Not nearly as mediocre as I remember it. In fact, Arkham Knight is a pretty decent conclusion to the Arkham-trilogy. The issues people had with it on release still ring true, especially compared to the previous games. Do I miss the Metroidvania-style of exploration? Sure. But in a vacuum it’s a solid action adventure.

The game has a severe case of Ubisoftitis (hey, it was the 2010s’; we just have to deal with it) and the map could’ve been shrunken down quite a bit. All the (optional) watchtowers, roadblocks and what have you get old fast. And Many hanging plot threads from previous games also get dealt with pretty haphazardly and as a result some side missions are underwhelming and, frankly, quite boring.

The largest problem I had with the game was the controls. But that was probably on account of me replaying the whole trilogy back-to-back. As Knight has the added Batmotank as a mode of transportation, the layout has shifted somewhat which takes some getting used to.

There’s also the fact that the timing, and hit detection of the free flow-combat is a little bit… off? What was perfectly imbedded in my muscle memory at the end of the last game suddenly feels a little bit stiff; as if Batman’s years of crime fighting have finally catched up with him (which works thematically with the story, I guess).

However I guess I’m in the minority here, but I enjoyed the AR-challenges and Riddler-shenanigans quite a bit. They’re a blast.

Building combo streaks and finding specific ways to take out henchmen and goons on the challange maps have been single most fun I’ve had with the Arkham-games. Knight has the added variety of races and tank battles which is a welcome change of pace.

Arkham Knight is the pinnacle of the bloated AAA open-world design. A beautifully crafted world with an astonishing level of detail that rivals the Gotham of the Tim Burton's movies that has not a single meaningful moment. A real exercise in futility.

Ubisoft might get the most shit for this but Rocksteady truly beat them at their own game here. Not even them would be sadistic enough to hide over 200 pointless collectibles behind so many stupid puzzles.

I can't even say if I enjoyed myself while playing this. Part of me had fun gliding, the other wanted to throw the controller at the screen every time I had to listen to one of the villains talk.

This game is a textbook on how to NOT write villains. Not once I thought they were menacing or dangerous, most of the times I just wanted them to shut up. And Joker is the worst example of this, he shouldn't even have been in this game. Feels almost like they were afraid the game wouldn't work without him, so they just threw up the flimsiest excuse for him to be in it and gave Mark Hamill a compilation of all the worst lines of dialogue he would have on his career until The Last Jedi.

Anyway, Batman is a shitty superhero, when are they releasing a decent Hellboy game? I should have just played the Blacksad game instead.

In my gaming career, Batman has always been one of my favorite most awaited games, so much so this was the first time I preordered a title in my life.
I'm a long-time fan of the series, knee-deep into comics and movies, and could not wait for the latest and final installment after years of, as a kid, having to wait for the prices to drop.
Sadly, as it's common knowledge, this was one of the worst launches in gaming has ever seen and one of the most infamous. The game was poorly optimized, had to be taken off of Steam, and came back months later with little to no difference.

One of the biggest issues was the scope of the game, in Unreal Engine 3, with a studio that didn't have the ability nor manpower to optimize it. A game that almost a decade later remains one of the most stunning games ever made!
If you read this in 2024, "Iron Galaxy", hasn't improved at all[www.gamerevolution.com] and is the name that we PC gamers dread when seeing who has Sony employed for a said PC port.
It got so bad that Naughty Dog had to get involved in optimizing the PC version of TLOU1 anyway...[www.pushsquare.com]
What really helped this game is that, with time, the hardware had become so good that when I finally came back to it, it performed really well regardless.

Ignoring that, the game is a wonderful open world that builds over the foundation of Arkham Knight City and Origin, while trying to add some more detective stuff for the World's Greatest Detective. It still is not at the level of Asylum sadly, making looking for clues more or less like in The Witcher 3, but still better than in previous games.
A new addition is also the car for mobility, with full map destructive capabilities, on a much bigger map. Driving the Batmobile in Goatham City completely fulfills the dreams of a Batman fan, as if grappling hook and gliding were not enough.
Everything, from collectibles to side missions is an upgrade compared to the other titles with a lot more depth to them, having more interesting objectives, bosses, and storylines.
The combat system is more complex and fun, yet still not as technically difficult as Asylum, but fun nonetheless!

The story is wonderful and is a great ending to the series, especially including the DLCs that add enough new content to the game that I'd strongly suggest them to get the full experience.

Overall, this is a beautiful game that I strongly suggest, especially when after all this time it still holds this well on all fronts!
But sadly, history can't be erased and PC ports should not rely on hardware becoming so unbearably stronger that it cuts through bad work, and sadly the publisher clearly hasn't learned their lessons years later when looking at Gotham Knights[www.dsogaming.com].

6.9