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dscruffy1
Nov 22, 2007

Look out!
Nap Ghost
Last video(s): Harley Quinn's Comeuppance/Polsy

Campaign Challenge: Ruthless Vengeance/Polsy with Catwoman

I did 100 percent.




You know what was a great game? Batman: Arkham Asylum. I just LP'd it a little while back, in fact. The game was recognized as the Guinness world record holder for Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Videogame in 2010. I'm a fan. Too bad the record hasn't been updated in some time because if it had, it'd be Batman: Arkham City.

Arkham City is the 2011 followup to 2009's Arkham Asylum when the difficult question was asked of "well how the hell do you follow that up". The combat has been beefed up with new moves and enemy options, the predator segments have been improved with your prey getting new gadgets along with getting a little smarter, and arguably the weakest part of the first game (the boss fights) has been improved upon in pretty much every way. One of the few complaints I've heard leveraged is that the game being open world takes away from the focus the first game had, but everything else fits together so well that I have trouble staying mad. The story is still being headed up by Paul Dini, and Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill return to voice Bruce Wayne/Batman and the Joker. This is Mark Hamill's Joker swan song, so to speak, this is the last time he plans to play the Joker. The end of an era for fans of the 90's animated series. But let's not dwell on the negatives, let's enjoy what's here.

The Story
After the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum, Warden Quincy Sharp was able to brand himself as the man who shut down the breakout (despite the facts claiming otherwise) and leverage the newfound fame into a successful Mayoral campaign. As the Mayor of Gotham City he unveiled plans to take the northern end of the city and make it into a bigger and better prison facility named Arkham City. Under the auspices of new Warden Hugo Strange, the criminals in Arkham City have made it the place for all of their new power struggles with all of the problems that entails. During his night-time activities, Batman has been facing both troubling rumors about the facility and assaults by a paramilitary force known as TYGER, a private company that provides security for Arkham City. Batman is unable to do much about the city from his position, but Bruce Wayne and his billions should be able to bring a costly campaign against the threat such a hotbed of criminal activity could give rise to. Nothing could possibly go wrong with this plan. The story also covers the activities of Catwoman during the same time frame, up to her own antics with regards to Arkham City as she comes into conflict with Harvey Dent A.K.A. Two-Face.

The Format
Being an open world game, it's going to be very easy to get distracted while I work towards the main story. There are many side quests, many challenge rooms, and :siren: 440 :siren: Riddler challenges. I won't say I'm doing a technical 100% since there's a lot of challenge rooms that are redundantI did 100 percent, and I will be doing all the sidequests, all the Riddler challenges, and I'll be doing the Harley Quinn's Revenge DLC as well. I'll do my best to stay focused but I plan on getting sidetracked during transit between areas to show off some of the sidequests, challenges, and other new things in Arkham City as I'm going through to hopefully make the eventual Riddler Roundup not take 2-3 hours only take 4 hours. The game also has a ton of incidental dialogue that I'll do my best to capture but it moves pretty fast sometimes. If I skip over a favorite bit, sorry! During the sidetracked videos I might have on a guest or two to talk about things, but otherwise the videos should be either "got places to be" or "let's go sightseeing". I'll try to mark out which is which.

The Spoilers
Arkham Asylum is free game, but if you want to talk about anything coming up in this game or in Arkham Origins, please do it in tags. That's about it!

The Videos

Insertion/Polsy

The Church/Polsy

Sidetracking Down the Joker/Polsy - Interview tape: Two-Face 1

Sionis Steel Mill/Polsy - Interview tape: Two-Face 2

Catwoman and Ivy/Polsy - Interview tape: Two-Face 3

Enter the Riddler/Polsy - Interview tape: Two-Face 4

One Step Forward, One Step Back/Polsy - Interview tape: Two-Face 5

De-Saturating The Airwaves/Polsy - Interview tape: Joker Call 2

A Night At The Museum/Polsy - Interview tape: Penguin 1

Buried On A Sunday/Polsy - Interview tape: Penguin 2

Bonus 1: Museum Exhibits/Polsy

Ninja Distraction Technique/Polsy - Interview tape: Penguin 3

On The Trail of The Demon/Polsy - Interview tape: Penguin 4

The Head Of The Demon/Polsy - Interview tape: Penguin 5

Sharpest Mind In The City/Polsy - Interview tape: Mr. Freeze 1

A Cold Reception/Polsy - Interview tape: Mr. Freeze 2, Joker Call 5

Unexpected Surprises/Polsy - Interview tape: Mr. Freeze 3, Mad Hatter 1-5

Steely Resolve/Polsy - Interview tape: Mr. Freeze 4

An Issue Of Conscience/Polsy - Interview tape: Mr. Freeze 5

Protocol 10/Polsy - Interview tape: Catwoman 1

The Last Laugh/Polsy - Interview tape: Catwoman 2

The Cat's Meow/Polsy - Interview tape: Catwoman 3

Bonus 2: 12 Calendar Days of Christmas/Polsy

Riddle Diddle Doo/Polsy with CuwiKhons - Interview tape: Catwoman 4

Bat-Exhaustion/Polsy with Major_JF - Interview tape: Catwoman 5

All Riddled Out/Polsy with Jenner - Interview tapes: Riddler 1-4

Bonus 3: Arkham City Errata/Polsy

Harley Quinn's Revenge/Polsy - Interview tapes: Joker 1-5

Harley Quinn's Comeuppance/Polsy


Challenge Videos

Combat Challenge: Blind Justice/Polsy with Animated Series Batman

Predator Challenge: Meltdown Mayhem/Polsy with Batman

Predator Challenge: Police Brutality/Polsy with Catwoman

Campaign Challenge: Search and Destroy/Polsy with Nightwing

DLC Campaign Challenge: Black Mask/Polsy with Robin

Combat Challenge: Survival Of The Fittest/Polsy with The Dark Knight Returns Batman

Predator Challenge: Natural Selection/Polsy with Year One Batman

Combat Challenge: Rooftop Rumble/Polsy with Animated Series Robin

Campaign Challenge: Street Justice/Polsy with Animated Series Catwoman

Combat Challenge: Hell's Gate/Polsy with Animated Series Nightwing

DLC Predator Challenge: The Batcave/Polsy with Batman

Predator Challenge: End Of The Line/Polsy with Long Halloween Catwoman

DLC Campaign Challenge: Wayne Manor/Polsy with Nightwing

Combat Challenge: Funhouse Brawl/Polsy with Red Robin

Predator Challenge: Lost City/Polsy with Earth 1 Batman

Combat Challenge: Prison Riot/Polsy with Batman Beyond

DLC Combat Challenge: Joker's Carnival/Polsy with Catwoman

Predator Challenge: Top of the World/Polsy with Batman Inc. Batman

Campaign Challenge: Midnight Assault/Polsy with Batman

Campaign Challenge: Hostile Takeover/Polsy with Robin

Campaign Challenge: Double Jeopardy/Polsy with Nightwing

Campaign Challenge: Ruthless Vengeance/Polsy with Catwoman

dscruffy1 fucked around with this message at 09:22 on Jan 13, 2015

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dscruffy1
Nov 22, 2007

Look out!
Nap Ghost
Arkham City Stories

A New Robin
A Cold Start (1)
A Cold Start (2)
A Family Business
A Sick Plan (1)
A Sick Plan (2)
A Sick Plan (3)
Aaron Cash
The Abramovici Twins (1)
The Abramovici Twins (2)
Arkham City Medical Team
Arkham Island Sold
A Killer In The Sewers
Bane
Black Mask
Brokering Deals
Buried On A Sunday (1)
Buried On A Sunday (2)
Calendar Man
Catwoman and Two-Face (1)
Catwoman and Two-Face (2)
Catwoman and Two-Face (3)
Clayface
Close Arkham City
The Cobblepot Feud (1)
The Cobblepot Feud (2)
The Cobblepot Feud (3)
The Cobblepot Feud (4)
The Cobblepot Feud (5)
Compulsory Purchase
Election Time
The Falcone Family
Gordon vs Sharp (1)
Gordon vs Sharp (2)
Holding Grudges (1)
Holding Grudges (2)
Holding Grudges (3)
Hugo Strange's Experiments
Hugo Strange's Storage Vault
Illegal Operations
The Mad Hatter (1)
The Mad Hatter (2)
The Maroni Family
Maxie Zeus
Open For Business
The Payphone Killer
Poisonous Intent (1)
Poisonous Intent (2)
The Ratcatcher
Scarecrow
Scarface (1)
Scarface (2)
Seismic Disturbances
Strange Goings On
Studying the Bat
Talia's Guard
Titan On The Streets
Vicki Vale
Wonder City (1)
Wonder City (2)
Wonder City (3)

Character Bios


Bruce Wayne
Info - Bio - Attributes

Billionaire playboy and philanthropist. Does not accessorize well with regards to matching suit with bracelets. Noted critic of Arkham City.


Alfred Pennyworth
Info - Bio - Attributes

The Wayne family butler and Bruce Wayne's caretaker as a child. Batman's ear back at the Batcave during his night time forays. Hell of a good butler.


Batman
Info - Bio - Attributes

The hero of the story. Waging a long war against crime. Detective, expert martial artist, master of stealth. Really scary in a dark room.


Catwoman
Info - Bio - Attributes

Catburgler with a heart of gold. Whip and catsuit enthusiast. Frequently found on both sides of the law. Outrageous flirt where Batman is concerned.


Harley Quinn
Info - Bio - Attributes

Psychiatrist with a minor in psychopathy. Has an insane romantic attraction to the Joker. Excellent gymnast, totally devoted, surprisingly cunning.


Black Mask
Info - Bio - Attributes

One of Gotham's crime bosses. Terrible business acumen. Hates Bruce Wayne as much as he hates Batman. Really loves torture. Torture torture torture.


Azrael
Info - Bio - Attributes

Some guy who's been staring at us from rooftops. Has a weird arm sword and keeps leaving symbols. Probably a big fan of tall bushes and open blinds.


The Penguin
Info - Bio - Attributes

Scion of what was formerly one of Gotham's richest families. Didn't take well to the lowering in stature. Not a big fan of the Wayne family.


The Riddler
Info - Bio - Attributes

Probably not Matthew Lesko. Asks a lot of questions. Very smart. Very condescending. Very prone to throwing fits. Keeps losing trophies everywhere.


Vicki Vale
Info - Bio - Attributes

Gotham's most trusted name in news. Sometimes a love interest for Bruce Wayne, sometimes totally ignored. Riskily interested in getting the story.


Jack Ryder
Info - Bio - Attributes

Not Gotham's most trusted name in news. Journalist, reporter, and TV host. Not typically watched in Arkham City. Has an alter-ego who does not appear.


Hugo Strange
Info - Bio - Attributes

Warden of Arkham City. Psychiatrist with a chinstrap. Knows Batman's shameful secret. Really wants to be Batman. He could be your hero baby.


Two-Face
Info - Bio - Attributes

Former Gotahm District Attorney. I'd make a split personality joke but he'd beat me to it. Really likes coin flips. Kind of OCD on interior decorating.


Victor Zsasz
Info - Bio - Attributes

Good old slicey. Likes counting. Bodycounting? Still really creepy. Currently fixated on making prank calls. The prank is that you die at the end.


Bane
Info - Bio - Attributes

A walking cautionary tale against steroids. Was pretty much a plot point in Arkham Asylum but would prefer that the point get buried. A helper!


Poison Ivy
Info - Bio - Attributes

The green plant-like chick who's a sex machine to all the dicks. Previous first place winner for "Best Gotham Houseplant". Killed all the judges.


The Joker
Info - Bio - Attributes

The Clown Prince of Crime. Told a really funny joke once, never let go of the shtick. Currently suffering from drug side effects. Don't do drugs.


Deadshot
Info - Bio - Attributes

The World's Greatest Assassin. Shoots a lot of bullets and hits most of them. Frequent team leader of the Suicide Squad. Wants to die in spectacular fashion.


Jim Gordon
Info - Bio - Attributes

Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department. Seriously outclassed. Uncorruptable, according to reliable sources. Has a few marriages behind him.


Oracle
Info - Bio - Attributes

One smart cookie. Used to be Batgirl, then she got fridge'd. Spends a lot of time in a wheelchair and on the internets. Probably a goonette.


Mr. Freeze
Info - Bio - Attributes

A pretty one-note villain, but it's a good note. Winter is his favorite season. Loves his wife. Really loves his wife. Madly loves his wife.


Solomon Grundy
Info - Bio - Attributes

Born on a Monday. Christened on Tuesday. Married on Wednesday. Took ill on Thursday. Got worse on Friday. Died on Saturday. Buried on Sunday.


Robin
Info - Bio - Attributes

Not the first Robin, and not the last Robin. Robin #3, to be specific. Pretty accomplished detective in his own right, as recognized by Ra's Al Ghul.


Calendar Man
Info - Bio - Attributes

A one note villain given a second note by the Long Halloween. Everyone remembers the second one. Favorite year is 2004, has every calendar from that year.


Killer Croc
Info - Bio - Attributes

Sir Not Appearing As A Boss In This Game. Tends to move around, never really beat him up in Asylum. Went from one sewer to another, which works, sure.


Talia Al Ghul
Info - Bio - Attributes

Ra's Al Ghul's daughter. Totally has a thing for Batman. It's reciprocal. Made a test tube Batman baby, then wound up killing it later. Long story.


Ra's Al Ghul
Info - Bio - Attributes

Everyone's favorite eco-terrorist. Wanted a boy but settled for Talia. Wanted Batman but settled for something else that just didn't work out.


Quincy Sharp
Info - Bio - Attributes

The mayor of Gotham City and former warden of Arkham Asylum. Totally claimed responsibility for stopping the Joker. Apparently it worked!


Nora Fries
Info - Bio - Attributes

A real cool customer. Mrs. Freeze. Apparently she became a villain with fire powers when she got thawed out? Comic books are weird. She's hot and she's cold.


The Mad Hatter
Info - Bio - Attributes

A man with a love of fine hatwear. Probably a goon. Creepy around women, believes he deserves an Alice, peacocks with hats and odd dress. Definitely a goon.


Clayface
Info - Bio - Attributes

Cosmetic advertisement gone terribly wrong. Origins vary on if he was always clay-based. Maybe he was born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.


Hush
Info - Bio - Attributes

Bruce Wayne's childhood friend Thomas Elliot. Probably would be better off as a librarian. Doesn't like Wayne or his family. Likes mummies.


Other posts of interest

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

I also feel that I'm obliged to share this.



Hobgoblin2099 posted:

The guy with the cut off face only reminds me of one thing.



Kurieg posted:



It's like they tried to encapsulate every terrible character design idea they had into one image.

"Give her handcuffs, because she's playful." "Show more skin so we can give her a piercing." "She's been crying to smudge her makeup." "Why is she wearing pants? We need more skin."

Hobgoblin2099 posted:



I had to look this up to make sure you weren't screwing with me.

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

Since Scruffy mentioned The Long Halloween, I should note that there is one point during that comic where Batman beats up Solomon Grundy on Thanksgiving while accidentally chasing a criminal he was after into his lair. He laments the fact that he has to do it, since Grundy is operating purely on instinct.

So later on...



Nalesh posted:

The main villain of Arkham Knight is gonna be the carpenter, calling it now.



Or is it Sputnik posted:

It really is. Morrison picks back up on the "Joker continuously reinvents his personality" from the "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth" one-shot. After "Batman" shoots him in the face, the Joker turns into David Bowie "The thin white duke of death". I especially like this part from Batman R.I.P. just before Final Crisis.



The part about building boxes around his foes is apt, since Batman just got out of a straitjacket while inside a coffin and bench pressed the coffin lid up through the earth.

JamieTheD posted:

Okay, so, as noted, there are two main Azraels. One, Jean Paul Valley, had a very interesting beginning with "Sword of Azrael", in that he was the son of a guy also named Jean Paul Valley, both of whom had been part of a secret Knights Templar based organisation called (Gets a bit generic here) the Order of St. Dumas, who trained both Jean Paul Valleys using a regime of hypnosis, genemodding, and other incredibly human-rights ignorant stuff that they just call... :sigh: The System :sigh:


An awesome comic.

But, ignoring that somewhat generic sounding name convention, the first Azrael we see is killed by an arms dealer called LeHah, and Jean-Paul (formerly a student of some description) gets conscripted into what's basically a holy war against this guy. He and Batman come to blows, LeHah goes seriously nutso and calls himself after a demon, and...

Look, no matter how generic and grimdark and whatnot it sounds, it is actually quite awesome, has some cool lines, and has a happier ending.


That costume from that not-so-awesome part of an interesting comic.

Then Knightfall came along and shat all over that, because of that "Different writers" thing going on (EDIT: The rationale being that the Batsuit triggered flashbacks to Jean-Paul's "System" training, which was murderous as gently caress). Jean Paul Valley does grow as a character, and in his own comic line, we find the System is a lot nastier than we were originally led to believe (Jean-Paul's a test tube baby, for a start), but is killed off at some point. Michael Lane is his replacement, and... He goes through a very similar loving arc: Gets conscripted, does nasty poo poo, batman beats him up, he realises the Order of St. Dumas are a big ol' pile of shitheels, and tries to atone.


All singing, all dancing, all... Not actually that new Azrael.

There's your Jay's Notes summary of Azrael.

CuwiKhons posted:

So that was a loving long video, I had almost forgotten how long we talked, and among the many things we talked about, this is the one I most wanted to bring up again:




This is Stephanie Brown trying to talk to Riddler who is apparently having a really bad mental health day. Two of the riddles in particular stand out.

Stephanie asks why her father, Cluemaster, left clues to his crimes. Riddler answers "One bug is wrapped in a web, therein to die. Another bug is wrapped in it's own web, therein to be reborn." Cluemaster is the second bug - he started leaving clues because he didn't like the person he was and was trying to be something greater, but Riddler is the first bug, unable to escape from the traps of his own psychological problems and knowing that it's killing him. And of course, the last one Riddler gives, not in response to a question but a demand. Stephanie wants one straight answer, just one. "I am the number you can't count on your fingers." Zero. He can't give her a straight answer, he's just not capable of it. He couldn't even offer her a loving drink without making it a puzzle (and notice that after she solves the puzzle, he has no problem with explaining it to her) much less respond to questions with straight answers. It's why Riddler is my favorite supervillain - he's as much a prisoner of his psyche as others are to his traps.

Then of course, Rocksteady turned him into Jigsaw :rolleyes:

Tuxedo Ted posted:

Thanks for such a comprehensive LP scruffy. Sure there's a little bit more to go, but that was the bulk of it out of the way and soon it will be time to bail out.



Hobgoblin2099 posted:

I think Scruffy's finished all of the sidequests with villains and stuff, so here's the Game Over quotes.

Two-Face

Harley Quinn (Might have HQR Game Over quotes [I can't check due to video issues.], but they shouldn't be spoilerish.)

Mr. Zsasz

Poison Ivy

Penguin

Solomon Grundy

Black Mask

Ra's al Ghul

Mr. Freeze

Mad Hatter

Deadshot

Hugo Strange

The Joker + Clayface Joker

Clayface

The Riddler

TwoPair posted:

Batman was actually only in the Sinestro Corps for like 5 seconds. He was able to take the ring off and refuse because a.) he has a strong will and b.) because Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) let him try on a green ring one time. It's for the better, because the Sinestro Corps isn't really a peacekeeping organization, it's more Sinestro's private army, and they don't really take no for an answer normally.





(fun fact: later on, Scarecrow gets a yellow ring. He fuckin' loves it. It doesn't last long though.)

dscruffy1 fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Jan 16, 2015

BottledBodhisvata
Jul 26, 2013

by Lowtax
This game basically is the best Batman game ever.

rotinaj
Sep 5, 2008

Fun Shoe
They really go hogwild with the damage to the Batsuit by the end of the game. Although I really never wore the OG batsuit. I loved going through all the skins. Are you gonna show them off, Scruffy?

IBlameRoadSuess
Feb 20, 2012

Fucking technology...

At least I HAVE THIS!
I have mixed feelings about this game. On the one hand, it's better than Asylum in basically every technical way, graphics, controls, upgrades, challenges, etc. But at the same time, while I prefer the story over Asylum's upon revisiting them both, I think it was a mistake to go with the open world design, because it leads to a lot of empty space that has no real use aside from thugs and/or riddler challenges. Asylum's pseudo hub-world worked, because it allowed the developers to put a lot of focus and thought into the way the levels and areas were designed, and make them more fun to be in, similar to the way a lot of people view Castlevania 1 compared to 2, or for a more recent example, the platforming challenges in the templar/assassin tombs in Assassin's creed. The bigger the area, the more they have to make concessions to the gameplay just to fill it up.

Despite that, I really really enjoy all of the Arkham games, and this one is arguably the best overall. Gonna enjoy this LP, good luck getting ALL the Riddler stuff, because I nearly tore my hair out by the time I got around to doing all of them.

dscruffy1
Nov 22, 2007

Look out!
Nap Ghost

rotinaj posted:

They really go hogwild with the damage to the Batsuit by the end of the game. Although I really never wore the OG batsuit. I loved going through all the skins. Are you gonna show them off, Scruffy?

I do have all the DLCs including skins, I'll probably show them and the other characters off when I do the challenge rooms. Animated Series Batman, here I come!

IBlameRoadSuess posted:

I have mixed feelings about this game. On the one hand, it's better than Asylum in basically every technical way, graphics, controls, upgrades, challenges, etc. But at the same time, while I prefer the story over Asylum's upon revisiting them both, I think it was a mistake to go with the open world design, because it leads to a lot of empty space that has no real use aside from thugs and/or riddler challenges. Asylum's pseudo hub-world worked, because it allowed the developers to put a lot of focus and thought into the way the levels and areas were designed, and make them more fun to be in, similar to the way a lot of people view Castlevania 1 compared to 2, or for a more recent example, the platforming challenges in the templar/assassin tombs in Assassin's creed. The bigger the area, the more they have to make concessions to the gameplay just to fill it up.

I feel like it's not so bad in City but that's mostly because every area has sort of a distinct feel to it, at least for me. It would be significantly worse if travel wasn't as quick as it is. Which is something I'll be getting into next video, when we travel! And get sidetracked.

ConfusedPig
Mar 27, 2013


If you don't jump out the tower right away, it actually takes quite a while for Joker to detonate the bombs. During that wait you get an Easter egg in the form some extra monologuing from Joker.

BottledBodhisvata
Jul 26, 2013

by Lowtax

IBlameRoadSuess posted:

I have mixed feelings about this game. On the one hand, it's better than Asylum in basically every technical way, graphics, controls, upgrades, challenges, etc. But at the same time, while I prefer the story over Asylum's upon revisiting them both, I think it was a mistake to go with the open world design, because it leads to a lot of empty space that has no real use aside from thugs and/or riddler challenges. Asylum's pseudo hub-world worked, because it allowed the developers to put a lot of focus and thought into the way the levels and areas were designed, and make them more fun to be in, similar to the way a lot of people view Castlevania 1 compared to 2, or for a more recent example, the platforming challenges in the templar/assassin tombs in Assassin's creed. The bigger the area, the more they have to make concessions to the gameplay just to fill it up.

Despite that, I really really enjoy all of the Arkham games, and this one is arguably the best overall. Gonna enjoy this LP, good luck getting ALL the Riddler stuff, because I nearly tore my hair out by the time I got around to doing all of them.

I can see why they did it--I mean, Batman is all about prowling rooftops and picking off thugs in alleyways and that's basically this game in a nutshell. You can't have a Batman experience without at least somewhat trying to capture that.

Origins failed to up the ante, but the trailer we saw for whatever the next one will be, with the drivable Batmobile, looks dope.

bassguitarhero
Feb 29, 2008

"He knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman" is one of my favorite lines of dialogue in a game ever. It tells you so much about how Batman thinks.

ShootaBoy
Jan 6, 2010

Anime is Bad.
Except for Pokemon, Valkyria Chronicles and 100% OJ.

God I wasted so many hours in the combat rooms :allears:. I can't wait til you get stuck into them.

FeyerbrandX
Oct 9, 2012

BottledBodhisvata posted:

Origins failed to up the ante, but the trailer we saw for whatever the next one will be, with the drivable Batmobile, looks dope.

A real pity Arkham Knight is only on the new consoles, or PC.

The Wii U version of City is great, the touchscreen is wonderful for toggling between the gadgets. I don't understand how they screwed up Origins on it... then again from what I understand they screwed up Origins on everything.

grandalt
Feb 26, 2013

I didn't fight through two wars to rule
I fought for the future of the world

And the right to have hot tea whenever I wanted
Excellent. This is looking as good as your asylum lp.

Polaron
Oct 13, 2010

The Oncoming Storm
Fun note, the Mysterious Watcher's not kidding about his having been keeping an eye on you. If you pan the camera up a bit when Penguin first shows up as the doors to Arkham City open, you can see him watching from a nearby rooftop.

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

Polaron posted:

Fun note, the Mysterious Watcher's not kidding about his having been keeping an eye on you. If you pan the camera up a bit when Penguin first shows up as the doors to Arkham City open, you can see him watching from a nearby rooftop.

All of Watcher's positions are given in cutscenes.

Doc Fission
Sep 11, 2011



Really excited for this LP as it's one of those games I always make good headway on and then never finish.

Favorite random thug line you hear while, I think, doing flybys: "Why is Batman even here? Aren't we already in prison?" Like it just cracks me the gently caress up.

BottledBodhisvata
Jul 26, 2013

by Lowtax

FeyerbrandX posted:

A real pity Arkham Knight is only on the new consoles, or PC.

The Wii U version of City is great, the touchscreen is wonderful for toggling between the gadgets. I don't understand how they screwed up Origins on it... then again from what I understand they screwed up Origins on everything.

Origins has a pretty good story. It redeems Bane a fair bit from the Asylum entry too, and the new enemy types give a little extra challenge to the combat system. It's not really bad per se, it just lacks anything that you could call sequel-worthy. It's basically a 60 dollar DLC pack.

dscruffy1
Nov 22, 2007

Look out!
Nap Ghost
Second post has been updated with character bios I've unlocked so far. They're not as informative as what I went with for Arkham Asylum but I'm pretty sure they are all still totally accurate for sure.

anilEhilated
Feb 17, 2014

But I say fuck the rain.

Grimey Drawer

BottledBodhisvata posted:

Origins has a pretty good story. It redeems Bane a fair bit from the Asylum entry too, and the new enemy types give a little extra challenge to the combat system. It's not really bad per se, it just lacks anything that you could call sequel-worthy. It's basically a 60 dollar DLC pack.
That's actually one problem I had with Origins: it has way too loving much Bane. In a game where there much more interesting antagonists to explore Riddler before he went Riddler, Black Mask, Anarky, loving Firefly and it's all based on the two characters everyone knows from the prequels. Mind you, I don't really know anything about the comicsverse but by the end of AO I was thoroughly and decidedly sick of Joker and Bane and just wished they'd involve some other characters.

Shei-kun
Dec 2, 2011

Screw you, physics!
This is the only Arkham game I've played to completion, so it should be fun to see the reactions of those who haven't played it or seen the ending yet.

Also, it'll be nice to see what the payoff is for the Riddler trophies, because I never got 'em all. Too much trouble for me.

FoolyCharged
Oct 11, 2012

Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Somebody call for an ant?

Arkham Origins was just more of the same which I was pretty cool with.

The coding was a big buggy mess though, I don't know if consoles had this, but at release the pc version literally had a fairly major sidequest that was incapable of completion without abusing a bug to launch batman into the stratosphere.

anilEhilated
Feb 17, 2014

But I say fuck the rain.

Grimey Drawer

FoolyCharged posted:

Arkham Origins was just more of the same which I was pretty cool with.

The coding was a big buggy mess though, I don't know if consoles had this, but at release the pc version literally had a fairly major sidequest that was incapable of completion without abusing a bug to launch batman into the stratosphere.

Dunno about that one, but bouncing off the air while gliding happens fairly frequently. Also doors that refuse to open while they should.

BottledBodhisvata
Jul 26, 2013

by Lowtax

anilEhilated posted:

That's actually one problem I had with Origins: it has way too loving much Bane. In a game where there much more interesting antagonists to explore Riddler before he went Riddler, Black Mask, Anarky, loving Firefly and it's all based on the two characters everyone knows from the prequels. Mind you, I don't really know anything about the comicsverse but by the end of AO I was thoroughly and decidedly sick of Joker and Bane and just wished they'd involve some other characters.

I was annoyed at the Riddler before he was Riddler bit because I just felt it lazy. Why not have a new villain in the role? The Calculator would be pretty ideal and kind of fun or something like that.

JT Jag
Aug 30, 2009

#1 Jaguars Sunk Cost Fallacy-Haver
So you've captured Bruce Wayne. You know Bruce Wayne is Batman. You know how much of a threat he can pose to your plans. What do you do with this rare opportunity and knowledge?

Apparently Dr. Strange chose to just release him into the general population, assuming he'd play nice under the threat of having his identity revealed. Kinda dumb though. I mean, if you have Batman captured *right there*, without any of his gadgets, it's a rare opportunity to kill him. And if you don't want to kill him, then at the very least strip him of all metallic objects on his possession. Hell, strip and cavity search him and put him in one of the prisoner get-ups, then... I don't know, put him in solitary confinement. Or if you have to release him, if they did that it would have at least taken Bruce an extra ten minutes or so to contact Alfred.

apostateCourier
Oct 9, 2012


JT Jag posted:

So you've captured Bruce Wayne. You know Bruce Wayne is Batman. You know how much of a threat he can pose to your plans. What do you do with this rare opportunity and knowledge?

Apparently Dr. Strange chose to just release him into the general population, assuming he'd play nice under the threat of having his identity revealed. Kinda dumb though. I mean, if you have Batman captured *right there*, without any of his gadgets, it's a rare opportunity to kill him. And if you don't want to kill him, then at the very least strip him of all metallic objects on his possession. Hell, strip and cavity search him and put him in one of the prisoner get-ups, then release him. Maybe if Strange did that, it would have at least taken Bruce an extra hour or so to contact Alfred.

More than anything else, Strange wants to prove to Batman that he's a better Batman.

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

apostateCourier posted:

More than anything else, Strange wants to prove to Batman that he's a better Batman.

Strange already fundamentally believes that he is better than Batman. By revealing he's figured out Batman's identity and putting him in the Asylum, Strange believes he's already won. What we saw was a victory speech, and what we'll see in the future from Strange is his idea of a victory lap.

edit: FYI, scruffy, the political prisoners spawn is a set list of locations. There are guides available through steam that can show you how to find the ones you're missing when you get to the endgame. The problem most folks have is triggering a particular locational logic flag that's out of the way on one part of the map.

Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Nov 2, 2014

Yvonmukluk
Oct 10, 2012

Everything is Sinister


Aw man, I loved your Arkham Asylum LP!

And well, that's certainly a memorable way to start your Batman game.

I wonder if why Bruce Wayne doesn't have all the moves Batman does is because he's deliberately holding back to preserve his secret identity, which he's done before in other adaptions, often to the point he gets beaten up. I guess in the circumstances he couldn't go that far since Penguin would probably kill him.

I can't see why anyone remotely sane thought just randomly cordoning off a chunk of the city and turning a bunch of criminals loose would be a good idea. I mean I know Quincy Sharp isn't remotely sane from the last game, but then I'm just surprised he managed to get anyone else to follow him. Then again, in the comics Gotham was declared no longer part of the United States at one point, so this isn't terribly surprising.

BottledBodhisvata
Jul 26, 2013

by Lowtax

Yvonmukluk posted:

Aw man, I loved your Arkham Asylum LP!

And well, that's certainly a memorable way to start your Batman game.

I wonder if why Bruce Wayne doesn't have all the moves Batman does is because he's deliberately holding back to preserve his secret identity, which he's done before in other adaptions, often to the point he gets beaten up. I guess in the circumstances he couldn't go that far since Penguin would probably kill him.

I can't see why anyone remotely sane thought just randomly cordoning off a chunk of the city and turning a bunch of criminals loose would be a good idea. I mean I know Quincy Sharp isn't remotely sane from the last game, but then I'm just surprised he managed to get anyone else to follow him. Then again, in the comics Gotham was declared no longer part of the United States at one point, so this isn't terribly surprising.

Arkham City basically already happened in the comics, so it's not a stretch by DC world logic. Plus, when you have super-criminals like Joker running around, even the most staunch city councils would be desperate for an actual solution. Imagine if somebody like the Joker existed in reality. The government would go ape-poo poo to bring him in.

Technowolf
Nov 4, 2009




For those of you who want to follow along (or just replay AC), but don't want to deal with GFWL or SecureRom bullshit, you can activate the game in Steam following the instructions here. You even get a free upgrade to the Game of the Year version with all the DLC!

Sadly, it looks like Asylum didn't get the same treatment.

Yvonmukluk
Oct 10, 2012

Everything is Sinister


BottledBodhisvata posted:

Arkham City basically already happened in the comics, so it's not a stretch by DC world logic. Plus, when you have super-criminals like Joker running around, even the most staunch city councils would be desperate for an actual solution. Imagine if somebody like the Joker existed in reality. The government would go ape-poo poo to bring him in.

They really tried this in the comics? The closest thing I can think is when the government decided to send all the supervillains off to another planet.

Samovar
Jun 4, 2011

I'm 😤 not a 🦸🏻‍♂️hero...🧜🏻



Well, I know that I bitched about it in the last thread; but it bears repeating - while the fighting/stealth sections of this game are spectacular, and they learned SOME lessons about boss fights from the last game, the costume/character design for this game; as well as some of the writing is so stupidly grimdark and blatently pandering so as to make it pretty distracting. We can't just have the Penguin as some kind of a upper-class mob boss, he needs to have a glass bottle in the eye! Catwoman is a burglar/cat-thief, so she evidently needs a choker collar and her bodysuit unzipped for some cleavage! (and boy-oh-boy does it get worse for her last gaming sections). It's like this game was designed in the 90s.

Oh yeah - at the risk of sounding EXTREMELY pedantic; has Alfred always been described as a butler? Surely he's more of a valet; 'cause Wayne doesn't have any other servants at the manor, does he? You can;t have a butler without other servants, surely?

Samovar fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Nov 2, 2014

apostateCourier
Oct 9, 2012


Samovar posted:

Well, I know that I bitched about it in the last thread; but it bears repeating - while the fighting/stealth sections of this game are spectacular, and they learned SOME lessons about boss fights from the last game, the costume/character design for this game; as well as some of the writing is so stupidly grimdark and blatently pandering so as to make it pretty distracting. We can't just have the Penguin as some kind of a upper-class mob boss, he needs to have a glass bottle in the eye! Catwoman is a burglar/cat-thief, so she evidently needs a choker collar and her bodysuit unzipped for some cleavage! (and boy-oh-boy does it get worse for her last gaming sections). It's like this wgame was designed in the 90s.

I can actually forgive Selena's design- it's not like she doesn't actually do stuff like that. The glass bottle monocle is an annoying change, but it doesn't really detract from the character.

I will echo the better bosses statement though, there's one in particular that stands out as being fantastic.

Kurieg
Jul 19, 2012

RIP Lutri: 5/19/20-4/2/20
:blizz::gamefreak:

Yvonmukluk posted:

They really tried this in the comics? The closest thing I can think is when the government decided to send all the supervillains off to another planet.

No Man's Land

There was a major earthquake and the Government declared Gotham lost, collapsing the bridges and blockading the island. The various criminals, Batman, and the police that got left behind carve up the island into territory and fight amongst themselves for a year before the government caves to pressure and revokes the No Mans Land decision.

Samovar
Jun 4, 2011

I'm 😤 not a 🦸🏻‍♂️hero...🧜🏻



apostateCourier posted:

I can actually forgive Selena's design- it's not like she doesn't actually do stuff like that. The glass bottle monocle is an annoying change, but it doesn't really detract from the character.

I will echo the better bosses statement though, there's one in particular that stands out as being fantastic.

Oh, I'm not going to deny that Selena isn't a sexualised character, as indeed are several characters. The fact that it is so... unsubtle and blatant - even for a game based off of a comic - makes it particularly jarring. And she's not the only female character whose design pissed me off too for the exact same reasons. I can only remeber one character whose design I thought was great; although the gang member's designs are on the whole, really well done.

RickVoid
Oct 21, 2010

apostateCourier posted:

I can actually forgive Selena's design- it's not like she doesn't actually do stuff like that. The glass bottle monocle is an annoying change, but it doesn't really detract from the character.

I will echo the better bosses statement though, there's one in particular that stands out as being fantastic.

I'm the opposite. I hate catwoman's new outfit but I really dig the updated Penguin. I feel it fits the character better than the formal suit with coat-tails. Mark me as another reinstalling thanks to the LP. Apparently I erased my save data, so I get to beat it all over again. Debating between a playthrough as 70's Batman or the Beyond suit.

Kazeite
Dec 27, 2012

Polaron posted:

Fun note, the Mysterious Watcher's not kidding about his having been keeping an eye on you. If you pan the camera up a bit when Penguin first shows up as the doors to Arkham City open, you can see him watching from a nearby rooftop.

In fact, you can briefly see him briefly in Scruffy's first video. Oh, and another thing - during the fight with the Penguin gang, you can in fact attack and knock him out before he has the chance to hobble to the gate :haw:

rotinaj posted:

They really go hogwild with the damage to the Batsuit by the end of the game.
Indeed, although it's kinda strangely used. But I'll get to that later :)

Anyway, Vicki Vale - why is she blonde? I can kind of understand Alfred having more hair because of Michael Gough and Michael Caine, but Vicki? Surely, one Kim Basinger shouldn't make that much of an impact? :(

Oh, and have you noticed that the Penguin has a speaker implanted in his throat? Because I didn't, not until the Arkham Knight trailer :v:

Pixeltendo
Mar 2, 2012


Arkham city is a great sequel to the first one, but it does suffer from a few things, mainly plot threads and bloat that we'll get to see later, I also like they tried to make Two-face a sort of almagram of the Tommy lee jones, The dark knight and animated series version in this one.

ViggyNash
Oct 9, 2012
I never realized how much there was to miss, and just in the first two segments of the game.

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.
Rocksteady have proven themselves really, really good at building out the conditional logic of their spaces. Just about anywhere you go, at any time, things will be set up and make sense- and often there will be a little extra for the curious player on their second time through. It's one of their major contributions to exploratory design, and part of why their spaces feel a lot more alive than other open world games. (We already had several hard-to-notice hints to future big spoilery events in these first two videos- one of them so subtle I only noticed it my 5th time through the game!)

Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Nov 3, 2014

CuwiKhons
Sep 24, 2009

Seven idiots and a bear walk into a dragon's lair.

Aw yeah, I'm in for this. AC is easily the best of the three (Blackgate? Don't be silly, there's no game about Blackgate) game in terms of combat. I still think Origins has a tighter plot but AC does actually go pretty hard in terms of where they were willing to push the story and I respect em for it. That's not to say I don't have complaints about the game, but we'll get to them when we get to them. Next Catwoman segment, say.

Actually I lied, I want to talk about one thing right now. "Don't worry, Harley never was very bright." Go gently caress yourself, Rocksteady.

CuwiKhons fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Nov 3, 2014

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Mr. Highway
Feb 25, 2007

I'm a very lonely man, doing what I can.
I enjoyed this game, but there are little aspects, mostly with the combat, especially having recently played it, that bother me. Sure, by the end of the game I'm pulling off large combos, but that is lessened by the idea that I hadn't so much mastered a difficult system as learned to overcome the system's shortcomings. The story is also weak. Some of the plot points are just great. However, the game also has a good number of mediocre plot points or plot points made mediocre by trying to be grand. Plus, I think the overall progression of the story suffers at some points.

The side quests are another mixed bag. For the most part they are fine. Most are unobtrusive to the main game, and I really like the way the Riddler is handled. As for the bad: the sheer number of Riddler trophies is ridiculous and the timing on some of the quests. Seriously, I think the Riddler realized he had more trophies than necessary and started to get lazy with some of the puzzles.

Discendo Vox posted:

Rocksteady have proven themselves really, really good at building out the conditional logic of their spaces. Just about anywhere you go, at any time, things will be set up and make sense- and often there will be a little extra for the curious player on their second time through. It's one of their major contributions to exploratory design, and part of why their spaces feel a lot more alive than other open world games. (We already had several hard-to-notice hints to future big spoilery events in these first two videos- one of them so subtle I only noticed it my 5th time through the game!)

Rocksteady did do a good job of creating an environment for experienced players and for after-the-fact first time players, but getting around is sometimes a pain. The layout/geography of Arkham City really lends itself to taking the same path over and over and over again while explore parts of the game.

Mr. Highway fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Nov 3, 2014

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