of their games. The Arkham games would’ve been great as movies
Never tought myself of Batman being the one attacked/attacker between the first 2 games.
Just realized that Finger from Breaking Bad plays Jim Gordon in Arkham Knight 😭
Much as I have my own issues with Origins, I feel it’s a bit reductive to call it so pedestrian. It certainly wants to do different things than Rocksteady, but in many ways it serves as a warning of what comes about in Knight, which is impressive given the teams allegedly didn’t work that closely together.
Speaking as a lifelong Batman fan and someone who insanely went out of his way to look at all the extra Arkham materials that Paul Dini wrote, you did Origins a horrible disservice by ignoring the foundation of this version of Batman and Joker’s relationship. And Paul Dini always saw them as characters, not just archetypes. I don’t know why you think that even in the Arkham series they’d be one and not the other.
Honestly, Origins rocks. I'm fine with people not liking it, but it seems like some people would rather ignore its existence. That's not fair
@@DrDolan2000 Origins made me feel the most like a near perfect all around Batman. The combat was still there and solid. The stealth was also still great...though IMO, it was made even better with the introduction of the line launcher, which allowed you to snag villains from a far, and to this date, was one of Batman's most useful gadgets...almost overpowered! Most of all, though, there was more "detective mode" stuff. Scan this, follow that clue, check on this guy, look over there...so much detective stuff and more than any of the other games. Very enjoyable game so underrated!
@@Goldenbane The hotel level is best location with Penthouse being the best Pedator map, it is so beatiful.
"You just can't get it through your thick skull, WE BOTH EXIST BECAUSE OF THEM!"
favourite Joker quote of all time tbh, it's like he's desperately trying to get Bruce to understand the connection he sees between their origins
Agreed he did do origins dirty. I think he’s just salty that Rodger did an amazing Batman
And then Kill the Justice League came along and ruined EVERYTHING!
I agree for the most part... However origins has always been discounted way too much. The games narrative is great for what it is, if you remove the feeling of betrayal for the joker twist. Most of the villians have a peak in origins narratively speaking, even if the game play isnt the greatest. Plus, the deathstroke boss fight
Arkham Knight might be one of the most frustrating sequels I've ever witnessed. So much potential gets thrown away by it, and the plot is... honestly kind of weak. The way the game wastes Hush honestly made me put down my controller and stare at the ceiling. And I'm gonna be real: Scarecrow can't carry a game, even if his fear toxin gets upgraded to full-on _magic_ by this game.
There's connective tissue that hints at a larger world beyond Gotham, but because of the weird plot, it ends up more confusing than anything. The game confirms the existence of Batwoman, and all but spells out the existence of Superman, Green Arrow, and the Flash. I know Batman is a hard-headed loner, but come on. "Don't call in the other superheroes or we'll BLOW UP SOME MINES!" Are you telling me that Superman is gonna _wait_ for Batman to call him before helping?
I like the Batmobile missions in Arkham Knight. I have fun with those sections plus blowing things up
I'd forgotten how much I wanted to replay these.
Knowing some of the OG wrote these, makes it more palpable.
They were truly great. Minus the tank bs..
this is the most short sweet and to the point retrospective of these games ive ever seen. beyond the quality of your critiques, i felt like you respected my time while i was watching this video.
You would probably love what Telltale did with their Batman too.
My favorite channel!!
Every Arkham game has plenty of issues with its stories or gameplay. I do think though, even of how lackluster Arkham Knight felt at times, it was the best in the series, both in gameplay and story
My brothers and I are major Arkam series fans. I've got 100% on all 4 games. And Orgins is till one of my our favorite. I understand the appeal feeling like your living in the work that Asylumn and City give you but I personally love the feeling of building the world that Orgins gives.
I think the pinnacle of good gaming is making the gameplay the narrative. I mean everyone still talks about the twist of Bioshock because it turns the gameplay, doing missions that pop up on a screen and following directions, into the narrative, mind control.
Great video I know you don't make a lot of videos on videogames but I'd love to see more
Arkham games are the best and never get old
I don’t need to see any other videos, that earned a subscribe
I'm maybe gonna be controversial: but I think Origins story is the only game in the series besides Asylum with good pacing and good use of characters, while giving actual conflict with character dynamics and best Bane use. Arkham series has good ideas as plot starters which have something to say about what Batman effect on society .... BUT HERE'S JOKER TO STEAL PLOT ONCE AGAIN. It feels that Paul Dini and Rockstead team, with all my respect, tries to make evergreen Batman like BTAS, but with no compelling writing decisions which made BTAS great. Ironically, it seems WB Montreal are the ones actually interested in exploring Batman's lore as actual narrative with message to say, a thing which Rocksteady did something similair with Arkham Knight, only for it to be a display of how little thought out it was and how it is too much Joker centric it really is.
I always like your videos, this included! But for me Origins got a little more impact because for me it lets you explore the becoming of both Batman and Joker into symbols of chaos and hope, which is a link that keeps building up on Christmas night, where in the end, a lonely figure finds someone so consumed to follow his game and the Joker don't have to play alone anymore, for Batman yes, it maybe yet another year one kind of story with the autodiscovery journey, but when done in Joker even for me it feels refreshing. plus I like The Man Who Laughs reference on the Hotel's mission, which leads me to ask, would you like to do reviews of Batman comics or any other comic book characther? I dont know if you still want to keep up the classic Spidey reviews but I would like your view on comic books works, it doesnt have to be even super hero stories, anyway thank you as always! Great video!!
agreed plus batman and joker have always had a never ending conflict origins was just the start of it and i guess knight ended it
@@Ncholasbloom exactly, thanks! You know, I've been thinking and maybe I have a different opinion than Leo about Origins because the essay was mostly focused from a videogame narrative design and storytelling while to me Origins appeal comes from a comic reader pov rather than a gamer's , and so Im subconciously analyzing how they translate the source material visually and narratively instead of how they link an interactive media with an original arquetype of storytelling.
@@edgonlo17 im wondering when that suicide squad game takes place
fantastic video man. your writing manages to keep me interested. not mention you’re talking about the GOAT batman. cant wait to se more vids from u dawg!
8:34 that’s rough, bubby. Seriously though it’s a great example why they need to remaster origins, because it’s getting more buggy as it ages and it’s not available on current gen systems.
12:15 you probably missed Arkham city’s dlc of Harley Quinn’s revenge, they had alluded that she probably had a false pregnancy or a miscarriage as in the office room with a baby crib and a lot of pregnancy tests all saying negative.
Loving these edits
I played the first three Arkham games all on my old PS3 as they released and continued until right as COVID hit.
Never once had a game breaking glitch in any of them. Zero. Nada. Perfectly smooth every time. Never even had to reload a checkpoint because of a glitch. Ever.
I know most choose City as the best one, but for me it is Asylum, easy. It was the first and best. Everything about it, the mood, colors, gritty world environment, enemies, story.....etc itneas perfect imo. Most of all the feeling I have playing it. I got it and played it in one of the best parts of my life so far. It's nostalgia, but not. Hard to explain...but I love Asylum.
Such a beautiful video. I'm subbed
I am currently doing a 100% completion for the Arkham games. I am close to finishing Asylum and man it felt good to go back through the story of it. Granted the gameplay was rough but its the whole “first in the series”. To mw the Arkham series is one of the best stories told about the Bat. I am definitely gonna have a rough time when it comes to the riddles for city and knight.
I don’t have origins so if i get my hands on it I will add it to my collection.
Riddler trophies for city aren’t that bad. It’s gonna involve a lot of flying around and looking up guides but it doesn’t take too long. The key thing to remember is that the killer croc Easter egg and subsequent riddle only occurs at one part of the game
@@aidenkondik7599 omg i forgot about that
One I suggest Reviewing Transformers Animated and the Cybertron games.
Arkham Asylum: Great for the atmosphere it set. I can play it over and over. Quite a lot of it is Basic and that's the point
Arkham City: It's Gameplay isn't perfection but it's Story is top tier. And that's what makes paying attention to it really good
Arkham Origins: The story isn't perfect. Could of not brought Joker back and let Black Mask have the spotlight for once. But we get what we get and we just accept it because of the Boss Fights. Deathstroke's boss fight feels AMAZING! Especially on new Game + without the counter meter. Then Bane's fight. It feels Amazing as well. Feels like we are actually fighting him. Trying to not get grabbed or hit as his attacks are really scary. Get touched your health is going down
Arkham Knight: It's Story is Flawed. Very. It's boss fights. Aren't really the best. It's atmosphere needs work. But what makes this Game better at the one thing the past 3 games couldn't make better than anything else in there games. It's the Combat. The past 3 games most definitely had gameplay that didn't just feel the same each time but improved if big or small. But this. This game gave us what the past two games couldn't. It gave us the ability to ABSOLUTLY Fuck up every enemies body, Scare the living shit out of them, and let us glide like a god. The best part is the Predator sections. Can you imagine what it is like being those criminals? Let me give you a scenario and you tell me what you think. You and your friends are wobbling around because of the Joker. But he doesn't tell you about Batman being around or anything. Then as you are just looking around admiring the scenery when all of a sudden it becomes quiet. You don't hear anybody walking or talking with another friend. So you start looking around and see absolutely NO ONE. So you start looking around for them and start yelling out for them. No one says anything. Just silence. Then you ask if someone is out there. And your question is answered from behind you with a simple "I am" Tell me your not shitting your pants while your shitting your pants. It's a fun scenario that could happen if you time everything right as Batman. Silent takedown everyone in spots they won't be seen and make sure the last guy doesn't come across his teammates. With that. You win. It would be much better if Joker couldn't say on the speaker that someone is down. But it would be great. Especially if you could customize your Predator maps and your own fights. That would be a fun next Arkham Game. With that and a few more adds. Hmm
I think that was the point of the whole arkham game series; to show batman slowly losing his humanity the more he went into the darkness to fight for humanity And how his war on crime was having a negative effect on his city as well as the people in his life! 😁😉💯🔥👍
Knight's main story was great, with the Joker bits and some cool twists. They really should have brought the writer on for the rest though. I'm sure he could have worked with what they had in mind and made it even better.
Also, Batmobile was fun for a bit but quickly became tedious. Stealth and Combat didn't have any changes to make them fresh, either. But all in all still like an 8.5/10
Good lord, man, this was beautiful. 10/10 essay.
Smallville was deep part 2
While I want the ending to be hopeful by having Bruce kill Batman and set himself and the city free of his demons, I also can't get enough of the epilogue. We were never meant to know if it was THE Batman or just the concept of him living on in the minds of those who wrong Gotham City (the same way Joker lived inside of Bruce), but I always interpreted it as either Bruce himself or his myth reaching its logical and tragic conclusion: he allowed the Joker (his darkest impulses) to win and was overcome by the Scarecrow (his deepest fears) in order to become VENGENCE, THE NIGHT, THE BATMAN.
dude i love ur videos so much!!! ur so so good with ur words!!!
I always thought your channel name was implicity productions
The merger of the two perspectives has a father, and it's hidden in the genre. This is a key feature of most stealth franchises. Why? Hideo Kojima. You can see it across the genre, from Metal Gear to Splinter Cell to Assassin's Creed to Batman.
I thnk knight wouldve been better if instead of random militia people they kept the city approach of the rogues controlling different parts of the city but this time you had to take them down to clue together where scarecrow was and who so instead of side quests theyre main story beats that could be tackled in any order.
i hated the deathstroke battle in origins so difficult was a real achevement to beat it 😂
I wish Arkham Knight was about Court of Owls. Batman going mad would've really played with the themes
When I here
" Because of Batman the city needs bigger prisons"
I don't here Batman is arresting innocent people or Batman makes more people want to do crime I hear the cops were so inefficient at the job they didn't even know that they needed bigger persons.
- You're a damn poet man, love your work!
I will not take anymore Arkham Origins slander pls I'll cry
The Arkham Games are awesome and a lot of fun. Joker is in these games so it’s automatically good
This video is legendary
Origins is my favorite of the four
As a Arkham-verse fan I loved your video!🦇🦇🦇
i love receding hairline joker
jonkler
My biggest issue with the main trilogy is Arkham knight. They went detail crazy on next-gen and it looks like a completely different universe sometimes. That gothic-deco look was replaced by a quazi blade runner look at some points. Not to mention the story took the impact of jokers blood from city and made it useless, instead of people dying they just turn into joker. Which makes jokers death and Batman’s need for a cure confusing. Plus the Arkham knight Jason Todd thing was way too obvious, just make it an under the red hood kind of game, and call it “Arkham Penance” or something. People would have ate that up. Make side missions of more consequence, the build up to hush was terrible. Too much bat-tank, I miss my limo-mobile. poison Ivy kaiju plants were kinda weird. It seemed very disconnected
I feel like the side missions had a good idea and base but lacked strength.
only the hush thing disappointed me...i wanted him to the big bad along side scarecrow n red hood he could have been extremely menacing and well used... superlow hanging fruit that the writers passed on
Hi! Recent subscriber of your excellent content. I'm not a Patron and I have no footing to make requests at this time. But I've been a Batman fan all my life and a Kevin Conroy fan for 30 years. His voice was a cornerstone of my life and to have just lost him, I grieve. And youtubers are rushing out their tribute content, some more tactful and comforting than others. If anyone has the articulation to pay respects at this time, I'd like to hear you.
Thank you for your time and all your hard work on this channel. You've done amazing things here.
Probably best interpretation of the ending
I still think arkham origins was amazing (I didn’t have the game issues you did on Xbox 360). It’s just so good being the lone vigilante, Batman, where no one thinks you can do anything, but they’re about to find out
Great video as always
I clicked on this thinking it was an oboeshoes video (channel icon is roughly similar) so I was really confused for a solid 2 minutes until I finally decided to check
What’s the song that plays in your intro
Just commenting in case someone knows the answer.
Something That Was Changing Your Mind - Paper Twins
Harleys baby wasnt retconned, you can see in the arkham city dlc that it was actually a false positive
It was retconned. Dini left after the main game of Arkham City was finished and never wrote for the DLC. The other writers hated the idea of Harley having a kid so they changed it.
7:58 IMO Joker shouldn't have been in Origins and Knight's "Batman's still infected with Joker's blood despite curing himself of Titan" subplot wasn't needed.
14:15 I got seriously distracted by the inclusion of 'O Holy Night' and had to rewind after comparing the lyrics of that carol to the story of Arkham Knight.
It's very rare for a piece of media as a series to be so consistently good.
Batman fans are so spoiled to have not one, but four amazing Arkham games that are all basically a love-letter to Batman and his Rogues' Gallery
Arkham knight is the best overall game in the series just barely out performs city imo
Great video!
The Arkham games are a rare series for me in that I love all of them (sans Origins) equally. Arkham Asylum was the best story for me with the weakest part being the return to gameplay. Arkham City was the best fanservice for me with the weakest part being Tara Str- the feeling of traversing the titular City. And Arkham Knight is the one I can always return to and get an absolute joy out of either gliding, fighting, marveling, or, yes, even the tank driving. And the only real weak point to me was the story. As a Batman fan, even as someone with more of a love towards JRPGs and Fighters, these games remain among my absolute favorites in gaming.
Origins I want to love more, but my console experiences involve bad frame drops and my PC experience involves glitches everywhere. While elements such as the Deathstroke boss fight are fantastic, I take similar issue with the upgrade system. It's back to zero with not enough to entice me to play it for long stretches of time like the other three.
“The ability to enjoy Batman’s ass for long stretches of time” made me laugh so good😂❤
I hope Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League ends this Batman's story in a satisfying way.
The way you say BatMan is crazy , on 1.25 speed sounds like KvackKvack :)
I'm playing Arkham City right now!
the idea of Arkham City being Batman's fault is such a reach in a story with 4 villians directly responsible for its creation
I personally LOVE Arkham Origins
Silly question. With these games being so awesome, pertaining to design/artwork, can these games be just watched as a movie, rather than play the game?
I suppose that yeah you could probably do that. Some parts might have a little bit of missing context but most of it should be fine.
There are plenty of cutscene compilations on UA-cam
The arkham knight true ending is supposed 2 be tied 2 the suicide squad game hence the name "kill the justice league" I'm pretty sure
Can't agree with your point of view on origins, Shame you do what a lot of "video game experts" say about that game, is it hard to admit it has the best boss fights and DLC in the Arkham anthology? Also it has a more intriguing a la Nolan style narrative.
I never really cared for the Arkham Knight ending. It was kinda weird and the whole "As his world grew darker, so did ours" I interpeted that as well how it all started. His world was fine until his parents were killed in front of him.
Would someone please tell me the name of the song in the 8:11
I need to know
Idk if I want there to be another Arkham game honestly. I can’t play as Batman without Kevin Conroy as his voice :(
What's the name of the song at 8:12
I guess you can look at it like this.
If a game has a god awful story but incredible gameplay I’ll still play it. But if it has bad Gameplay but a good story. (Death stranding) I won’t.
Honestly I really just wish the Arkham series hadn’t ended
Wish that there was a new game called Arkham Legacy or something
Play as Nightwing/Batman
Or hell
Damian Wayne
And then there's the suicide squad game.
Which seems odd so far.
Excellent vis
Vid
Piano song that starts playing at 5:50??
I meant 15:50
Asylum and City feel like a connected world all the others seem like a washed down more gamey version
WhTs the opening song and closing song
does anyone know the song name at 8:12 ?
I'm surprised you disliked Origins for making Batman and Joker less archetypical. I honestly find that aspect in their relationship to be boring. Batman's arc is pretty familiar, but Joker's arc was refreshing. It was fascinating to see him go from another mob boss wannabe with a gimmick to the psychopath obsessed with Batman. Also, the boss fights were probably at their strongest (AC Mr. Freeze aside, of course)
Also, I find Arkham City's writing and story kind of overrated. Talia and Hugo Strange were treated in a very disposable manner and the story is mostly just a fetch-quest. You could tell the struggle between story and game design was already manifesting there.
Do red dead I love the videos u doin keep it up🔥🔥