Use bit.ly/ThatBoyAqua_HF or go to hellofresh.com and use code HELLOBOYAQUA for up to 20 FREE MEALS!
Like this video to keep the Batmobile away
Edited by Playstayshaun
Shauns Twitter: / playstayshaun_
Shauns KZhead Channel: / playstayshaun
Support the channel: / thatboyaqua
Follow my Twitter: / thatboyaqua
Follow my Tiktok: / that_boy_aqua
Join the Discord: / discord
Other Essays: • Video Essays
Arkham Asylum Review: • Batman Arkham Asylum: ...
Arkham City Review: • Batman Arkham City: Al...
Arkham Origins Review: • Batman Arkham Origins:...
Arkham Knight Review: • In Defense of Batman A...
- Chapters -
Intro: 0:00
The Best Part: 1:41
Intro: 2:33
Living in Arkham's Shadow: 4:26
The Knights: 9:28
Knighthood: 42:35
Endgame: 54:18
Why it Failed: 1:02:06
Post-Script: 1:05:55
#gothamknights #batman #arkham
After the colossal success that was the Arkham quadrilogy, we were left in a deafening silence following a controversial, and explosive, swansong. The character of Batman was done proper justice, and his story felt complete. Regardless of your thoughts on some of the villains, or certain creative decisions, it was clear that topping the Arkham franchise, and this interpretation of the character would be a near impossible task. So imagine the reaction when Warner Bros decided to not even try. Instead focusing on the legacy and apprentices the knight left behind. This is the basis of Gotham Knights, and I believe it is a good foundation to build a story, and a new generation of heroes.
While separate from the Arkham timeline, Gotham Knights respects it’s predecessor by building off of some of the major themes left behind in Arkham, like the Joker. And Bruce. Bruce in this story is dead, and it’s left to his sidekicks, Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, and Batgirl, to pick up their socks and become Gotham's criminals new reason to think twice. But these new knights struggle not in their skill or access to technology, but in reputation. They aren’t feared like their mentor, and are seen as lesser than him. So the team has goals of establishing their reputation and fear, but also filling the boots of their dead father figure.
This is a perfect means of expanding the Batman universe without retreading the steps of the Arkham series, and it parallels the knights living up to Batman's legacy, and the game living up to the Arkham legacy. Unfortunately, while Barbara, Jason, TIm, and Nightwing come into their own by the end of the story, Gotham Knights seem stuck in Year One. A shoddy launch with bugs and performance issues around every corner and the game itself being a grind for the first few hours means Gotham Knights puts its worst foot forward and trips on that first step. For every excellent set piece is a sub 20 frame drop. Every satisfying combo is soured by a visual bug or a dropped input. These issues do not ruin the experience, and if these kinks are ironed out, Gotham Knights would be a worthy successor to the Arkham legacy. But still, Gotham Knights is severely misunderstood.
Welcome to Gotham Knights, and my Gotham Knights review or rather a Gotham Knights critique. This game is Living in Arkham's Shadow. Gotham Knights is Living in Arkhams Shadow because it will always be compared to Batman Arkham. Gotham Knights is still, while not better than Arkham, a good game. That Boy Aqua, won't be engaging in a typical Arkham vs Gotham Knights debate, but rather approaching this with a pure Gotham Knights analysis and finding out why Gotham Knights failed. While the Gotham Knights disaster is sad, I don't entirely fault the game because a lot of Gotham Knights gameplay is in my eyes misrepresented, and many wouldn't want to play the game after the Gotham Knights ending was spoiled across many Gotham Knights walkthrough videos. Also, It's really funny that a lot of you are asking for an "Arkham Knights review", and I even found myself calling the game Arkham Knights on accident. This is another entry in the That Boy Aqua Batman retrospective, and I hope you enjoy this Gotham Knights retrospective that hopes to answer the Gotham Knights puzzle of how and why it failed.
Use bit.ly/ThatBoyAqua_HF or go to hellofresh.com and use code HELLOBOYAQUA for up to 20 FREE MEALS! You do not have to return to the Belfry to equip new gear. After the heroic assault update you can now enter heroic assault and craft/equip gear there, and head back out without finishing the night. Also jokes aside, I’m grateful to WhiteLight for being the only other person with this game lol. Without him I’d be extra miserable in heroic assault, and would likely have just ignored the co-op. Comments about his in game performance are, as he would call it, “just a bit uh bantah”.
Perfect title! After the 4 Arkham games, all other Gotham City games are just going to be like Robin the sidekick. Cool but, he’s no Batman
Also Tim Drake doesn’t have a crime fighting sister or brother because Barbara is a lone child of Jim and Tim wasn’t adopted because he was already an adult when Batman found him
@@Dark_Saibot you probably just needed to engage with the gear more. On the hardest difficulty I was steamrolling enemies.
@@ThatBoyAqua can you rank all the arkham games including gotham knights under my comment?
@@futurerebel62 Origins Blackgate Asylum Origins Gotham Knights City Knight This is super off the top of my head so it’s not concrete and I will not elaborate any further than I think City, Origins, and GK are all very close together imo. It’s also hard to compare them because GK is fundamentally different from Arkham
The biggest barrier to entry for me for this game is that it feels so obviously designed with egregious microtransactions and lootboxes in mind. So many bizarre and baffling decisions are so obviously explained by the fact that it was designed with these elements in mind, but ripped out at the last minute after Avengers got absolutely raked over the coals.
The game doesn’t have any loot boxes nor microtransactions, wtf are you even saying??
@@gabrielximenes911 Can you read? He said that it was built with loot boxes and they removed them which is why the loot mechanics are not great
@@gabrielximenes911 my brother you need to do some research on live service games before commenting lmaooooo
@@DRealSlipstreamzgame sucks deal wit it lil bro
@Slipstreamz Oh, yeah, because that NEVER happens in comment sections.
When I played the arkham games, my favourite thing to do was to put on the harder difficulty so the goons would have no interface indicator for their attacks, just the animation of a swing. It made me feel like a real batman who was observing my surroundings and winning. Looking at this in comparison makes my eyes hurt, just a cacophony of the damage values, health, criticals, elemental damage - it looks so gamy and cluttered
You summed up exactly why this game turns me off.
And it can mostly be turned off in the settings… as the video brings up…now I did personally also have a problem with the weird circles indicating a counter rather than the lightning bolts above the head from Arkham or the spidey sense above spidey from Spider-Man ps4. Personally I would’ve loved this game more if it’s combat wasn’t so slowed down, however the slower combat is more realistic compared to the pinball machine that is Arkham Batman, when his combo hits 100 you can go across a building in one punch, super unrealistic that a human at their physical peak can do that at that speed. Give that system to a flash video game however, and you’ve kinda solved the issue of how to incorporate super speed into a game without being too broken. Setting up a combo and ability system for a flash video game would make sense, and for traversal you could do somthing similar to what marvels Spider-Man does and build up speed as your moving, eventually moving along the side of buildings. Idk how you’d do a Superman video game, other than an on and off switch for his flight, and maybe a moral system…where the player is rewarded for pulling their punches throughout the game, giving two endings where if you murdered (did high damage really fast) your villains really quick you get an injustice Superman ending but at the same time your punishing the player for being good at the game…which isn’t fun, the other option is to hand kryptonite out like candy on Halloween night and watch the player try to work around it. You could also have a space setting for a Superman video game, where we have an escalating invasion from brainiac as the main plot, culminating in the player as superman destroying several ships and getting to the brainiac boss room. A Wonder Woman game could be taken in several ways, but I think an origin story leading into the justice society could be kinda cool, where we have a medieval combat system of block with shield, attack with sword or lasso, and a grapple mechanic as well as a timed counter to ranged and close range attacks utilizing her bracers. Story could start off as her entering WW1 and encountering the Justice Society members like Dr.Fate or Jay Garrick, and them assigning missions or being there to assist. Final boss could be Ares for example. In terms of combat systems flash and Wonder Woman would be simpler than Superman with a Superman game likely being the most boring thing ever simply because of how OP kryptonians are. And this comment has gone on a tangent….what was I originally commenting on?
I love that they continued the grand tradition which is Nightwing's Glorious Glutes. They caked him up perfectly in the game. Especially when considering that his thicc cheeks are an ongoing joke in the comics.
Yea. his cheeks always nice and thick. Like a good pillow 😂🥴
Him and Batgirl. Oof. 🥴🔥
Yeah but the joke has overstayed its welcome it's no longer funny considering the new season of Harley Quinn beat it to the ground and decided to get 1 million horses to slam it down further.
@@ricniks4619I think it's only a cover so they can draw as much caked up man ass as they want.
@@ricniks4619na it is a good joke I still like it, taking away nightwings ass is like taking away batman's batatang
I really appreciate you trying to be both honest and appreciative in your reviews. I feel like it reflects the experience of the normal consumer, where we *want* to like most games we buy, and being so specific but also so generous with your analysis helps make that decision easier
Yup. I love how he points out the little things that annoy the hell out of you that’s just bad game design. A lot of this stuff could have been avoided but the decisions behind it were just terrible. It’s one thing to have bugs, but you can’t blame bad design on bugs.
I actually thought Tim’s arc was great. The title of Robin is like a pawn in chess. It’s a stepping stone to be greater, to form your own identity. Dick didn’t stay Robin, he eventually moved on and became Nightwing. Jason didn’t stay Robin. He moved to being Red Hood I think it’s a conscious decision that he’s Robin in this game, instead of his role as Red Robin. He still needs to form his own superhero identity. Instead of getting one handed to him. That’s why I see Robin’s ending as the true one. He has his talk with Alfred, realizes he has his own destiny. And the final cutscene ends with his taking charge. And speaking to Gotham as a new hero.
I really like that interpretation and I don’t know how I totally missed the chess metaphor when playing the game. Good stuff!
@ThatBoyAqua but a pawn always stays a pawn...
seeing you play with whitelight is the crossever i never knew i needed
Now all we need is Raycevick to join them
Power levels are off the charts. One must almost hide thine eyes lest ye be blinded! Seriously though, couldn't agree more!
Add Joseph Anderson and we have a really powerful video essay group lol
@@ChocolateAsian9000 Joseph Anderson has became painful to watch to me
@@callmepsycho3132How come?
A nice detail about the credits that i noticed is that the game remembers which character and suit you used for each main mission and alters the credits accordingly.
I like that it shows in the opening scene to where everybody's on the building in the outfits you put them in
bruh your trauma speech about Jason had me tearing up a bit. I feel very seen. Media always seems to imply that trauma can be overcome and thrown off completely. And for years I felt guilty that it never worked for me and I never seemed to *stay* better permanently.
Praying for you. The pain never goes away but that doesn’t mean you can’t move forward day by day. It’s not easy but when striving for something even when you get knocked down makes that victory so much more important and rewarding. God bless you.
@@outcast935 word 😤
i feel ya.
I felt that. Actually makes me want to see Jason’s arc in this game.
Trauma isn't something that can be 'overcome' similar, the only way to deal with it would either be talking to someone or focusing your mind on something that doesn't take you to that place.
For me, I don't like damage numbers not because of damage sponges, but because of the number focused ideology of modern gaming. Games are becoming more and more about who has the bigger number more than who has the most skill, and it makes it easier for developers to sell microtransactions with bigger numbers for you.
I've played division and my biggest problem isn't damage numbers but enemies are damage sponges. Division had the worst damage output in the game you had to use only one build to get through the game, it was updated later to fix the issue but rpg game that had guns shouldn't have enemies that take 5 mags from a lmg because he has armor. A game that is mainly about steath takedowns and martial arts its understandable to have enemies that challenge you.
Also kinda takes away agency when it comes to play style, too. Cause the "whats the most optimal build?" Will always come into play.
@@SLIKZRKKbut "what is the most optimal build" really doesn't come into play. Sure you *can* do that but it isn't that important.
Batgirl’s ass is bigger than Nightwing’s, and no reviewer wants to bring it up because they scared lol
Right?! Like come on guys. Why they pretending. Batgirl ass makes nightwings look like a chin.
And only people like you care about that, just how they look..... I chose nightwing not cuz im gay, but cuz he fits the way i play the most..... I didnt look at his ass like you do and go ah thats the one right there for me...... Besides no one who plays this game knows what fuckin stealth is, oh? Wanna try and handle the bomb threat silently as to NOT set off the bombs the vics have on them? Cool some batgirl or red hood assclown joins and just charges in guns blazing......
For me, the thing about damage numbers is that it takes me out of the immersion. In a video game landscape where everything’s trying to be an RPG, the last place I wanna see them is in my Batman fantasy.
everything is trying to be a battle royal not an rpg lol
And u can turn the damage numbers off, which he mentions in the video.
Makes it really unrealistic that a bulmet makes 300 damage instead of blowing up a hand.
While I know you don't think it is appropriate to compare Gotham Knights to the Arkham series, I do think that it allows us to very clearly see why Gotham Knights has struggled. The Arkham series is so well loved (almost universally) because it really does live up to the now cliche phrase "It makes you feel like the Batman". You can certainly see some of the larger gaming trends on display as you play them but how it all comes together really works and really does immerse you in the whole "I'm Batman doing Batman stuff" thing. It is as if Rocksteady very deliberately started with the Batman character as the jumping off point for all their design and narrative decisions. The franchise certainly had its more "gamey" moments but as a whole, it seldom deviated from telling a surprisingly cohesive, character focused story and that is really what the Batman fiction is all about. It is about characters and personalities. It is about characters dealing with inner struggles manifested outwards via villains and events. The Arkham series kept driving straight into that concept and that is the reason it will always be a textbook "You will feel like Batman" experience. With Gotham Knights, it is as if the developers took the exact opposite approach. Instead of starting with the characters and constructing everything around supporting their stories, it instead feels as though they just had a requirement to make a RPG-lite, loot based beat-em-up with crafting. It may not have been envisioned as a true "live service" game but it certainly was trying to adopt some of the general vibe of one on a structural level. There may not be loot boxes or anything but the way missions feel, the way the narrative is integrated, and the fact that it has a grind-based end game focused on refining specific high-level builds very much makes it feel like a "live service" style title more than it feels like a game focused around the "bat-family" dealing with the death of their mentor. There are other elements that kind doomed this game from the conceptual stage. The major one being the choice of using the Court of Owls. If one has read the comics that this game is drawing inspiration from, they would find that the real narrative value of the Court wasn't just that they are a aesthetically cool and capable threat. It is that they were very clearly created as a very direct foil to Batman/Bruce Wayne as an individual character. This is revealed right from the start of the comic run where the Batman character is talking about how well he knows the city. How much he understands it and its various comings and goings. The revelation that there was actually this shadowy but immensely powerful/influential group quite literally sitting under his nose the entire time is a major problem for him and it is one of the elements that actually makes the Court work. When you remove Batman from the Court of Owls equation (as Gotham Knights largely did), you don't get left with much. The Court really should have been a villain for a Batman only title while Gotham Knights should have simply went all in on the Talia storyline as the primary focus. It would have suited that group of characters better and would have made the game feel more cohesive overall. Another problem is the writing. It certainly isn't always as bad as it very much could have been but when you are coming from Arkham (and it is VERY safe to say that this game's target audience was Arkham fans considering the constant thematic connections it makes without wanting to take on the creative responsibility/accountability involved in doing so), it is hard not to notice just how distinctly "CW TV show" the dialogue feels in comparison to the more updated/comic connected 'Batman: The Animated Series' style that the Arkham games adopted. The dialogue is often entirely on the nose and with little art or nuance. It doesn't feel like it has a style and instead just feels very flat almost all the time. It is very much a "kinder, gentler" approach to writing that while more likely to attract certain demographics, is also less likely to challenge the player to pay attention to subtext or imagery. Gotham Knights feels like it was written by a marketing committee in order to be as safe and as specifically tailored towards the 12 to 20 demographic as possible. It isn't written for someone who wants a good Batman/Bat-family story, it is written for someone who just wants to watch more CW format superhero shows in general. The game has other problems but I want to focus on just one more. 'Gotham Knights' very immediately reminded me of the experience of going from Assassin's Creed: Unity to Assassin's Creed: Syndicate. In Unity, the developers took all the lessons they had learned from prior entries into the franchise and really focused on delivering a gameplay experience that felt loyal to the original concept and intent. On top of that. It had a strong, effectively linear story that still enabled you to explore and do your own thing at will but seldom ever felt generic. Missions never had a "procedurally generated open world content" feel. When you get to Syndicate, all that changes. The gameplay shifts to something more streamlined and "gamey". The narrative is drip fed between generic feeling missions and generic open world "random" content. It isn't so much about inhabiting the characters as it is just playing a open world game with an Assassin's Creed coat of paint applied thinly to the top. You could also make an argument that 'Gotham Knights' is not unlike going from the more focused, more narratively satisfying 'Assassin's Creed: Origins' to the more generically RPG-lite, more bloated 'Assassin's Creed: Odyssey'. The Arkham series had just the right mix of open world content and very obviously hand-crafted story rich missions. Everything felt very connected in a narrative sense and by the end of a given Arkham game, you feel like most of what you did fed into the story or even just the overall theme in a satisfying way. When you go from that to the much more generic, much more "open world procedurally generated content" style of 'Gotham Knights', it is hard to not make comparisons. As you said. It is hard not to compare when the Arkham series already provides such a clear, obvious starting point. When I compare Gotham Knights to the Arkham series, it isn't because I want it to be a carbon copy, it is because so much of Gotham Knights would be really, really good if it had not so obviously and aggressively strayed from a formula that would have worked perfectly for it. Gotham Knights could have been a true evolution of the Arkham format but instead it wants to hint and reference it while also pretending that any comparison is unfair and unjust. It wants to connect to the Arkham games and benefit from the existing Arkham audience but whenever any unfavorable comparison comes up, it is shot down as "unfair" and "entirely incorrect". The game can't have it both ways and neither can the developers or the game's bizarrely aggressive defenders.
I read your whole comment and you perfectly articulated what I've been saying since this game was revealed back in DC 2020 after the gameplay reveal. People dismiss any critique toward this game as people wanting another arkham game. I also agree on the court of owls storyline and how they were poorly Depicted compared to their comicbook counterparts and how it defeats the point when Bruce/batman is dead. Nightwing also has history with the court and even that wasn't touched on outside of some throw away dialogue. But like I said you've done a better job articulating all the issues I have with this game. Unfortunately Rocksteady has also fallen into the same trappings with suicide squad.
Well stated!
Exactly! If they had changed things but they were just as good or better people wouldn't have a problem. But they did things worse which is inexcusable when you already have the blueprints to make a great Batman game.
The biggest problem most people have with this game is the brute enemies having too much health (some having regeneration too) and the fact that this game was going to be live service causing a lot of tedious grinding for 'currency'
thy need to release update to fixed everything wrong with this game. listen to gamer, not investor
The drone enemies for me, not only are they annoying, but they call in new drones every time one is defeated… that and they can dodge almost every basic attack flawlessly.
I never had any issues with them with Batgirl it's the drone masters I hate because they take me the longest to beat
@@jamariojackson4289 a heavy ranged attack will stun them, and shocking them with electric elemental weapons will destroy their drones instantly
@@haldir255 Yeah Ik I have an electric build on my Robin now. Thanks though man !
I just wanted a Red Hood game and this had me hyped from announcement to launch and it didn't completely disappoint, but it didn't live up to the hype either. A perfectly average game all around. I ended up platinuming it and I did enjoy myself but it wasn't much more than that
I assume Jason plays better than in Arkham or is it about the same? Stealth is a no no, fast loud and quick is key
@@Lauren007EHe definitely feels like the worst at stealthing out of them all. Most fun you’ll have with him is just building up his gun combos and going ham on every crowd you see
That part about Jason and his trauma hit me surprisingly hard. Nowadays I find it hard to even remember what really happened, but even so it the feelings that came with those experiences never really goes away. It's certainly done a number on my mental development, and living and finding a reason to keep living isn't always easy. While my memories start to crumble, I'll never forget the years of torment I went through, it'll be etched into me as a person for as long as I live
That said, it's part of the journey in life to be able to push and move forward even with that with which is etched into you. It's all easier said than done but it's to make the best of things as you can each day. The second Zombieland movie put it well (originating from Dr. Seuss), "When something bad happens, you have three choices - let it define you, destroy you, or strengthen you." My prayers out to you, I hope things get better for you.
24:04 - That issue has been rendered obsolete now that Heroic Assault has been added. Instead of having to go back to the Belfry and end the night, you can just go into the HA lobby, equip any new gear, or even change character, then leave the lobby back into the town, and you won't lose any progress of the night with regards to premeditated crimes.
Good idea, I’ll add it to the pinned comment. Thanks for letting me know! Also thanks for the mods :)
@@ThatBoyAqua No problems! lol and about the mods, my pleasure :)
Holy shit, I never thought about that. That's probably not intended, but really clever. lol
Haven't watched the video yet, but I love that you and Whitelight played together
So for the Talons, the heavy ranged attack ALWAYS stuns them when they are not attacking but as soon as you see that red around their hand it means they have entered the super armor of red attacks and can now only be stunned by momentum abilities for the duration of their attack
Terrible combat design. Those talons literally made me uninstall the game.
@@SolidSnake240 😂😂😂
@@SolidSnake240get good
@@SolidSnake240 skill issue
Honestly I had the opposite experience with the characters. I felt like batgirl wasn’t fun. Her clunky traversal and range made me want to play her the lease. Nightwing however was super fun. The fluidity of his combat while at times kinda floaty actually fits his character and back story and the same goes for his traversal. I found myself running on rooftops using the glider only to cross gaps and give me a slight height boost. His jumping animations felt so fun. He’s doesn’t have abilities they make taking out brutes faster but every time you leave a combat encounter you are the same as when you first showed up. I also foundHis fluid movements really being useful in stealth along with his darts. While I would have preferred him throw a wingding the darts were interesting and fit his fighting style. I also got the feeling that for some reason they both wanted Nightwing to be the leader but also didn’t want him to be in charge. They kinda just treated him like a himbo instead of the incredibly intelligent gymnast he is. The man literally has a forensics degree and developed a new way of detecting clues for a crime scenes that he later mass produced with the help of Lucius Fox after Bruce’s death in the comics. He’s so good in fact that he solved the black mirror case before Bruce did. He shouldn’t be standing in the belfry like “I have no idea what’s going on” after every mission and needing Barbra or Tim to spell it out for him. I get it they’re “the smart ones” but that doesn’t mean Dicks an idiot.
Imagine canceling the last gen version only for it to be *locked at 30 fps* on the next gen hardware 💀
Lol and they are making a switch version
The best thing to have come out of Gotham Knights is the fact that Arkham Knight has received some much-deserved recognition for just how good of a game it was in spite of its flaws.
In all the 4 Arkham games I kept thinking that chests were the only thing missing, and I am so glad they fixed that in Gotham. Also adding levels and numbers, that's also pretty cool. I am sarcastic
Straight up though, what retarded logic process did the designers go through to conceptualize that bullshit.
I know you are being sarcastic but idk... I actually really enjoyed the HP/level idea. Chests were fine as just another way to get materials for your gear. I found the lack of any sort of HP to be my only issue with the Arkham series, the amount of time everyone takes to go down is always identical but it can be hard to track who should be focused next unless you use finishers and they often disrupt combat.😊
@@kitnal4143 go play ur mobile games, adults are talking here... ok, there are games where where levelling makes sense, some RPGs and he souls games, but in Gotham it feels unnecessary and it just feels like it's wasting my time
@@SuperOvidiuMihai no need to be a twat. "Adult" my ass.
@@SuperOvidiuMihai Talk about hostility in that first sentence
I wanna turn health bars off off but when your fighting a unbalanced strong enemy it takes forever to KO them and OCD makes you want to see the health bar
Wow! That bit on trauma was amazing… it was really eloquently put and really spoke to me! Even got me out of a slump I've been in these last few days due - thank you! 😊
The real thing that turned me off from gotham knights aside from the bugs was red hood's character, i've always loved him for being so different from the rest of the bat family, he's a tortured soul who became a vigilante that kills unlike the others who don't, i think taking away his ability to kill just spoils his character. he also has some of the goofiest abilities i've ever seen in my life, like since when did lazarus give you a magical double jump?
Jason stopping killing is probably my favorite part about him. He's a member of the Batfamily, not the dangerous vigilante who'd murder you for doing a hit and run.
@@wiggard which goes against what made him unique, now hes just another nightwing.
@@Blanktester685 No. He's not. Red Hood, killer or not, is vastly different from any other member of the Batfamily. Can't believe I have to say that.
I always felt Gotham Knights's perception issues were caused by an oversaturation of looter mechanics and what that can imply in a lot of other games that have these systems and are designed to be a live service, rather than assuming its instead "oh god, another Bullet spongey grindathon, ugh". They assumed it would be like that cause of other games using it alongside other terrible systems and monetisation schemes, and I feel that perception damaged Gotham Knights more than being viewed as a "lesser Arkham." by the customers. Hell im starting to see this happen again with the recent suicide squad game leak. other than that, this was a pretty great review.
Well said you hit the nail on the head.
Agreed. For those who gave it a chance, it's a good game. But they really should've finished it rather than releasing a buggy and unoptimized version. Relaunching the game every couple of hours isn't a deal breaker, but was frustrating
Man, you said it. The masses just seem to want to tear shit down instead of giving it a chance. I’m stoked for Suicide Squad.
tbf to the masses, they have been burned out by bad uses of said mechanics in said games and the monetisation problems that come with em, to a customer in the know theyre just getting sick of it cause of the many bad examples associated with those mechanics despite there being a potentially great game buried beneath all that.@@user-wg2sb1dw7c
Agreed, the fuck we need resources for when NOT ONLY do we have lucious fox on our side but graysons access to batmans wealth??? That would be like fuckin batman saying "i cant make this yet, i dont have the matierials" like ok cool just buy them and make them lmfao they even have a 3d printer in the belfry for gods sake and not once do the characters we dont play as need any of that, ive caught red hood making dozens of pieces of armor for his suits but im the one who needs materials unlike them
The upgrades in the Arkham games served a purpose.. Gotham knights is a game where you can just run through it chucking batarangs and a few punches. With ps3 character models.
Hey, man. That's a disgrace to what ps3 can offer. Arkham Asylum and City on PS3 had far more impressive models than Gotham Knights.
@@zerobullets6935 I understand. I just wanted to have a little fun and an excuse to pay a little respect to PS3 tech (at least when it was used to its highest potential).
Deleted the game when i found out i have to unlock the cape for Batgirl
Batgirl and Nightwing has more cake that a double-wedding
Loved this review and why you’re one of my favourite channels around! I think you perfectly depicted Red Hood, better perhaps than anyone else I’ve heard! Keep the work up!
This is the one time in my life where I really wish I could get my money back. I couldn't even finish half of the story.
It’s shame Gotham knights was so disappointing because this game had so much Potential to be amazing but it ended up to be a disappointment but that’s just my opinion.
I think a great villain in this game would have been Azrael as a kinda rival to the bat family and have him and his order to be the big bad after Bruce's death
After making it all the way to level 60 on GK, I can honestly say that it's a fun game, but it took too long for it to get there. You don't really get to experience the game until NG+, and from there, you get to actually experience the game in its full entirety.
''It's a fun game'' Please stop lying to yourself.
@@GetOffMyDick00 but it is
@@largebig79 It's as bad as Saints row 2022
@@GetOffMyDick00 Damn, can't even enjoy anything no more.
@@enternamehere3759 correct
Finally, a review of this game that's not just "Not Arkham, 0/10"
Honestly the absolute worst thing of this game for me is Jason's design
I’ll never understand people’s gripe with the Batmobile in Arkham Knight, driving that shit around was fun as fuck and the tank combat wasn’t that bad. We had 3 Arkham games without the Batmobile, fuck everyone else gimme more Batmobile I want it.
I get some people can be a little harsh with stuff, but in some of ours's defense...we wanted the Batmobile, but not tank battles and the stupid Riddler racetracks. The tank battles while not that bad, also weren't necessary considering no one asked for or really expected it. While the Batmobile can be built "tank tough" no one thinks tank battle when they think of the Batmobile. They also don't feel as much like Batman as everything thing else in the series before that felt. Chasing criminals and using it's tools/gadgets, sure. If we wanted to play a tank battle game we'd go play a tank battle game. Just like with the racetracks. If we wanted to play a racing game we'd go play a racing game. It's too different from the previous three games and again, no on asked for that. Those Riddler tracks can be so annoying and I'd rather not have to mess with them. Give me riddles/puzzles. It was just too outside the formula for a lot of us. Tank battles aren't really Batman's style and the only reason it was able to play in this is because they were drones instead of manned vehicles. Again, I loved chasing down criminals and using the concussive missiles to take out their vehicles and then beating the snot out of them, if I feel like it. I liked when they had Riddler henchmen to interrogate at the end of the fight.
i only minded batmobile stealth sections those were truly ass. rest was dope
14:36 this is exactly what happened to me, i played about 2 and a half hours and with the cringe dialogue, low frame rate, underwhelming game traversal, slow combat, and out of place rpg mechanics it all just felt so janky to me. i tried to go in with an open mind and not compare it to arkham but when youre playing as a character gliding through gotham city while doing silent takedowns and throwing batarangs its really hard not to. if this game came out back in like 2011 and the arkham games never existed id probably love it, but the arkham games reached such a high standard now that its impossible not to compare all superhero games towards them. and thats especially the case with a batman themed game like gotham knights where its basically following the footsteps layed before it in a very janky and low quality fashion, at least from what i played.
The weird thing is that Red Hood can grab strike big enemies, so why couldn’t Red Hood take down the same enemies in stealth?
U mean robin
@@blizzyalmxghty9297 No, Red Hood can grapple big enemies. HOWEVER, for some reason Robin is the one that can do takedowns on them... but can't grab them... Really weird choice. It feels like they should both be Red Hood's abilities.
@@scottmemelord6130 Probably it's just "Tim Drake sneaky, good sneaky takedowns, Jason Todd blunt, not much sneaky"
@@scottmemelord6130 Yes, you articulated the point well!
Despite what I heard and saw about this game I was still kind of wanting to just play it for myself. But once I saw there was going to be no 60fps option on console, that’s when I didn’t care if I played it or not. No reason why they have to force raytracing on you and make you play the way they want you to.
True I'd much rather have a smooth 1080p than a constant stuttering mess
“Not as bad as the first three hours” … Yeeeeeah that’s probably the problem my guy
Might be a weird analogy but it reminds me of the movie Ocean Waves. It was made by younger staff at studio ghibli and while it did some things good, it definitely dropped the ball in some areas. However it was cited as an inspiration by Miyazaki to make other great Ghibli movies like Whisper of the Heart. This game definitely feels like the missed shot while the arkham games are like ghibli's greatest films (Spirited Away, Totoro, etc.) I wish that Rocksteady would've had some involvement in the production to help polish up what was wrong with the game
This seems like a game made by people who don't really understand Nightwing or Batgirl, and just sees them as Batman sidekicks. I get the same vibes from this as I did from Ratchet & Clank All For One - just a meh side game that probably should have been DLC.
When you do the first puzzle you can see a dotted line go across the gears to let you know your doing it right
Nice video Aqua. I can feel the passion from the writing in the video. I haven’t played Gotham Knights since I beat it at launch & simply watching the gameplay in this video made me wanna return to the streets of Gotham 🎉
These videos and your opinions are awesome! Thanks. Keep doing what you're doing!
I played the high seas version, so I assume its the drm thats making performance bad because I got perfectly smooth performance with zero hitches at 4k. I do see visual bugs though and I do get occasional dropped inputs. I dont like the gameplay but the story is incredible and 100% DC animated movie vibes
I disagree about a good game being underneath the surface. The core of this game is a tedious loot grind where what was once optional in the arkham games are now more or less required to progress. Instead of learning the best ways to take down certain foes with timing and experimenting with gadgets, just make a build designed to counter the enemy and mash buttons. 2 player co-op is inexcuasble. The characters are similar enough to all feel identical in combat, but different enough to make level design and enemy variety generic. The issues can't simply be fixed in a patch.
The health bar argument is a little weird. Every Arkham game had health bars they just where not visible. Now if there is no way to disable the health bars, that is a problem. I do not like the levels though especially if I play nightwing all game and then switch to robin for the final fight does that mean its going to take me hours because robin is level 1? Only the abilities should be making me "stronger" and that is only because it gives me more options.
Last i checked all the characters lvl up together unless they changed that
Thanks for this Video. Love the struktur and the presentation.
Considering the Arkham games already had playable foundations for Nightwing, Robin, Redhood and Batgirl. It’s weird they didn’t build on what they already had and continued the Arkham story with the ending that Batman is dead. And simply replace Barbara with Cassandra Cain and keep Barbara in the Oracle role.
It's funny because Batgirl in here WAS Oracle. She wears a back brace now.
To be fair, they DON'T have it, at least to my knowledge. Rocksteady still holds those assets
Every game doesn’t need to be an RPG
Then don't play RPGs, there are tons of games coming out that are not RPGs
Bro, it failed cos nobody asked for this. The Arkham series was incredible and Arkham Knight left us with such a cliff hanger that it NEEDED continuing. I wanna see how Bruce protects Gotham after faking his death. Court of owls should’ve been the main protagonists for an Arkham game cos they’re cool. I’m not mad at the bat family I love them all, but they should be story DLC not main game characters.
i always sit and watch the whole video and then proceed to put in to help me sleep every night until next post THANK YOUUU
Now that SS:KTJL is out, I think we can all say we treated Gotham Knights too harshly :(
No, it very much deserved it criticism. Just because SSKTJL is a limping dumpster fire does not change a thing.
Really wish this game had custom classes considering what the game asks you to do with different weakness would have said so much time
I liked Gotham Knights while I played it, but I can’t help but feel like it’s a massive step down in a lot of ways. The combat is going for a different style than Arkham, so I don’t think that comparing those is that productive. But other things like traversal and stealth just feel like stripped down versions of what we had in Arkham. I don’t hate the game, but I can’t see myself coming back to it anytime soon, unlike all the Arkham games.
The combat sucks [compared] to arhkam knight
I know it’s not an Arkham game but it continues the story and feels like a worse Arkham from my understanding and I don’t know if I want to buy it yet
You should do a video on content you wish could be added to the game, I think more Batman villans as boss fights would be really good for the game and more suits would be cool too. Especially some iconic takes as well as creative takes, proper Noir detective suits, and Zoro themed cosumes would be so cool. Oh and add catwoman as a player character, maybe even batwoman
Dude I'm amazed at how great you broke everything down. Thank you for real
That Boy Aqua is never late nor is he early he Uploads PERCISLY when he means to!
Why kill Batman when he is your biggest star and literally only character who has great games. Where are the Superman or Green Lantern games?
I've been waiting for this video for about 2 months now thanks aqua
Love the vid, as usual the content is fantastic and the time flies while watching. The ad, tho. You mentioned eggplant? The best thing to do with that is leave it at the store! Or, if you find yourself with one, it's great for throwing away! Seriously though, the amount of prep work to make it taste good is such a process that I could've ate like 3 meals before the eggplant is ready to go. Drying it out feels almost like doing laundry to me, but without a washer & dryer. Sorry, I'm biased against eggplant lol. You sound like you enjoy getting your chef on in the kitchen which is great. I'm an old man and gotta complaint, damn kids & get off my lawn: you'll know how it is one day! Great vid, appreciate the high effort content as always!
That speech about Jasón literally made me cry and gave me chills.
This game trying to be "not like other Arkham games" is a stupid attempt to deflect criticism for a poorly designed game. Why it itn't as good? "Because it's not an Arkham game". It's re-inventing the wheel for the wrong reason. People were thirsting for a new Arkham experience, be it in the same timeline or not. Spider-man PS4 may have it's flaws and I maintain my stance that it's not as good as the Arkham series, but it still took what worked and added it's own stuff. Spider-man wasn't bothered by the Arkham comparison, because it was well executed and if any hero game had a right to invoke the "it's not Arkham" excuse it's that game. Yes, Gotham Knights is not Arkham, but that is no excuse for the disaster it is. Oh and another issue I have with the game is the visual design of characters, which is utterly amateurish in the best of cases and an eyesore in the worst cases. And idiotic "video game-y" BS, such as motorcycles materializing out of nowhere "bEcAuSe TeChNoLoGy".
My biggest issue (and what just made it impossible to play) is with optimazation. Tried playing on my weak laptop just to see if it runs. Could play with low graphic for 15-30 minutes sessions because it was overheating my system and would turn off the game. But, for some reason, it would still run better than on a stronger PC - there, the game would insist on downloading system updates (which I had) or simply exit the game at most random moments. Driving on a motorcycle was just a nightmare, it looked more like comic, because I'm pretty sure the fps dropped to around 10-15? As for now, I uninstalled it with progress around meeting Harley and watched the rest on YT. And I must say I like how much thought was put in relationships - both interactions between our knights and with the e-mails. What I don't like, is mostly about the ending. Showing a character just to get rid of them in the next 3 minutes, when I think it would be a fun and simple subplot for the next game title just seems wastefull.
I had a frost elemental build with robin and he's broken af lmao. Everytime I would heavy someone (2-3 hits on bosses or something crazy like that) they would immediately freeze. I would just hit them again and rinse and repeat
to me batman vs ra al ghul was the best batman game opening to date
Great video but I think I can provide an explanation on nightwing assuming leader ship. Usually he's chosen cause he's the most emotionally stable of the group with Tim being insecure as all Robins were when they were Robin, barbara just not having as much emotional intelligence as dick, and Jason beacause... Do I even need to explain? He also has camoncially the most experience out of everyone as has led multiple teams, with varying amounts of success. The problem is that outside of the side stories the main character don't connect in the main game so you can never see dick being the most stable. I found the best way to see their was the emails but again this is a very big issue cause who's gonna read the emails for character moments when you can just as easily animate scenes of nightwing encouraging Robin, superman coming in to check on the knight, etc. So thats an explanation for you as you don't seem to have red a lot of comics(be happy honestly, nothings destroys your soul more than reading comics).
Wrong or right I think a lot of fans when they found out the game didn’t play like an Arkham game (and that some thought it was to the game’s detriment) said the exact same thing to themselves which was “I’ll wait for a sale”.
54:02 there's something hilarious to me about Nightwing absentmindedly twirling his baton while waiting for the guy to pass out, like "yeah, yeah just go to sleep"
Ah yeah another analysis on the batman series!! Love these retrospective videos
It's more like huffing copium and trying to defend a garbage batman game than an actual analysis. yahtzee of the escapist did it better
Ima put it like this. I waited 2 years for this game to come out but when I saw the gameplay trailer and reviews I instantly hopped on the hate train. 2 months later I see the game on sale and told my self to just give it a chance. I haven’t stopped playing the game since. I would definitely give it a chance if you haven’t tried it yet.
I was surprised to say this came out in my top 5 favorites of last year. I did play elden ring tho before anyone gets in my way but I never beat it. It still was fantastic but the games I personally found to be the best of 2022 was god of war, gotham knights, sifu, dying light 2, and lego star wars. Gotham knights is absolutely NOT a masterpiece since it does have issues but I feel in a few years it would probably have a cult following or even have some people coming in saying gotham knights was actually really good but they never gave it a chance. Cuz genuinely tho this game has tons of super freaking great stuff. I'd say this is a game that's a perfect representation of a 7/10. I personally would give it an 8 but a 7 seems more appropriate.
@@fringeboi Well said dawg. I played a few new games this year also like Gow Ragnorok, Elden ring, Dying light 2 Etc. And Gotham nights still round out being in my top 5 games of the year. I think it’s extremely overrated because of reviewers and most people hating on the game never even played it 🤷🏾♂️
I'm right there with you. I wasn't hating on the game but I was definitely worried about it. But I've been hooked since Christmas
great video ❤️👌🏻 I loved the borderlands 2 reference, I was wondering about it ngl... u read my mind lol looking forward to more banger content, especially spiderman reviews! 😁
When it comes to the enemies for me, the Mob Godmothers glide across the floor to where you are when they do their spin attack.
Even without Arkhams shadow, its such a dull experience
I don't think the lack of coop in AK should justify this game looking significantly worse. Gotham Knights is a current gen-only game that looks pitiful in comparison to a game from the previous generation
4:05 Oh god, I hope he didn’t play the Suicide Squad Kills the Justice League game
another great video aqua!!! keep it up :)
That trauma speech was amazing, a real standout to this already fantastic video!
"Gear system is good because you can ignore everything but the level" Thats not what good means tho
Thats also untrue, for the longest time i had a level 76 dart for nightwing that i couldnt get rid of cuz its stats were too good, then i fould the exact same one at 80, so even then that is false lmfao
I really hated the "stop and go" grapple in Gotham Nights, when the grappling hook from the entire Arkham series felt so smooth and seamless between grapples.
I hated the RANDOM AS FUCK directions it would pick for me, no joke the time i remember i was looking right at a billboard, tried to grapple to it and fucked off to some other building instead..... It seems like the grapple target system is completely random and selects whatever the fuck ledge is nearest to you even if off screen.....
@@themanwithnoname1839 LMAO that's rough. It's crazy how Arkham Knight from 9 years ago has better mechanics than this game
This kind of feels like a "I need people to play this game with me" video, lol.
Nice work man :) Oh and that deep voice at the end is kinda sexy 😁 Glad to see someone objectively talk about this game, and in depth. The good and the ugly, all has been said here and I ejoyed the video a lot, even though i dont have the game. I've been patiently waiting. If it gets a 60fps boost on series X, then for sure I'll buy it and probably some dlcs or whatever cause if they keep the updates coming, then they deserve some extra money I think :) Anyway.. GG and much love from France
Who else would have loved a single player ability of swapping instantly between the characters in a similar way you switch between Michael, Franklin, and Trevor so instead of being locked to one character you can use all 4 and I mean like I said Rockstar figured this out in 2013 and I think WB Games Montreal could have figured it out too and obviously if u did do co op then your stuck with the same character until u go back to single player either that or remove co op all together
The co-op is like the coolest part though imo. Getting rid of it would get rid of alot of the appeal for me.
@@scottmemelord6130 the only reason I didn't get it was because it was made with co-op. That stuff always ruins the single player experience
@@VeryDryBones Nice opinion. One small issue. I am inside your home.
"Why Gotham Knights failed?" Perhaps making a game full of bugs and low frame rate while turning the Bat-family into a bunch of spoiled "modern" kids and Harley Quinn into a TikToker wasn't the best idea... Just saying.
I had the batcycle un summon at least 1-3 times a hour while playing. I bought the game in the first month of release and played on PS5. There were no colors just grey everywhere and this video was the first time I saw the sky be different and actually have some variety in the color. I saw all of the beginning bugs and beat the game over the course of a week since I had Covid. It was the single worse game I ever played recently and ever said to my dad that saw me play it that I don’t recommend he play it cause he wanted to play it. Even the story was horrible and it seems the damage on the weapons was inconsistent with the what was actually dealt. If I ever play Gotham Knights again it’s because the bugs are fixed or a dlc came out and I got curious. This rant from me is only the beginning of my issues with the game too
@@darthmase. I don't know if you ever played it, but I heavily recommend the Arkham Franchise to you (Arkham Asylum, Akrham City, Arkham Origins and Arkham Knight). If you want to play GOOD Batman games, these are the ones.
@@grimreaper6060 I grew up on those games and plan on getting the Arkham trilogy on the switch when it comes out due to my 360 controller dying
@@darthmase. I feel ya. My PS4 had it's last days a while ago. I had awesome games on it, but now I can't play them anymore. Tough times...
@@grimreaper6060 dang. Sorry for the loss man.
Such a great video! The game is great. I platinumed it on PS5 and got a 100% on Heroic Assault. Batgirl was my main, now I'm playing New Game+ with Red Hood.
Great review man. Been following all of your stuff lately. The Arkham and uncharted stuff is great. Are you excited at all for suicde squad releasing in about a month?
Much appreciated! I’m not super hyped on it but I’m ready to go in with an open mind
@@ThatBoyAqua same. Rock Steady doesn’t disappoint. Looks more borderlands than Arkham . But I’m hopeful and hope it’s better than Gotham Knights. It was bad just mid to me. If you end up liking it and want someone to squad up with. Drop that gamertag. Otherwise keep up the great work man. Absolutely love these gaming essays. That 4 hr Arkham video got me through a bad work week lol.
I hate the way gamers and gaming KZheadrs stake all their thoughts on just criticism. Any little thing they don’t like and suddenly the whole game is bad. It feels like gaming critics (your favorite KZheadrs included) just don’t wanna engage with any game deeper than just mashing the buttons. I’m glad there’s people like you that actually attempt to play the games you review
I really loved the game personally. It was a little rough at first, but after a few hours I really got into it
Yeah when one of the thugs said SMASHY SMASHY SMASH. SMASH like bruh why add that dialogue
''City is alive'' while watching footage when he's traversing the citys and almost not a single NPC walking around on the street.
Finally finished this video. It inspired me to play Gotham Knights again.
My reason for disliking this game is the combat
I love playing as all the knights but my personal favourite is robin, I even got the eternal suit for him so he can be red robin who's one of my favourite heroes
I'm good thank you
Hello I wanted to add info. Got problem with EULA accepting online when launching, can't do it coz problem with saving. In off mode the game is working but don"t want to save the status while playing. After deleting 2 files in disc C - local- WB games (saved) and (mercury). The game started working normally from beginning and Eula was even accepted online. The game started saving status files normally. However, when I copied my old saves to the wb games (saved file) in clayface mission, the error appeared again, i.e. another non acceptable EULA online message and again problem with save status in off mode.
My number one problem with this game is the encounters. The combat doesn’t match the level design at all
My takeaway from this is the game suffered a major identity crisis on multiple levels glad I didnt buy thanks for your in depth analysis
Talia's boss fight give me nightmares still, I died so many times that after the first death in second fase she went in t-pose and I COULDNT HIT HER. I had to restart from fase 1 and at that point she was defeat by my muscle memory alone. I spent an entire night for 11 pm to 5 am and still didn't beat her (I beat her the following day but still)