Perhaps it's because there are so many great games to play right now or perhaps it's because there is so much chatter in Arkham City that I find the whole thing disorienting, but I haven't done a single side mission in Arkham City yet. I'm not terribly far (in the museum) but as of now I have no desire to complete any side missions. I feel the desire to play this game as linearly as possible.

Without spoiling anything, am I really missing that much by not playing the side missions?

No, you're not really missing much by not playing the side missions and all of them can be completed after you're done with the story. If you only feel like playing the story missions then I recommend that's what you do. Although if you haven't already make sure you do the first lot of AR Gliding missions (unless you're okay with getting around Arkham City with Batman's default grappling/gliding abilities).

Yes. They're actually pretty awesome and flesh out the story a bit. Also possible sequel stuff. Maybe. Possibly.

To be honest, I'm pretty amazed how short the game was just blasting through the story. So many of the cameo appearances felt forced, the annoying restricted area in the center made gliding a less than seamless expereience, making 3 characters dlc/ preorder is fucking dumb and lastly, Batman felt too out of character at times when it came to how he was with Talia and yet shit like Catwoman and Robin are around but they don't really develop him any further.

Short answer: YES. A bit longer: They flesh out the story and introduce a lot characters you otherwise wouldn't meet. And for "just" being side-missions, they are quite well written and produced and has some really cool story moments. But none of demand that you play them while the main story is going on, so if you prefer to play linearly (which I did as well), there's nothing wrong in completing them afterwards.

I would recommend trying them. They are actually interesting in their own right and aren't very long. You can usually do them while on the way to another story mission, thereby doing them even more efficiently. The riddler trophies, however will take a while, and I would recommend skipping those if you're tight on time.

@MEATBALL said:

No, you're not really missing much by not playing the side missions and all of them can be completed after you're done with the story. If you only feel like playing the story missions then I recommend that's what you do. Although if you haven't already make sure you do the first lot of AR Gliding missions (unless you're okay with getting around Arkham City with Batman's default grappling/gliding abilities).

100% with this guy.

you can do the side missions after the story is done so decide if you want more play time after that.

i used them to prolong the game because its so short. you actually get something for the first batch of AR missions, rest boiled down to more beat 'em up play.

I would recommend you play them if you enjoy the story aspect of the game. They aren't particularly challenging game play wise, however as mentioned above they are well written. I wish they had condensed the Riddler stuff a bit (with how many there are it kinda dilutes the fun of them) and had spent more time developing the side missions into something a little more interesting to play. I found a lot of them to be anti-climatic.

A.r. missions (first set) are a must, the upgrade is awesome. From there, mmmmmmm, just a little fleshing out. Good closure from the nora fries one, and I found the deadshot stuff fun. But its all pretty passable, except those first augmented reality missions

TROPHIES TROPHIES TROPHIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

They are good overall.

I think they are great, but in all honesty if you're only half interested (which it kinda sounds like you are), then I'd put the side missions off until you don't have as many things pulling for your attention. I feel this is a game worth diving into. But if you're only interested in seeing the core story, then do that (after you finish the AR trainers like that other dude said). Maybe after the Holiday glut of new titles you can come back to this one with lots of goodies to see for the first time in a second playthrough or something.

Either way, they're worth exploring, but if you're not feeling the Bat-vibe at the moment, wait until you are. This game is at it's best when you're in full on Bat-Geek mode getting the absolute most out of each reference and cameo.

Thanks for the replies guys. I appreciate the input.