What is your favorite Arkham game?(obvious spoilers)

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stroopwafel

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Can you believe it's already been over 3 years since Arkham Knight? Time really goes by way too fast. Anyways, recently replayed all the Arkham games and I have to say Arkham Knight is probably my least favorite. It looks absolutely stunning and I love the Batman/Joker dynamic in this game. Making Joker a figment of Batman's imagination really did much to show how they are different sides of the same coin. It also enabled Joker to 'chase' Batman throughout the entire game making for some really interesting reflections. However, the rest of the game is really not that great. I loved the Batmobile but hated the tank sections and the endless stream of drones you had to shoot. There is so much of it that it's more World of Tanks than Arkham. The Arkham Knight is a stupid character. Yeah, you could see from miles away that he was Jason Todd but that isn't really what bothered me. His entire presence was just annoying. I did love the design though, espescially toward the end when his helmet started to light up red like he was punched back to the Red Hood.

Having Scarecrow as the main villain was kinda meh as well. Again, the (re)design was awesome but I wasn't sold on on his motivations which seems to have been based on random Wikipedia facts on the neurobiological basis of fear that he repeated all the time. It's like his stupid fear gas served to bore Batman to death with random facts. Side missions were all shit in this game, with maybe the exception of Firefly which really made the most of the Batmobile(ie no tank sections).

The Batman/Joker dynamic in Knight(which was really well done) and some moments in the story like Gordon's reaction to Batman when he found out about Barbara's kidnapping and the weight on Batman's shoulders when he realized she was 'murdered' were the definite highlights, but in general the writing was just a lot weaker. Espescially in the side missions the absence of Dini could definitely be noticed. Take Two-Face for example. He was really cool in City and his character from the comics stood out but in Knight he was just this one-dimensional bank robber. Same for Penguin or the super annoying Riddler. The trailers for Arkham Knight kinda had this Knightfall vibe but that was definitely nowhere to be seen in the game.

Arkham City has to be the best. It's more open than Arkham Asylum but exploring it feels similarly intimate. Espescially the way Gotham is build with different levels of Batman history stacked on top of another. The main story is awesome with Dr Strange's intentions feeling quite sinister and the Joker also having a strong presence. But beside that every side mission has a story that is of similar high quality. You really feel immersed in Batman's world, or more particular the long comic book history.

By extension I felt the same with Arkham Asylum, which would be a close second for best Arkham game. I was absolutely blown away when I played this for the first time in 2009 and it will probably remain my biggest gaming surprise of all time. I just think that City improved on everything that made Asylum great even if the metroidvania structure is still unique to this game.

Shouldn't forget Origins ofcourse, which I also enjoyed but put in a kind of similar league as Knight. Really bad side missions and the world was spread way too thin. But the main story missions were really fun, and I absolutely loved that whole 'Gotham at Christmas' theme which actually reminded me a lot of Batman Returns.

So yeah, four Arkham games all good in their own way but Asylum and City are definitely the best in my opinion. Now that Rocksteady apparently moved on from Arkham(for whatever mystery project they are working on) I wonder who is going to make the next Batman game and if it will live up to the legacy set by Rocksteady. Not just Batman but superhero games in general; they showed licensed games don't have to be crap. Bring on...Spider-man I guess. :p
 

Zeraki

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Asylum hands down.

It's got the best atmosphere in the series and those Scarecrow sections are absolutely incredible (I was so disappointed with how he was handled in Knight). I also loved the more linear structure of Asylum, it gave me the same sense of isolation I feel from Metroid games.
 

Silvanus

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City > Asylum > Knight (remember, I played the PC version first) > Origins.

I love City to bits, and it was in my top 10 games until it was knocked off only a couple of years ago.
 

Mcgeezaks

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Asylum > Knight > City

I couldn't get into City, I don't even think I finished it. I bought Knight like a year after release so I didn't go through all the problems it had so I enjoyed it a lot, the graphics are amazing as well even to this day.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Hard toss between Asylum and City.
I like the gameplay refinement in City by a long shot but nothing quite beats the rigorous story/structure of Asylum.
 

Trunkage

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Toss up between City and Asylum. They both have pros and cons.

What about what's best between Origins and Kinght? I'm actually leaning more to Origins as I seem to remember more interesting game play elements in there. I also think both games used the Joker better than City or Asylum. The moment when Joker first meets Batman and him rematching the video and finding Batman's motive so alluring was pretty cool. Phantom Joker from Knight was good too. Compared this to Asylum were he just typical Joker or Asylum where he's sick and doing stupidly convulated plans that lead to nowhere.
 

sXeth

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I'd give Asylum a narrow edge over City. Better atmosphere and general pacing. But a little bog standard on the combat and terrible boss fights.

City upped the gameplay potential, but the story and atmosphere gets a little lost in the Variety Show cameo parade its got going on.
 

Saelune

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Well, Asylum I played it during a free weekend, beat it before the weekend was over, and bought it anyways.

City, I kind of just stopped playing it after a short while.
 

WhiteFangofWhoa

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Coincidentally, I just finished Arkham Origins this week. I've now done them all except for Knight.

I'd vote City for improving on Asylum in nearly every category. Origins did introduce a larger map, the shock gauntlets, some new Detective mode stuff and more ground-level crimes to solve which I rather liked, but it was overshadowed by multiple game freezes and general shoddiness as well as the weakest story of the three.

Definitely a harder game series than the videos make it look, especially whenever there was an area with a large gang of gun-toting enemies with hostages. Mess up your stealth just once and you're probably Bat swiss cheese, or else a hostage will be executed. I also found the blade dodge mechanic very finicky and difficult to pull off; easier to just evade blade-wielding foes most of the time.

I remember really wanting to see a Beyond-era Arkham game after Knight came out, but I don't know if it would have the same appeal using Terry McGinnis' less iconic rogues' gallery instead of Bruce Wayne's.
 

JohnnyDelRay

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Memory is a bit foggy on the earliest two, so it could be nostalgia glasses influence but City would probably be my favorite, followed by Asylum. Actually prefer Asylum for the story, atmosphere, gameplay, and of course the thrill and amazement of playing the first one in such a fun series was mind blowing. City improved on everything, and made it into a bigger scale though, and makes it an overall more fun game to play. Asylum definitely has the strongest story out of all IMO.

I'd put Knight and Origins rather close. Knight only comes out on top because of Joker's masterful solo singing performance. Ok not just that, but as others have pointed out, the dynamic between Joker and Batman here is done so right, I really found him a highlight of the game (more than the Arkham Knight himself). I actually like the Batmobile, it looks sick and controls well, and integration into puzzles was a unique and nifty execution. But there was just too damn much of it. And to make it the boss battle with Deathstroke was a massive, massive letdown. The tank stealth sections were plain annoying too. But I had a great time with it despite all that.

The only thing I remember that kept me playing Origins was the 100 on 1 challenge, as various characters. My friends and I would hammer on that until our eyes bled (or would feel like it, not blinking while you take down 100 foes of increasing difficulty can dry your eyeballs right out).


TL;DR - City > Asylum > Knight > Origins
 

Phoenixmgs_v1legacy

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City > Asylum > Knight

-City:
It took the solid foundation of Asylum and really expanded upon it. The whole movement system and combat was greatly improved. The combat in Asylum is really rather barebones when compared to City's additions of the quick-use gadgets in combat along with the beatdown mechanic. Arkham combat hasn't evolved past City regardless if we're talking another Arkham game or a Middle-earth game or [insert any other game with Arkham combat]. The city itself was went open world but just the right size IMO to stay intimate enough and learn it like the back of your hand while also integrating well-designed linear sections like the museum. The boss fights are definitely the best in the core trilogy with Mr. Freeze being the standout. The story was also the best of the core trilogy capped off with a really amazing ending and one that could be considered the real finale to TAS. The actual Riddler puzzles were a great addition, though I think all the collect-a-thon Riddler trophies should be removed from all the games, they're really just busywork.

-Asylum:
This game really set a great foundation but there was quite a bit of cracking and "settling" to be done. The combat was really barebones to where it was fresh at the start but definitely grew repetitive and tiresome before the end even on my 1st playthrough. The core story was pretty weak, it was literally just Joker got some Titan formula and made everything big. There were some great moments, mainly the Scarecrow bits and of course, just having Mark Hamill voicing Joker elevated it all. The boss fights outside of Ivy were pretty bad with the final boss fight being the worst. The Riddler trophies were just nothing but collect-a-thon open world filler stuff.

-Knight:
This is where the standard formula really just became overused. I recall the excuse to get Batman locked up yet again with all the villains was easily the weakest with the biggest stretches in logic. The overuse of the Batmobile just ruined both large gameplay chunks along with the story itself. For example, I recall Yahtzee making a great point that the Arkham Knight could've just strapped people to the tanks and Batman wouldn't have been able to do shit to them. Also, it was really disappointing follow up to was hinted at by Azrael in City about Gotham burning and such. However, with all that said, I think the overall plot when looked at in a purely standalone manner is probably the overall strongest in the core trilogy. Asylum is so simplistic and very Saturday morning cartoon-ish while City has some issues with stuff not being concluded (like what happened to the infected citizens) with Knight not having any of those issues. Open the game up with a stronger intro/setup and make Arkham Knight more threatening by removing the stupid tank fights and you have the most consistently strong plot in the trilogy while also having the strongest Batman/Joker dynamic. Thus, Arkham Knight ends up being the worst in the trilogy just due to Rocksteady throwing in everything along with the kitchen sink like an open world too big, far overdone Batmobile, and a slew of very filler-y side quests on par with an Ubisoft game.

BabyfartsMcgeezaks said:
I couldn't get into City, I don't even think I finished it.
You should check out the ending on Youtube, it's really great.

JohnnyDelRay said:
Asylum definitely has the strongest story out of all IMO.
I really don't get that because the plot was just Joker gets some Titan formula and makes everything big. There's great bits in the game but it's mainly secondary stuff like the Scarecrow parts.
 
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I'd say City was my favourite, I like the better range of gadgets to do Batman things with and the environments have a bit more variety. Arkham comes in second. I'd say Origins next, despite my disappointment with the story since I still liked the gameplay. And lastly Knight, which I found often descended into just a slog
 

Saelune

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WhiteFangofWhoa said:
I remember really wanting to see a Beyond-era Arkham game after Knight came out, but I don't know if it would have the same appeal using Terry McGinnis' less iconic rogues' gallery instead of Bruce Wayne's.
I would absolutely play this.
 

Hawki

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Wait...no mention of Lockdown? Blackgate? Underworld? VR?

Peh, scrubs. :p
 

Chimpzy_v1legacy

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It's a toss-up between Asylum and City for me. Asylum has the best pacing and atmosphere, but City has the best gameplay. ever finished either Origins, because a gamebreaking bug locked me out of completion and I didn't feel like starting over. Knight is just 'ok'. I disliked the overuse of the Batmobile and there's a too much busywork.

I'd rank them Asylum = City > Knight > Origins
 

Yoshi178

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Asylum

Asylum was good. City sucked ass. didn't bother playing Arkham origins or Arkham knight because City was that boring.
 

B-Cell_v1legacy

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Asylum by far.

the best atmosphere, best story, best level design, even combat was somewhat challanging on hard.

City was good. but it was too easy even on hard as its combat is more simplify. open world is not needed, asylum structure was fine that was kinda semi open linear. otherwise i enjoyed it too.

Origins was awful game. Knights also suck.

it lost the magic once it gone open world.


Asylum > City >>>>>>>> Origins>>>>> Knight

It got worse with each installment. Asylum remain best in series.
 

WhiteFangofWhoa

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Saelune said:
WhiteFangofWhoa said:
I would absolutely play this.
So would a lot of people I hope, but Knight seems to be a clear sign that Rocksteady is tired of making Arkham games. Perhaps a new developer could take up the reins and put some new blood into it. A fully flying Batmobile could take away some of the confinement problems the previous game had with it. Imagine a boss fight like this:


Gotta love Will Freidle and Henry Rollins.