The games start confuses me. When does it actually play? It doesn't make any logical sense coming from the Arkham series. Must be a different timeline, which I am not a big fan of.

The controls also feel a lot more clunky and basically everything controls differently and feels weird compared to those games... But yeah, I know, different studio. Still doesn't leave a good first impression though.

The graphics are... okay, though Arkham Knight looked a lot better. But this isn't the Akrham series... Still it is the "next" game centered around Gotham and has to be compared to the previous Batman games imo. The cape in Arkham Knights rain looked amazing, but this game doesn't even recognize that there is any water at all! The world is also a lot more empty, so it definitely feels like a downgrade...

Enough with the comparisons though, how does the game itself play?

Aside from having to actively turn the character, who likes to run a bit against walls in tight corners and getting some feeling of beeing glued to the walls because of it, it doesn't play too bad. The combat is more simple, but offers its own twists, which isn't too bad, but its more on the simpler side. It has to be though, because your character moves very slowly/sluggish compared to how batman felt in the Arkham games. Probably a lot easier too, because of it, but can be kinda boring if you're used to a faster pace.

That trend stays true also for traversal. No matter if going through the air or by vehicle, everything is slower. You can run at least. It takes way too long to get from one point to another, also isn't as much fun as it could be. Should probably be twice as fast, at least when riding your vehicle. Having a huge city is great and all, but it feels kinda empty compared to what thr Arkham series offered. At least they give you the option to open up fast travel points a bit into the story, but that only shows even they thought it wasn't fun to go from A to B imo.

The grapple points in this game are bad. Very bad. You are looking at the location you want to grapple on and constantly fly in the wrong direction somewhere behind yourself, or very low instead of high on the buildings. It just doesn't work and some challenges want you to be precise. Only feels annoying to do and like fighting against the controls, which is the only thing making this any hard.

This is also true for targeting enemies, or trying to sneak behind them to take them out. It'll be showing the button to take them down without a noise, but when you press it, it could also randomly be throwing a batarang, alerting them all and failing certain missions instantly. Or you try to jump behind something and you fall in front of it for no reason... or you want to just press a button/disarm a bomb, anything and you aren't facing exactly its way, it'll just not work or randomly cancel it. Its all very annoying and you constantly gotta play around these small annoyances, which makes this game a lot less enjoyable as it could be.

I do like the story itself though and the cutscenes are fun. The game also has a lot of stuff to do, though much of it isn't really that unique.

I also like how there basically is no classic detective mode, but more like a beacon and if you hold it, you can scan things. It doesn't change how the game looks, you can still see everything in its original graphics at all time. This is honestly what I would have very much prefered to have in the Arkham games. The detective mode basically made you look at the game in a blue or dark tint. You weren't able to see the great graphics and it was a bit sad.
This game however lets you do that, though its graphics aren't as beautiful. Still a nice way of handling it imo.

I still don't get how the Modchips truly work. I seem to constantly unlock new ones, but they almost never show up. Got like 10 legendary ones through my entire playthrough, but only one ever was in my inventory. Same for Heroic ones. Probably a buggy mess or whatever. Can't be bothered to check further into it. You still get enough to get you through the game.

Overall, I still had my fun playing this, especially once you got really comfy with the way the fighting works. Its fun using your abilities and feeling the power from it. It just has too many annoyances though to generally recommend it. If you want a great Batman type of game, play the Arkham games!

The games start confuses me. When does it actually play? It doesn't make any logical sense coming from the Arkham series. Must be a different timeline, which I am not a big fan of. The controls also feel a lot more clunky and basically everything controls differently and feels weird compared to those games... But yeah, I know, different studio. Still doesn't leave a good first impression though. The graphics are... okay, though Arkham Knight looked a lot better. But this isn't the Akrham series... Still it is the "next" game centered around Gotham and has to be compared to the previous Batman games imo. The cape in Arkham Knights rain looked amazing, but this game doesn't even recognize that there is any water at all! The world is also a lot more empty, so it definitely feels like a downgrade... Enough with the comparisons though, how does the game itself play? Aside from having to actively turn the character, who likes to run a bit against walls in tight corners and getting some feeling of beeing glued to the walls because of it, it doesn't play too bad. The combat is more simple, but offers its own twists, which isn't too bad, but its more on the simpler side. It has to be though, because your character moves very slowly/sluggish compared to how batman felt in the Arkham games. Probably a lot easier too, because of it, but can be kinda boring if you're used to a faster pace. That trend stays true also for traversal. No matter if going through the air or by vehicle, everything is slower. You can run at least. It takes way too long to get from one point to another, also isn't as much fun as it could be. Should probably be twice as fast, at least when riding your vehicle. Having a huge city is great and all, but it feels kinda empty compared to what thr Arkham series offered. At least they give you the option to open up fast travel points a bit into the story, but that only shows even they thought it wasn't fun to go from A to B imo. The grapple points in this game are bad. Very bad. You are looking at the location you want to grapple on and constantly fly in the wrong direction somewhere behind yourself, or very low instead of high on the buildings. It just doesn't work and some challenges want you to be precise. Only feels annoying to do and like fighting against the controls, which is the only thing making this any hard. This is also true for targeting enemies, or trying to sneak behind them to take them out. It'll be showing the button to take them down without a noise, but when you press it, it could also randomly be throwing a batarang, alerting them all and failing certain missions instantly. Or you try to jump behind something and you fall in front of it for no reason... or you want to just press a button/disarm a bomb, anything and you aren't facing exactly its way, it'll just not work or randomly cancel it. Its all very annoying and you constantly gotta play around these small annoyances, which makes this game a lot less enjoyable as it could be. I do like the story itself though and the cutscenes are fun. The game also has a lot of stuff to do, though much of it isn't really that unique. I also like how there basically is no classic detective mode, but more like a beacon and if you hold it, you can scan things. It doesn't change how the game looks, you can still see everything in its original graphics at all time. This is honestly what I would have very much prefered to have in the Arkham games. The detective mode basically made you look at the game in a blue or dark tint. You weren't able to see the great graphics and it was a bit sad. This game however lets you do that, though its graphics aren't as beautiful. Still a nice way of handling it imo. I still don't get how the Modchips truly work. I seem to constantly unlock new ones, but they almost never show up. Got like 10 legendary ones through my entire playthrough, but only one ever was in my inventory. Same for Heroic ones. Probably a buggy mess or whatever. Can't be bothered to check further into it. You still get enough to get you through the game. Overall, I still had my fun playing this, especially once you got really comfy with the way the fighting works. Its fun using your abilities and feeling the power from it. It just has too many annoyances though to generally recommend it. If you want a great Batman type of game, play the Arkham games!