This replay of Arkham Knight was something of a revelation. I had always liked this game but I also got so caught up in the issues that you could easily single out to nitpick to death, with that namely being the overabundance of repetitive batmobile sections, the lack of memorable boss battles, the blatantly predictable story twist, etc. In the grand scheme of things though allowing these hiccups to torpedo a game which excels so comprehensively on so many other levels is effectively missing the forest for the trees. Because on this replay I've garnered a deeper appreciation for Arkham Knight and I’m finally ready to see it as an unassailable masterpiece on the same level as Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. This game holds up amazingly well nearly a decade after its initial release. On a sheer sensory and technical level it’s positively sumptuous, boasting absolutely stunning visuals and graphics, a gorgeously atmospheric open world that’s rich in both depth and content, and top notch moment to moment gameplay. The traversal is fast paced and very efficient, the stealth sections are about as blisteringly intense and tightly designed as ever, and the combat remains more or less the same fluid freeflow system from the other games but polished up to a mirror sheen, with just the right mix of mechanical complexity and varied enemy types to keep it consistently challenging and fun. I’ve also come to really love this game’s story. It takes a while to really cook and the writing itself is far from spotless (as it definitely lacks the same butter smooth pacing of the prior games and certain beats aren’t entirely fleshed out or built up) but the story which does emerge is ultimately still incredibly compelling. It offers very emotionally effective character drama and plenty to talk about and think about thematically. It also contains some absolutely fantastic moments throughout which rank among some of the best in the series. The side missions additionally contribute very meaningfully to the overarching narrative alongside just being incredibly unique and engaging gameplay content in their own right. All of these reasons as well as many others more are why i absolutely love Arkham Knight in spite of it all. It's messy and imperfect but it's also just so much fun. It tells a highly ambitious story which conclusively rounds off a saga of fantastic games near flawlessly while also paying due tribute to its characters. The Arkham games are such a huge part of why i love video games so much in the first place and revisiting them was certainly a fruitful experience.