This review contains spoilers
"Perhaps I treated you too harshly.."
In 2017, I tried Arkham Knight on Game Pass... I really wanted to like it on my Xbox. I just...couldn't. This game was horrible to me when it was available back then. I got up to the ACE Chemicals level and decided that was enough and that this game was an embarrassment to the Batman franchise...However...
After beating Origins in December on PC, I decided to do an Arkham Replay, and after beating City again, I said "fuck it", time to play Knight on PC. I bought a code on G2A for 4$ and went to work, and honestly? I ended up loving the game this time.
The story is way better than I give it credit for, and even though it does a poor job of relaying it's core lore through dialogue and the story structure alone, the underlying narrative it about a Batman struggling to accept the death of The Joker and being infected by Joker Toxin from City. Throughout the game, a "ghost" of The Joker haunts Batman, and taunts him about the current story events. However, one of my favorite things about this game is that Batman NEVER once acknowledges the Joker. Ever. He fights off the thoughts by not acknowledging them, and I think that was a brilliant way to portray the struggle Bruce is going through.
The Combat is the best the series has ever seen. Straight up. The smoothness and radius of the free-flow combat system is far improved from the last entry -- Arkham City, and provides a genuine thrill with the addition of Fear Takedowns, a multi-enemy takedown that scares the shit out of them, a true feeling of a brutal Batman whose done with everything.
While the villain being Jason Todd wasn't a huge twist, I did feel it brought the core feeling of the Red Hood story to the game, which was unfortunately covered up by making it half a Scarecrow villain story which starts to drag in certain areas.
I enjoyed all the side missions -- with the exception of Riddler's Revenge -- and got them all finished before the main campaign, to have a true feeling of being The Batman and cleaning up Gotham in my last triumphant attempt to save the city.
Overall, Arkham Knight is mad slept on, not just by me, but dozens of people who need to revisit it.
In 2017, I tried Arkham Knight on Game Pass... I really wanted to like it on my Xbox. I just...couldn't. This game was horrible to me when it was available back then. I got up to the ACE Chemicals level and decided that was enough and that this game was an embarrassment to the Batman franchise...However...
After beating Origins in December on PC, I decided to do an Arkham Replay, and after beating City again, I said "fuck it", time to play Knight on PC. I bought a code on G2A for 4$ and went to work, and honestly? I ended up loving the game this time.
The story is way better than I give it credit for, and even though it does a poor job of relaying it's core lore through dialogue and the story structure alone, the underlying narrative it about a Batman struggling to accept the death of The Joker and being infected by Joker Toxin from City. Throughout the game, a "ghost" of The Joker haunts Batman, and taunts him about the current story events. However, one of my favorite things about this game is that Batman NEVER once acknowledges the Joker. Ever. He fights off the thoughts by not acknowledging them, and I think that was a brilliant way to portray the struggle Bruce is going through.
The Combat is the best the series has ever seen. Straight up. The smoothness and radius of the free-flow combat system is far improved from the last entry -- Arkham City, and provides a genuine thrill with the addition of Fear Takedowns, a multi-enemy takedown that scares the shit out of them, a true feeling of a brutal Batman whose done with everything.
While the villain being Jason Todd wasn't a huge twist, I did feel it brought the core feeling of the Red Hood story to the game, which was unfortunately covered up by making it half a Scarecrow villain story which starts to drag in certain areas.
I enjoyed all the side missions -- with the exception of Riddler's Revenge -- and got them all finished before the main campaign, to have a true feeling of being The Batman and cleaning up Gotham in my last triumphant attempt to save the city.
Overall, Arkham Knight is mad slept on, not just by me, but dozens of people who need to revisit it.