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Don't these companies hire people in like yourself during development ? You breakdown all the pros and cons so well and know what the gaming public want.
When this game was first revealed, I saw the levels floating above enemy hands and groaned. When an open world game has them, it usually means there’s going to be some kind of forced artificial grind and it would seem my fears were warranted.
My first time watching the gameplay demo, I thought it was another live-service game. It just seems to have all the elements for another Marvel's Avengers type game. And I was proven right, sorta. 100% they pivot when Avengers received heavy backlash but was too deep in development that they can't throw away all the live-service mechanics of the game.
@@GradietPanda12345 But like, real RPGs don't even do this? It's mostly just these games that have no business being an RPG. Honestly, games like Gotham Knights, Assassins Creed Valhalla and God of War now using extremely underdeveloped RPG systems for no real reason other than there would be no other reason to grind.
I honestly coulda SWORN they said this game was live service when they first started showing off stuff like a year or two ago. Something like "Every few months we'll deliver a new plot with a new villain that you can take on with your friends." I think you're right that they saw Avengers crash and hurriedly ripped out live service stuff to try and stand out in the saturated looter market.
Too bad they forgot to patch this gameplay loop out. I can forgive the performance issues because I know those will definitelly be fixed. But the core gameplay is basically impossible to patch out without redoing the entire game from scratch.
WB Montreal sucks. They are just a studio lucky enough to receive the Arkham series and delivered two mediocre games filled with micro transactions. You want REAL Batman games? Get the real Arkhams ones from Rocksteady. WB Montreal is just cash grab
@@dnl_mp4 Don't diss Arkham Origins like that. It's not on the level of Rocksteady's Arkham games, but it's still really good and has some of the best moments in the series.
The bat family relying on grinding random currencies to get different armor gear etc is so absurd lmao. Bruce leaving his legacy to his proteges but none of his massive fortune.
Bro I was thinking the same exact thing! Why do we need resources from bad guys when we have our batdad inheritance. This game is soooo soooo stupid bro!
Watching this game’s lead up to launch was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. So sad it went this way. Hope we can get a true successor to the Arkham series at some point.
@@locks3711 what first off $50 games went out with PS2 that was over 15 years ago 😳 second my argument was trying to solidify $70 price points when you can't even properly finish a game. GG bro keep up.
I remember when N64 games were going for 70-90$. I was very glad to see them stabilize around 40-50$. I really can’t see paying full retail for any game anymore when most of them really aren’t finished at launch. Wait a few months for the patches and stabilizations and inevitable price drops.
@@locks3711 A) Half the time when games release it's an unfinished product, and extremely buggy. B) With everything going digital, it has gotten much, much cheaper to distribute games. The money that used to go into the manufacturing of disks and cases, not to mention transport, has lessened substantially over the last decade or so, which saves them a lot. C) We are continually getting different forms of microtransactions on top of the the $60 price tag, some of which are extremely predatory and are borderline (if not completely) gambling. Some games these days make a vast majority of their money not on initial sales, but microtransactions. D) We already are seeing price hikes through the various versions of "Deluxe Editions," some of which go up to even $100. I by no means mean any of this to you personally, but anyone who defends games' standard price going to $70 can fuck right off.
Remember batmans insanely cool detective mode in Arkham Origins? Where he would essentially reconstruct a crime scene and replay said crime to find out what happened? 10:23 this is what we get almost a decade later?? That shit is horrendous
Couldn't agree more. This is so below the Arkaham franchise. How come they worsen up everything single thing on this game? Even the very first game Arkaham Asylum, is way better than this trash. Also it poorly performance on my i9 12900k + 4090 RTX. This game is a complete disaster. It almost feels like they wanted to make this bad. I mean almost a decade later and this is what they deliver to us? You got to be kidding me.
@@sergiomendoza4850 the very first one (arkaham Asylum) which is way better than this one, apparently it was. Even if it is not from the same company, and you are trying to make a similar game. They had all ingredients to make a successful game. I love this style of game. Like shadow of War or, Spider-Man remastered. I don't understand how come they could mess up the combat mode so much. This game is beyond any repair. NOT with updates or patches. It makes me really sad, because I was literally counting the years for this to be launched. Then comes this disappointment. As I start to play I couldn't believe it was that bad, after almost like a decade later, how could be that bad? Were the hell the game tester were thinking when they were playing this to think this is ok? Don't even get me started as this game poorly performance on my computer. Literally every game that I had on my 3090 got almost like 100fps more ! Battlefield 2042, Modern warfare, Fifa23, Need for speed, F1 2022, all these games maxed out with RAY TRACING ON, and all filters on, jump almost Like 100 fps more. This game on an open view and full of enemies during combat mode goes down to 60fps, and never goes over 150fps. The drops on fps are insanily high. Makes my graphic card looks like a 1080.
The enemy levels I understand (because they are an artificial way to increase the difficulty of an enemy without even swapping their colors, like in the old days), but the health bars... I believe that they are necessary to certain extent to visually indicate how much damage you are doing and be able to switch strategies. if you are not displaying that bar the alternatives are embedding that information in the enemy movements/behaviours (like in Monster Hunter) or to make the enemies weak enough that it doesn't really matter (like in old shoot-em-ups).
@@SystemBD You could make the argument that all of the previous Arkham series didn't have heath bars or from what I remember. Only indication you had was not slow down, keep you toes light while swinging to every other enemy until you heard that big spwoosh of them getting knocked down, and if you were patient enough and on the right ledge or corner, could easily do silent takedowns without the trouble. Having a health bar now a days has become a necessity while games back then it was a privilege.
Damage sponge enemies are literally one of the biggest pet peeves of mine in games focusing on combat. It’s a lazy, fun stealing, frustrating and unnecessary choice by the developers. Many games that feature damage sponge enemies are using it as a way to artificially create difficulty. Rather than spending time developing unique, fun combat mechanics to increase difficulty, while simultaneously making it more interesting… they instead just amp up all the enemies health to unreasonable levels which wastes the players time and bores them. Normal enemies shouldn’t need to have huge health pools to unnecessarily drag out combat with them…. Games are more fun when the player feels like games value their time and value them improving their skill and efficiency in combat, rather than a game forcing them to repeat the same attack combo multiple times per enemy. Talk about lessening immersion and completely stripping any power fantasy or satisfaction for clearing levels quickly and efficiently. One of the biggest reasons I’ll pass on a game is the rampant inclusion on damage sponge enemies.
To be honest I have to give Destiny 2 credit for how it handles this. Rather than damage sponge enemies, you fight bosses who make you engage with unique mechanics and mini bosses or champions where your choice of abilities and weapons against their vulnerabilities and use of terrain determines success rather than raw damage.
Yup. It's a lazy and cheap way for Devs to create difficulty by just adding a multiplier to their health as you move up. I mean why would you want to waste time making dynamic changes to combat as you progress? Like come on, that takes work, this is MUCH easier. Like making it a non fixed 30fps for consoles. Why would you want to do all that hard work? Like honestly, doing all that JUST so the gamers can actually enjoy the game is a weak response. Bare minimum is so much better.
That's why Sifu is my favorite game of the year so far. No spongey enemies or annoying, pointless busy work filling up the playtime. Just a short, tight experience that forces you to learn and become skilled with the gameplay, and makes you feel like a badass when you do.
Agree 100%. Especially in games like this where the heroes are supposed to be leagues above street criminals when it comes to physicality and fighting skills, and yet you still have to pound the thugs for 15 seconds straight just to get their health whittled down. The Arkham games did a way better job of making the player FEEL powerful as Batman because 3 or 4 strikes downed most enemies, instead of the 20 it takes in this game
Can’t wait to hear about the behind the scenes for this game. Definitely had to be a live service that was changed at some point. Literally has ALL the elements of one.
@@Sujad Yeah, sure. Blame a minority director rather than the fact that its coming from WB: a publisher who chase trends and milk their players as hard as 2K and Electronic Arts. Keep that /v/ flag flying.
I love how at 11:47 Nightwing slides towards an unaware enemy, baton outstretched, as if to take the guy's legs out...oh, no, hang on- sliding is clearly just a basic movement tool as we've seen in so many other games. Nightwing finishes the slides, and stands up into a basic combat strike. Applause.
This is why I love Rocksteady. They would be one of the few devs who would animated it exactly as you described it. Sad to see WB greenlit an Arkham game without them at the helm
@@lastmanstanding7155 they worked on arkham origins and had help from rocksteady during that development. Its not like this developer has no experience working on batman combat and animations
You know, when they ANNOUNCED this game, I was actually fairy excited for it, in that it would be like an "Arkham follow-up" in which you play through a story "after Batman" with characters that like "carry the legacy" and so on. But I was thinking way too much 2010s or even earlier, in terms of what the game would be like. It's just not those times anymore... It COULD've been what I thought, easily, but it just didn't go that direction, even with WB Games Montreal might have wanted to go there.
Well it's not an Arkham follow-up and they didn't try to make one. You tying in a completely different franchise and getting upset that this isn't it, is your own fault.
@@flyingplantwhale545 Well, hard to blame him giving that the last we had of the Arkham series Bruce/Batman DIED at the end and this Gotham Knights game is all about Batman's sidekicks taking over after Bruce died.
Crazy how Arkham Knight came out in 2015 and is still one of the best looking city’s in a game ever. It feels like there’s no more passion in the games industry.
It really is fantastic all around, sans the Riddler racing and puzzles which i always hated. Origins holds up quite well also, I played it last and loved the Christmas aesthetic and plot
@@thegadflygang5381 it’s my head cannon that after saving cat woman, Batman just locked riddler in his basement and just ignores him lol. Riddler thinks that Batman is having a super hard time solving all his puzzles. When In reality everyone just kinda forgets about him.
Yea I've been playing it on the game pass and even all these years later I thoroughly enjoy it both visually and gameplay etc wise. There's things I don't like (some of the riddler stuff for example) but I don't know if that's common or just a me issue lol
@@EmperorPocky396 That is hysterical although it sucks donkeynuts that I couldnt get the end game 2 cut scene because after sinking in a 100+ really enjoyable hours I was not going to ruin my experience doing dozens of awful races and puzzles I am not a completionist by nature. I will sink weeks into Days Gone or RDR2 because I enjoy just doing my thing and not worrying about something like "kill a perfect woodpecker carcass".. but just by the game style I am at 99% on Arkham Knight.
@@patientmental875 probably steam. Their policy allows you to refund the game after having max 1-2 h gameplay (don’t know for sure) There are even a speedrun community, where they try to rush any% and refund the game in the given time limit
It makes sense that the Live services was the original direction. You can see it and feel it on every aspect of it. Also explained why this game got delay on the era of Avengers being destroyed
I really do hope we all stop buying and supporting live service games. Last one I participated in was Metal Gear Solid V after it left such a bitter taste in my mouth. Fucking micro transactions in a Metal Gear game... I'm STILL annoyed!
I think your theory on Gotham knights being an abandoned live service game like Avengers is full on point. the mission structure, pointless repetitive open world activities, and their grindy nature screams 'live service'. Also the bullet/punch sponge enemies look so exhausting. I am kinda glad batman not there lol, he would have felt so weak. I was kinda planning to buy this but thanks for saving me $99. I am not really against live service games, I love games like ffxiv but they are worth my money instead of games like these.
@@NaviRyan It’s nothing like that godawful avengers. I got it early today and put some hours into it. So far it’s very good! Reminds me of Arkham knight. Game is getting split reviews. Graphics are damn good on PS5, near god of war quality. So glad I didn’t cling on to the negative reviews. It’s like Arkham knight.
14:42 Someone really heard „They can fly now?“ „They can fly now!“ in Star Wars and thought to themselves „That sounds like great writing which I should rip off!“
Just to say, the side mission where you investigate a body does have a follow up. It's the one where people are hiding. I usually get one of those after finishing investigating the dead body. Or it might just be random thing that pops up and it's just how bad my RNG is that they always show up after an investigation
Yeah I don't think he paid attention to his map to notice it updated after solving the clues of the investigation.. the investigation missions could be a bit more interactive though so I'll give him that.
We knew from the get go this game was supossed to be a live service game but Warner backtracked hard after everyone's cries about how shit Avengers was. No matter how many times they said this wasn't the case, no one believed them (rightfully so).
I remember liking Marvel's Avengers combat when you get to fight a few "normal" enemies too. Then you get spammed by a thousand ranged attacks and a heavy health sponger and it falls apart. Can't believe the devs can't notice/fix this sort of issue in games.
@@rowanfarmer9029 there's the right type of challenge and a wrong type of challenge. Damage sponge enemies is the wrong type of challenge, it always has been the case.
Back two years ago, I remember saying a flat no because it looked like it was going to be a live service game. I'm glad it didn't turn out that way, but it's clear from all the menus and gear reminiscent of a mobile game that the publishers WANTED it to be one at some point. It's no wonder that the game needed more months to cook when the publishers made the developers change design philosophies mid-development.
If I had to hazard a guess I'd say that this was originally going to be a live service game that WB eventually pulled the plug on, but still needed to release so they just made it single player instead. Idk what the logistics behind such a decision would be though.
Not all of the talons were as skilled as a few of the major ones in the first story. At one point in the first two arcs a ton of them swarm the Batcave and Bruce gets in that suit to fight off a lot. As well as other people have to fight them in tie-in issues etc. Also it looks like some of them are just the more average people with the owl mask and not trained "talons."
@@prestonphillips473 Yeah, this seems like the most likely explanation. I mean, all talons can't be as good as the ones who could 1v1 any member of the Bat family. It just wouldn't be possible to have that many people who are that talented AND well-trained AND willing to give their lives to the Court, even with cryo storage involved...
I'm always skeptical about these types of games becasue the pointless grind aspect of them. It seems as if developers get lost in making sure there is a game at all and not asking themselves "Is this fun?" The drones are a perfect example of this as you mentioned.
corporate game development is exactly that. Everyone is busy making sure their own tasks are completed so they won't get yelled at or fired, and often no one is busy making sure the game is cohesive or fun. That's why the overwhelming majority of AAA games are simply mediocre. Some still do well, but to do so they need one person that the top that will obsessively approve or disapprove everything produced until it fits his vision. Otherwise you get shit games that give you plenty of reasons to buy them and zero reasons to actually play them.
@@zjmstrash7181 Most likely, due to backlash to other recent LS titles they hastily removed those elements without changing much on a game design front to compensate.
@@zjmstrash7181 did you watch the review? He said it feels like it was made as a live action and then last minute they changed it but left most elements in there
The main thing that's throwing me off, and it is small, is grappling. In this game you're just grappling in a straight line no matter the direction you're going. In all the other Arkham games, you had weight and gravity tied into the grappling. I don't know, I've been saving up for this game, but seeing all the gameplay makes me rethink if I actually want it
@@arandomguy2311 It's not - what OP meant was that the Arkham games had more depth to their mechanics than this one, and it's particularly sad because the Arkham games are definitely older and thus the producers were aware of it and could have added it to GK, but went the generic mid-2010s Ubisoft-esque route of making it all mindlessly dull.
@@cainyourkids most players are placing it at 7 or 8 and some big companies it's just some big companies giving it bad reviews the games just divisive because people compare it to arkham whenever it tried to be nothing like it most bad reviews are hating it for not being arkham when it's not meant to be arkham 🤣 the 2 lowest reviews I've see are from people who gave release day cyberpunk a 9 and are known for being petty and shit and gave alien isolation a 6 and marvels avengers a 6. We never trusted them before now why would we the players are giving it good reviews so I'll play it myself I trust the people like us not the people paided to rush out a script since there are a lots of games coming out rn. Only a few of players aren't liking it compared to the rest
@@arandomguy2311 I get what you're saying and see where you're at, but I'm more optimistic for SS than this definitely. This reeks of Marvel's Avengers and that game deserved the flak it got. I almost passed up on GOTG because of it, and was surprised with how fun and enjoyable GOTG was. As for Cp2077, I was also very critical of it - and this coming from someone who pre-ordered the game!
@@cainyourkids I played Guardians of the galaxy too loved it despite not liking the movies at all. But most of what this game is getting is unwarranted some people have spec or performance issues, main story length and that shitty UI that is fair and then combat is just personal thoughts but comparing everything it does to arkham isn't fair and saying its not arkham so dogshit instead of living in its universes not arkham universe while playing it. Like I said most players like it and place it at 7 so I'll play it myself not because a handful of companies say its bad whenever most of those companies have displayed salt or some type of toxic behavior with other games they reviewed in the past when the games were good. Lots of people can't get over the cancelling of the Damien Wayne arkham game with the Courts of Owls and are sad they didn't get arkham so much of the gaming community is toxic and feel they are entitled to an arkham game so they hate on what isn't arkham in hopes of getting rocksteady to make another arkham game but thats not happening anytime soon so I don't understand this bullshit that's been happening since this game was revealed. At the end of the day arkhams my no.1 franchise but I'm going to give other things a chance think of it this way lots of people hate the game for not being arkham so that means they don't want anyone to make any other interpretations in gaming unless it follows that formula that is literally the best way to creatively bankrupt a character
I know the Batman Arkham games never looked realistic but all of this makes it less and less possible to just be immersed and truly FEEL like you're a gotham vigilante. Writing was on the wall from the first moment we saw a gameplay trailer though. Really sad cause Nightwing is in my top 5 favorite characters of all things ever.
@NavySharkz you can't reason with those people . They are like a cult and blinded by their own delusions the same as how those TLOU simps actually thought it was a remake from the ground up when it was just a glorified remaster
I have to agree with your theory that WB did a hard 180 away from this being a live service game. All the skins, colour variations, gear rarity/load-outs, and excessive currencies just screams live service to me.
Absolutely agree. This was their first game in nearly ten years. Would love to see the canceled Arkham knight sequel/suicide squad games. How did this happen?
@@jacobsabastian3871 This is pure speculation on my part, but if I had to guess. They got tired on always getting the short end of the stick with every Arkham game they were making. They were doing the Arkham Verse Suicide Squad first and it got cancelled which funnily enough, Rocksteady chose as their next game after their Superman pitch failed. Arkham Legacy was going to be their first full reign Arkham game with no constraints, except Rocksteady wanted WBMontreal to change things according to what they were going to be doing with Suicide Squad. Forcing them to once again basically be Rocksteady's B team. Now no one knows why it got cancelled, whether WB cancelled another Montreal game or WB Montreal said "fuck it, we will do our own game universe then." Or the evil tinfoil hat theory which I don't believe it's true. Rocksteady got Arkham Legacy shut down.
@@MentokTheMindTaker scorn is less gamey and more artsy though which makes it even more about opinions and less about things you can actually point your finger at and critise. context is always important
The fact that this game has levels pretty well tells me it was DEFINITELY going to be more like Avengers. Developers need to stop putting levelling and gearing in single player games, especially if they're not going to properly balance it. If I'm playing a superhero I want to feel powerful. And if I'm fighting the SAME thugs the whole time and they always take a bunch of hits because their levels keep rising to match mine, then I feel like I'm not making any progress.
Seems like this game would have benefited from being more a linear story driven 3d beat'em up with online co-op and meticulously designed fight sequences.
It definately feel like the left overs of a live service game, the environments feel way to big for single or two player co-op, missions were probably story gated raids. The loot for crafting definately gives it away
It reminds me a lot of Agents of Mayhem as i already commented. AoM also has this horrible unbalanced grind and you expect everything to have real life currency cost but it never comes, it's all a borefest of repetition because it was meant to be a live service akin to Warframe but instead they steered it up with full driving wheel swing into a single player experience and mp at best. I never finished the thing because high level enemies only meant more armor and health and the game is so badly balanced around that that some heroes simply become unviable mid to late game.
Congratulations Gotham Knights, you have made me reinstall Arkham City. It's been a while since my last playthrough so it's going to be a good weekend!
@@russian_pwn_u I dont understand the love for arkham city. The graphics are ew and arkham knight was much prettier (obviously) and more interesting for me
@@sxerwin I'm one of the people who hates the hell out of Knight. Can't stand the car it ruined the entire game for me sadly. Love city and love Asylum feel like the graphics hold up in the sense of style and art direction.
Your guess that Gotham Knights pivoted from a live-service model and then to an open-world action-RPG makes sense. The way it looks, the way it plays. It all makes much more sense if you view the game as a live-service skinner box like so many games that infest the AAA market.
Can’t wait to buy a deluxe edition in a few years on sale when they’ll have everything unlocked! Hopefully the devs will listen to reviews and fix things
exactly, i have every game in the rocksteady series and just got origins and it's... okay? But 5 bucks means I got a steal and can't wait for the epic boss fights I heard it has. This is easily a steam sale for me next year or later.
The first 30 mins I played I ended up getting frozen on some barrels as I was trying to sneak up on enemies. The enemies spotted me and continued to throw fire bombs on me until I died. Couldn't move at all.
@@LOL-ro9ef - Yea, and I found that I was playing on hard. So I was getting no health packs from killing enemies. Turned it down to Normal, and it's been fun
This game feels like it could and should have been an Arkham like game that we would all be praising, but somewhere someone high up said it had to be a different game and now we have whatever this is.
It’s almost like they’ve never heard of the phrase if it ain’t broke don’t fix it could’ve just made another Arkham game set after the events of Arkham knight such as a Batman beyond game or after the events of origins
This really does sound like it was indeed going to be some sort of live service. That "Knighthood" thing, both in its execution and the fact that you gotta do it with every single character, seals it for me. While it's good that they pivoted away from that after seeing so many others fail, they shouldn't have gone down this route in the first place. Edit: Wait, 12:54 so nearly everything else is shared between characters? So...why is Knighthood not? That makes no sense. Glad to hear the writers were on point though. A really good story, at least for me personally, can make a game I normally wouldn't play into something I'd enjoy. But that said, I doubt I'll be getting this one any time soon. 21:35 Literally laughed out loud right here.
They need to make it so once you complete those 10 missions it unlocks the traversal and ultimate abilities for every character. Having to do it 40 times is bs.
I wish there were more reviewers as good as skill up. Watching other reviewers struggle to put together a coherent sentence, unable to explain even such basic things like why they like or dislike something about a game makes me appreciate this channel so much.
I love Shills writing cus it feels so natural and fluid. He clearly explains his thoughts on a game and does so in a way that doesn’t feel forced or stiff.
He and ACG are the GOATs. Straight to the point, informative, actual performance metrics on PC, never forget to talk about audio, test on different rigs. I particularly like how structured ACG's reviews are, Skill Up is also better at this than most reviewers but not quite as concise as ACG.
I always hate vague comments like this. Put others down to praise someone while also being vague, to the point of not actually saying anything meaningful.
Yea apparently the highest difficulty doesn't fix the terrible enemy AI, it just makes them bullet sponges. Might as well just play it on the easiest difficulty at that point to get through it faster.
Ubisofts Assassin Creed mentality is fking weird and it's spreading like cancer. Why change your game to the point of not being recognizable by your own fans that made those games popular I don't get it.
@@nokturnallex2160 I almost always do this when I realize upping the difficulty only makes them bullet sponges. Playing on easy reduces the amount of slog.
Origins was great but not as good as the rocksteady made games but atleast the core gameplay mechanics was there but here it is feels like an unrecognizable inferior bastard child of a Noble House lol.
@@shawnaniganz9808 Eh the older dev people are gone probably, and I'm not sure of the Rocksteadys new game either Suicide Squad killing the justice league or whatever it's called.
@@NcxX-c8f I still found ORIGINS to be a bit shaky at times. They borrowed the Arkham formula (mechanics) by Rocksteady to make ORIGINS and they had help from them. They never made a game on their own so this is basically the first one they do without any help.
@@Jza-GZa40k Yea it's made by the studio that made Arkham Origins which is way more polished and made with much more love than this boring live service ass game.
The hilarious part about the game controlling poorly with the absence of a jump button is that the Arkham games already did good gameplay without a jump button
I LOVED how you provided a very specific example of the controls not working. Prepping up the scene, explaining your expectations and then showing us the execution. SUPER helpful for a review. Great job!
I had a feeling something seemed off with this game. Glad I waited. Man, this is one of the cleanest Gotham games I have ever seen and by clean, I mean no trash flying around the city. Go back and play the other games and you will see what I am referring to. Even Origins. : )
@@andrewvazquez9557 That is a highly reductive statement for no reason. „Guess since I didn’t like it the most I was not a fan of the series afterall, sad to learn that but at least now I know.“
@@andrewvazquez9557 your thesis is right but your argument is bad. I think Origins is my personal favorite after Knight. Origins is just more City, but I feel like it expanded upon City enough to be called a great game. Origins has the second best story in the arkham series. It's a great game.
My favorite part of these videos are his technical breakdowns for performance on PC. He could be making up these terms and it wouldn’t matter. Wonderfully well spoken dude ❤
Comparing this game to the the arkham series is fair I think since WB Montreal did an Arkham game and it was really good. The Gotham map in Arkham Origins is one of my favorites, and even though I’m sure the team is completely different the studio has done better work on Batman before, even if they were working off the blueprint set by another studio
5:27 Shoutout to the Test Team and the business leaders who apparently allocated enough time and resources to make a relatively bug-free game at launch. That's impressive in this day and age, regardless of the game's other issues.
@@nousername2942 I have to disagree - when the gameplay loop is that simple, it's easy for management to cut the testing time down even more so that it STILL has bugs on launch.
Framerate doesn't even stay at 30fps on console. Terrible frame pacing as well makes it very unplayable. Check digital Foundrys break down. It's pretty sad what the Devs did. Their arrogance is what brought them here. Actually thinking they are good and not the world's budget devs due to tax breaks and subsidy by the local government. Who wouldve thought the game would be this bad? Almost everybody did. Lols
Honestly I got marvel avenger vibes from this maybe it was going to be like that and the last second pivot to a solo game just didn't leave them enough time to build up graphical fidelity. Its just crazy to me a ps4 game made over 10 years ago can every even look as good as let along better then a modern game.
I'm gonna have to agree with the sentiment that this was originally intended to be a live service game akin to Avengers. The amount of materials for crafting is a clear sign of that.
I also feel like its not of those that maybe gets better with some updates? Maybe with some patches changing the gear system and stuff Im a sucker for Batman, so i think will pick it up eventually especially because its coop
@@NiclasLoof dude, I thought I was alone in this. I REALLY wanted to continue only cause of the story but after about 5 hours, it was waaaaay too repetitive
@@moonpresence9707 yes, but i also don’t take opinions of reviewers seriously. I suppose it’s one thing to hear mediocre reviews from IGN or w/e, another when it’s a lot of actual people if that makes sense
Was really hopeful this game would carry on the Arkham legacy, and I was really interested in exploring a Court of Owls story. Sad it appears the developers couldn't put it all together.
Suicide Squad is going to continue the Arkham series. It's a direct sequel to Arkham Knight and Rocksteady the studio that made the Arkham games with the exception of Origins is developing it. This game is set in a completely different universe, is not a sequel to the Arkham games and was developed by WB Montreal Studios the developer behind Arkham Origins.
Well, WB Montreal was actually going to make an actual Arkham Sequel unlike Suicide Squad called Arkham Legacy with Damian Wayne. The reason for cancellation never was revealed, but Rocksteady was not pleased over the story since it was going to take place like maybe 10-15 years after Arkham Knight and it would've forced them to change things for their Suicide Squad game. They said they wanted to do things on their own terms, which is fair since they created the universe. But considering they moved on Batman, they should've just let WB Montreal do what they wanted.
The thing is though, yea SS will continue the story but it's been labeled a shooter. Don't expect Arkham combat. It will change the formula watch and see.
I've been keeping my eye on this for one reason: the idea of open-world co-op was compelling to me. My question is: how did that work out? I feel like it's a key selling point (may THE key selling point) of the game and it wasn't really talked about much here.
I actually went back to this review because, as far as I can tell, SkillUp didn't actually talk about it? Or showcase any coop gameplay? Which honestly is even more of an indictment for the game, if the infamously coop game's coop gameplay is so forgettable.
Just to note, me and my friends were excited for it. I was the hype man for it, figuring it would be great and we could get me and my usual three friends to play through! Gameplay starts with a single-player only kinda-tutorial that takes about 30 minutes. We went through it with our respective characters, as we weren't double-dipping (Didn't even know you could). A warning was from one of my friend's friend that the co-op was broken. We went 'Oh no' but went through the tutorial. The first two of us to complete it joined together. No problem! In the Belfrey, awesome... Then... when the enxt one "Lobby is full" What? Must be a bug, right? Tried it again, nope. Went back and forth, were able to connect each of the two individuals, then we looked it up. Then we found out as we didn't want to spoil it so didn't look at anything but the trailers and knowledge it was four characters and co-ops. Until now... And we found out, despite four characters it was ONLY two-player co-op for the campaign, and I quote: "the more you try to lean into [4-player co-op], the more you end up having to create environments that only really work for that." and the new "Heroic Assault" is a 4-player mode, but there were no expectations to make a 4-player campaign. We immediately refunded it finding this as we expected it to be a fun four-player co-op.Just looking at the trailers set up a four-player experience, never in any trailers did I see it being only two-player, and the editing seemed to lean into it as it cut to various duos performing thing. Not until one of my friends looked back and said "You never see four players on the screen at the same time" did I notice it, though. Other than cinematics or the Belfry scenes, he was right.... I felt deceived and upset, since I was the one trying to hype for it.
I think you might have nailed it with the live service thing. I was never interested, but curious how it would turn out. My suspicions seem to have been correct. Edit: wait, there isn't a jump button?! WTF? Even Zelda realized they need a jump button in an open world.
I mean, in a fantasy open world, a jump button isn't super important...But in an Urban setting? Where you're supposed to glide and stealth around? Jumping is ESSENTIAL there. Or at least the ability to just drop straight down, or onto an enemy from a vantage point.
10:30 You know what makes it more insulting , is that the same studio made batman arkham origins and it was infinitely miles better, those crimes. You actually got solve them , locate the suspects and take them into custody in the most satisfying way.
All the game mechanics I hate the most, grinding and crafting, you can tell this was a mechanic made to pad the game time (and probably to sell EXP packages before the devs decided to drop the live service of the game). Performance issues I can easily see being patched out, but the gameplay loop cannot be 'fixed'.
I feel like an easy fix to the court of owls enemies would be adding a passive ability that after perfectly dodging (if that's a mechanic) your heavy ranged attack is charged instantly, bam
I was holding out hope that Freeze, Harley, and Clayface were just a few of many classic villains you’d encounter and fight. Overlooked the 30 FPS and the basic combat but a short roster of villains is the last straw. Just gonna replay Arkham Knight
Insane to hear that one cant jump when playing out a fantasy of being a highly dexterous, acrobatic, skilled combatant....each character should be busting out different flips at will
very informative review. I really feel like I got a sense of what exactly this game is, and you outlined perfectly your reasons for not liking it, and why other people might like it still. It's helped me decide that, yes, I am going to try this game, because you've perfectly lined out the elements that certain types of players will find entertaining while others won't. You've earned my subscription
I know right? I found this guy a few days ago and he has some of the best reviews I've ever seen because he just lays it out like it is, and he lets me decide if I want it or not.
Sad how so many modern game devs don't understand the importance of making sure the core gameplay loop is FUN. We play games to enjoy PLAYING them, but somehow gameplay often takes a backseat in terms of priority... Then they wonder why people don't enjoy their game 🙄
Looks to be something to pick up cheap when there's nothing to play. I wonder if they'll add an option like ghost recon did with the gear options. So you can just play the game with scaling enemies rather than having to match gear score.
I adore your reviews because although they are of course subjective, it’s your review after all, you are also objective. Your opening gambit perfectly summarises why I trust your reviews, why I always look forward to your insight.
The loot/crafting system gives it away that this game was indeed designed for a live service. It's good to see that we as a community are making the suits question how they deliver games. It's obvious a pivot is design was made late into development. Can only wish this will lead to more games rethinking the strategy to avoid mass boycotting. Clearly it affects the bottom line.
The suits should pull the game and refund purchase and backtrack as far back as they can to make it a fire single player game like arkam game's. Even if it takes 5 years on top of adding more story and having to re hier the VA or get new ones. They should do it.
Yeah ... grindy is the right term for this. I'm reviewing this too and so much of it is so off. My partner loves Batman and plays the main missions for the story... while I do the grunt work and do all the side stuff to get the decent gear (including each characters unique traversal methods which should be unlocked from the get go). I do it because I love her and so she doesn't have the face the grind. Good review man as always!
This is so accurate, when I got to the Harley Quinn bomb part on hard mode the controls and combat was so frustrating. I like some aspects of the game but man it has problems.
Another one of my go to UA-camrs for game reviews that has reviews up and early. Your format and delivery of reviews are top notch as well as detailed. "Avengers bad" lol that game has coined a new term hearing "Avengers bad" speaks volumes. I will be busy playing A Plague Tale: Requiem instead. Might pick up Gotham Knights when it goes on sale.
I told everyone in the preview videos on UA-cam that this looked like a live service game to me. It's interesting that now as it turns out it feels like it was supposed to be but them got retooled. Everyone tried to shout me down for my concerns on those videos. Seems like my concerns were warranted even if it turned out to not actually be live service.
Definitely still interested in checking this out once it gets real cheap. I have a feeling a lot of us thought this was looking very live servicey based on what was known about it before release.
@@sane7527 Plus since it's a WB game, it'll most likely be on sale 50 times a year as well. I've lost count of how many times Arkham Knight has been on sale this year alone lol. And that's just on Xbox consoles.
No 60fps = No buy for me. Thanks for saving me money Skill Up. Good review as well. I actually went and bought my first Souls game I bought Demon Souls and love it. Amazing visuals and 60fps.
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The Knighthood status really turned me off.
Cool
Don't these companies hire people in like yourself during development ? You breakdown all the pros and cons so well and know what the gaming public want.
Knew this game was gonna be crap the moment the synopsis dropped. Looked like utter shit when the first trailer released, proving me right.
No review on your 4090 and no mention of it ? I wonder why 🤣🤣🤣
When this game was first revealed, I saw the levels floating above enemy hands and groaned. When an open world game has them, it usually means there’s going to be some kind of forced artificial grind and it would seem my fears were warranted.
My first time watching the gameplay demo, I thought it was another live-service game. It just seems to have all the elements for another Marvel's Avengers type game. And I was proven right, sorta. 100% they pivot when Avengers received heavy backlash but was too deep in development that they can't throw away all the live-service mechanics of the game.
Love ur videos ima still play this game 💀 just realized u posed a new vid to that’s hype I’ll drop a like
Not really lmao
@@GradietPanda12345
But like, real RPGs don't even do this? It's mostly just these games that have no business being an RPG. Honestly, games like Gotham Knights, Assassins Creed Valhalla and God of War now using extremely underdeveloped RPG systems for no real reason other than there would be no other reason to grind.
Yep, if it was a JRPG, that’s fine. MMO? Go for it.
But this is just grinding without understanding why the grind.
This was 1000% a live service that had to pivot. I’ve assumed this since the first gameplay reveal.
Yup they saw what happened to Avengers but were too deep in to completely change at that point
Exactly what I thought…it has that certain look of a bad game
@@e2rqey they were working on a new arkham game but they canceled it
Lets hope the Suicide Squad game gets it right
@@dr.loomis4221 That was definitely live service junk too, I have no hope in that either
It sounds like the best experience you can have with this game is watching the cutscenes on UA-cam and never playing the horrible grindy game itself.
Yeah, it seems most likely
that's what I was thinking as well. enjoy the story and leave the rest
Yup same. Be keeping an eye out for that cutscene "movie" whoever decides to upload it...
MKIceandFire should have played through all this already I’m sure.
@@superalatreon1 gamers playground is way ahead of you
I honestly coulda SWORN they said this game was live service when they first started showing off stuff like a year or two ago. Something like "Every few months we'll deliver a new plot with a new villain that you can take on with your friends." I think you're right that they saw Avengers crash and hurriedly ripped out live service stuff to try and stand out in the saturated looter market.
It definitely started as a live service development. And then they changed it because of avengers failure
Too bad they forgot to patch this gameplay loop out. I can forgive the performance issues because I know those will definitelly be fixed. But the core gameplay is basically impossible to patch out without redoing the entire game from scratch.
WB Montreal sucks. They are just a studio lucky enough to receive the Arkham series and delivered two mediocre games filled with micro transactions.
You want REAL Batman games? Get the real Arkhams ones from Rocksteady. WB Montreal is just cash grab
@@dnl_mp4
Arkham Origins is great.
@@dnl_mp4 Don't diss Arkham Origins like that. It's not on the level of Rocksteady's Arkham games, but it's still really good and has some of the best moments in the series.
The bat family relying on grinding random currencies to get different armor gear etc is so absurd lmao. Bruce leaving his legacy to his proteges but none of his massive fortune.
Lmao
we die in a society
Society 🤡
@@D0NU75 only the ones that are guilty of wrong think. all the others can do whatever they want and get away with all of it
Bro I was thinking the same exact thing! Why do we need resources from bad guys when we have our batdad inheritance. This game is soooo soooo stupid bro!
Watching this game’s lead up to launch was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. So sad it went this way. Hope we can get a true successor to the Arkham series at some point.
Except it literally wasnt because it looked great. Still does. Arkham series is overrated af.
Hopefully Suicide Squad hits it out of the park
@@RevRyukin7 Never looked great or fun. Looks even worse now. Stop being delusional
@@RevRyukin7 cope
@@RevRyukin7 never looked great, looked clunky and awkward with unoriginal combat until release
This is one of the only games I can think of where watching the gameplay footage a few months ago actually made me not want to buy the game.
Saints row
Exaclty if they never released any game footage I would’ve probably bought it
then you've been fooled by a lot of games
Avengers
forspoken
My issue is these companies want to argue the $70 price point then release broken or incomplete games.
Bro they were doing at $60 and $50 price points 2-5 years ago. Every generation expect a rise in prices.
@@locks3711 what first off $50 games went out with PS2 that was over 15 years ago 😳 second my argument was trying to solidify $70 price points when you can't even properly finish a game. GG bro keep up.
I remember when N64 games were going for 70-90$. I was very glad to see them stabilize around 40-50$.
I really can’t see paying full retail for any game anymore when most of them really aren’t finished at launch. Wait a few months for the patches and stabilizations and inevitable price drops.
@@locks3711 if there gonna raide the price those Fuckers better improve quality... obviously not happening
@@locks3711 A) Half the time when games release it's an unfinished product, and extremely buggy.
B) With everything going digital, it has gotten much, much cheaper to distribute games. The money that used to go into the manufacturing of disks and cases, not to mention transport, has lessened substantially over the last decade or so, which saves them a lot.
C) We are continually getting different forms of microtransactions on top of the the $60 price tag, some of which are extremely predatory and are borderline (if not completely) gambling. Some games these days make a vast majority of their money not on initial sales, but microtransactions.
D) We already are seeing price hikes through the various versions of "Deluxe Editions," some of which go up to even $100.
I by no means mean any of this to you personally, but anyone who defends games' standard price going to $70 can fuck right off.
its crazy how arkham knight still looks good despite being 7 years old
Hard work and passion
for real, i just played through it for the first time 2 years ago, and i was in literal awe of how good it looked
Peak RockSteady is hard to match
Looked better
The RE remake on GameCube still looks good to this day and that’s 20 years old
Remember batmans insanely cool detective mode in Arkham Origins? Where he would essentially reconstruct a crime scene and replay said crime to find out what happened? 10:23 this is what we get almost a decade later?? That shit is horrendous
Couldn't agree more. This is so below the Arkaham franchise. How come they worsen up everything single thing on this game? Even the very first game Arkaham Asylum, is way better than this trash. Also it poorly performance on my i9 12900k + 4090 RTX. This game is a complete disaster. It almost feels like they wanted to make this bad. I mean almost a decade later and this is what they deliver to us? You got to be kidding me.
Is this part of the Arkham franchise? I don’t think rocksteady made this game, it was WB games wasnt it?
@@sergiomendoza4850 It isn't. But Arkham Origins was also made by WB Montreal.
@@sergiomendoza4850 the very first one (arkaham Asylum) which is way better than this one, apparently it was. Even if it is not from the same company, and you are trying to make a similar game. They had all ingredients to make a successful game. I love this style of game. Like shadow of War or, Spider-Man remastered. I don't understand how come they could mess up the combat mode so much. This game is beyond any repair. NOT with updates or patches. It makes me really sad, because I was literally counting the years for this to be launched. Then comes this disappointment. As I start to play I couldn't believe it was that bad, after almost like a decade later, how could be that bad? Were the hell the game tester were thinking when they were playing this to think this is ok? Don't even get me started as this game poorly performance on my computer. Literally every game that I had on my 3090 got almost like 100fps more ! Battlefield 2042, Modern warfare, Fifa23, Need for speed, F1 2022, all these games maxed out with RAY TRACING ON, and all filters on, jump almost Like 100 fps more. This game on an open view and full of enemies during combat mode goes down to 60fps, and never goes over 150fps. The drops on fps are insanily high. Makes my graphic card looks like a 1080.
I know it’s a small part of it but one of my biggest pet peeves is every game has to have enemy levels and health bars now. It’s so annoying
The enemy levels I understand (because they are an artificial way to increase the difficulty of an enemy without even swapping their colors, like in the old days), but the health bars... I believe that they are necessary to certain extent to visually indicate how much damage you are doing and be able to switch strategies. if you are not displaying that bar the alternatives are embedding that information in the enemy movements/behaviours (like in Monster Hunter) or to make the enemies weak enough that it doesn't really matter (like in old shoot-em-ups).
Fr. Was kinda disappointed when I saw it in starfield
@@christopherlyndsay8611 Bethesda always had enemy healthbars though? Even in Daggerfall they used healthbars. :/
@@SystemBD You could make the argument that all of the previous Arkham series didn't have heath bars or from what I remember. Only indication you had was not slow down, keep you toes light while swinging to every other enemy until you heard that big spwoosh of them getting knocked down, and if you were patient enough and on the right ledge or corner, could easily do silent takedowns without the trouble. Having a health bar now a days has become a necessity while games back then it was a privilege.
You can take them ofg
There is absolutely no way this wasn't designed as a live service.
Damage sponge enemies are literally one of the biggest pet peeves of mine in games focusing on combat. It’s a lazy, fun stealing, frustrating and unnecessary choice by the developers. Many games that feature damage sponge enemies are using it as a way to artificially create difficulty. Rather than spending time developing unique, fun combat mechanics to increase difficulty, while simultaneously making it more interesting… they instead just amp up all the enemies health to unreasonable levels which wastes the players time and bores them.
Normal enemies shouldn’t need to have huge health pools to unnecessarily drag out combat with them…. Games are more fun when the player feels like games value their time and value them improving their skill and efficiency in combat, rather than a game forcing them to repeat the same attack combo multiple times per enemy. Talk about lessening immersion and completely stripping any power fantasy or satisfaction for clearing levels quickly and efficiently.
One of the biggest reasons I’ll pass on a game is the rampant inclusion on damage sponge enemies.
To be honest I have to give Destiny 2 credit for how it handles this. Rather than damage sponge enemies, you fight bosses who make you engage with unique mechanics and mini bosses or champions where your choice of abilities and weapons against their vulnerabilities and use of terrain determines success rather than raw damage.
Yup. It's a lazy and cheap way for Devs to create difficulty by just adding a multiplier to their health as you move up.
I mean why would you want to waste time making dynamic changes to combat as you progress? Like come on, that takes work, this is MUCH easier.
Like making it a non fixed 30fps for consoles.
Why would you want to do all that hard work? Like honestly, doing all that JUST so the gamers can actually enjoy the game is a weak response.
Bare minimum is so much better.
Ya same issue I had with avengers had to put the game on easy difficulty like hulk barley does damage
That's why Sifu is my favorite game of the year so far. No spongey enemies or annoying, pointless busy work filling up the playtime. Just a short, tight experience that forces you to learn and become skilled with the gameplay, and makes you feel like a badass when you do.
Agree 100%. Especially in games like this where the heroes are supposed to be leagues above street criminals when it comes to physicality and fighting skills, and yet you still have to pound the thugs for 15 seconds straight just to get their health whittled down. The Arkham games did a way better job of making the player FEEL powerful as Batman because 3 or 4 strikes downed most enemies, instead of the 20 it takes in this game
Can’t wait to hear about the behind the scenes for this game. Definitely had to be a live service that was changed at some point. Literally has ALL the elements of one.
@@aloblis a live service RPG, yes.
There's a troon director behind the game. It was a write-off before it even had a chance.
@@Sujad Yeah, sure. Blame a minority director rather than the fact that its coming from WB: a publisher who chase trends and milk their players as hard as 2K and Electronic Arts.
Keep that /v/ flag flying.
@@EmperorPylades Every time a troon gets involved in anything the project worsens.
@@Sujad so what's a "troon"?
I love how at 11:47 Nightwing slides towards an unaware enemy, baton outstretched, as if to take the guy's legs out...oh, no, hang on- sliding is clearly just a basic movement tool as we've seen in so many other games. Nightwing finishes the slides, and stands up into a basic combat strike. Applause.
The movement looks so so bad
This is why I love Rocksteady. They would be one of the few devs who would animated it exactly as you described it. Sad to see WB greenlit an Arkham game without them at the helm
@@UnBR0k3enAngel it's not an arkham game tho. It is it's own thing. Just sayin.
@@UnBR0k3enAngel different universe
@@lastmanstanding7155 they worked on arkham origins and had help from rocksteady during that development. Its not like this developer has no experience working on batman combat and animations
You know, when they ANNOUNCED this game, I was actually fairy excited for it, in that it would be like an "Arkham follow-up" in which you play through a story "after Batman" with characters that like "carry the legacy" and so on. But I was thinking way too much 2010s or even earlier, in terms of what the game would be like. It's just not those times anymore... It COULD've been what I thought, easily, but it just didn't go that direction, even with WB Games Montreal might have wanted to go there.
yea im in the same boat. i was a little excited when i heard the game was in development. too bad it's so disappointing in execution.
What do you mean “thinking too much 2010s?”
@@mckenan3578 As in a fun singleplayer 3rd person action game in the vein of the Arkham games.
Well it's not an Arkham follow-up and they didn't try to make one. You tying in a completely different franchise and getting upset that this isn't it, is your own fault.
@@flyingplantwhale545 Well, hard to blame him giving that the last we had of the Arkham series Bruce/Batman DIED at the end and this Gotham Knights game is all about Batman's sidekicks taking over after Bruce died.
I totally agree about the hard pivot after avengers disaster.
and just like Avengers, I'll play it when on PS plus
Yeah it would make so much sense for this game to have originally been a live service game that they scrapped because of Avengers.
Give it couple of months they will be selling skin packs and xp booster to help the grind.
Sad this is... Avengers is somehow still better game than this.
@@lordofdarkness4204 100%, this is what I was thinking. There's no way this trainwreck wasn't a cash grab at some point in its life cycle.
From what you mention, this was 100% supposed to be a live service game like Avengers...
Crazy how Arkham Knight came out in 2015 and is still one of the best looking city’s in a game ever. It feels like there’s no more passion in the games industry.
It really is fantastic all around, sans the Riddler racing and puzzles which i always hated. Origins holds up quite well also, I played it last and loved the Christmas aesthetic and plot
@@thegadflygang5381 it’s my head cannon that after saving cat woman, Batman just locked riddler in his basement and just ignores
him lol. Riddler thinks that Batman is having a super hard time solving all his puzzles. When In reality everyone just kinda forgets about him.
Yea I've been playing it on the game pass and even all these years later I thoroughly enjoy it both visually and gameplay etc wise. There's things I don't like (some of the riddler stuff for example) but I don't know if that's common or just a me issue lol
@@EmperorPocky396 That is hysterical although it sucks donkeynuts that I couldnt get the end game 2 cut scene because after sinking in a 100+ really enjoyable hours I was not going to ruin my experience doing dozens of awful races and puzzles
I am not a completionist by nature. I will sink weeks into Days Gone or RDR2 because I enjoy just doing my thing and not worrying about something like "kill a perfect woodpecker carcass".. but just by the game style I am at 99% on Arkham Knight.
You're just playing the wrong games if you feel that way, plenty of excellent and "passionate" single player games released since 2015
Played for 30 min and returned it. It takes A LOT for me to do this, but it felt like a mobile game or a remastered game. So much potential too.
Where do you return opened games at?
@@patientmental875 he bought it on the psn store and returned it. Why would u buy disc version
@@patientmental875 probably steam. Their policy allows you to refund the game after having max 1-2 h gameplay (don’t know for sure)
There are even a speedrun community, where they try to rush any% and refund the game in the given time limit
@@12_eyes41 U know how strict Sony is when returning digital games u already played? Lmao
@@12_eyes41 Because some people actually like to own their games
It makes sense that the Live services was the original direction.
You can see it and feel it on every aspect of it. Also explained why this game got delay on the era of Avengers being destroyed
I really do hope we all stop buying and supporting live service games. Last one I participated in was Metal Gear Solid V after it left such a bitter taste in my mouth. Fucking micro transactions in a Metal Gear game... I'm STILL annoyed!
I think your theory on Gotham knights being an abandoned live service game like Avengers is full on point. the mission structure, pointless repetitive open world activities, and their grindy nature screams 'live service'.
Also the bullet/punch sponge enemies look so exhausting. I am kinda glad batman not there lol, he would have felt so weak.
I was kinda planning to buy this but thanks for saving me $99. I am not really against live service games, I love games like ffxiv but they are worth my money instead of games like these.
I remember them being ambiguous on what the game was meant to be when it was questioned for having live service like elements.
It was pseudo-marketed as one for sure early on
I mean the fact that there are 4 heroes is practically proof of that
it was meant to be a squad based live service game
Considering wb saw the disaster that was the avengers game they have no excuses. they could have gotten rid of their grinding bs, but chose not too.
@@NaviRyan It’s nothing like that godawful avengers. I got it early today and put some hours into it. So far it’s very good! Reminds me of Arkham knight. Game is getting split reviews. Graphics are damn good on PS5, near god of war quality. So glad I didn’t cling on to the negative reviews. It’s like Arkham knight.
14:42 Someone really heard „They can fly now?“ „They can fly now!“ in Star Wars and thought to themselves „That sounds like great writing which I should rip off!“
Just to say, the side mission where you investigate a body does have a follow up. It's the one where people are hiding. I usually get one of those after finishing investigating the dead body. Or it might just be random thing that pops up and it's just how bad my RNG is that they always show up after an investigation
Yeah I don't think he paid attention to his map to notice it updated after solving the clues of the investigation.. the investigation missions could be a bit more interactive though so I'll give him that.
If you look at the source code you'll see files made for live service like features such as xp boosters, skins, multiple in game currencies, ....etc
Explains alot
We knew from the get go this game was supossed to be a live service game but Warner backtracked hard after everyone's cries about how shit Avengers was. No matter how many times they said this wasn't the case, no one believed them (rightfully so).
Anything about a store ui? Im betting one gets added
That means they'll probably add them in later lol
@@SolidSnake240 Wouldn't make much sense at that point. That would further tarnish WB Montreal's image.
I remember liking Marvel's Avengers combat when you get to fight a few "normal" enemies too. Then you get spammed by a thousand ranged attacks and a heavy health sponger and it falls apart. Can't believe the devs can't notice/fix this sort of issue in games.
Yeah that's what makes a video game fun if it's challenging
@@rowanfarmer9029 there's the right type of challenge and a wrong type of challenge. Damage sponge enemies is the wrong type of challenge, it always has been the case.
@@rowanfarmer9029 "No! There's only one way to like games, and that's MY way. Get gud no0bz lulz"
Seriously, dude....its a game. You ain't the DM
@@Pedro_Le_Chef I'll agree with you there hate damage sponse enemies maybe I spoke to soon by this time I have seen enough reviews
People are just ass at video games and they want their hand held throughout the whole game.
Back two years ago, I remember saying a flat no because it looked like it was going to be a live service game. I'm glad it didn't turn out that way, but it's clear from all the menus and gear reminiscent of a mobile game that the publishers WANTED it to be one at some point. It's no wonder that the game needed more months to cook when the publishers made the developers change design philosophies mid-development.
Facts
@@DsgSleazy the thing is it is a live service just without the “service”,it functions like it,looks like it and smells like it.
@@italianspiderman5012 they can still put out an update to make it a complete live service.
@@redlightning0001 oh that in game store update is coming for sure,unless the game completely flops,which is likely.
@@italianspiderman5012 lmao we all know that crap is coming.
If I had to hazard a guess I'd say that this was originally going to be a live service game that WB eventually pulled the plug on, but still needed to release so they just made it single player instead. Idk what the logistics behind such a decision would be though.
Except it's not single player only
Also, why are the Talons standard enemies? I really assumed they'd each be a boss, as in the comics they could 1v1 every member of the Bat family.
Not all of the talons were as skilled as a few of the major ones in the first story. At one point in the first two arcs a ton of them swarm the Batcave and Bruce gets in that suit to fight off a lot. As well as other people have to fight them in tie-in issues etc. Also it looks like some of them are just the more average people with the owl mask and not trained "talons."
@@prestonphillips473
Yeah, this seems like the most likely explanation. I mean, all talons can't be as good as the ones who could 1v1 any member of the Bat family. It just wouldn't be possible to have that many people who are that talented AND well-trained AND willing to give their lives to the Court, even with cryo storage involved...
I'm always skeptical about these types of games becasue the pointless grind aspect of them. It seems as if developers get lost in making sure there is a game at all and not asking themselves "Is this fun?" The drones are a perfect example of this as you mentioned.
corporate game development is exactly that. Everyone is busy making sure their own tasks are completed so they won't get yelled at or fired, and often no one is busy making sure the game is cohesive or fun. That's why the overwhelming majority of AAA games are simply mediocre. Some still do well, but to do so they need one person that the top that will obsessively approve or disapprove everything produced until it fits his vision. Otherwise you get shit games that give you plenty of reasons to buy them and zero reasons to actually play them.
Yes exactly.
feel like putting this on gamepass would put a lot of value into this game
not just gamepass, I reckon PS plus too. it needs it
Not really since Arkham knight is also on gamepass
I really wish it was
Give it 6 months
great point
14:41
I just got bad flashbacks to Star Wars episode 9 “They fly now??!”… “They Fly now..”
Just looking at the menus I can see the live service elements all over this game
There's no live service tho?
@@zjmstrash7181 Most likely, due to backlash to other recent LS titles they hastily removed those elements without changing much on a game design front to compensate.
@@zjmstrash7181 Not having a cash shop is just about the only live service aspect it doesn't have.
@@zjmstrash7181 did you watch the review? He said it feels like it was made as a live action and then last minute they changed it but left most elements in there
The main thing that's throwing me off, and it is small, is grappling. In this game you're just grappling in a straight line no matter the direction you're going. In all the other Arkham games, you had weight and gravity tied into the grappling. I don't know, I've been saving up for this game, but seeing all the gameplay makes me rethink if I actually want it
Not an arkham game
@@arandomguy2311 It's not - what OP meant was that the Arkham games had more depth to their mechanics than this one, and it's particularly sad because the Arkham games are definitely older and thus the producers were aware of it and could have added it to GK, but went the generic mid-2010s Ubisoft-esque route of making it all mindlessly dull.
@@cainyourkids most players are placing it at 7 or 8 and some big companies it's just some big companies giving it bad reviews the games just divisive because people compare it to arkham whenever it tried to be nothing like it most bad reviews are hating it for not being arkham when it's not meant to be arkham 🤣 the 2 lowest reviews I've see are from people who gave release day cyberpunk a 9 and are known for being petty and shit and gave alien isolation a 6 and marvels avengers a 6. We never trusted them before now why would we the players are giving it good reviews so I'll play it myself I trust the people like us not the people paided to rush out a script since there are a lots of games coming out rn. Only a few of players aren't liking it compared to the rest
@@arandomguy2311 I get what you're saying and see where you're at, but I'm more optimistic for SS than this definitely. This reeks of Marvel's Avengers and that game deserved the flak it got. I almost passed up on GOTG because of it, and was surprised with how fun and enjoyable GOTG was.
As for Cp2077, I was also very critical of it - and this coming from someone who pre-ordered the game!
@@cainyourkids I played Guardians of the galaxy too loved it despite not liking the movies at all. But most of what this game is getting is unwarranted some people have spec or performance issues, main story length and that shitty UI that is fair and then combat is just personal thoughts but comparing everything it does to arkham isn't fair and saying its not arkham so dogshit instead of living in its universes not arkham universe while playing it. Like I said most players like it and place it at 7 so I'll play it myself not because a handful of companies say its bad whenever most of those companies have displayed salt or some type of toxic behavior with other games they reviewed in the past when the games were good. Lots of people can't get over the cancelling of the Damien Wayne arkham game with the Courts of Owls and are sad they didn't get arkham so much of the gaming community is toxic and feel they are entitled to an arkham game so they hate on what isn't arkham in hopes of getting rocksteady to make another arkham game but thats not happening anytime soon so I don't understand this bullshit that's been happening since this game was revealed. At the end of the day arkhams my no.1 franchise but I'm going to give other things a chance think of it this way lots of people hate the game for not being arkham so that means they don't want anyone to make any other interpretations in gaming unless it follows that formula that is literally the best way to creatively bankrupt a character
I know the Batman Arkham games never looked realistic but all of this makes it less and less possible to just be immersed and truly FEEL like you're a gotham vigilante. Writing was on the wall from the first moment we saw a gameplay trailer though.
Really sad cause Nightwing is in my top 5 favorite characters of all things ever.
Arkham Knight looked very realistic.
Not being able to glide feels so bad. And I'm just watching it.
I’ve gotten good at knowing which games are gonna be awful. I could tell from day 1 of this one
We all could with this one. It was too obvious.
Too right. Yet, when people like us tried to point this out we were told to "STFU, the games still has time to improve" by all of the Bat simps.
@NavySharkz you can't reason with those people . They are like a cult and blinded by their own delusions the same as how those TLOU simps actually thought it was a remake from the ground up when it was just a glorified remaster
@@NavySharkzI can relate to that and this is coming from a hardcore batman and DC fan since the reveal I knew I wouldn't buy this.
@@maxmaxy7542 Yes, this right here.
I have to agree with your theory that WB did a hard 180 away from this being a live service game. All the skins, colour variations, gear rarity/load-outs, and excessive currencies just screams live service to me.
Another game where I really want to read what it was like to develop, what decisions had to be made, be a fly on the wall etc.
Absolutely agree. This was their first game in nearly ten years. Would love to see the canceled Arkham knight sequel/suicide squad games. How did this happen?
Pre-production actually started 10 years ago
Just waiting on the “what happened” from Matt mcmuscle at this point.
@@jacobsabastian3871 This is pure speculation on my part, but if I had to guess. They got tired on always getting the short end of the stick with every Arkham game they were making.
They were doing the Arkham Verse Suicide Squad first and it got cancelled which funnily enough, Rocksteady chose as their next game after their Superman pitch failed.
Arkham Legacy was going to be their first full reign Arkham game with no constraints, except Rocksteady wanted WBMontreal to change things according to what they were going to be doing with Suicide Squad. Forcing them to once again basically be Rocksteady's B team.
Now no one knows why it got cancelled, whether WB cancelled another Montreal game or WB Montreal said "fuck it, we will do our own game universe then." Or the evil tinfoil hat theory which I don't believe it's true. Rocksteady got Arkham Legacy shut down.
This review being right next to one in my sub box with a thumbnail "WAY better than you think" is just beautiful.
Yeah, and getting kicked in the nuts is way better than cartwheeling into razorwire, but it's still terrible.
@@Trepanation21 LOL I'm gonna have to use that one some time 😂
Reviews are just opinions. Skill Up recommended Scorn meanwhile most other UA-cam critics were dunking on it
@@MentokTheMindTaker scorn is less gamey and more artsy though which makes it even more about opinions and less about things you can actually point your finger at and critise. context is always important
Had the same thing happened kinda chuckled at that.
The fact that this game has levels pretty well tells me it was DEFINITELY going to be more like Avengers. Developers need to stop putting levelling and gearing in single player games, especially if they're not going to properly balance it. If I'm playing a superhero I want to feel powerful. And if I'm fighting the SAME thugs the whole time and they always take a bunch of hits because their levels keep rising to match mine, then I feel like I'm not making any progress.
Seems like this game would have benefited from being more a linear story driven 3d beat'em up with online co-op and meticulously designed fight sequences.
such a missed opportunity
can't do that, the trailers aren't gonna have all those juicy marketing buzz words.
It definately feel like the left overs of a live service game, the environments feel way to big for single or two player co-op, missions were probably story gated raids. The loot for crafting definately gives it away
The missions are still story gated raids.
It reminds me a lot of Agents of Mayhem as i already commented. AoM also has this horrible unbalanced grind and you expect everything to have real life currency cost but it never comes, it's all a borefest of repetition because it was meant to be a live service akin to Warframe but instead they steered it up with full driving wheel swing into a single player experience and mp at best. I never finished the thing because high level enemies only meant more armor and health and the game is so badly balanced around that that some heroes simply become unviable mid to late game.
Congratulations Gotham Knights, you have made me reinstall Arkham City. It's been a while since my last playthrough so it's going to be a good weekend!
currently replaying arkham knight, but city is still my favorite out of the trilogy :^)
Jealous! I need to start over with asylum at some point. What a trilogy
@@russian_pwn_u
I dont understand the love for arkham city. The graphics are ew and arkham knight was much prettier (obviously) and more interesting for me
@@sxerwin I'm one of the people who hates the hell out of Knight. Can't stand the car it ruined the entire game for me sadly. Love city and love Asylum feel like the graphics hold up in the sense of style and art direction.
@@soaringspoon Do you upgrade the car? I usually max it out and have no problems with the car combat.
Your guess that Gotham Knights pivoted from a live-service model and then to an open-world action-RPG makes sense. The way it looks, the way it plays. It all makes much more sense if you view the game as a live-service skinner box like so many games that infest the AAA market.
Can’t wait to buy a deluxe edition in a few years on sale when they’ll have everything unlocked! Hopefully the devs will listen to reviews and fix things
Hopefully by then the devs overhauled the grinding mechanics. They have good story going on here to an otherwise shitty loot and progression system.
@@ItsZim0the story is mid
I hope there are a "rework" patch that tones down the grind and spammy enemies so people can enjoy the story, in 6-10 month I would guess
exactly, i have every game in the rocksteady series and just got origins and it's...
okay?
But 5 bucks means I got a steal and can't wait for the epic boss fights I heard it has.
This is easily a steam sale for me next year or later.
@@theguywhowentthere3346 origins wasn't made by rocksteady it was made by wb montreal the same people that made this game gotham knights
@@teenxtcy I don't think they were saying Origins is made by Rocksteady. Their wording just wasn't great.
lmao no bro this game cant just patch itself into quality.
Those character menus look like they were ripped straight from a mobile game 🤯
Great review as always!!
The first 30 mins I played I ended up getting frozen on some barrels as I was trying to sneak up on enemies. The enemies spotted me and continued to throw fire bombs on me until I died. Couldn't move at all.
Aint that a bitch
@@LOL-ro9ef - Yea, and I found that I was playing on hard. So I was getting no health packs from killing enemies. Turned it down to Normal, and it's been fun
I love that you include a technical review in your videos, it seems essential to me but its rare
They really are mandatory at this point.
This game feels like it could and should have been an Arkham like game that we would all be praising, but somewhere someone high up said it had to be a different game and now we have whatever this is.
It’s almost like they’ve never heard of the phrase if it ain’t broke don’t fix it could’ve just made another Arkham game set after the events of Arkham knight such as a Batman beyond game or after the events of origins
This really does sound like it was indeed going to be some sort of live service. That "Knighthood" thing, both in its execution and the fact that you gotta do it with every single character, seals it for me. While it's good that they pivoted away from that after seeing so many others fail, they shouldn't have gone down this route in the first place. Edit: Wait, 12:54 so nearly everything else is shared between characters? So...why is Knighthood not? That makes no sense.
Glad to hear the writers were on point though. A really good story, at least for me personally, can make a game I normally wouldn't play into something I'd enjoy. But that said, I doubt I'll be getting this one any time soon.
21:35 Literally laughed out loud right here.
nik how tf is that funny 💀
The story is as shitty as the rest. Not even that will save this game.
Batman not dead he got revived just to get die again in finale . Total joke
@@GAMINGBLAZE Dude whether anyone here wants to play the game or not, don't post spoilers.
@@TehNumberOneBigBoss the va just killed it for me
At this point I'm only here to see court of owls
They need to make it so once you complete those 10 missions it unlocks the traversal and ultimate abilities for every character. Having to do it 40 times is bs.
We totally didn't see this coming
Not in a million years
Definitely.
I wish there were more reviewers as good as skill up. Watching other reviewers struggle to put together a coherent sentence, unable to explain even such basic things like why they like or dislike something about a game makes me appreciate this channel so much.
I love Shills writing cus it feels so natural and fluid. He clearly explains his thoughts on a game and does so in a way that doesn’t feel forced or stiff.
Is ACG a joke to you? 😂
What reviewers struggle to form coherent sentences?
He and ACG are the GOATs. Straight to the point, informative, actual performance metrics on PC, never forget to talk about audio, test on different rigs.
I particularly like how structured ACG's reviews are, Skill Up is also better at this than most reviewers but not quite as concise as ACG.
I always hate vague comments like this.
Put others down to praise someone while also being vague, to the point of not actually saying anything meaningful.
health bars and rpg mechanics killed it
Yea apparently the highest difficulty doesn't fix the terrible enemy AI, it just makes them bullet sponges. Might as well just play it on the easiest difficulty at that point to get through it faster.
Ubisofts Assassin Creed mentality is fking weird and it's spreading like cancer. Why change your game to the point of not being recognizable by your own fans that made those games popular I don't get it.
I get bummed whenever I see a number pop up over an enemies in a gameplay reveal.
@@nokturnallex2160 I almost always do this when I realize upping the difficulty only makes them bullet sponges. Playing on easy reduces the amount of slog.
@@nokturnallex2160 the worst offender is probably takedowns not being instakills like previous games
Seems like a prime game to wait for it to come out on Gamepass when they need the sales in the few months
Aw man, I wanted this to be good as Origins was pretty underrated and WB Montreal is a good studio, they should've just continued that story
Origins was great but not as good as the rocksteady made games but atleast the core gameplay mechanics was there but here it is feels like an unrecognizable inferior bastard child of a Noble House lol.
>WB Montreal is a good studio
lol
WB Montreal knows how to craft good stories, but as Arkham Origins indicated, they haven’t figured out how to create balanced experiences.
@@shawnaniganz9808 Eh the older dev people are gone probably, and I'm not sure of the Rocksteadys new game either Suicide Squad killing the justice league or whatever it's called.
@@NcxX-c8f I still found ORIGINS to be a bit shaky at times. They borrowed the Arkham formula (mechanics) by Rocksteady to make ORIGINS and they had help from them. They never made a game on their own so this is basically the first one they do without any help.
The controls is so sad. Arkham Knight had such amazing controls when it comes to dropping down and moving stealthy
Made by a different studio
@@Jza-GZa40k 🤷♀
@@Jza-GZa40k Yea it's made by the studio that made Arkham Origins which is way more polished and made with much more love than this boring live service ass game.
@@Igor19485 Most of Arkham Origins is copy and pasted from Arkham City though
@@MrPerfect2000Z Arkham origins is the worst game in the whole arkham series
The hilarious part about the game controlling poorly with the absence of a jump button is that the Arkham games already did good gameplay without a jump button
I LOVED how you provided a very specific example of the controls not working. Prepping up the scene, explaining your expectations and then showing us the execution. SUPER helpful for a review. Great job!
I had a feeling something seemed off with this game. Glad I waited. Man, this is one of the cleanest Gotham games I have ever seen and by clean, I mean no trash flying around the city. Go back and play the other games and you will see what I am referring to. Even Origins. : )
Origins was just the Best honestly, people who trash it are not fans of the Batman games
@@andrewvazquez9557 That is a highly reductive statement for no reason. „Guess since I didn’t like it the most I was not a fan of the series afterall, sad to learn that but at least now I know.“
@@andrewvazquez9557 your thesis is right but your argument is bad. I think Origins is my personal favorite after Knight. Origins is just more City, but I feel like it expanded upon City enough to be called a great game. Origins has the second best story in the arkham series. It's a great game.
Calculating and rendering lying/flying junk negatively affected already low fps so they decided to scrap it
@@TheAntsh maybe If the game wasn't locked at 30 fps they wouldn't have to.
My favorite part of these videos are his technical breakdowns for performance on PC. He could be making up these terms and it wouldn’t matter. Wonderfully well spoken dude ❤
Comparing this game to the the arkham series is fair I think since WB Montreal did an Arkham game and it was really good. The Gotham map in Arkham Origins is one of my favorites, and even though I’m sure the team is completely different the studio has done better work on Batman before, even if they were working off the blueprint set by another studio
5:27 Shoutout to the Test Team and the business leaders who apparently allocated enough time and resources to make a relatively bug-free game at launch. That's impressive in this day and age, regardless of the game's other issues.
Easy to do when the entire gameplay loop is doing handsprings and smacking people with sticks
@@nousername2942 I have to disagree - when the gameplay loop is that simple, it's easy for management to cut the testing time down even more so that it STILL has bugs on launch.
@@caret_shell Exactly. Doing the absolute bare minimum and testing your game isn't a congratulatory achievement.
Framerate doesn't even stay at 30fps on console.
Terrible frame pacing as well makes it very unplayable.
Check digital Foundrys break down. It's pretty sad what the Devs did. Their arrogance is what brought them here. Actually thinking they are good and not the world's budget devs due to tax breaks and subsidy by the local government. Who wouldve thought the game would be this bad?
Almost everybody did. Lols
don't praise the bare minimum
Now besides Gameranx, I absolutely take skill up recommendations to heart.. If he says skip it, I skip it. That's a level of honesty I respect.
Gameranx is good but they are so SOY.
Honestly I got marvel avenger vibes from this maybe it was going to be like that and the last second pivot to a solo game just didn't leave them enough time to build up graphical fidelity. Its just crazy to me a ps4 game made over 10 years ago can every even look as good as let along better then a modern game.
Gotham Knights feels like you're cruising around a big empty studio backlot
I'm gonna have to agree with the sentiment that this was originally intended to be a live service game akin to Avengers. The amount of materials for crafting is a clear sign of that.
This is definitely a game I wanna try...but probably gonna wait a little bit until it's like $20
I was thinking about waiting for blk friday and seeing how much it drops
I also feel like its not of those that maybe gets better with some updates? Maybe with some patches changing the gear system and stuff
Im a sucker for Batman, so i think will pick it up eventually especially because its coop
Cdkeys has it for 40, at least that’s how much I spent on it lol
@@GrimAbstract you can get the whole Arkham series + origins for 40$...so no... I'll wait
Honestly wouldn't be too surprised to see at least 50 percent off in black friday
The way you've described it reminds me of Mafia 3 a lot. A very solid story marred by a tedious gameplay loop.
@@NiclasLoof dude, I thought I was alone in this. I REALLY wanted to continue only cause of the story but after about 5 hours, it was waaaaay too repetitive
I actually enjoyed mafia 3 lol, didn’t think it was as bad as people said
We have to wait for NoFuckingGrind mod
@@coversbydavidalejandro6986 You're so alone in thinking that, that it mostly got negative to mediocre scores from everyone.
@@moonpresence9707 yes, but i also don’t take opinions of reviewers seriously. I suppose it’s one thing to hear mediocre reviews from IGN or w/e, another when it’s a lot of actual people if that makes sense
The most hilarious thing abt this review, is that you have 35,000 of that resource and it costs 250 to craft. For some reason that one really got me.
Was really hopeful this game would carry on the Arkham legacy, and I was really interested in exploring a Court of Owls story. Sad it appears the developers couldn't put it all together.
it's not an arkham game
Suicide Squad is going to continue the Arkham series. It's a direct sequel to Arkham Knight and Rocksteady the studio that made the Arkham games with the exception of Origins is developing it.
This game is set in a completely different universe, is not a sequel to the Arkham games and was developed by WB Montreal Studios the developer behind Arkham Origins.
@@thefilthyrhombus3856 Looking forward to Suicide Squad as well!
Well, WB Montreal was actually going to make an actual Arkham Sequel unlike Suicide Squad called Arkham Legacy with Damian Wayne. The reason for cancellation never was revealed, but Rocksteady was not pleased over the story since it was going to take place like maybe 10-15 years after Arkham Knight and it would've forced them to change things for their Suicide Squad game. They said they wanted to do things on their own terms, which is fair since they created the universe. But considering they moved on Batman, they should've just let WB Montreal do what they wanted.
The thing is though, yea SS will continue the story but it's been labeled a shooter. Don't expect Arkham combat. It will change the formula watch and see.
I've been keeping my eye on this for one reason: the idea of open-world co-op was compelling to me. My question is: how did that work out? I feel like it's a key selling point (may THE key selling point) of the game and it wasn't really talked about much here.
I actually went back to this review because, as far as I can tell, SkillUp didn't actually talk about it? Or showcase any coop gameplay?
Which honestly is even more of an indictment for the game, if the infamously coop game's coop gameplay is so forgettable.
Exactly my question. It sounds to me like a lot of the issues here could be ignored with a fun co-op play through
Just to note, me and my friends were excited for it. I was the hype man for it, figuring it would be great and we could get me and my usual three friends to play through! Gameplay starts with a single-player only kinda-tutorial that takes about 30 minutes. We went through it with our respective characters, as we weren't double-dipping (Didn't even know you could). A warning was from one of my friend's friend that the co-op was broken. We went 'Oh no' but went through the tutorial.
The first two of us to complete it joined together. No problem! In the Belfrey, awesome... Then... when the enxt one "Lobby is full" What? Must be a bug, right? Tried it again, nope. Went back and forth, were able to connect each of the two individuals, then we looked it up. Then we found out as we didn't want to spoil it so didn't look at anything but the trailers and knowledge it was four characters and co-ops. Until now... And we found out, despite four characters it was ONLY two-player co-op for the campaign, and I quote: "the more you try to lean into [4-player co-op], the more you end up having to create environments that only really work for that." and the new "Heroic Assault" is a 4-player mode, but there were no expectations to make a 4-player campaign.
We immediately refunded it finding this as we expected it to be a fun four-player co-op.Just looking at the trailers set up a four-player experience, never in any trailers did I see it being only two-player, and the editing seemed to lean into it as it cut to various duos performing thing. Not until one of my friends looked back and said "You never see four players on the screen at the same time" did I notice it, though. Other than cinematics or the Belfry scenes, he was right.... I felt deceived and upset, since I was the one trying to hype for it.
Sad to see my suspicions confirmed I was really hoping for more out of this one. Thanks for saving me 60 bucks.
It’s 70 for me on console
70 on ps5 lol
>Mr Freeze makes weather now?
>Solidly written...
Pick one.
I think you might have nailed it with the live service thing. I was never interested, but curious how it would turn out. My suspicions seem to have been correct.
Edit: wait, there isn't a jump button?! WTF? Even Zelda realized they need a jump button in an open world.
The arkham games didnt have jump buttons either. They used the grapple to make up for it.
I mean, in a fantasy open world, a jump button isn't super important...But in an Urban setting? Where you're supposed to glide and stealth around? Jumping is ESSENTIAL there.
Or at least the ability to just drop straight down, or onto an enemy from a vantage point.
@@jackmcmorrow9397 okay, fair enough.
@@jackmcmorrow9397 Yeah, but you could drop down like a normal person, unlike his example at 21:40
@@AegixDrakan
No? What? Do you guys know that NONE of the old Arkham games had a jump?
They definitely saw what happened to avengers and were too deep in development to change most things
10:30 You know what makes it more insulting , is that the same studio made batman arkham origins and it was infinitely miles better, those crimes. You actually got solve them , locate the suspects and take them into custody in the most satisfying way.
Yeah which makes me think the Dev and design team changed or they were forced to make a live service Batman game untill the higher ups back peddled
All the game mechanics I hate the most, grinding and crafting, you can tell this was a mechanic made to pad the game time (and probably to sell EXP packages before the devs decided to drop the live service of the game).
Performance issues I can easily see being patched out, but the gameplay loop cannot be 'fixed'.
I feel like an easy fix to the court of owls enemies would be adding a passive ability that after perfectly dodging (if that's a mechanic) your heavy ranged attack is charged instantly, bam
You're hired
I was holding out hope that Freeze, Harley, and Clayface were just a few of many classic villains you’d encounter and fight. Overlooked the 30 FPS and the basic combat but a short roster of villains is the last straw. Just gonna replay Arkham Knight
Best thing about this game is the character models blender artists are gonna be able to rip and use in their works
Insane to hear that one cant jump when playing out a fantasy of being a highly dexterous, acrobatic, skilled combatant....each character should be busting out different flips at will
very informative review. I really feel like I got a sense of what exactly this game is, and you outlined perfectly your reasons for not liking it, and why other people might like it still. It's helped me decide that, yes, I am going to try this game, because you've perfectly lined out the elements that certain types of players will find entertaining while others won't. You've earned my subscription
I know right? I found this guy a few days ago and he has some of the best reviews I've ever seen because he just lays it out like it is, and he lets me decide if I want it or not.
Sad how so many modern game devs don't understand the importance of making sure the core gameplay loop is FUN. We play games to enjoy PLAYING them, but somehow gameplay often takes a backseat in terms of priority... Then they wonder why people don't enjoy their game 🙄
Looks to be something to pick up cheap when there's nothing to play. I wonder if they'll add an option like ghost recon did with the gear options. So you can just play the game with scaling enemies rather than having to match gear score.
"freeze can make weather now?" Yes, he's done this same thing like 15 times
I adore your reviews because although they are of course subjective, it’s your review after all, you are also objective. Your opening gambit perfectly summarises why I trust your reviews, why I always look forward to your insight.
The loot/crafting system gives it away that this game was indeed designed for a live service.
It's good to see that we as a community are making the suits question how they deliver games. It's obvious a pivot is design was made late into development.
Can only wish this will lead to more games rethinking the strategy to avoid mass boycotting. Clearly it affects the bottom line.
The suits should pull the game and refund purchase and backtrack as far back as they can to make it a fire single player game like arkam game's. Even if it takes 5 years on top of adding more story and having to re hier the VA or get new ones. They should do it.
@@dane4073 that’s such a stupid idea
@@SpliffyHusk lol 😂
Yeah ... grindy is the right term for this. I'm reviewing this too and so much of it is so off. My partner loves Batman and plays the main missions for the story... while I do the grunt work and do all the side stuff to get the decent gear (including each characters unique traversal methods which should be unlocked from the get go). I do it because I love her and so she doesn't have the face the grind. Good review man as always!
The hero she deserves
You'd better be getting something back in return, sir. That's a lot of pain to go through for someone else
That's kinda cute.
Though she could just get herself some popcorn and watch the cutscenes on UA-cam, thus sparing everyone a lot of headaches ^^
Based
@@Daniel-yz3zf Having her by my side is more than enough ... and she drives me places, so that does help.
This is so accurate, when I got to the Harley Quinn bomb part on hard mode the controls and combat was so frustrating. I like some aspects of the game but man it has problems.
Aren't Batgirl and Nightwing supposed to be fast and nimble? They look so sluggish.
I wanted to see more acrobatic stuff from Nightwing especially
Another one of my go to UA-camrs for game reviews that has reviews up and early. Your format and delivery of reviews are top notch as well as detailed. "Avengers bad" lol that game has coined a new term hearing "Avengers bad" speaks volumes. I will be busy playing A Plague Tale: Requiem instead. Might pick up Gotham Knights when it goes on sale.
I told everyone in the preview videos on UA-cam that this looked like a live service game to me. It's interesting that now as it turns out it feels like it was supposed to be but them got retooled. Everyone tried to shout me down for my concerns on those videos. Seems like my concerns were warranted even if it turned out to not actually be live service.
14:42 THEY FLY NOW? THEY FLY NOW!
Oh dear god no
I wish Red Hood had his own video game. Something with linear levels. Like The Punisher video game from THQ back in the day.
Definitely still interested in checking this out once it gets real cheap. I have a feeling a lot of us thought this was looking very live servicey based on what was known about it before release.
Looks like a game that will come to gamepass sometime so i am waiting for that
@@sane7527 Plus since it's a WB game, it'll most likely be on sale 50 times a year as well. I've lost count of how many times Arkham Knight has been on sale this year alone lol.
And that's just on Xbox consoles.
No 60fps = No buy for me. Thanks for saving me money Skill Up. Good review as well. I actually went and bought my first Souls game I bought Demon Souls and love it. Amazing visuals and 60fps.
Just those bright flashes when hitting enemies makes this game completely off-limits for me.