I originally caught interest of the Arkham games due to the trainwreck that was Suicide Squad KTJL that made me curious about the good batman games rocksteady actually made not to mention the absurdity that is the r/batmanarkham subreddit. A few months later, I'm here playing the series for the first time and despite being a little frustrated with it at first I think I enjoyed it. My mentality was since my other knowledge of superhero games as of recent was insomniac spiderman and was definitely unfair to compare it because this is a game from 2009 because asylum plays at a slower but still very fun and satisfying pace I only wished I knew that sooner because the early game would have been more enjoyable. This is strangely enough the first batman media I actually consumed and it's probably a pretty good one as it shows a more serious look on Batman and his antagonists. The voice acting despite it being weirdly stiff at times probably due to lack of direction, has some great voicework as the voice cast is directly from the animated series with Kevin Conroy as batman (may he rest in peace 🫡) and Mark Hamill as Joker. The stealth sections which was the things I was looking forward to in this was ended up being different than I expected but I still enjoyed it a lot as it requires a lot of quick thinking to play through the sections (or missions) of the game. I think as a complete noob to batman media this is a great introduction for anyone interested in a superhero title or Batman in general

BATMAN: RETURN TO ARKHAM - ARKHAM ASYLUM - GREATNESS FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS

I still remember the first time I played the original Batman: Arkham Asylum. Being a bored teenager looking for a new video game to play, I scanned the shelves of my local Game store (remember those?) and settled on a game with a brooding looking Batman on its front cover. Slightly sceptical of what to expect in terms of quality due to previous experiences with superhero video game adaptations, what I got instead was to become one of my favourite games, ever.

Batman: Arkham Asylum's introduction sequence immediately bucked the trend in regards to what I'd previously experienced with more campy, light-hearted superhero games. The world of Asylum is as dark and as gritty as its protagonist, which is perhaps unsurprising given that it draws inspiration from the seriously disturbing - yet brilliant - graphic novel by Grant Morrison A Serious House on Serious Earth.

This remaster excels in all the areas that the original game does, yet the decision to make the colour palette brighter does slightly detract from the moody tone that the original release effortlessly established. The engrossing story, the tight, claustrophobic level design, the iconic FreeFlow combat system, the phenomenal performances of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as Joker? All still here of course, in all their glory.

Having played the later games in the Arkham series since completing Asylum all those years ago however, I was struck by how limited Batman's gadgets and moveset in this game are in comparison to the later iterations. Yet it is unfair to judge Asylum too harshly on this alone - it was after all pioneering at the time of its initial release - and it is only natural that later installments in the series would build upon the solid foundations that its predecessors established.

While I do still have my slight gripes with the game, the pacing issues towards the ending for instance, these were obviously issues which existed in the original Asylum as well as this remaster. These issues do not at all detract from what the game sets out to achieve - to give the player the power fantasy of (for lack of a better phrase) feeling like Batman.

Whether cleaning house in the game's various combat scenarios, striking from the shadows against armed thugs in the series' now-iconic 'predator' sections, or simply stalking the corridors of Arkham Asylum itself - B:AA never rips you out of the immersive experience of truly feeling like Gotham's Dark Knight.

Overall, whilst going back to the game which started it all for the Arkham series may prove slightly jarring to those with prior experience with later entries in the Arkhamverse, this remaster is without doubt the best place for those unfamiliar with the universe to begin.