I'm definitely of the belief that these games lost a little bit of magic as their open world settings expanded; Arkham Asylum is a wonderfully designed, intricate setting for a Metroidvaniya. It's loaded with atmosphere and Easter eggs and the main campaign is wonderfully paced.

But it's also hard to ignore the way the sequels improved on this game, and it does feel quite old in some ways (I mean... It is literally 15 years old now). While the combat would become a little over stuffed in future entries, they definitely improved on it, and Asylum's feels somewhat basic. Enemies take turns attacking you, animations are fairly limited and the free flow combat just doesn't flow as freely as it would later on. But nonetheless it's still tight and satisfying.

The other big issue is the story, which is mostly fun and wonderfully performed (RIP the GOAT, Mr Conroy) -- but TITAN just isn't a compelling angle, and the big Joker finale is so lame, along with most of the other boss fights.

I was going to 100% this, because I've been meaning to for a decade -- but I remembered just how tedious that is, even in this - the smallest game.

Steam Deck notes: despite an unsupported rating from Valve, this is an excellent Deck game.