I've really wanted to write about this at length so:
Personally, the biggest downfall of Arkham Knight was the narrative. In City, I was pretty invested in the plot and had some incredible moments in it, whereas with Knight it felt like I was forcing myself to get through it. The writing in Knight is incredibly lazy in spots; honestly, the 'you were gassed, Bruce' cop-out with Barbara near the end of the game is fucking atrocious, and telegraphing Arkham Knight's true identity (which was clear as day from the second line he utters in the game) through his dialogue made it hard for me to believe this was the same studio that brought us Asylum and City. Whenever he popped up, I was practically telling myself 'Please don't be Jason Todd please don't be Jason Todd'
The secondary villains and side characters in this game are also utilized in the worst way. Having villains like Two-Face and Penguin act as mere checkboxes and not immediate threats (as someone mentioned before: Penguin getting the drop on Nightwing. Seriously.), two damsels in distress plots (you can do so much better than having Catwoman's role essentially be a device for Batmobile tank puzzles. Same goes for Riddler, as well), I didn't feel the same sense of urgency with foiling Scarecrow's plot like I did with Strange's in City, and for fun go watch the Origins Deathstroke boss battle and then go watch the Arkham Knight boss battle. Maybe take a gander at the final boss fight in City as well.
And then there's the Challenge Maps. That mode was the reason why I came back to the Arkham games. I could get by with the blue walls awkward as they were, but the lackluster maps and having Batman as the only playable character in the majority of said maps—when you have a wealth of characters at your disposal—for four months was absurd.
I really wanted to like Arkham Knight, really, because there are things to like in Arkham Knight. The overall design of it is terrific, the performances from the actors are terrific, the combat system is fun to use and while I know the opposite is true on the PC, I had a wholly seamless experience with no technical hiccups whatsoever. But man, I just cannot get over how bad that game's writing is.
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