Overall the game was extremely enjoyable and I liked it very much. But, it seemed... underwhelming. Usually I look forward to beating the bad guy. That way I get some sort of gratification once they're defeated. I didn't feel that with this game though. I didn't really view the villains as villains. I beat up my best friend who's sinister actions weren't his own, but a drug's. Then I beat up a young woman who was physically and mentally abused as a child which caused her to go off the edge. None of it really felt right to me. I would have felt better beating Vicky's parents up than Vicky herself for what they did. Maybe this is what telltale wanted me to feel. If that's the case then they succeeded, but I doubt this is what they wanted. Overall I'll give the series a low 7/10. Would have been a high 8 if they didn't completely waste Selinas character whom I liked extremely much until they completely changed her.
I'm really disapointed in this series...It made me lose a lot of faith on Telltale's games...For now on I think I'm going to just watch everything on Youtube...
I had several the same period of missing story and the Chapter 4 trophy bug as well, along with not getting to view my choices and major stuttering in the first chapter's opening section (in my case the fight with Penguin's men and Grogan's death). The rewind option's absence is seriously annoying and given WD New Frontier doesn't apparently have one I can only assume it's a product of something about the new engine which TT aren't familiar with yet.
Holy Cow. This episode has been the best of the entire series. It was huge, had very cool choices to make, a great final boss fight scene, a… morend an interesting ending that (no surprise here,) sets up a Season 2. While I did think that the Harvey/Oswald outcome was too short (we only got it for the intro?) I expected it to last maybe 1/3 of the episode. Either way, my Harvey scene here was so engaging, at one point I was screaming at my TV for Harvey's coin not to land on Tails as he dove off the balcony. Selina's scene was okay, but kind of made no sense to the plot of my Batman/Bruce continually denying her flirtatious behaviour for the entire season. (I had always assumed we were enemies, as I knew she either wanted something from Harvey or Bruce by tricking them and neither of those are okay in my book.) Some of the crime scenes were pretty good in this episode, and I like the cool tech that is introduced (ooh, magic VR picture enhancement) … [view original content]
In the end I enjoyed the last episode. Fewer technical hiccups than the last episode (though I did wait until it turned into a 10gb download (geeze guys). In terms of the story I was into it. I expected the aftermath to deal with Two Face or Penguin to be short, but they still definitely worked. And there was a feeling of cost involved. I definitely felt some guilt on what happened to the Commissioner even knowing he would have likely died no matter what I chose.
They did a nice job making the conflict at the end worth it. Obviously they were going for Vicky being a kind of twisted version of Batman and that worked fine. In the end I never did let her find out who she was fighting. She may have suspected it, but wasn't going to risk her being able to confirm it. It was a strong fight with Batman having to dig deep without a lot of toys and tech. Just his training and quick thinking.
The relationship I did care most about by the end was Bruce and Alfred. He really is the only family that Bruce has left and now more than ever he's the only one Bruce can truly trust.
Farewell with Selina worked pretty nicely. A long road for her character, but it is nice to think of what might happen down the road.
This series did have more issues than I'd like. Telltale may have been pushing themselves too thin to get this series done before the Walking Dead. They need to take care not to let the technical issues get in the way of telling a good story and making an entertaining game.
Still, I had fun. They told a story that had twists I didn't expect. Also like the potential for a S2 with the Joker as more of a focus.
I felt really sorry for Vicki to be honest, I don't condone her plans but it's hard for me to think her possible death was deserved, considering she lost both her parents to Bruce's father, then got sent to a foster care system that lead her to psychopathic and abusive parents with her only positive relationship seeming to be with her adoptive little brother who also suffered similarly to her - she had the intention to do good (she even searched for Arkham Asylum patients that were sent there due to the Waynes) but executed her plans in the most negative way (killing people and making them act feral and uncontrollably) but it's not fully incomprehensible that she would act in such extremes, considering that it didn't seem like no one did a single thing for her, about her family's death and about her childhood. She was abused throughout her childhood and lost so much, I suppose that, in the end, she didn't feel like she had anything to lose, she had a lust for vengeance that she'd give up her own life for but was still willing to give people in a similar situation as her own a chance to rebel from heir oppressors and possibly live a better life. I honestly find her character very compelling.
Can I just say how superb Erin Yvette's voice acting was this episode? The best I've ever seen from her. The emotion in her voice really made the scene for me. Here's some of my favorite lines:
"As Batman you can prey upon the weak, the defenceless, just like your father did!"
"I'm not some naive socialite you can sweet talk" (I really liked this one. For a moment I thought I was getting through to her.)
Can I just say how superb Erin Yvette's voice acting was this episode? The best I've ever seen from her. The emotion in her voice really mad… moree the scene for me. Here's some of my favorite lines:
"As Batman you can prey upon the weak, the defenceless, just like your father did!"
"I'm not some naive socialite you can sweet talk" (I really liked this one. For a moment I thought I was getting through to her.)
"The sins of the Wayne bloodline ends here!"
Can I just say how superb Erin Yvette's voice acting was this episode? The best I've ever seen from her. The emotion in her voice really mad… moree the scene for me. Here's some of my favorite lines:
"As Batman you can prey upon the weak, the defenceless, just like your father did!"
"I'm not some naive socialite you can sweet talk" (I really liked this one. For a moment I thought I was getting through to her.)
"The sins of the Wayne bloodline ends here!"
Excuse me, but did someone say "Travis Willingham"? I believe that's my cue.
Seriously though, talk about a layered performance. He could convey such a wide range of emotion, from Harvey's uphill struggle to the menacing voice of Two-Face. I should cut myself off here, but I'll make it short instead. In tandem, the voice and burn design of Harvey really complemented the writing of the character. The burn scarring was done well, and it looked organic, but I'm mainly talking about the shape of the eye and the hang of the mouth. One moment, these features were made in such a way to invoke pity, but in the event of Harvey's alter taking over, turned his mouth into an intimidating snarl, and his eyes into this hard glare. But solely the performance of Willingham? I could write an essay on how well-done it was.
Throughout the game, we only saw the more calculated and cold Vicki Vale, and here, we finally could personally see the cracks beneath the surface. Erin Yvette gave the perfect voice to this. The damage, the anger, the conviction...All conveyed stellarly by the voice. Travis Willingham kind of stole the show for me, but Erin Yvette was stunning here too.
The voice acting in this game was pretty top notch. I haven't heard many people comment on the voice of Gordon, but I found it to fit who he was portrayed as perfectly, just like Selina's.
The whole cast did a stellar job. Erin Yvette never missed a beat but clearly in my views Travis Willingham dominated everyone.
If there is ONE aspect of Telltale Batman that warrants nothing but praise it is the voice acting and direction.
The whole cast did a stellar job. Erin Yvette never missed a beat but clearly in my views Travis Willingham dominated everyone.
If there is ONE aspect of Telltale Batman that warrants nothing but praise it is the voice acting and direction.
Apologies in advance for the wall of text. A lot of time and effort went into these thoughts, however!
I feel that, on the whole, Batman was a really solid series. For me, it was the second episode, Children of Arkham, that really sold the season for me. The ending of that episode was absolutely phenomenal, in my opinion, trying to stop the Penguin at the debate. I will say, I was gutted that there wasn't any chance at redemption for Oz. In my mind, he was really aiming for a better world - his family had been completely screwed over by the Wayne's, so I feel his resentment towards Bruce was more than warranted. To see his character sort of just fade away after his fantastic scenes in Children of Arkham was kind of a disappointment, to me. But, hey, we got loads of scenes with Two-Face, so I'm happy to call it a win in that regard.
But this is about City of Light! The big finale! Bruce trying to stop Vicki Vale - I mean, uhm, Arkham - and her Children of Arkham before they can royally screw up Gotham.
In episode four, I had chosen to go to Wayne Manor to help Alfred stop Two-Face. That fight scene was fantastic, and the way Batman was trying to appeal to Two-Face even as he was waving a shotgun around, to me, showed how much Bruce ultimately cared about Harvey. (The delivery of the line "Harvey, please! You don't want to do this!" was just staggering!) I was pumped to see what was coming next.
At the risk of sounding like a Debbie Downer, I thought the introduction to City of Light was kind of middling. I didn't feel much when Commissioner Grogan died, mostly because he was only fully introduced in a fleeting moment at the Vale residence in Guardian of Gotham, but I digress. It was interesting to see Grogan putting his trust in Batman, considering how he'd refused to trust him at the Vale crime scene. That interesting moment faded when I saw Batman on a flip phone, but I loved that little detail. It made me laugh, but it was a good little nod.
So, with the police commissioner dead and Batman's suit ruined, we headed off to Cobblepot Park to try and stop Oswald from killing any more people. The voice acting from the children, in my opinion, was completely immersion-breaking, and I was mostly just sighing and rolling my eyes. While it was a touching scene, and it showed how fundamentally broken Oswald was, I feel children voice actors are usually pretty horrible. But, yeah, we go to meet Oswald, and I was delighted to see he had his signature umbrella and was wearing his mask again! Ooh how I love that mask! There was an interesting back-and-forth between Oz, but I was completely baffled he seemingly still didn't have a clue that Bruce was Batman!
"You know, I'm surprised Batman's not already here to save you. He's usually so on top of everything!"
"Maybe he knows it's a trap. You haven't exactly been subtle."
"That's the thing about Batman. You dangle an innocent life in front of him, and he has to show! He can't help himself. And when he arrives, oh ho ho! The lights, the sounds! The blood running into the gutters. Once he's out of the picture, there'll be nothing left in our way! Mine, or Lady Arkham's."
I mean, I may as well have just told him at that point, all the clues were there! But, you know, plot and all that. And after a startlingly easy quick time event, where we - ahem - throw a drone at Oz, he's defeated. I liked the symbolism of the statue cracking down on top of him, I feel that was representing his past crushing him - what with the statue being of his father - but I could be reading too far into it. Said "Goodbye" to Oz, and then it was back to Wayne Manor to figure out Lady Arkham's next move! I was more than disappointed with this scene, I felt that Oswald never really got a shot at redemption and that upset me.
Then we got the scene at the Batcave, where we figured out that Selina stole from us. Shock horror, much screams. I was sort of expecting Selina to flip, just not in such an underwhelming way. I rolled my eyes, reasoned she must have some sort of reason (at the time, I thought it was to get me to meet her) and then I was racing off to meet her. Then we got a kind of interesting scene, where Selina comes clean and tells us we were just another job. Well, poo. And there I was, thinking we were friends. Selina, you wily sod. Of course, me being me, I tried to tell her she was more than a thief, and she just sort of shook that off. Even after I told her she saved my life, back in New World Order. We hugged, I told her to stay out of trouble, and then Alfred goes and gets himself in a jam with Lady Arkham. So now it's all the way back to Wayne Manor to help out. Crikey, Bruce's petrol expenses must be through the roof. I wish that was a scene, just Batman in the Batmobile at a "gas" station, tapping his foot impatiently next to the pump, with some guy in a Honda Civic looking across at him awkwardly. Aah, one can dream.
So then we get a detective scene, which I actually loved, where we're figuring out where Alfred's gone. I sort of raised an eyebrow at the idea of Alfred stabbing a guy with a pool cue and nearly getting away, were it not for Lady Arkham, but I liked that scene nonetheless. Definitely preferable to the stuff I went through so far, in my mind. We had a kind of cheesy line with the "Password, Reckoning. You have no idea...", but it was fitting and some good wordplay, I guess. I laughed at Bruce doing the hand gesture to show Lady Arkham using her staff's magical power thingy, because I just loved the idea of Lucius walking in on Bruce waving his arms around like that. But, yeah, good scene. I enjoyed it! So, we find out Alfred has been kidnapped, and we use the Bat VR to figure out where he is. Now, I'll admit, I felt that whole glasses reflecting scene was a very "because plot" moment. They really should have introduced that earlier, in my mind, rather than show it last minute. But it was nerve-wracking, hoping that we'd find enough clues to figure out where Alfred was. I would have loved if it turned out Alfred was being tortured at the bowling alley, but there we are. So we get in our new Batsuit - for me, the prototype leather one - and then race to the Vale residence.
The scene in the "punishment room" was gut wrenching. That was a standout moment, where we delve into Vicki's psyche and find out why she's so damaged, for want of a better word. The use of children crying and screaming in the background when you looked at different clues was a haunting, yet absolutely wonderful, touch. It really added to the horror movie feel of that segment. And oh my word, I don't think I've ever felt more sorry for a villain than when I realised the full horrors Miss Arkham/Vale went through. Further, the little differences in the clues based on the colour of your Bat-tech was just brilliant. I was ecstatic when I found out that each colour had different clues, I figured it would just be different colours. I got a lovely blue, but I'm looking forward to my "Purple Playthrough", as purple as my favourite colour. Different clues, ho! Regardless, we find out that Lady Arkham is planning to liberate Arkham Asylum, with even more flooring voice acting from Mr. Baker as he came to the revelation that Lady Arkham planned to stage a "prison break" from Arkham Asylum. The horror in his voice really showed, and you could tell Batman/Bruce was deeply worried about this turn of events. Now, I'd sent Harvey to prison, so I was really glad he wasn't about to get liberated, but my thoughts immediately found their way to the Joker. The idea of him getting let out worried me a little, as I'd promised him a favor and I'd seen first hand how violent and calculated he can be. In my mind, I had to stop him as much as Lady Arkham.
So we book it to Arkham Asylum, and my heart was pounding. This episode was picking up! I was bouncing in my chair while Batman dealt with the guards and confronted Vicki. I will say, the back and forth between Lady Arkham and Batman was awesome. Batman trying to reason with her, and Miss Arkham finally starting to crack a little. To me, she stopped being this calculated leader as soon as she got close to her endgame. The pressure was starting to make her melt down as much as being back at the Vale residence, and I feel that really showed with her furious lines about Gotham and its people.
"A lesson needs to be taught in this forsaken city. They won't look the other way. Not again!"
And then we reach the fight scene through Arkham, in a desperate bid to get to Vicki. I cracked up when Batman defeated all these mental patients by shoving a stretcher down a corridor, and I arched my eyebrows at him vaulting over two more. My heart sank in my chest when I saw Blockbuster, and I was really worried for a moment that we were going to have to fight him. Clearly, however, we didn't. I felt really sorry for him - hell, as Batman, we basically lobotomised him with an EMP. To say I felt like a monster was an understatement. But I was too excited to really care, bouncing in my chair even more as we got closer and closer to our target. The fight in the cafeteria was fine, I guess, but I was starting to get a bit concerned by the action to dialogue ratio in this episode. Zsasz tries to stab us, and then gets shot in the hands by Gordon - Looked a bit like stigmatas, which was some damn fine shooting from Jim. Then we get a line from the Joker, with him clapping delightedly. Very inkeeping, doesn't overstay his welcome, and has a little drink. I was relieved the Joker wasn't getting involved in the fighting, but I was also really worried by the fact he was being seemingly ignored by the rioters, the orderlies and the police. Got me thinking. We corner Vicki, and she sends us hurtling into what I thought would be an early grave - or, at least, a long time at a pediatrician's office or even a masseuse - but was in fact some catacombs.
The scene in the catacombs was... Odd. A nice break from the constant action, with Vicki doing the classic superhero bit of "Why do you hate me - INSERT SUPERHERO NAME HERE -? We're both fighting the same fight!". I rolled my eyes just a tad, not convinced, but the question about why I was wearing a mask was thought provoking. And then we end up in a shrine sort of place, which weirded me out a little. I thought the picture of a happy Vicki with her foster brother was a really sweet touch, and added to the empathy of her character - on top of the horrible torture room scene- before we end up standing off against her with - in my opinion - one of the easiest choices I've made in a long time. I ripped off that mask without a second thought, and the dialogue there was superb as well!
"You're right about my father. The things he did are unforgivable. But I am trying to make up for his crimes. I wear this mask to help people!"
And then we get a fight scene and a half. Don't get me wrong, I loved the fight - the first time through, it was staggering. The music, the choreography, the taunts being flung from Vicki even when it seems she's had it beat - Oh, I loved it! But when I replayed it, I found it went on for perhaps a touch too long. It felt like that scene belonged more in a movie, but it was a nice way to defeat the villain. I just wish the developers cut down on it just a little, as seeing Vicki and Bruce getting whirled around just got a bit tedious the second time through. Using her staff to smack her into the statue of the angel was a nice touch, but I vividly remember my frustrated groan as she got back up and inched towards the exit. Lady (Not meant to be a pun, but I'm going to own it and say it's now a pun), your back should be broken in about ninety-three places. Please, please, just stop. Then some rubble crushed her. Huh. Kinda anticlimactic, but I'm going to follow a big rule of television and say that "If I haven't seen a body, she might not be dead." I kind of hope that was the last we see of her, though. No sense beating a dead horse. Or a dead Lady Arkham, for that matter.
Back to Wayne Manor, Alfred congratulates me on being a champion of a Batman, and made me well up a little by saying how proud he was of Bruce for sticking to his guns and being as moral as possible. Even though I did some questionable things - I mean, the barricade was just there, was I not supposed to ram it? That would be crimin - oh, right, it's criminal to ram it also. Welp. Kind of an underwhelming final choice, in my opinion, choosing to show as Batman or Bruce. And then we got the moment where my heart sunk and we found out the Joker had slipped out. Well... Crap. Guess I'll be owing him that favor soon! I feel, in retrospect, the Joker breaking out was a kind of predictable move. I'm kind of irked they relied on the Joker as the villain for the next season - personally, I feel they had a great thing going on with the Penguin and Two-Face before he was introduced in the penultimate episode - but I'll put faith in that move for now.
So those are my thoughts on individual scenes. But what did I think of City of Light as a finale?
Honestly? I felt it was a bit "eh". Not awful, but not staggering. I feel the series started to slow down after Children of Arkham, but it was still a stunning series and a solid example of story telling in video games. It was just missing that special something that makes it something truly wonderful. The series on a whole gets a solid eight out of ten from me, but I feel that City of Light was more of a six or a seven. But hey, that's just my opinion!
Thank you for the opportunity, and sorry again for the wall of text.
I'm sorry. Where were any of those things proven or demonstrated in this game? Because I don't remember seeing Superman.
You're making the erroneous assumption that simply because it's taking place in a comic book universe means those elements are a part of that universe. But we know that's not true. Christopher Nolan's take on Batman is still within a comic otherverse but grounded in a way that the powers you're describing could never happen.
Hmmm @Ja1862 , you do realize calling the last fight ridiculous because she can take those hits in a comic universe where people can stop bu… morellets...leap tall buildings in a single bound...run faster than time, is itself a ridiculous thing. It is a Comic Book Universe where the heroes and villains are like the titans of lore. They are more powerful and smarter....stronger and more human. Comic Books use the unreality of the setting to reflect the hopes and dreams as well as the nightmares of our reality. Vicki being a augmented powerhouse is very much in keeping with the story.
The TTG writers suffer from the plague that television shows in the 1990s were going through - resetting everything so that nothing of consequence really stuck. Invested in Selena or not? Who cares, she's outta there either way. Trying to avoid the Two Face turn? Not going to happen.
Other writing related problems?
Those important ways of playing up being a gentle vs dark Batman that were important in episode 1? Who cares about any of that by episode 5. For as important as Lady Arkham is, they spend little actually developing her outside of giving you the Plot-Whomp with her 'edgy past' reveal. All that build up about Batman's criminal father? Who cares! Three scenes of it throughout the series was enough - except that it was such an important part of the first episode that it formed the cliffhanger.
The writers at TTG need to get their shiznet together. As it stands, an overall good, but often incoherent and inconsequential mess. Good characterization of Two-Face, Bruce, and Selena redeem it partially.
Besides the gliches and framerate issues...There were a lot of missing translations in the version that I played...And the biggest one...Telltale stoped evolving as a game developer...Not only it looked like my choices didn't mattered at all( after playing the game more 2 times I got to that conclusion)and the new Detective work mechanic was poorly made and . But the new updated engine is still not good enough!!
There is no place for Gliches and framerate issues at this point!!
A rather craptacular ending.
The TTG writers suffer from the plague that television shows in the 1990s were going through - resetting eve… morerything so that nothing of consequence really stuck. Invested in Selena or not? Who cares, she's outta there either way. Trying to avoid the Two Face turn? Not going to happen.
Other writing related problems?
Those important ways of playing up being a gentle vs dark Batman that were important in episode 1? Who cares about any of that by episode 5. For as important as Lady Arkham is, they spend little actually developing her outside of giving you the Plot-Whomp with her 'edgy past' reveal. All that build up about Batman's criminal father? Who cares! Three scenes of it throughout the series was enough - except that it was such an important part of the first episode that it formed the cliffhanger.
The writers at TTG need to get their shiznet together. As it stands, an overall good, but often incoheren… [view original content]
You don't understand. I know why she wanted to leave. The exit was close but Vicki choosed another, more distant. Maybe because she was stunned or something. Can't find better explanation.
I'm sorry. Where were any of those things proven or demonstrated in this game? Because I don't remember seeing Superman.
You're making th… moree erroneous assumption that simply because it's taking place in a comic book universe means those elements are a part of that universe. But we know that's not true. Christopher Nolan's take on Batman is still within a comic otherverse but grounded in a way that the powers you're describing could never happen.
I loved hearing Troy Baker talk about his bromance with both Travis Willingham and Harvey Dent. It's so sad to see this subforum pushed down, but with A New Frontier, it was immenent. Raise the roof, people! Do the hail Hitler sign but to Harvey Dent! To all of Batman! Really though, I love hearing people involved in some aspect of the creation of the game discussing the final product, answering questions, or detailing parts of process. I wonder when the final Unmasked will be released.
Says the guy who thinks LIS is better than any Telltale games, even The Walking Dead.
Also, this game is 100% better than Arkham Knight, all you do in that game fight tanks and vehicles with the Batmobile, too overused.
I loved hearing Troy Baker talk about his bromance with both Travis Willingham and Harvey Dent. It's so sad to see this subforum pushed down… more, but with A New Frontier, it was immenent. Raise the roof, people! Do the hail Hitler sign but to Harvey Dent! To all of Batman! Really though, I love hearing people involved in some aspect of the creation of the game discussing the final product, answering questions, or detailing parts of process. I wonder when the final Unmasked will be released.
I think the glitches and bugs were to be expected. I have yet to see a game launch with a new engine that works flawlessly. Battlefield 4 used Frostbite 3 for the very first time and it was super buggy. At least the stuck around to fix it and Telltale won't fix Batman anymore. But I think Batman was a really great game and much better than I expected coming from the glorious Arkham series. What I really liked about Telltale's approach was that they didn't try to compete with other Batman games and make their very own thing.
Besides the gliches and framerate issues...There were a lot of missing translations in the version that I played...And the biggest one...Tel… moreltale stoped evolving as a game developer...Not only it looked like my choices didn't mattered at all( after playing the game more 2 times I got to that conclusion)and the new Detective work mechanic was poorly made and . But the new updated engine is still not good enough!!
There is no place for Gliches and framerate issues at this point!!
I actually really liked Batman. After Michonne which was super boring and really short, and GoT which I personally didn't like, this was pretty good. Not as good as TWAU or TWD S1, but good.
Yeah, just two episodes and you start already complaining about it
If you don't have anything nice to say about Telltale anymore, why are you even here? Why don't go to a community where you can discuss about that overrated piece of garbage?
Says the guy who thinks LIS is better than any Telltale games, even The Walking Dead.
It is
And based of TWD S3 so far...I feel way more confident in saying so.
I was kinda nervous when I heard that telltale was making a batman game considering that the arkham games had both superior gameplay and a good story. However, telltale didn't let me down. Instead of changing the lore just to be different, the changes that they made were interesting and made sense. As a big fan of the batman comics and the arkham series, this game was great.
Realm of shadows: 8.5/10
Children of arkham: 9/10
New world order: 9.5/10
Guardian of gotham: 8.5/10
City of light: 9.3/10
Overall, this season gets a 9/10 from me and it's my second favorite telltale game with the first one being the walking dead season 1.
Apologies in advance for the wall of text. A lot of time and effort went into these thoughts, however!
I feel that, on the whole, Batman … morewas a really solid series. For me, it was the second episode, Children of Arkham, that really sold the season for me. The ending of that episode was absolutely phenomenal, in my opinion, trying to stop the Penguin at the debate. I will say, I was gutted that there wasn't any chance at redemption for Oz. In my mind, he was really aiming for a better world - his family had been completely screwed over by the Wayne's, so I feel his resentment towards Bruce was more than warranted. To see his character sort of just fade away after his fantastic scenes in Children of Arkham was kind of a disappointment, to me. But, hey, we got loads of scenes with Two-Face, so I'm happy to call it a win in that regard.
But this is about City of Light! The big finale! Bruce trying to stop Vicki Vale - I mean, uhm, Arkham - a… [view original content]
I was kinda nervous when I heard that telltale was making a batman game considering that the arkham games had both superior gameplay and a g… moreood story. However, telltale didn't let me down. Instead of changing the lore just to be different, the changes that they made were interesting and made sense. As a big fan of the batman comics and the arkham series, this game was great.
Realm of shadows: 8.5/10
Children of arkham: 9/10
New world order: 9.5/10
Guardian of gotham: 8.5/10
City of light: 9.3/10
Overall, this season gets a 9/10 from me and it's my second favorite telltale game with the first one being the walking dead season 1.
that was the scene i got. very satisfying and left it open between the two. seems in character for both. Bruce is not the type to wear his heart on his sleeve.
Tell her "We make a good team", and things turn out very differently. Gotta realize the kind of girl she is. If she asks why, and you tell h… moreer because you love her, that makes it about Bruce, and she would take it as wanting to tie her down. Tell her we make a great team, it's about the interplay between them, which if that's how it goes, she likes. Perfectly in character for Selina. You'll get to leave things with a kiss. Ask "See you around?", she'll answer "maybe" with a smile.
But imo we're more likely to not get another season than get one, because it didn't exactly sell well. Plus the general reception of the game wasn't that great either.
Comments
Overall the game was extremely enjoyable and I liked it very much. But, it seemed... underwhelming. Usually I look forward to beating the bad guy. That way I get some sort of gratification once they're defeated. I didn't feel that with this game though. I didn't really view the villains as villains. I beat up my best friend who's sinister actions weren't his own, but a drug's. Then I beat up a young woman who was physically and mentally abused as a child which caused her to go off the edge. None of it really felt right to me. I would have felt better beating Vicky's parents up than Vicky herself for what they did. Maybe this is what telltale wanted me to feel. If that's the case then they succeeded, but I doubt this is what they wanted. Overall I'll give the series a low 7/10. Would have been a high 8 if they didn't completely waste Selinas character whom I liked extremely much until they completely changed her.
Bruce got trained by the League of shadows I believe.
I'm referring to thia version of Batman. It's currently unknown where he learned to fight.
ehhh..I would say the story/storytelling aspect in this series is the weakest out of all of them.
What was it about the game that you didn't like, exactly? I'm curious.
No, they don't own Batman just like they don't own TWAU. Telltale developed and published both series but they don't own them.
Meh...why not post up mine. These are after I replayed a few times so some scores may be higher or lower than what I originally gave.
Season Rating - 6.5/10
I had several the same period of missing story and the Chapter 4 trophy bug as well, along with not getting to view my choices and major stuttering in the first chapter's opening section (in my case the fight with Penguin's men and Grogan's death). The rewind option's absence is seriously annoying and given WD New Frontier doesn't apparently have one I can only assume it's a product of something about the new engine which TT aren't familiar with yet.
In the end I enjoyed the last episode. Fewer technical hiccups than the last episode (though I did wait until it turned into a 10gb download (geeze guys). In terms of the story I was into it. I expected the aftermath to deal with Two Face or Penguin to be short, but they still definitely worked. And there was a feeling of cost involved. I definitely felt some guilt on what happened to the Commissioner even knowing he would have likely died no matter what I chose.
They did a nice job making the conflict at the end worth it. Obviously they were going for Vicky being a kind of twisted version of Batman and that worked fine. In the end I never did let her find out who she was fighting. She may have suspected it, but wasn't going to risk her being able to confirm it. It was a strong fight with Batman having to dig deep without a lot of toys and tech. Just his training and quick thinking.
The relationship I did care most about by the end was Bruce and Alfred. He really is the only family that Bruce has left and now more than ever he's the only one Bruce can truly trust.
Farewell with Selina worked pretty nicely. A long road for her character, but it is nice to think of what might happen down the road.
This series did have more issues than I'd like. Telltale may have been pushing themselves too thin to get this series done before the Walking Dead. They need to take care not to let the technical issues get in the way of telling a good story and making an entertaining game.
Still, I had fun. They told a story that had twists I didn't expect. Also like the potential for a S2 with the Joker as more of a focus.
But they didn't hire any people who worked at DC comics, Batman TAS, movies or Rocksteady, did they?
Says the guy who thinks LIS is better than any Telltale games, even The Walking Dead.
Also, this game is 100% better than Arkham Knight, all you do in that game fight tanks and vehicles with the Batmobile, too overused.
I felt really sorry for Vicki to be honest, I don't condone her plans but it's hard for me to think her possible death was deserved, considering she lost both her parents to Bruce's father, then got sent to a foster care system that lead her to psychopathic and abusive parents with her only positive relationship seeming to be with her adoptive little brother who also suffered similarly to her - she had the intention to do good (she even searched for Arkham Asylum patients that were sent there due to the Waynes) but executed her plans in the most negative way (killing people and making them act feral and uncontrollably) but it's not fully incomprehensible that she would act in such extremes, considering that it didn't seem like no one did a single thing for her, about her family's death and about her childhood. She was abused throughout her childhood and lost so much, I suppose that, in the end, she didn't feel like she had anything to lose, she had a lust for vengeance that she'd give up her own life for but was still willing to give people in a similar situation as her own a chance to rebel from heir oppressors and possibly live a better life. I honestly find her character very compelling.
Can I just say how superb Erin Yvette's voice acting was this episode? The best I've ever seen from her. The emotion in her voice really made the scene for me. Here's some of my favorite lines:
"As Batman you can prey upon the weak, the defenceless, just like your father did!"
"I'm not some naive socialite you can sweet talk" (I really liked this one. For a moment I thought I was getting through to her.)
"The sins of the Wayne bloodline ends here!"
The whole cast did a stellar job. Erin Yvette never missed a beat but clearly in my views Travis Willingham dominated everyone.
If there is ONE aspect of Telltale Batman that warrants nothing but praise it is the voice acting and direction.
Erin Yvette totally stole the show for me, along with Travis Willingham.
They did a fantastic job. Some of the best voice acting in a Telltale game so far, in my opinion.
Excuse me, but did someone say "Travis Willingham"? I believe that's my cue.
Seriously though, talk about a layered performance. He could convey such a wide range of emotion, from Harvey's uphill struggle to the menacing voice of Two-Face. I should cut myself off here, but I'll make it short instead. In tandem, the voice and burn design of Harvey really complemented the writing of the character. The burn scarring was done well, and it looked organic, but I'm mainly talking about the shape of the eye and the hang of the mouth. One moment, these features were made in such a way to invoke pity, but in the event of Harvey's alter taking over, turned his mouth into an intimidating snarl, and his eyes into this hard glare. But solely the performance of Willingham? I could write an essay on how well-done it was.
Throughout the game, we only saw the more calculated and cold Vicki Vale, and here, we finally could personally see the cracks beneath the surface. Erin Yvette gave the perfect voice to this. The damage, the anger, the conviction...All conveyed stellarly by the voice. Travis Willingham kind of stole the show for me, but Erin Yvette was stunning here too.
The voice acting in this game was pretty top notch. I haven't heard many people comment on the voice of Gordon, but I found it to fit who he was portrayed as perfectly, just like Selina's.
Honestly, I'd consider Telltale's Harvey one of the best interpretations of the character, and Willingham's portrayal one of the best.
Apologies in advance for the wall of text. A lot of time and effort went into these thoughts, however!
I feel that, on the whole, Batman was a really solid series. For me, it was the second episode, Children of Arkham, that really sold the season for me. The ending of that episode was absolutely phenomenal, in my opinion, trying to stop the Penguin at the debate. I will say, I was gutted that there wasn't any chance at redemption for Oz. In my mind, he was really aiming for a better world - his family had been completely screwed over by the Wayne's, so I feel his resentment towards Bruce was more than warranted. To see his character sort of just fade away after his fantastic scenes in Children of Arkham was kind of a disappointment, to me. But, hey, we got loads of scenes with Two-Face, so I'm happy to call it a win in that regard.
But this is about City of Light! The big finale! Bruce trying to stop Vicki Vale - I mean, uhm, Arkham - and her Children of Arkham before they can royally screw up Gotham.
In episode four, I had chosen to go to Wayne Manor to help Alfred stop Two-Face. That fight scene was fantastic, and the way Batman was trying to appeal to Two-Face even as he was waving a shotgun around, to me, showed how much Bruce ultimately cared about Harvey. (The delivery of the line "Harvey, please! You don't want to do this!" was just staggering!) I was pumped to see what was coming next.
At the risk of sounding like a Debbie Downer, I thought the introduction to City of Light was kind of middling. I didn't feel much when Commissioner Grogan died, mostly because he was only fully introduced in a fleeting moment at the Vale residence in Guardian of Gotham, but I digress. It was interesting to see Grogan putting his trust in Batman, considering how he'd refused to trust him at the Vale crime scene. That interesting moment faded when I saw Batman on a flip phone, but I loved that little detail. It made me laugh, but it was a good little nod.
So, with the police commissioner dead and Batman's suit ruined, we headed off to Cobblepot Park to try and stop Oswald from killing any more people. The voice acting from the children, in my opinion, was completely immersion-breaking, and I was mostly just sighing and rolling my eyes. While it was a touching scene, and it showed how fundamentally broken Oswald was, I feel children voice actors are usually pretty horrible. But, yeah, we go to meet Oswald, and I was delighted to see he had his signature umbrella and was wearing his mask again! Ooh how I love that mask! There was an interesting back-and-forth between Oz, but I was completely baffled he seemingly still didn't have a clue that Bruce was Batman!
"You know, I'm surprised Batman's not already here to save you. He's usually so on top of everything!"
"Maybe he knows it's a trap. You haven't exactly been subtle."
"That's the thing about Batman. You dangle an innocent life in front of him, and he has to show! He can't help himself. And when he arrives, oh ho ho! The lights, the sounds! The blood running into the gutters. Once he's out of the picture, there'll be nothing left in our way! Mine, or Lady Arkham's."
I mean, I may as well have just told him at that point, all the clues were there! But, you know, plot and all that. And after a startlingly easy quick time event, where we - ahem - throw a drone at Oz, he's defeated. I liked the symbolism of the statue cracking down on top of him, I feel that was representing his past crushing him - what with the statue being of his father - but I could be reading too far into it. Said "Goodbye" to Oz, and then it was back to Wayne Manor to figure out Lady Arkham's next move! I was more than disappointed with this scene, I felt that Oswald never really got a shot at redemption and that upset me.
Then we got the scene at the Batcave, where we figured out that Selina stole from us. Shock horror, much screams. I was sort of expecting Selina to flip, just not in such an underwhelming way. I rolled my eyes, reasoned she must have some sort of reason (at the time, I thought it was to get me to meet her) and then I was racing off to meet her. Then we got a kind of interesting scene, where Selina comes clean and tells us we were just another job. Well, poo. And there I was, thinking we were friends. Selina, you wily sod. Of course, me being me, I tried to tell her she was more than a thief, and she just sort of shook that off. Even after I told her she saved my life, back in New World Order. We hugged, I told her to stay out of trouble, and then Alfred goes and gets himself in a jam with Lady Arkham. So now it's all the way back to Wayne Manor to help out. Crikey, Bruce's petrol expenses must be through the roof. I wish that was a scene, just Batman in the Batmobile at a "gas" station, tapping his foot impatiently next to the pump, with some guy in a Honda Civic looking across at him awkwardly. Aah, one can dream.
So then we get a detective scene, which I actually loved, where we're figuring out where Alfred's gone. I sort of raised an eyebrow at the idea of Alfred stabbing a guy with a pool cue and nearly getting away, were it not for Lady Arkham, but I liked that scene nonetheless. Definitely preferable to the stuff I went through so far, in my mind. We had a kind of cheesy line with the "Password, Reckoning. You have no idea...", but it was fitting and some good wordplay, I guess. I laughed at Bruce doing the hand gesture to show Lady Arkham using her staff's magical power thingy, because I just loved the idea of Lucius walking in on Bruce waving his arms around like that. But, yeah, good scene. I enjoyed it! So, we find out Alfred has been kidnapped, and we use the Bat VR to figure out where he is. Now, I'll admit, I felt that whole glasses reflecting scene was a very "because plot" moment. They really should have introduced that earlier, in my mind, rather than show it last minute. But it was nerve-wracking, hoping that we'd find enough clues to figure out where Alfred was. I would have loved if it turned out Alfred was being tortured at the bowling alley, but there we are. So we get in our new Batsuit - for me, the prototype leather one - and then race to the Vale residence.
The scene in the "punishment room" was gut wrenching. That was a standout moment, where we delve into Vicki's psyche and find out why she's so damaged, for want of a better word. The use of children crying and screaming in the background when you looked at different clues was a haunting, yet absolutely wonderful, touch. It really added to the horror movie feel of that segment. And oh my word, I don't think I've ever felt more sorry for a villain than when I realised the full horrors Miss Arkham/Vale went through. Further, the little differences in the clues based on the colour of your Bat-tech was just brilliant. I was ecstatic when I found out that each colour had different clues, I figured it would just be different colours. I got a lovely blue, but I'm looking forward to my "Purple Playthrough", as purple as my favourite colour. Different clues, ho! Regardless, we find out that Lady Arkham is planning to liberate Arkham Asylum, with even more flooring voice acting from Mr. Baker as he came to the revelation that Lady Arkham planned to stage a "prison break" from Arkham Asylum. The horror in his voice really showed, and you could tell Batman/Bruce was deeply worried about this turn of events. Now, I'd sent Harvey to prison, so I was really glad he wasn't about to get liberated, but my thoughts immediately found their way to the Joker. The idea of him getting let out worried me a little, as I'd promised him a favor and I'd seen first hand how violent and calculated he can be. In my mind, I had to stop him as much as Lady Arkham.
So we book it to Arkham Asylum, and my heart was pounding. This episode was picking up! I was bouncing in my chair while Batman dealt with the guards and confronted Vicki. I will say, the back and forth between Lady Arkham and Batman was awesome. Batman trying to reason with her, and Miss Arkham finally starting to crack a little. To me, she stopped being this calculated leader as soon as she got close to her endgame. The pressure was starting to make her melt down as much as being back at the Vale residence, and I feel that really showed with her furious lines about Gotham and its people.
"A lesson needs to be taught in this forsaken city. They won't look the other way. Not again!"
And then we reach the fight scene through Arkham, in a desperate bid to get to Vicki. I cracked up when Batman defeated all these mental patients by shoving a stretcher down a corridor, and I arched my eyebrows at him vaulting over two more. My heart sank in my chest when I saw Blockbuster, and I was really worried for a moment that we were going to have to fight him. Clearly, however, we didn't. I felt really sorry for him - hell, as Batman, we basically lobotomised him with an EMP. To say I felt like a monster was an understatement. But I was too excited to really care, bouncing in my chair even more as we got closer and closer to our target. The fight in the cafeteria was fine, I guess, but I was starting to get a bit concerned by the action to dialogue ratio in this episode. Zsasz tries to stab us, and then gets shot in the hands by Gordon - Looked a bit like stigmatas, which was some damn fine shooting from Jim. Then we get a line from the Joker, with him clapping delightedly. Very inkeeping, doesn't overstay his welcome, and has a little drink. I was relieved the Joker wasn't getting involved in the fighting, but I was also really worried by the fact he was being seemingly ignored by the rioters, the orderlies and the police. Got me thinking. We corner Vicki, and she sends us hurtling into what I thought would be an early grave - or, at least, a long time at a pediatrician's office or even a masseuse - but was in fact some catacombs.
The scene in the catacombs was... Odd. A nice break from the constant action, with Vicki doing the classic superhero bit of "Why do you hate me - INSERT SUPERHERO NAME HERE -? We're both fighting the same fight!". I rolled my eyes just a tad, not convinced, but the question about why I was wearing a mask was thought provoking. And then we end up in a shrine sort of place, which weirded me out a little. I thought the picture of a happy Vicki with her foster brother was a really sweet touch, and added to the empathy of her character - on top of the horrible torture room scene- before we end up standing off against her with - in my opinion - one of the easiest choices I've made in a long time. I ripped off that mask without a second thought, and the dialogue there was superb as well!
"You're right about my father. The things he did are unforgivable. But I am trying to make up for his crimes. I wear this mask to help people!"
And then we get a fight scene and a half. Don't get me wrong, I loved the fight - the first time through, it was staggering. The music, the choreography, the taunts being flung from Vicki even when it seems she's had it beat - Oh, I loved it! But when I replayed it, I found it went on for perhaps a touch too long. It felt like that scene belonged more in a movie, but it was a nice way to defeat the villain. I just wish the developers cut down on it just a little, as seeing Vicki and Bruce getting whirled around just got a bit tedious the second time through. Using her staff to smack her into the statue of the angel was a nice touch, but I vividly remember my frustrated groan as she got back up and inched towards the exit. Lady (Not meant to be a pun, but I'm going to own it and say it's now a pun), your back should be broken in about ninety-three places. Please, please, just stop. Then some rubble crushed her. Huh. Kinda anticlimactic, but I'm going to follow a big rule of television and say that "If I haven't seen a body, she might not be dead." I kind of hope that was the last we see of her, though. No sense beating a dead horse. Or a dead Lady Arkham, for that matter.
Back to Wayne Manor, Alfred congratulates me on being a champion of a Batman, and made me well up a little by saying how proud he was of Bruce for sticking to his guns and being as moral as possible. Even though I did some questionable things - I mean, the barricade was just there, was I not supposed to ram it? That would be crimin - oh, right, it's criminal to ram it also. Welp. Kind of an underwhelming final choice, in my opinion, choosing to show as Batman or Bruce. And then we got the moment where my heart sunk and we found out the Joker had slipped out. Well... Crap. Guess I'll be owing him that favor soon! I feel, in retrospect, the Joker breaking out was a kind of predictable move. I'm kind of irked they relied on the Joker as the villain for the next season - personally, I feel they had a great thing going on with the Penguin and Two-Face before he was introduced in the penultimate episode - but I'll put faith in that move for now.
So those are my thoughts on individual scenes. But what did I think of City of Light as a finale?
Honestly? I felt it was a bit "eh". Not awful, but not staggering. I feel the series started to slow down after Children of Arkham, but it was still a stunning series and a solid example of story telling in video games. It was just missing that special something that makes it something truly wonderful. The series on a whole gets a solid eight out of ten from me, but I feel that City of Light was more of a six or a seven. But hey, that's just my opinion!
Thank you for the opportunity, and sorry again for the wall of text.
I'm sorry. Where were any of those things proven or demonstrated in this game? Because I don't remember seeing Superman.
You're making the erroneous assumption that simply because it's taking place in a comic book universe means those elements are a part of that universe. But we know that's not true. Christopher Nolan's take on Batman is still within a comic otherverse but grounded in a way that the powers you're describing could never happen.
A rather craptacular ending.
The TTG writers suffer from the plague that television shows in the 1990s were going through - resetting everything so that nothing of consequence really stuck. Invested in Selena or not? Who cares, she's outta there either way. Trying to avoid the Two Face turn? Not going to happen.
Other writing related problems?
Those important ways of playing up being a gentle vs dark Batman that were important in episode 1? Who cares about any of that by episode 5. For as important as Lady Arkham is, they spend little actually developing her outside of giving you the Plot-Whomp with her 'edgy past' reveal. All that build up about Batman's criminal father? Who cares! Three scenes of it throughout the series was enough - except that it was such an important part of the first episode that it formed the cliffhanger.
The writers at TTG need to get their shiznet together. As it stands, an overall good, but often incoherent and inconsequential mess. Good characterization of Two-Face, Bruce, and Selena redeem it partially.
7/10.
Besides the gliches and framerate issues...There were a lot of missing translations in the version that I played...And the biggest one...Telltale stoped evolving as a game developer...Not only it looked like my choices didn't mattered at all( after playing the game more 2 times I got to that conclusion)and the new Detective work mechanic was poorly made and . But the new updated engine is still not good enough!!
There is no place for Gliches and framerate issues at this point!!
k.
Well I figure she knew the place pretty well...there was probably a way out that did not include being jailed.
She had rocket boots...a sonic weapon that fits in with normal DC universe stuff...I think I am on solid ground with my argument.
I loved hearing Troy Baker talk about his bromance with both Travis Willingham and Harvey Dent. It's so sad to see this subforum pushed down, but with A New Frontier, it was immenent. Raise the roof, people! Do the hail Hitler sign but to Harvey Dent! To all of Batman! Really though, I love hearing people involved in some aspect of the creation of the game discussing the final product, answering questions, or detailing parts of process. I wonder when the final Unmasked will be released.
It is
And based of TWD S3 so far...I feel way more confident in saying so.
"I still believe in Harvey Dent"
I made some very weird, very incoherent noises when I heard that.
Yeah!--wait what
I think the glitches and bugs were to be expected. I have yet to see a game launch with a new engine that works flawlessly. Battlefield 4 used Frostbite 3 for the very first time and it was super buggy. At least the stuck around to fix it and Telltale won't fix Batman anymore. But I think Batman was a really great game and much better than I expected coming from the glorious Arkham series. What I really liked about Telltale's approach was that they didn't try to compete with other Batman games and make their very own thing.
I actually really liked Batman. After Michonne which was super boring and really short, and GoT which I personally didn't like, this was pretty good. Not as good as TWAU or TWD S1, but good.
Yeah, just two episodes and you start already complaining about it
If you don't have anything nice to say about Telltale anymore, why are you even here? Why don't go to a community where you can discuss about that overrated piece of garbage?
I was kinda nervous when I heard that telltale was making a batman game considering that the arkham games had both superior gameplay and a good story. However, telltale didn't let me down. Instead of changing the lore just to be different, the changes that they made were interesting and made sense. As a big fan of the batman comics and the arkham series, this game was great.
Realm of shadows: 8.5/10
Children of arkham: 9/10
New world order: 9.5/10
Guardian of gotham: 8.5/10
City of light: 9.3/10
Overall, this season gets a 9/10 from me and it's my second favorite telltale game with the first one being the walking dead season 1.
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You know, you have an interesting writing style yourself. Entertaining review, bravo. :-)
I'm glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for the kind words!
good game. I am waiting for season 2 !!!
I loved it. I've watched that final fight were Bruce is unmasked on YouTube many times.
Same here man.
that was the scene i got. very satisfying and left it open between the two. seems in character for both. Bruce is not the type to wear his heart on his sleeve.
Still no word about a season two ?
This is not looking good.
Well, there's this:
But imo we're more likely to not get another season than get one, because it didn't exactly sell well. Plus the general reception of the game wasn't that great either.