firecracker22

Yeah, in Asylum. Batman had an on-location mini-Batcave built on Arkham Asylum's grounds. We had to go there to use the crime lab at one point, I believe.

It's funny, because I think writing wise and in terms of characterizations, Origins is probably the best of the Arkham games. I loved Arkham Knight, mostly because of how they expanded on stuff...maybe even overdid it, but aside from there being too many Batmobile tank battles in place for bossfights, I had major issues with the writing. There were some serious and massive changes made to the cores of characters just to try and justify the story.

It's a balance, but Origins stuck to who those characters are and what makes them tick. Everyone in that game, from Shiva, to Alfred, to Bane, to Batman....their motivations and who they are seemed in tune with who those characters have, for the most part, been historically. Bane was this strategic mastermind like he should be. The Joker's obsession with Batman that borders them being soulmates was perfect.

I think alot of the problems the game had were in other areas. But, I think if you're a Batman fan who didn't like the directions they took any number of characters in Asylum, City or Knight, then you'd probably be able with that stuff in Origins. I think even some storytelling beats that the Arkham games reuse alot, are pretty much avoided in Origins.

That, and for some crazy reason Origins is the only Arkham game where we even get to go to the Batcave. Not sure why they didn't have it in Arkham Knight.

Splinter Cell.

Oh man, do I really, really miss it. It's crazy to think that we've gone this entire generation without one. I'm really itching for more.

I thought he made a cameo appearance? Could have sworn that I saw Iorveth appear in a trailer, which I assumed meant he appeared (atleast briefly) if you chose the Iroveth path for Witcher 2.

I saw a thread elsewhere about how strange it was that there was nothing with Elves, or the Scoia'tael, in the game. Which is true, it's kind weird. But, I guess it would make sense that they'd stay out of the war. Iorveth and the Scoia'tael were played like fiddles by Emry, and they hate the Northern Kingdoms as it is. So, choosing to stay out of it and not lend a hand to either one, and just let humans butcher eachother, seems like a valid choice to me.

But, it's still weird to see nothing with Iorveth and so little of the Scoia'tael. All I wound up seeing of them was a sidequest, where there was small camp they had hidden in the woods.

Wow. That's really awesome. I had no idea Ciri could show up. I just assumed it was either Yen or Triss. And there's even an option for Dandelion showing up? That's all pretty cool, actually.

Yeah, must be. I mean, one or two of them coming at me once on Blood and Bones was a nightmare. All of them? With the one hit kill moves they've got? And the loading screen waiting for you once they sliced through me in seconds made it even worse.

At least the trophy isn't locked to a difficulty. Knocking the difficulty down to easy, and stopping the abuse, was what I did. No regrets on that.

Yeah that nightmare boss fight kicked the shit out of me for quite sometime. Just got my ass handed to me over and over. I wound up swallowing my pride, and lowering the difficulty and managed to get the trophy (which must be fucking impossible on death march) for fighting all of them at once.

@claybrez: You might want to black out the second to last line. It's a bit of a spoiler for fans of the books who haven't played it yet.

The paperchase quest was just too funny. Monsters, bandits, noblemen, and peasants who won't pay? All are easy enemies compared to bureaucracy. The Roach quest was great, too. It was kinda breaking the fourth wall too, which was funny, just the way things people have said about Roach had been mentioned.

I'm extremely impressed with how much content there is. It's DLC that costs $19.99, and I paid $17.99 on PSN because it was at discount a few days before release. There's a ton of stuff there. And the writing is superb, of course, with a pretty subversive story (which is a Witcher staple), and great characters. The callback to "The Lesser Evil" short story, one of my favorite short stories ever, was great. There's alot of great stuff there for fans of the novels, as well. And them going for a much more High Fantasy setting, rather than the low fantasy setting that pretty much is the Northern Realms, made for a nice change of pace.

I thought the same thing. My saving grace is that it wasn't announced to mobile. So, at the very least my addiction can be contained to console. For now...