Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

[The JareBear]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

Imagine if you would a GTA V type of open world game where you can switch between characters, except they are THE JUSTICE LEAGUE! You could even do online with some players being villains pulling heists and stuff.

I imagine that game would be called Heaven.

Maybe one day....hopefully we get something like that

[Smallville102001]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

Not to open this up into a Arkham Knight discussion, but it was a disappointment to me on multiple fronts. The side missions were all redundant and tedious. The lack of challenge maps at launch to hold back as DLC was infuriating. The main story itself had some interesting moments, but it was pretty obvious to anybody familiar with the Batman mythos.

It was an enjoyable game, but I think its on a lower level than the other 3 games of the series. Origins is not without its flaws, but that game did a wonderful job with its Joker origin and boss fights.

Arkham knight is underrated big time! You said the side missions where all redundant and tedious but really you can say that about ever one of the batman Arkham games really. The lack of challenge maps at launch yeah that was bad but now the game has more challenge maps then the other Arkham games and you can play has more then just batman in them to. So really this game has just about the most replay value of any of the Arkham games. The story was the best of the 4 games and I had no idea who knight was in till about half way into the game and even then it made since. Origins story on the other hand was the only time it felt like joker was forced into one of these games and made less since to have him in the game then who the knight was in knight. Origins over all is a great game to but its story is grossly overrated.

[TheShizNo1]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

It made less sense to have Joker in an "early" Batman game? And if you read the Batman comics then you knew who AK was pretty early on.

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[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

Arkham knight is underrated big time! You said the side missions where all redundant and tedious but really you can say that about ever one of the batman Arkham games really. The lack of challenge maps at launch yeah that was bad but now the game has more challenge maps then the other Arkham games and you can play has more then just batman in them to. So really this game has just about the most replay value of any of the Arkham games. The story was the best of the 4 games and I had no idea who knight was in till about half way into the game and even then it made since. Origins story on the other hand was the only time it felt like joker was forced into one of these games and made less since to have him in the game then who the knight was in knight. Origins over all is a great game to but its story is grossly overrated.

Asylum's side missions were basically just item hunts, but I still enjoyed the Riddles and Riddler's challenge. I thought City's side missions were done well to flesh out the the mythos with small, tightly contained stories that unfortunately were not taken advantage of in AK (Hush and Azrael). Some of them did basically repeat the same gameplay sequence, but each piece added to its story and progressed in an enjoying and rewarding way.

Arkham Knight, however, tasked you with doing the same challenge map 5 times and then face Penguin or Two-Face. It made the most fun parts of the previous games (the challenge maps) into boring, tedious work with little reward. The fact that there was no legitimate challenge mode like the 3 previous games made it even more disappointing. I know the game has more challenge maps now since the community complained loudly, but I doubt it has higher replay than Arkham City. Plus, weren't some of those DLC challenge maps paid-DLC?


The Arkham Series handled The Joker amazingly well apart from his boss fight in Asylum. Origins did a wonderful job introducing him to Gotham and Batman. For me the narratives for Origins and Asylum are the high points of the series with City and Knight being noticeably lower - which is a typical drawback as open world games become bigger.

[AshamanCarnage]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

It made less sense to have Joker in an "early" Batman game? And if you read the Batman comics then you knew who AK was pretty early on.

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They had me duped for a little bit just because they said it was a new character, and I knew it couldn't be so obvious who it was.

[DickDalewood]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

My opinion: Asylum is the best of the three, no question. I would put Knight second and City third.

The tight pacing, story telling, and just overall feel of Asylum hooked me from the start and made it one of my favorite games last gen.

One thing I think we can all agree on... we finally got the superhero video game trilogy we deserved. The fact that so many have a different favorite game in the series is a testament to exactly that.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

Asylum's side missions were basically just item hunts, but I still enjoyed the Riddles and Riddler's challenge. I thought City's side missions were done well to flesh out the the mythos with small, tightly contained stories that unfortunately were not taken advantage of in AK (Hush and Azrael). Some of them did basically repeat the same gameplay sequence, but each piece added to its story and progressed in an enjoying and rewarding way.

Arkham Knight, however, tasked you with doing the same challenge map 5 times and then face Penguin or Two-Face. It made the most fun parts of the previous games (the challenge maps) into boring, tedious work with little reward. The fact that there was no legitimate challenge mode like the 3 previous games made it even more disappointing. I know the game has more challenge maps now since the community complained loudly, but I doubt it has higher replay than Arkham City. Plus, weren't some of those DLC challenge maps paid-DLC?


The Arkham Series handled The Joker amazingly well apart from his boss fight in Asylum. Origins did a wonderful job introducing him to Gotham and Batman. For me the narratives for Origins and Asylum are the high points of the series with City and Knight being noticeably lower - which is a typical drawback as open world games become bigger.

I love the riddlers stuff even though a lot of people don't. It is one of the best things about these games. But asylum didn't have any side mission stuff other then those even though the other 3 did and my point was that city and origins side mission or repetitive to just like knight's. I agree that not having the challenge maps in there from the start was bad because challenge maps are a big reason these games have so much replay value. Most of the maps where DLC yes and that was a bad mistake but what I am saying is after that the game has more maps then any of the Arkham games do but yes they should have been free. If I would have known the game wouldn't have had those on day 1 like the other games did I would have most likely wanted for the game to have been out and gotten cheaper before I got the game and then get all the DLC.


When it comes to the stories knight and city are by far the best then asylum and then last origins. Joker should have never been black mask.

It made less sense to have Joker in an "early" Batman game? And if you read the Batman comics then you knew who AK was pretty early on.

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Its not the fact that Joker was in a early batman game that was bad or made less sense it was the fact that the made him black mask thing that was stupid and felt force and was far more predictable then who knight was in knight. In knight I had no clue who knight was in till about half way into the game. Origins on the other hand I new black mask was just going to really be joker like 20 minutes into the game.

[illwill10]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

I hope this is something that is remastered for next generation. Yeah, I know some don't like the idea of a remaster of a remaster especially when it comes to bundled games. But, I would love to revisit this series again at higher resolution, frame rates, and higher res textures. Especially if they could bundle in Arkham Knight. I would love to play Arkham City again at the the optimized for next gen hardware.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

I would imagine they would just port the Arkham bundle onto the new hardware, but probably won't see it on there for awhile.

I've been playing Arkham City on PC for about a week or so (up to rescuing Dr. Freeze from Penguin while completing challenge maps as they pop up) and honestly it still looks really great to me.

[illwill10]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

I would imagine they would just port the Arkham bundle onto the new hardware, but probably won't see it on there for awhile.

I've been playing Arkham City on PC for about a week or so (up to rescuing Dr. Freeze from Penguin while completing challenge maps as they pop up) and honestly it still looks really great to me.

Yeah. I don't see it coming for a long while. Maybe it's some thing that gets ported as a remaster bundle. I agree the games, even Arkham Asylum, holds up well today. Just raising the resolution and frame rates would be good enough for me.
I mainly want to see a Arkham City remaster for next gen. I all 3 of them at least twice, but Arkham City is my favourite. It felt like it had more depth than other two games and I liked the story the best. But Arkham Knight is one of only games I ever almost 100% completed. For non-sports games , I typically just play the campaign/primary storyline and that's it. But with Arkham Knight, only thing I didn't finish was the Riddler stuff.

[Chiefsfan881129]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

Agreed hopefully all 3 get remastered & ported over to next gen as I loved the series..

That said I would love to see Arkham Origins get remastered & ported over as well..

Yes it was not as good as the other 3 but it was still apart of Arkham Series & basically the early years before Arkham Asylum...

Yeah. I don't see it coming for a long while. Maybe it's some thing that gets ported as a remaster bundle. I agree the games, even Arkham Asylum, holds up well today. Just raising the resolution and frame rates would be good enough for me.
I mainly want to see a Arkham City remaster for next gen. I all 3 of them at least twice, but Arkham City is my favourite. It felt like it had more depth than other two games and I liked the story the best. But Arkham Knight is one of only games I ever almost 100% completed. For non-sports games , I typically just play the campaign/primary storyline and that's it. But with Arkham Knight, only thing I didn't finish was the Riddler stuff.

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[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

I thought Origins had the best story, but definitely some glitches and bugs in that one.

Arkham City is probably the pinnacle of the series, but its story is a convoluted mess. Which is fine. It's Batman and comic books in general are convoluted. Still, I have to say some characters feel like a waste. Its nice to have them included for, I guess, a cameo, but it just feels like you're rushing through the Rogue Gallery just to say you saw everyone.

With that stand - the gameplay makes up for any narrative flaws and the challenge maps can be huge time sinks if you're in the right mood. Heck, I've fired up AC just to play one of those infinite wave maps just to watch the smooth as butter combat.

[illwill10]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

Agreed hopefully all 3 get remastered & ported over to next gen as I loved the series..

That said I would love to see Arkham Origins get remastered & ported over as well..

Yes it was not as good as the other 3 but it was still apart of Arkham Series & basically the early years before Arkham Asylum...

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I thought Origins had the best story, but definitely some glitches and bugs in that one.

Arkham City is probably the pinnacle of the series, but its story is a convoluted mess. Which is fine. It's Batman and comic books in general are convoluted. Still, I have to say some characters feel like a waste. Its nice to have them included for, I guess, a cameo, but it just feels like you're rushing through the Rogue Gallery just to say you saw everyone.

With that stand - the gameplay makes up for any narrative flaws and the challenge maps can be huge time sinks if you're in the right mood. Heck, I've fired up AC just to play one of those infinite wave maps just to watch the smooth as butter combat.

I never got around to playing Origins. It came out when my PS3 was messing up. I debated getting it over last year since I have 360 I could use, but don't want to pull trigger unless I know for certain there isn't going to be remaster. I would love a Arkham Origins remastwr since it didn't get ported to current gen. I do agree that AC forced some characters in there like they had to check off a list lol.
But I would love a Arkham Bundle remaster for next gen. That's something I would definitely buy. With WB set to reveal the new Batman game on 8/22, it would have been a good opportunity to release an AO remaster this past year just to gauge interest. It's Batman so it will sell well regardless. But with AO coming out within a month of current gen launch, I'm sure many missed out on the game if they quickly migrated to current gen.
I do expect new game to be a cross-gen title

[mpklub]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

Arkham Origins is backwards compatible with the Xbox One if that matters to anyone.

I love Origins. The story is the best in the series, and I enjoyed Roger Craig Smith's Batman even more than Kevin Conroy. The boss fights in Origins are fantastic as well.

It's got its flaws- Gotham is basically reskinned from Arkham City. I'm not a huge fan of limitations on progression of abilities. The gameplay is a bit janky (I had problems with the game picking up my hit boxes when trying to do combos).

But none of the negatives really took away from the existing gameplay formula and story. I'd love for Origins to get a proper remaster.

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[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Batman: Return to Arkham (PS4/XB1)

If Montreal is really handling the next Batman Arkham game and it's going revolve around the Court of Owls - I might be more excited for that than more from Rocksteady in this universe. At this point gameplay should be fairly locked in and they've already proven themselves to be able to tell a compelling story - something Rocksteady fumbled without outside of Batman and Joker.

Anyway, finished the story of Arkham City last night and now looking forward to cleaning up the map running around as TAS Batman (Year One suit is also nice) plus the challenge maps. I completely forgot the ending, but I'm glad I had. Ouch. Arkham Asylum's ending was pretty meh (Titan Joker fight is seriously still a headscratcher to me), but the "double twists" and multiple reveals at the end of the game fall flat. Heck, they never really got off the floor.

And again with the most mundane boss fight to end the game? Spam freeze bombs and dodge? ****ing nonsense. The inclusion of Catwoman is nice, but she really feels shoehorned into the story as a playable character just to make her showing up at the end of the game make sense. I enjoy her character set, but her actual characterization is...it just feels slimy by the end of the game. I don't know. It's a fine line to walk and I don't think Rocksteady was nuanced enough to come across well. I know there was some "noise" about how the goons referred to Catwoman during the game and I largely ignored it, but its certainly not aging well in today's climate. Oh well.

With that said - the rest of the game is fantastic and the gameplay is nearly flawless. I'm looking forward to finishing those challenge maps.

I haven't decided which direction to go with this series yet. I want to see how AK looks on PC, but I also feel like following AC up with Arkham: Origins makes narrative sense.