Batman: Arkham __ discussion thread

[Luna]

There's been plenty of discussion of the Arkham games (Origins, in particular) in various thread lately, so I figured it would be handy to have a designated thread for the topic. Expect spoilers.

I finished the main storyline of Origins in the wee hours of Monday morning and I must say, I was impressed. I was extremely disappointed when I saw that the Joker was behind everything as usual (saw the spoilers on /v/ a few days before release), but when I actually played it, it felt appropriate. I loved the origin segment for Joker - very reminiscent of The Killing Joke.

The voice acting wasn't bad. Everyone sounded like they should, in my opinion.

I guess they're retconning the back-breaking part of Bane and Batman's rivalry (which had been canon in Asylum). I'm okay with that. Come to think of it, they retconned that in City by having Batman not know who Azrael is.

There is a depressingly small amount of easter eggs. The easter eggs in City and Asylum were some of the best parts.

I hate how some of the assassins were made into side quests (and, in Shiva's case, bad side quests). I do like how it implies that Shiva is involved with the League of Assassins, though.

I like how it made certain things more like Asylum - sequenced detonator and inverted takedown as upgrades rather than default, the awesomely OP multi-batarang, and a more swoosh-y knockout sound come to mind.

There is a severe lack of Scarecrow, although Rocksteady is probably giving him a significant role in the City sequel so I'm fine with it.

DLC is terribly confusing. It took me three tries to get the Knightfall pack to work and I'm not entirely clear on what's happening with the season pass. I got two skins (Noel and 60's Batman), but nothing else. The Deathstroke DLC works perfectly and I'm glad that he ended up not being a reskin of Robin.

There is an inexcusable amount of glitches and framerate drops, some of which can be game-breaking. Graphics are unimpressive (especially on Shiva's face) - they don't seem any better than City's, which seemed a little worse than Asylum's.

I feel that it should have taken place almost entirely in Blackgate in a similar fashion to Asylum, and that it should have been less open world as there's little motivation to explore the world anyway.

I give it 7/10, good but not brilliant. If anything, Electrocutioner's fight makes it worth playing.

I intend to play through it on NG+ and I Am The Night, but only after I finish Enigma's stuff and the mysterious side quest on NG. Has anyone done that, anyway? I think it involves memorial plaques but I'm not sure.

I would love the hear other people's thoughts on Origins and the series as a whole. Let the discussion begin.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

It was more of the old familiar, for me.

I find it hard to say anything negative when the game delivered exactly what I wanted; To be Batman again.

As you stated though, it's unfortunate that some of the assassins were relegated to side quests. I think that the Joker reveal and the bad taste it left people with would have been softened if they weren't so underutilized.

The shock gauntlets are totally BA and I love, love, LOVE being able to fly to the Batcave to train at being a better bat.

I've heard quite a few say that they didn't like how dead the city felt, but I thought worked perfectly in terms of making you feel absolutely alone in a city that is one more bad guy away from crumbling around you.

Gotham = Manhattan, under fourteenth street on the coldest night in November.

"If anything, Electrocutioner's fight makes it worth playing." +1

I'm hoping to get the season pass, I really want to play as ninja Bruce.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

Here is a list of easter eggs you can go search for.

http://www.ign.com/wikis/batman-arkham-origins/Cheats_and_Secrets

[Luna]

I like how they list a game-breaking glitch as an easter egg.... Anyway, that's the first good list I've seen so far.

I forgot how disappointing the Mad Hatter was. They said he was going to have a much more significant role in Origins than he had in City, but it was basically just a longer but much easier Scarecrow segment. The only difficulty was brought about by the camera angle.

I don't see how one side quest that's unrelated to the main plot is more significant of a role than a side quest that can easily be mistaken for a part of the main plot.

Hell, freaking Bird's side quest was longer, and he's essentially a thug who owns a bird.

Does anyone else think that the TBA DLC will be Joker-related? Maybe playing through his fateful Red Hood escapade?

[Prowl 1701]

Maybe playing through his fateful Red Hood escapade?

I would absolutely LOVE that!  I still need to finish up the main game first though.  Work is keeping me busy.