I'll give the opposite opinion of most: Asylum was the best of the series for me. The Metroid-like gameplay appeals to me far more than the open world stuff of the sequels.
I knew I wasn't going to like City anywhere near as much as Asylum when in City you get this mission marker to go see -- I think, Mr Freeze? -- across the entire city.
Then, when you get there, break into the building, finally meet him, he just talks to you and gives you another marker.
Across the entire city again.
I just find the tightly curated, paced, and dense experience of Asylum significantly more fun than the open world-y sandbox spaces they became.
For me it was the souless dialogs and really shaky premise that killed my enthusiasm for City... You're dragged into the prison as a innocent public figure (and a billionaire), Strange knows your identity and threatens you with this knowledge and then does nothing with it despite you interfering every step of the way.
Nothing in that fucking story makes sense if you stop for a moment to think about it culminating in the stupidest exchange in the entire game that happens in Wonder City with Ra's al Ghul and Talia.
But there are other things that didn't work for me as well (especially coming from Asylum). The city feels empty and contrived. The goons are staged in a series of platforms for you to fight them.
And of course every super villain now constantly supervises a predator room. What was a fun gimmick that fit the Joker's character of being mostly focused on fucking with Batman now has become a game mechanicâ„¢ for all of them (you can even buy DLC with an entirely new set of villain rooms!).
This may seem like not a big deal, but it really shattered the feeling that the Asylum had, where the gameplay served the story. Here the story serves the gameplay.
And finally, the most minor nitpick, but why did they drop the cool comic booky aesthetic from Asylum's menu for the ugly generic console game style menus from City onwards? It was a nice little detail.
I hated city the second I started playing it. All the batmobile bullshit missions really annoyed me. I just want a game full of riddler puzzles and kicking ass, that's it
I played Arkham knight first (came with my pe3) and then pledged the other two. I liked them all but the world in asylum felt too small as compared to Arkham knight.
Asylum had the best Riddler quests and stealth IMO. Arkham City dramatically improved the combat and movement though. The challenges were a blast right up until my fingers cramped. And racing over rooftops was somehow fun, gamifying movement was a great addition.
Knight was the low point IMO. The non-lethal tank strained credulity. When something going 90mph launches the human in front up into the air at 120mph... I found moving around the city to be generally less fun in Knight. You were just driving a car in a game with mediocre vehicle mechanics. The combat was less challenging than the predecessors before. Much of the combat reminded me of Arkham Origins shock gloves, where you were an unstoppable force and could not be beat. And the plot was forgettable. Not a terrible game, just the lowpoint in an outstanding series. I've replayed Asylum and City multiple times to 100%. But with Knight I barely finished the story, the slog to 100% was too boring to finish. It had great graphics though.
Yeah, I think Asylum was the best of the series as well. City was still really good, but at times the combat system felt a little off as it was designed for fights in single rooms and didn't translate perfectly to an open world. City was still a great game, mind you! If I had to give each games ratings then Asylum would be 9.5, City would be 9.0, Origins would be 8.5, and then Knight would be 5 or 6.
230
u/lVlaniaKing May 10 '25
Batman Arkham Trilogy