Arkham Asylum is over.

[@MicahEdmonds]

Hey thanks for being here! This video discusses some pretty serious topics, some of which may trigger sensitive discussions in the comments, so before heading down, just be aware of that. Please feel free to talk in the comments below and to offer alternative viewpoints about the game (that's a large part of what this particular video is about). I'm a small enough channel to control what goes on in my comments though, so any sign I see of unhealthy conversation which belittles, diminishes or discriminates will be instantly shut down. I work hard on my videos, so let's please keep being nice to everyone while you're at my place. Thanks!

[@ben2808]

Jesus Christ loves you

[@klepTeevee]

I love it. Replaying it a few times may get a bit old but it’s still pretty amazing

[@ttimlake]

This video is roughly 90 minutes of praise for Rocksteady's Arkham Asylum game and 90 minutes of tearing it back down again and making Rocksteady out to be insensitive for creating this horrible excuse for a Mental Health Care Facility. You act as if they invented this. Have you ever read "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth"? What about the Burton/Schumacher Batman movies? Arkham is SUPPOSED to be what those concerned with Mental Healthcare should wake up screaming about when they have work-related nightmares. It's the textbook example of WHAT NOT TO DO. That's the message here. Arkham is the WORST Asylum. Blackgate is the WORST prison. Gotham is the WORST and most crime-ridden city in the DC Universe and you can't swing a teenage sidekick without hitting three schizophrenics who've been off their meds since their escape. That is the POINT. Batman calls himself VENGEANCE. Batman is DESPERATION. He has sworn a vow to FIX his city so that other kids don't have to watch their parents murdered. But he swore this vow in a city where being a Joker Henchman looks like the 3rd most popular job right next to Crooked Cop and Petty Thug. Arkham is the Asylum that Batman has access to, and it's shitty. Wayne throws money at it like rain, but he just inadvertently pays for more creative and expensive abuse. Much in the same way that Marvel's Peter Parker rarely has enough money to pay his rent on time BECAUSE THAT'S PART OF HIS CHARACTER, Batman lives in ShittyTown, and can choose between MurderPrison and LunaticShithole. AND THAT'S THE POINT. Superman was drawn to bright, shiny, art-deco Metropolis and he's a good, bright, cheeful complement to that city. Batman and Arkham Asylum are what you get when you have a Gotham.

[@Morgan_of_the_Maxilla]

Local man discovers Batman is fascistic by nature over the course of 3 hours

[@sinkaido]

It’s a small thing, but I think ur criticizing a lil too harshly how effectively the game teaches player free flow combat. The game has an upgrade system based on choice and experience points, and I’m certain most players wouldn’t just spend their points on random crap without reading these things first. U could argue that many people would gloss over these details, but at the same time, there’s so many useful gadget upgrades/ just really cool and fun to use special moves that you’d need to look through them one at a time in order to determine which one u currently want to unlock. In almost all the arkham games (from what I remember), critical strikes and combo moves have always been upgrades u had to unlock, and said combo moves would always start with an 8-hit combo requirement before u can reduce it to 5. In other words, the game, through these upgrades, allows players to learn the certain intricacies of free flow combat one at a time. More specifically, critical strikes inadvertently teaches the rhythm of free-flow combat to players since they have to time their attacks in order to gain that boost, and the combo moves require players to first be seamless for 8 hits straight, which forces players to be more careful if they want to use these flashy yet useful finishers/throws; if you keep button mashing, it’s likely ur getting hit or missing hits and ruining ur combos, and thus (theoretically at least, can’t speak for everybody) the natural response would be to slow things down and be more careful, which is very easy adjustment to make since the game makes it pretty obvious how to recognize and react appropriately to incoming attacks

[@Goobywoobygoo]

“Why is Killer Croc here? He has a physical disease not a mental one.” He also lives in the sewers, eats raw meat, and thinks he’s a crocodile pretty sure that qualifies him for Arkham, lmao.

[@smugalice6206]

And people. Also, it’s been established that Arkham holds inmates that require special cells (Mr. Freeze and Clayface).

[@johntonssen7231]

@@smugalice6206they’re all insane. Insane doesn’t mean you fling 💩 at the wall and babble gibberish. Batman himself is insane. It’s not normal to do anything these people do

[@Jarqueivies]

+ blackgate was burnt down by joker

[@neverbeganforme]

“Thinks he’s a crocodile” he is a crocodile

[@bullymaguire513]

​@@neverbeganformehe is just a jacked mutated human technically.

[@potatorecipe742]

It's great to see 3 hour videos still being made about this game even after 13 years

[@blackboimuzikkingmario9728]

That's a reason in itself why he secretly loves this game

[@adamnielson42]

Oh my gosh I haven't thought about your channel in months since you stopped uploading, it's crazy remembering the past.

[@christopherrobyn4416]

It’s because good art is never irrelevant

[@zandril978]

you remind me of how old I feel ;-;

[@Max_Casetera]

thats how you realize how great a game is

[@trumpflavourednugget9325]

Arkham knight was actually an unreal engine 3 game as well. Crazy how it looks better than most unreal engine 4 games

[@chancylvania]

That’s just a matter of rendering lol. Their UE3 engine is heavily modified for them. Jedi fallen order is UE4. I don’t know many other big UE4 games.

[@cosmicpanda7043]

I'd say even more than the actual graphical fidelity, the stylised environments and attention to detail carry it

[@sai8098]

Yup, though it did use a heavily modified version of Unreal Engine 3, so it's not really fair to say that it used UE3, more like UE3.5

[@cepiv9775]

it looks better than games made even now, 7 years later😭

[@PautinoPR]

Its the rain that makes it look that good

[@BlueSpams]

Wait hold up, people don’t like Asylum’s opening? I think it’s great. It’s far from slow and like you said it’s almost breakneck in pacing considering everything they’re throwing at you. They’re setting so much up in just a few minutes while also letting you build up that anticipation.

[@ZB3003]

I think it's more just annoying on replays, it's a perfect opening but I'd say it'd have been wise to make it skipable

[@thesolidestsnake]

On replay it kinda sucks. Like on first playthrough, the walking and the environment is ment to show off what you will have to grow accustomed to in the future, as well as making you think "how is joker gonna get out of this one" which is later mimicked once it's Batman in the restrains.

[@dipanjanghosal1662]

Its the best opening

[@dbxniker7484]

@@ZB3003 yes but unavoidable first playthrough

[@austenbabineaux346]

I loved the opening

[@snowblind9551]

In the Arkhamverse, hardly any of the Arkham patients are insane. A lot of them are psychopaths, i.e. mentally ill but still sane. It's a misconception that mental illness and insanity are synonymous. Joker, Zsasz, and Penguin are psychopaths/sociopaths, as in they are impulsively, remorselessly violent yet still lucid enough to fathom morality, consequences, and to stand trial. At best, Joker feigns insanity so he's not executed. Scarecrow's doctor explicitly said he's not insane, just "evil" (i.e. a psychopath.) Batman personally diagnoses Riddler with narcissism and severe obsessive compulsion, which, once again, are mental illnesses but not insanity. The only reason villains like Ivy, Freeze, Clayface, Bane, and Croc are held at Arkham is because their superhuman physiology requires specialized treatment. Furthermore, Arkham Origins retroactively establishes that most of Gotham's supervillains are simply transferred from Blackgate to Arkham due to its incompetence as a proper holding facility, not just Joker's goons. So for all intents and purposes, Arkham Asylum is a maximum security prison with a misleading name. Nothing more, nothing less. The only rogues who actually belong in Arkham are Harley and Two-Face, because they have psychosis/dissociation.

[@AGrayPhantom]

I'm curious, what do _you_ think Harley's diagnosis is?

[@brxnv_]

except the crazy guys who jump at you everywhere

[@skippidybap9503]

@@AGrayPhantomShe has Histrionic Personality Disorder

[@snowblind9551]

@@AGrayPhantom Like the guy above said, histrionic personality disorder is a good guess, given how she over-sexualizes herself for attention. However, if you want to emphasize her psychosis and dissociation seen in Arkham Knight (she hears the voice of "Harleen" in her head, which is both a psychotic hallucination and a dissociative identity), she'd have borderline personality disorder.

[@elfascisto6549]

Dissociative Identity Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder aren't basis for an insanity defense, Two-face doesn't belong in Arkham Asylum either

[@alexanderchippel]

I can't fault Quincy for wanting Joker dead. Anyone with even the basic understanding of psychology knows that the Joker isn't insane. He's evil. He knows what he's doing is wrong, and he still does it because he likes causing harm to others. Joker isn't an agent of chaos. He's an agent of suffering.

[@Ancor_Vantian]

Like Dr. Young notes' clearly state: "...At times, I almost wonder if he's actually insane at _all_ "

[@Markustempest]

Good and evil is a question for philosophy not psychology. Joker exhibits signs of being a psychopath, one of which is like you said, he knows that he is causing suffering to others and doesn’t care/enjoys it.

[@doe-dw9lo]

@@Markustempest don't over-complicate things and bring philosophy into this. "psychopathy" as a diagnosis is at best colloquial. and there are plenty functional people in society who are seen by medical health professionals as exhibiting anti-social tendencies. but the Joker fucking murders people, dud. He's aware of his actions, and he enjoys it. i think that's a pretty cut and dry barometer for evil.

[@dyltube6395]

Joker is the equivalent of a rabid dog. He has become a danger that must be put down

[@Aquino42503]

@@doe-dw9lo psychopathy, sociopathy, narcissism, and other "dark personality" diagnoses are now beginning to be viewed as instances on a spectrum, much like autism. Regardless, the joker not only shows a total disregard for human life, but a pathological need to cause terror while also being fixated on batman throughout his criminal career. His constant call for batman's attention is compulsory, and he creates his acts of terrorism around what Batman would think, to tie them together even further. This would drive any psychologist to make a determination that he is clinically insane. If the batman ceased to exist, there is a good chance joker might kill himself, as he sees no purpose in disturbing the world without batman.

[@takingthemick1396]

The story literally explains why croc is there. All Blackgate inmates were transferred to Arkham, the reason croc is in the sewers is because Arkham doesn't have the proper facilities to contain him. One of the riddles shows the first cell croc was in, the bars are broken and there is a skeletal corpse inside, showing that even in a cell he is a danger. So they modify the sewers, to make sure he can't escape and transfer him there during the opening of the game.

[@DrFrankenMax]

Joker doesn't want a revolution. This Joker is the same exact Joker that's in Arkham Knight, where we get to see EXACTLY what would happen if Asylum had played out the way he wanted. Gotham on fire. Everyone dead in the streets. Police unable to handle it. All of Batman's foes brutally murdered by Joker's forces. And Joker laughing the entire time, because that's what Joker wants. He's not crazy, you're right. But he's not a revolutionary either. He's just a sadist who wants everyone to suffer and likes it when what he does causes turmoil, chaos, and pain, whether what he's doing will lead to something positive or not. Eventually, he'll corrupt that positivity anyway when it bores him.

[@PeachBoi_Real]

Don't waste your breath, if the guy thinks any version of the joker is a "revolutionary" he is too far gone to be reasoned with

[@DrFrankenMax]

@@PeachBoi_RealI am so glad that this game is getting discussed so much later down the pipeline of when it was released, but I am equally exhausted watching people who this is obviously their only exposure to these characters and this world word salad their way into some of the most (pardon the pun) batshit takes I've ever seen. Anybody with a brain and at least one decent Batman comic under their belt knows that he's not a role model, that he frequently makes bad choices and is never portrayed in any context as infallible, just smart enough to outwit everyone around him and physically able to endure the consequences of his insane self-destructive actions. Calling him a "mega cop" or a political argument in favor of the police force misses the mark so fucking hard its not even funny. Did we forget Battinson? The Dark Knight? Killing Joke? Even the Fox Gotham show which was the most seemingly copaganda-coded piece of Batman media to ever release still portrayed every cop OTHER than Gordon as a slimy scumbag who deserved death or worse because of being in every mob boss and human trafficker's pocket. Half the plotlines of that show were about how much the police force sucks, how a random street-level thug became a supervillain to PROVE how bad the cops were, and then Gordon had to FIGHT the cops to get them put away properly and half the time that didn't even fucking work. Batman is a rich spoiled kid's ANSWER to a shitty police force that failed and his whole story is about how bad of an answer that is and how there are other better alternatives that he refuses to partake in due to his obsession. The more I watch this guy, and his videos on the Arkham games, the more I am convinced he knows absolutely nothing about Batman.

[@mgood356]

Did you actually play the game ? what you see in arkham knight is not what would happen if joker succeeded in asylum but if batman turned into the joker how else would he have a batmobile and why would the villains be surprised when he,s trying to kill them second he,s discussing this game without including the sequels or what happens after arkham asylum he says that in the VIDEO so next time watch or pay attention to the video before you write a dum essay like this

[@DrFrankenMax]

@mgood365 The intent behind Jokers actions, as a consistent character across all three games, doesn't change with what Battech equipment becomes available to him. Whether he's a giant Titan monster stomping through Gotham or driving the Bat tank it still ends the same way, and it's not a revolution for the opressed

[@mgood356]

@@DrFrankenMax Remember he,s judging the game without including the sequels and how they characterize him and like he said in the VIDEO the game does imply in some instances he is fighting for the oppressed ( as dum as that sounds) so it,s the games fault for implying something as stupid as that and I don't fault him for coming to this conclusion

[@frostreaper2311]

Yeah the minute that second segment started I began to feel irritated. The whole point of the Arkham Chronicles for example is to show that the good intention of helping the ill went astray and became something malevolent. The whole point of the Asylum is that it became corrupt due to people like Sharp and Arkham himself as well as the city neglecting those who need help. The opposition that happens in the game being a natural consequence to all this abuse of power and Batman suffering and almost going mad in this non rehabilitating Asylum. Batman doesn’t like to beat the mentally ill lmao. He has to fight the ones that pose a threat due to the tragic nature that the Asylum is as a whole. If it weren’t as corrupt (another example being the black gate prisoners) the events of the game wouldn’t have happened. He had to prevent the prison outbreak to keep the rest of Gotham safe from a very faulty institution that was made that way due to a lot of political corruption. Overall I can’t really carry on through the rest of the video due to the gross implications.

[@smugalice6206]

The video never got better.

[@frostreaper2311]

@@smugalice6206 Fr? How so

[@smugalice6206]

@@frostreaper2311 dude said “If you suffer from a serious psychological disorder, this is what the game thinks of you, and this is what Batman thinks you deserve.” while sad violin music plays and shows a lunatic rocking back and forth.

[@frostreaper2311]

@@smugalice6206 Jesus Christ that’s such a bold claim to have toward a game and character. Rather disingenuous overall for the sake of a video

[@smugalice6206]

@@frostreaper2311 I’ve never seen a video go to shit that harshly, though him basically saying “Batman should’ve been punching mentally ill women of color” was an omen.

[@zubairali5400]

This is one of the darkest videos I’ve seen, and it being about my favourite video game ever is what makes it great. I love this game to death, the grindhouse horror aspect, the gothic architecture, the simplistic and straight forward story with a massive and in-depth lore that can be chosen to be explored, and my favourite interpretation of Batman, a hero who’s professional and gets the work done. Some of the stills and shots you’ve made are absolutely perfect showcases the horror and the beauty of Arkham Asylum. This is the best examination of this game, you should be proud of the work you’ve put in.

[@sunsetman22]

for me it's yet to be topped. the other games tried but never really managed it. Asylum came out of nowhere and blew everyone away. truly a once in a lifetime phenomenon.

[@ilikemusic9599]

Did... did you watch this video ?!

[@zubairali5400]

@@ilikemusic9599 yes I did, and what point are you trying to make?

[@Lin_Eileen]

@@zubairali5400 They probably assumed you didn't listen to the critiques of AA's portrayal of mental health because you didn't mention that in the comment and it's a big part of the video.

[@formalexchange8258]

I don't think I agree with all of this. Just because Batman doesn't stop and say "torturing mentally ill people is bad" doesn't mean the game is somehow normalizing or glorifying it. If it is, then is Outlast? If anything I saw this as a cautionary tale. And most of the people Batman fights are Blackgate thugs, not mentally ill people. Even when he does come across the the actual patients he ko's them quickly. Also, Joker isn't a revolutionary. Even in the Joker movie he doesn't care to change the system. He's a product of the terrible system in place, but it won't bother him if it changes or not. Like at the end when he's arrested and looking at the rioting, he's laughing as says it's "beautiful".

[@TheGreyLock]

I think its a hard sell to tell me Killer Croc is only acting out for how he is being treat at Arkham. Its true he isn't there for a mental condition but is kept there due to how physically secure the old building is.

[@MontySlython]

Especially considering his cannibalistic tendencies.

[@JustF4211]

Extraordinary. One of the most nuanced, challenging, engaging, creative videos I’ve ever watched. Beyond description. You should be proud, I can’t believe something like this is on KZbin.

[@overforker2623]

While I do agree that everything in this video is completely, utterly, undeniably valid, I must present the also undeniable fact that it’s a Batman video game with an intentional horror-esk aesthetic as well as components which exist for ease of gameplay and suspension of disbelief.

[@tariqpittman]

While I appreciate the thoughts and sentiments regarding mental illness, in this context, with Batman and his rouges who have no issue with being evil, empathizing with them is a bold choice. The comments about Joker especially are odd because viewing this version as this anti-capitalist revolutionist when he's a psychopathic narcissist who would kill doctors, patients, police, and his crew for his ego. In reality, that's someone who I call evil if he existed in real life, and in that reality, it's the same thing.

[@Devilm4n-cw8tv]

​@@godzillazfrictionnobody reading this 😭

[@skyking5019]

@@Devilm4n-cw8tvi did

[@Devilm4n-cw8tv]

@@skyking5019 I have been humbled and will retract my statement

[@hushthecipher]

Isn't Anarky the Anti Capitalist Villian? I find it hard to believe that Joker has any motivation other then pure chaos thats kind of the idea of his character. Putting a ideology on him is the antithesis of whats he's supposed to be as the Joker. There are more villians in Batman's rouges gallery who fit the theme of a villian showing societies ills i think. The game should have been more critical of the institution of Arkham Asylum though and it should have shown us a sympathetic view towards some of these inmates. Maybe have them cower in fear rather then attack like "crazy" people.

[@thatoneguy609]

It’s always funny to me when people try to paint Joker as an actual anarchist. When describing his own goals, he only ever uses the word “anarchy” in the sense of chaos, mayhem, etc. He doesn’t refer to the actual political ideology. Like you said, he just wants to see shit hit the fan.

[@Ryan-wr8fx]

It's always fun watching someone over analyze a game from 2009 over aspects and subtext of the story that may be totally unintentional

[@z-chan946]

Keyword being may 😈

[@Ryan-wr8fx]

@@z-chan946 yes, I'm not going to pretend like I know what the writers were thinking when they crafted the story. But I find it highly unlikely that they read up on real-world medical diagnosis of fictional characters and prison laws of the mentally insane.

[@z-chan946]

@@Ryan-wr8fx keyword being unlikely 😈😈😈😈 alr but no jokes I agree with you

[@samueledmonds7358]

Interesting point about the constant never going away tutorial button subtitles. I wonder if in the case of Asylum its because this was one of the last of those - "play it on the XBox at the local game store" games and so when the game is in different spots of the story as people walk up to it there still get prompts. Its not a good reason but just something I thought of

[@nicholaspeters9919]

I don’t know, I remember playing one of those demos in a Walmart. All it let you play was the first combat challenge map, not anything from the game proper.

[@Skiloose]

As the holder of the top comment on your old video on the Arkham series, let me just say that I cannot WAIT for you to make up for your past mistakes and FINALLY make a video where you talk about Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate, for the Nintendo 3DS, for 5 hours.

[@roarsack503]

I think you're missing the point a bit when you start explaining how misrepresenting the game is of mental institutions. No one ever said that Arkham Asylum is supposed to be a GOOD mental institution. It's a dark, twisted, fantasy imagining of one. It's the worst you could imagine. This is the world Batman lives in. It's not supposed to reflect the real world or real mental illness. And the world it paints is such an exaggerated one that I don't think anyone should feel they're led to believe otherwise. NO one is going to look at the "lunatics" in the game and go "yep, that's what mental illness is like", unless they're already grossly misguided and out of touch with the world. In fact, had they created a more nuanced depiction of mental illness, I think that would have muddled things even more. Keeping it more black and white makes the distinction of, "this is not real and it's not meant to be", more clear. You're meant to look at the game as a horror story, representing a world you would never ever want to live in. A story which, after it's over, makes you go "boy, am I glad I'm not living in that world. But at least they have the Batman to protect them." And the fantasy is that you get to BE that protector for a while. I'm not saying the game is by all means flawless and I do agree that the Batman ruthlessly beating up said "lunatics" is kind of questionable, at the very least in terms of Batman's character. In fact, I think the game would be enhanced if Batman actually acknowledged the lack of self-agency of those characters and incapacitated them in a less destructive way, like with a zip tie or knockout gas or something. That would actually be pretty cool. I also agree that making the Asylum itself a villain would have been an interesting prospect. That the Batman had blamed the incident directly on the institution not working. It would have been good to acknowledge the heinous acts of Warden Sharp more directly in the series, or how Bruce allowed him to become Mayor in the sequel (at least tell how and why he was unable to prevent it). Edit: I find your interpretation of the Joker in the game incredibly forced. You're actively choosing to see his actions as some kind of call for help or an attempt to call attention to the state of mental care in Gotham. And that's all fine I guess, if that's how you want to see it, but the game never implies the Joker's motivation to be anything more than to torment Batman/Gotham like he has countless times before. His actions are entirely selfish, to the point of discarding Harley, his debatable girlfriend, the minute she's of no use to him anymore. He shows complete disregard to the other inmates, as well. It's all about him and Batman. If anything, all he wants to call attention to, is himself. He's a narcissist, who needs Batman because he's the one who gives him full attention. His attention-seeking motivations are even reinforced by calling in the news to witness his final showdown with the Batman. He probably knows he's going to lose but he doesn't care because he got what he wanted.

[@turbonerdo6838]

"No one ever said that Arkham Asylum is supposed to be a GOOD mental institution." "This is the world Batman lives in." This is the actual complaint. Not that Arkham is depicted as abusive, but that the protagonist and superhero is complicit in that abuse. Arkham isn't presented as being good, but Batman is, and Batman both chooses to send his villains there, and does nothing to hold the criminals running the Asylum accountable. "And the world it paints is such an exaggerated one that I don't think anyone should feel they're led to believe otherwise" This is an issue of context. From our point of view now, with the hindsight of both more realistic Batman stories and even more realistic Arkham games, Asylum seems exaggerated by comparison. Cartoonish skeletons and the whatever the fuck the lunatics are supposed to be. But within the context of it's release, Arkham Asylum was extremely more realistic and serious when compared to it's contemporaries, especially when compared to it's contemporary Batman video games. Nolan's films are the only exception to this rule. "NO one is going to look at the "lunatics" in the game and go "yep, that's what mental illness is like"" Representation is just as much subliminal and implicit as it is explicit. The problem of the lunatics is that the player will never give them enough scrutiny to ever question them. I had no idea their eyelids were being held open, because I never paid enough attention to them to look at their character models that closely. The game provokes you into attacking them immediately by utilising jump scares and making their grab attack extremely annoying, making sure you never feel sympathy for them by making them mechanically inconvenient.

[@kwayneboy1524]

​@@turbonerdo6838batman doesnt choose to send them there its the court who places them their Batman doesnt have a say in who does or doesn't get put there.

[@zvonimirskvorc3006]

Every building has it's own ambient color, like if you pay enough attention you could see that batman's suit also changes colors depending on batman's surroundings, his cowl goes from dark blue to green and from green to dark brown, I think that was a very cool detail

[@GrapplingIgnorance]

Hell yeah, this would have been a much better game if we walked up to psychopathic criminals and pressed X to empathize with them. Batman would sit down and have 1 on 1 therapy sessions on his way to group therapy with Joker and the rest of his rogue's gallery at the end. That would have been SO much more fun. It's also a shame that I now consider all mentally ill people deranged monsters because of how the patients in one asylum were depicted in a video game where a wealthy vigilante dresses up like a bat and goes into firefights with his fists.

[@smugalice6206]

Unfortunately, the ending just turned into unbearable bleeding heart hand-wringing. “I can’t recommend this game because it’s so problematic! I gotta calm down because I’m so upset!.” Sheesh.

[@christaylor7916]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@kwayneboy1524]

2:46:03 no I am sorry but god no, I was with you till this moment because this sounds absurd. Look I know you love The Joker film I do too but that version of the character and all that it stands for is not thr same as the one for the games or comics. Joker isnt written as a rebel with a cause but more so just a man taking his own personal hatred with the world and turning it on to humanity. I mean this guy is stated to have shot and crippled Batgirl and is now trying to make a mutant army. I doubt this brand of logic you are using fits this story or character. It also sounds kinda dumb when you remember that Joker payed Doc Young to make these monsters for him which would me he was fine with her using inmates as test subjects. Plus he also killed one of them without empathy.

[@brunomilocchi3897]

You forgot (I think) that The Joker's lifegoal is not to be forgotten. Kind of like a catastrophic event that will be remembered through the ages. He wants to bring chaos to the city with the use of monsters so that everyone will come face to face with him. There is no alterior motif, there is no search for justice. He wants to be glorified one way or another.

[@MicahEdmonds]

My intepretation indicates that the Joker Figment in Arkham Knight is a vision of Bruce Wayne's greatest fears embodied as his perception of the Joker, so it's actually Batman who's afraid of being forgotten. Think that's pretty clearly what the game was playing into, metaphorically displaying Joker as a version of himself that Batman doesn't want to become, but Joker himself is already dead and isn't in Arkham Knight. Even so, if Joker did share the fear of obscurity, it still plays into the theory of the Asylum Joker acting out of a desire for empathy, something he wouldn't recieve if he was forgotten. So even if you're right, it actually plays in favour of a Joker who wants more awareness for the plight of the mentally ill quite strongly.

[@brunomilocchi3897]

@@MicahEdmonds Interesting. I always thought that Batman's greatest fear was to become just like all the other criminals (namely The Joker in Arkham Knight's context). But you do have a point. Also, maybe I'm mistaken, but wasn't Arkham Asylum supposed to hold Joker's men only temporarily? Meaning that until another place was ready they would've stayed there, but that otherwise they wouldn't even be there. The distinction between Joker's army and the actual "guests" is pretty striking, so it's possible that the Asylum was only supposed to hold in people with a kind of insanity that would bring them to commit crime that isn't simply stealing or something, but actually murdering people (like the Joker Nygma, or those guys that scream all the time). It's pretty obvious that the way these people are treated is as insane as their own condition if not more so, but could it be that when Batman or the Police bring them to the Asylum they are already in that condition? I mean, it's not like Joker gets crazier every time he breaks out, same goes for all the other criminals. That would at least somewhat justify Batman's lack of reaction upon seeing these men the way that they're shown. Oh and another thing that I think should be stated is that Batman doesn't just go ham on the actual criminally insanes, he just Ko's them with one or two hits, unlike Joker's men who get repeatedly stomped on.

[@SpiderMan-gf1lc]

@@jackswan338 perhaps the most common depictions of him, but maybe Rocksteady wanted to portray the character in a different light in Arkham Knight

[@bipolarbear7337]

@@MicahEdmonds Joker doesn't want the issues of how the mentally ill are treated to be addressed, he wants revenge for the way society has treated him in particular. The Joker has always been depicted as someone who cares about only himself (and sometimes Batman due to seeing himself in him in some twisted way). That's why Joker's line about killing asylum inmates is there; because he doesn't give a shit about the mentally ill.

[@turbonerdo6838]

@@MicahEdmonds "My intepretation indicates that the Joker Figment in Arkham Knight is a vision of Bruce Wayne's greatest fears embodied as his perception of the Joker" The nature of the Joker hallucination, both diagetically and metaphorically, is very deliberately ambiguous. Bruce's fear of becoming corrupted by his own anger and violence, of killing making him no better than the criminal he fights, manifests as being afraid of becoming the Joker. And therefore, the fear toxin acts as a catalyst which accelerates the effects of Joker's blood, and magnifies the Joker personality which such blood carries. There is certainly a lot of Joker's dialogue which sounds like Bruce's own self hatred and self loathing being voiced by Joker, of him criticising himself of putting his friends in danger. Yet in the games finale, Joker is clearly represented as an agent independent from Bruce, who comes to power because of Bruce's fear, and becomes suppressed because of his own fears of Batman. I think there's too much evidence of Joker being an independent agent to argue that Joker is an entirely fabricated construct of Bruce's mind. When he laughs in Scarecrow's face and tells him to get ready for the encore, that isn't Bruce being afraid, that's Joker being liberated. My interpretation is that there is a struggle in Bruce's mind between his consciousness and the Joker's, and the more fear toxin he inhales the more agency and independence Joker gets. At the start of the game when you exit Ace Chemicals, Joker is almost entirely a product of Batman's mind. He voices Bruce's fears and insecurities. But I think the ambiguity of Joker's nature is to make the player feel the same way Batman does, not knowing what reality is, not knowing if he's a victim of manipulation or if this is all his own inner monologue. Both the Stagg airship and the movie studios hallucinations work under either the context of Joker being a devil on Bruce's shoulder manipulating him, or Bruce being self destructive and tempted and giving in at moments of emotional weakness. I think the ambiguity of Joker is what elevates these scenes to greater depth. "so it's actually Batman who's afraid of being forgotten" The entire game is under the dramatic irony of this being Batman's death, Scarecrow's goal is to destroy your legacy and legend. Bruce learning to let go of the Batman and sacrifice his legacy because it is no longer effective is a valid character arc. But the biggest objection I have to this analysis is that the Knightfall protocol is not something thought of after the games finale, but a protocol pre-planned before the game even ends. So Bruce has been willing to sacrifice Batman if his identity is ever threatened, which is to suggest that he does not learn about the pointlessness of legacy after he defeats the Joker, because he already planned to do this beforehand. Going back to Bruce being willing to sacrifice himself, I would point out that Bruce being afraid of his own personal safety is the direct result of the Joker hallucination, or the fears and insecurities such a hallucination represents. Bruce is entirely willing to sacrifice himself at ACE chemicals, and Joker is the one who emphasises self preservation. "After all, you're brooding for two now". This selfish desire manifests in the movie studios, where Bruce locks Robin because he views his personal freedom as more important than Robin's. So it could be seen that whilst Bruce prepared the Knightfall protocol earlier, that he wasn't entirely confident in it being necessary, and had reserved doubts about it's effectiveness, and merely hoped it would never need to be used. "but Joker himself is already dead and isn't in Arkham Knight." Whilst the metaphorical significance of Joker's dialogue being things that Bruce actually thinks is still very relevant to analysis, I think it's pretty disingenuous to ignore the exposition given during the Gordon flashback. The Joker blood is capable of manipulating the patients to the point that they display Joker like behaviour and tendencies. Joker may be dead, but if his blood is capable of a rough recreation of his consciousness in others bodies, then the Joker hallucination still functions like a copy of Joker from a character perspective, the same way a clone or a multiversal doppelganger does also. "if Joker did share the fear of obscurity, it still plays into the theory of the Asylum Joker acting out of a desire for empathy" As soon as you said Joker is someone looking for empathy in the video, I immediately thought of Joker's final scene in Knight. Being shoved into a cramped cell with scribbled writing, reaching out to Bruce and saying "No please, don't leave me. I need you." The vocal performance of Hamill carries a lot of pathos and tragedy in that plea, it is very clearly showing Joker's sadness and desperation and how Arkham isolates him. And I think it is very telling that Joker's greatest fear isn't Batman, it isn't being forgotten. It's Arkham Asylum. That's the thing he fears the most, the thing he wants Batman to save him from, the thing that Batman condemns him to.

[@TecnoTyler]

Now THIS is what I wanted out of a 3.5 hour essay on a single video game. Not just rehashing the same praises and criticisms that we’ve been hearing for over a decade, but coming up with a completely unique (as far as I can tell) take on this subject. I never would have thought about the game in the same manner and depth as you did, and that’s exactly what’s great about this. Sub definitely earned.

[@Nightman221k]

Damn, I'm glad I stuck with this video all the way through cause it gets so good when you get to Part II and delve into the mental health aspects of the game. I found it so intriguing to hear someone analyze since it WAS something on my mind when playing the game and all the mentally unwell people are men in peak physical health and age who want to kill Batman. I don't have unrealistic standards for a fun video game to get into the unsavory real world topics, but we have Batman share dialogue with officers and doctors, they could have fit in some inmates who are caught in the middle of this madness and put it into perspective that Batman is aware of it.

[@smugalice6206]

It’s explained in-story that the most of the people you fight are Joker goons brought in from Blackgate Prison. Now those lean lunatics, on the other hand...

[@propane_salesman]

The reason there were all kinds of wacky takedowns in stealth sections when Batman is usually all business isn't because Batman gets a kick out of it, it's because he relies heavily on theatrics and frightening the enemies. A ninja who can silently take you out at when you're not looking is one thing, but Batman can get you anywhere at any time. Nowhere is safe from Batman.

[@eduardomunoz4387]

Exactly. What's more scary and make you want to shit your pants from fear? A guy who NEEDS to get behind you to take you down? Or the one that can go though walls, catch you from the vents, attack you from the ceilings, etc. without alerting anyone?

[@doomguydemonkiller]

I enjoyed the first half of this video, but not the rest of it.

[@darrensilva-collins815]

While I think this video is extremely well made, I think it also horribly misunderstands Batman and his mythos and a fundamental level. Saying Batman discriminates against the mentally ill just doesn't make sense considering in the comics and other media, he is *also* clearly suffers from mental illness. Like the famous quote "a guy who dresses up as a bat clearly has issues." Not to mention, Batman's distain for many of the super criminals of Arkham are not out of hatred of the criminally insane, but those who take advantage of the system to be labeled as criminally insane (like how Joker uses the insanity to dodge the death penalty). And While Arkham is obviously not a nice place, there are doctors who do care about genuinely troubled patients, doctors like Dr. Cassidy and Dr. Whistler. While the Warden is shown to be a horrible person and just kills many of his residents, Batman can't be said to have not cared, since in Arkham City, a sequel that was planned during Asylum's development, that he tries to shut down Arkham City and is obviously not pleased with him, hanging over a building. While Batman is cold, he does care, the entire reason he has his famous no kill rule, is because he believes everyone is capable of redemption. In the Killing Joke, a story that is referenced several times in the Arkham games including Asylum, Batman tried to level with Joker, asking him to let Batman help him, and Joker plainly declines. Batman isn't some megacop living out a power fantatsy, he just is trying to save lives during a massive breakout, which already took the lives of not only the guards and doctors that work at the asylum, but also of other Arkham patients who were trying to kill each other.

[@anxxst]

Had a previous comment which I deleted upon further thought, so here’s what I’ll say. I did like the video and subscribe, you made a lot of really good points on the overall demonization of mental health and I appreciate sincerely you starting a conversation on how that needs to change. I even believe something should be said before interpretations of mental health that are not accurate are shown. However, in the context of this game and Batman as a character, Bruce Wayne on numerous occasions has attempted to reform Arkham through funding/political campaigns. Yes, it is a flaw of this game’s narrative to not address what he has seen, but a lot of the prisoners here are just transfers, not actual inmates. And as far as Batman’s reaction to the more animalistic inmates, they are attacking him, what else is he supposed to do? He has to defend himself as anyone would if being attacked. I am in no way dignifying or justifying the treatment of the mentally ill in this game by the characters, nor am I saying there isn’t a problem here narratively. But some of the ideas that you give here I feel are flawed. Joker does not care about the mentally at all in most interpretations. Yes, he is mentally ill. Yes his actions are because of this. But the overall goal of the Joker is to cause mayhem and play with Batman. Not to be a revolutionary. That is a more recent interpretation from one film. I love the points you make about the demonization of mentally ill patients and I do appreciate the conversation you’re trying to start. But in the universe of Batman, I feel there is some misunderstanding here. However, maybe new stories need to be started. Maybe more attention to the dramatization of mentally unstable patients in stories needs to be stated. Regardless, excellent work.

[@johnIII8211]

I like this comment. These issues are complicated and have to be discussed more than lectured.

[@crangejo]

but that's what he's talking about. You're the one saying that's what Joker wants, the game is not; and on top of that the deliberate ambiguity and arguable lack of understanding of many of the topics touched upon makes the revolutionary angle on him a very valid take

[@formalexchange8258]

@@crangejo How was he trying to be a revolutionary?

[@TheRoxieRose]

The subject matter of section 2 is some of the most cutting and human content I've heard in this space. Looking forward to seeing more from you!

[@emanuelcook5171]

I have to say you kind of lost me around 2:05:00. I feel like this chunk of this section detracts from your overall analysis. You're trying to make this fictional superhero game fit into the real world. Nothing about this game fits into the real world. The batwing, the batmobile, batarangs, the crpytographic sequencer, titan formula, a caped crusader, supervillians,... none of this fits into the real world. Nothing about this game can be anaylized the way you're trying to do so here. You're trying to make them account for artistic license when without doing what they have done, you wouldn't have a game. I understand trying to grapple with the mental health issues at play here, that's actually quite admirable. Our understanding of mental health and the exploitation of mental health issues for shock value in media is abhorrent but, we cannot reasonably expect a perfect depiction of mental illness to be portrayed in a video and still have any sort of compelling story. The suspension of disbelief, the suspension of understood reality is necessary. In real life there is no superhero, no supervillian, no grand conspiracy, no rocket powered car that turns into a tank and fires only nonlethal rounds, no one can fly using a cape, falling into a vat of toxic waste doesn't turn you evil, your parents' death doesn't create a righteous anger, and there are no half man/half crocodiles. You have to be able to say "this is a game, it does not intend to make an statements on the realities of mental illness or the treatments thereof, it is merely a plot device to further you along in the game". Edit: Yeah man, this whole section just comes off as incredibly self-righteous. You're asking far too much of a video game. Practically speaking, your criticisms in this section cannot possibly be accommodated in a game of this type. I really think this whole section is just absolutely off the mark. I'm not saying what you've said is bad or unimportant, on the contrary, I agree with everything you've said. I know what you mean and I know that it is right. But for this context, it just screams of mansplaining and trying to retroactively apply more importance to the storyline of a video game than is justifiable. I really just get a sort of "white man's burden" vibe from the whole thing. "Let me, the educated white person 13 years in the future, tell you how to do your job and play your game". Your criticism of not seeing enough women and minorities in the game is valid. I will say that is something I have noticed on my playthroughs. That could've been pretty easily remedied. Edit 2: I don't like how now that we're trying to justify the acts of Waylon Jones and Scarecrow. This is not on point, bud. I think you assume that everyone who is in the asylum is actually medically insane and not legally culpable for their actions when, in the context of the batman universe, we see that Crane, Jones, Joker, Penguin, The Riddler,... they're not mentally ill, they're willfully evil. The only two characters who legitimately need treatment are Harley and Two-Face. Edit 3: Your psychological analysis of Batman is very pop psychology. You're making a lot of grand sweeping statements about the mental health and attitudes of characters and not providing anything to back it up. Edit 4: You just said that we have to view the game in the context of the it's own storyline and associated universe when you've spent the last 45 minutes try to apply an outside world view onto the game. Not rad. Edit 5: After saying you are trying to apply the world of the game to the game for interpretation you then use an entirely different piece of media that came out more than 10 years later to interpret the game. Edit 6: Nuance be damned? Bro, you can't say that after you've spent literally 2 and a half hours trying to convince us that nuance is the most important part of the interpretation. Edit 7: I'm going to give you a like on this video because, most of this video is quite good. I believe in the things you've said. It's good. However, I think your arguments are not really all that good. I think you're right but how you get there is flawed. You practice a poor pop psychology, bad philosophy, and very poor arguments. However, you did challenge my preconceived notions and you made me think. I appreciate that. This is, for the most part, a good video. Edit 8: 2:58:40 Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't just say that without evidence. You can't make that accusation without actually showing that to be truth... which you have not done. That is a wild extrapolation. You can't justify that claim. What's with all the bad psychology dude? Edit 9: 3:02:00 Where is that said? As it seems to me, the only ones who said that in the game were villains. You're making a big fucking claim about the attitudes and motivations of the characters without actually having any real evidence to back that up buddy. Edit 10: 3:03:00 Matey you gotta stop. This is getting out of hand. I'm trying really hard to give you the benefit of the doubt but, your hot takes are somehow only getting worse the further along this video goes. Edit 11: 3:05:20 This is the first correct thing you've said in a while. You finally looked at it in the context of the game. It's literally just a shallow fighting game where you go through levels taking down baddies. We're not dealing with the Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner - it's fucking batman. This whole video is an exercise in shit pop psychology and bad philosophy. I spoke too soon when I said this was a good video. It could've been but, it's not.

[@smugalice6206]

What you talked about in edit 10 blew my mind when I first heard it. He must’ve been high on moral superiority when he wrote, said, and left that in during editing.

[@emanuelcook5171]

@@smugalice6206 I think his heart is in the right place for most of the video but in the last few segments it really just devolves into this nonsensical ranting about things that either have no context or are specifically taken out of context

[@smugalice6206]

@@emanuelcook5171 He’s definitely earnest, and if he makes a video on Arkham City like this, I’ll enjoy the first half of it. It’s just really disappointing that the second half of that video will probably compose of a Brit winging about the US prison system (ignoring how Arkham City was made with the purpose of killing criminals and political prisoners. If criminals die/are killed by others, that’s not a bug; it’s a feature). Maybe he’ll take offense on women’s behalf that hardened criminals say mean things to Catwoman. On a side note, one of the first things you hear from the inmates in Arkham City is “You’re gonna be my bitch, Wayne!” I do look forward to him trying to put a positive spin on “With the addition of assassins, Batman gets to punch women of color with bone crunching impact, an improvement on Asylum’s exclusively male enemies. I wish it happened more often, though.” That’ll be funny.

[@emanuelcook5171]

@@smugalice6206 I think the caricature of him being like "batman punching women of colour is good for intersectional feminism" is a little off the mark. That's a cheap laugh that has very little basis in reality. No one who can be taken seriously would ever say anything like that. While I agree that this guy is clearly trying to virtue signal and thump his own chest I also think that making silly claims like that just detracts from the credibility of anyone on this side. If we want to changes hearts and minds then you have to be able to rise above the pettiness. As for the US prison system, oh man, he would (very rightly) have a field day with that. However, again, you're right in saying that in the context of the game it makes sense and him making any sort of grand sweeping moral statements (like in this video) would not only be ridiculous but also immediately signal that this guy can't distinguish between the game and reality on some level.

[@smugalice6206]

@@emanuelcook5171 I admit that I am being *extremely* snarky about him celebrating punchable Asian women, but sometimes you’ve got to put stuff like that to make people question why they thought/said certain things. Questions I wish he asked himself as he wrote that in his script include: 1: “Why do I think Batman should have been punching (most likely) mentally ill women in this game (Asylum)?” 2: “How would that have improved the game?” 3: “Would opening that can of worms even be worth it from a developer’s perspective?” And most importantly: 4. “Why am I bringing this up?” I don’t write video essays, but I know a thing or two about writing; one of those is that while redrafting a persuasive essay, you often need to ask yourself why you want to include certain arguments, as well as think through them. I’ve said in a different comment that I left that if he replies, I’ll be perfectly civil to him (and that still stands), but in the meantime, I’m not going to pretend he didn’t drop the ball in certain areas like an atom bomb. I’m glad we agree on how laughable it’d be for him to get on a soapbox about how Arkham City is a reflection of irl issues. There are issues with the prison system in the US for damn sure, but a video about a video game with a zombie brute, ninjas, hypnotizing hats, a shapeshifting clay man, and more is NOT the right context to have that conversation. If he cares so deeply about that topic, then I encourage him to make a separate video about that. PS: I think I was crass but very honest in my caricature of Micah. From 2:13:00-2:14:00, he pointed out that: a) there are no regular female hostiles throughout this series, and b) there are no women of color in this game. By that logic (for better or worse), Micah would have to praise Arkham City for including women of color that are hostiles, but in order to stay consistent with his criticism, he’d have to criticize City for not having enough female hostiles. Combining all that into a statement, you get a gussied up version of: “With the addition of assassins, Batman gets to punch women of color with bone crunching impact, an improvement on Asylum’s exclusively male enemies. I wish it happened more often, though.” If I’m wrong in this train of logic, let me know how.

[@yoyowillow4836]

Bro that’s one of the hardest KZbin thumbnails I’ve ever seen.

[@traumatizedcritic8679]

I will agree on that. Finding out that Ex Inferis means “from Hell” is very metal and resonates with the depiction of Arkham in the game.

[@CrookedClive]

2:13:50 Disagree! Aaron Cash is physically disabled, Oracle too but I understand if she doesn't count due to never appearing on screen.

[@smugalice6206]

Does Warden Sharpe needing a cane to walk count?

[@heyyygabiii]

​@@smugalice6206think thats more because he thinks so highly of himself that he needs a cane to walk i mean there are number of statues and potraits of him and he also thinks himself "the voice of arkham" as also seen written on the posters

[@amusingmoose9924]

@@heyyygabiii(same guy, different account) That’s valid.

[@tomhooper6147]

The way you use silence in this is absolutely beautiful. Excellent work.

[@maxschreck9988]

I feel like Croc is really a doomed character. Guy has PTSD from a lifetime of dehumanizing abuse, pushed to cannibalism, and significant regeneration that only serves to dehumanize him further. Not to mention he is a 10'+ tall gator man. How do you treat that person? Ethically, what do you do for them?

[@traumatizedcritic8679]

That’s honestly a fair question. We even see in Arkham Knight that his condition has gotten worse, and due in large part to the continued exploitation of his mutation. Even when he’s locked up in GCPD again, there’s no closure, and he goes back to being a monster to be caged. Hell, Batman doesn’t say or do much to try and make things better. With that in mind, it’s important to remember that these games only occur in four nights, but some dialogue or tapes where Batman reflects on the asylum could have been good.

[@Goob_V10]

Your take on the Arkham series has always been the most interesting to me. I’m excited to watch this one all the way through.

[@Red_Spidey]

"Arkham Asylum is over" made a video after 13 years it released. sure

[@ApplianceAssaulter]

So nobody else is gonna talk about that beautiful “Talkin’ ‘Bout Stealth” song at… the Stealth section? No? Just me? Alright, because it was fucking hilarious and I kinda want a full rendition now. Just. Perfect.

[@thomasipkiss8793]

This feels like a real place because of this video lol Like those old documentaries that get banned for 10 years then randomly released only after the institution has been shut down for malpractice.

[@knotlock]

This is a fantastic extensive critique and review of a game: possibly the best I’ve ever seen - full-stop. Great work! I personally enjoy the idea that Gotham is the ‘un-just city’ and that it is essentially pre-modern in its approach to mental health. Batman is at it’s most compelling when framed as a gothic-horror-noir.

[@deanedongdoorbell]

The best part about Tobey maguire's performance is the difference between Peter and spider-man. It's part of Peter's character.

[@guizzBR]

?

[@jeans_jad7924]

@@guizzBRwatch the video

[@DaggrYTB]

The latter segments you dedicate over half of the video to are confusing to me. While representing mental health in a more educated and thoughtful way is something that definitely should happen in games more, I don't think the dark fantasy of Batman etc. is the place to do it. I think we can consume media that depicts backwards morality and cruelty in a way that doesn't send us down this train of thought of whether it should have been produced this way in the first place.

[@kyddkreature9801]

I like that they captured the feel of the empowered stealth even in the name, Predator.

[@jovidepine5459]

The visuals on this are on a whole other level. The fact that this is 3 hours long but doesn't feel padded or rambly in the slightest speaks volume about the quality of the work. Very common for these multiple hour long videos to just be every inkling of a thought someone had over a subject, but this is clearly something you have been thinking about for a long time. The fact that you spend the time to give us other perspectives into this world, even divorced from Batman himself, especially on Section II, is nothing short of brilliant. The different angles, the - dare I say - cinematographic lense you apply to this video game world gives it life. The look you shine upon it when recording is something no one else is doing on the internet. Truly. Even a shot like the one at 1:46:54, that is so beautifully haunting. The sway of the clearly virtual branch over the very virtual statue brings out, somehow, the very real humans that made it. Just like the lunatics from the game, when looked upon with tenderness, and not brute, retributive justice, makes us that much more sad about the real humans, that ask for care, and we answer with cages. Should we feel good about being The Batman? About bringing The Justice to people who can't even comprehend what that is? Somehow, seeing the details of this virtual world, of this virtual depiction of the very real and very frail human mind makes it even more haunting, even more beautiful, even more pertinent, even more realistic. There are some shots in here that I'll carry forever in my mind. You've got a clear talent from this. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU, and please, if you feel like going on, I'd love to keep being a part of the audience. Thank you, and I hope you carry on making videos. You got a voice like none other in this platform.

[@unknownanonymous4531]

Your section on the Stanford prison experiment reminds me of a line of dialogue from a random thug that plays as you fly around Gotham City in Arkham Knight. I believe it is something along the lines of "You ever feel like this whole thing is some kinda psychological experiment? Like, we're all just pawns in somebody's twisted game? No? Oh, yeah. Me neither." I know it would apply better if this was a line from Arkham Asylum or Arkham City, but nonetheless it does sound like perhaps a potential nod to the Stanford experiment and how people act and react in certain positions of power or vulnerability. I may definitely be reading too deeply into what could easily be a throw-away line, or that my thoughts about it could be completely off the mark. Yet I do feel like there was some meaning behind it due to how Rocksteady added more meaning and depth to certain parts of their games as the Arkham series went on. Either way, I thought I'd share as it makes for an interesting comparison between real life and fiction.

[@SuperBaadMan]

Arkham Asylum has probably my favorite combat mechanic which is the throw combo that unfortunately was gone in the sequels. It was just so much fun!

[@turbonerdo6838]

The throw gets reworked into a possible counter animation. In City and origins, the chance of doing this move is entirely random. In Knight, throw counter's occur after precise timing, making them mirror the function of critical strikes. This makes them a higher skill cap, but also means they're not tied to a limited resource. As long as you can execute the timing well, you can throw as much as possible, and don't have to sacrifice more mechanically relevant special moves.

[@mmmdule]

Robin has a throw with a little spin in City. Not sure about Knight

[@arkhamsquire4503]

I always noticed how messed up the guards and doctors treat the patients. I never really considered the fact that batman tolerates it. But I'm thinking back to jokers quote. "I just wanted you to drop this grim facade and for once see the world as I see it. Giggling in a corner and bleeding." Basing off what you presented joker wanted batman to see everything in the asylum. To let go of this belief that he stands for justice and just realize what is happening here. Also if your already tearing apart batman for not caring about the inmates at Arkham. I can only imagine what you say about batman not giving a fuck about jason and replacing him so soon.

[@parzival-3141]

Your narrative analysis of asylum and Batman as a whole is amazing. It shows how much potential batman stories have, and how shallow most are in comparison.

[@everythingalldwight4939]

You really put to words thoughts I put in the back of my mind while playing. Just wow this was an amazing video.

[@atomicdreamz6035]

I think Dr. Young is mentioned only once after the events of Arkham Asylum. In Arkham City, Bane refers to her, once, by the title he's given to her-- "the bruja" --when explaining his motivation for gathering up the vats of TITAN located within Arkham City. He might mention her once or twice more, but I can't recall that off the top of my head.

[@smugalice6206]

Apparently she’s talked about a lot in A Matter of Family.

[@friezastan]

I think batmans best stories and moments in stories are when his set of morals is questioned. Like his brutalization of alberto falcone in dark victory despite him being the victim, joker forcing him to confront the reality that he is like the inmates in a serious house on serious earth, or pretty much all of dark knight returns.

[@krrocks1759]

Cannot tell you how excited I am to see you back in the Arkham universe! I absolutely LOVE your videos, man! No joke, your Arkham Retrospective is one of, if not my all-time favorite video on KZbin. You completely changed not only the way I look at video games, but the way I critique art as a whole. Your content found me at a time of immense maturity growing in my life, and I truly will never be able to thank you enough for your small hand is shaping my critical thinking skills, and my overall way of conducting both my speech and writing. "You've honored the reputation of Batman many times over, and for that I thank you." Thank you, Micah. Thank you for helping me be who I am today. Wishing you the best of everything to come, KR.

[@smugalice6206]

2:13:00 I’ve been liking this video so far, but I’ve got to point something out: the ninjas you fight in City and Knight are exclusively women, and in Origins, you fight Lady Shiva and Copperhead. Frankly, the take of “Batman didn’t punch enough mentally ill women” was not something I expected to hear. Edit: “Also, NO ONE here is physically disabled.” That’s just untrue. Aaron Cash has a hook after Killer Croc ate his hand, Warden Sharp uses a cane to walk, and even though she isn’t seen in-game, Barbara Gordon is shown to be in a wheelchair in her character bio art. Edit 2: “There is only one woman being treated at Arkham” That’s an outright lie. Along with Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn is an Arkham inmate. Christ, if you’re going to boil a cast down to their skin tones and genitals, at least be correct.

[@anthonyvaldez6810]

Bro this game ain't so deep that u need the melodramatic piano music with the footage of physiciatists talking about of tragedies

[@anthonyvaldez6810]

I love this game but bro it's just punchy until u fight a goblin monster at the end

[@anthonyvaldez6810]

*que the 20 minute segment in the video where he talks about this one comment and how it gives you perspective on the meaning of life

[@i.theworstguys298]

you’ve a completely valid interpretation of this game if you ask me. thats what makes this discussion so interesting

[@jimtsikos7712]

From one hand "it isnt so deep" but on the other people call it a masterpiece with a great story You cant have both

[@umjammerlammy9993]

I really appreciate the silence you give after some of your points to let them sink in, especially your harrowing statement about the game world’s lack of empathy towards the mentally ill. After hearing 2:05:24 I needed a minute to just process it.

[@0vxx]

I’m too focused on the editing and the camera perspectives… You’ve put too much love into this video.

[@Akimbomiddlefingers]

I can speed run this game and be done right before the video ends

[@MRF-bq7kq]

me too I did 100% in the game many times, first was in Normal mode than I did in Easy and than Hard, than I just kept changing and I could finish it in two days

[@crangejo]

About an hour in, and I used to laugh at the spooky skelly enemies, but honestly it might be, like, a way to show Batman's repulsion to death or smth

[@crangejo]

Actually fuck it I'll make this a bit of a thread The intent of the riddles below the name of each room is to make it easier to search for them, as you know when a room has one in it and when it does not, because the maps don't differentiate what each collectible is The teeth kinda fucking suck, but they are literally the main indicator of where you have to go next, and I think it works since it is so subtle I think you missed it

[@crangejo]

1:10:36 LMFAOOOOOOO

[@crangejo]

1:13:22 bruh no way you cut the clip out just before we could realise you walked in a circle 😭

[@crangejo]

Oh hey, need to tell you to turn on hardware acceleration. It adds SO many details and it makes the world react so well to human interaction, floor ceramics will break when the head of a thug comes crashing down, if you drop on top of certain wooden tables you'll snap them in half, walking through the mansion you're gonna scatter all the file pages everywhere by walking close to them, Croc's lair will have areas with fog... Bottom line is: turning hardware acceleration on made helped me love this game and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone, it is a must if you can. It made me realise what you're saying here a month before watching: it's a game that built on its strengths because it knew what it was going for, because it knew it was gonna be contained

[@crangejo]

well ok I hope it's noticeable how much time has passed since my last comment because I... could not take my eyes out of part 2. at the risk of unoriginality, I'm speechless. Thanks for the insight on these themes, I genuinely can NOT imagine myself finding any other review that carries as much value as this one (except, of course, within your channel)

[@davis549]

I feel like i should be criminally charged for not finding your channel earlier. this is amazing content, just subbed to the patreon!

[@pyrodontcutoffsoldiershand2746]

This video was good then you lost the plot. The villains Batman fights against are evil. Them going to the asylum is simply the way society could deal with that. And that's pulp and cartoony but that is why people enjoy comics and Batman itself. Because it isn't real life. I think calling for realism here is misguided. If the problem is that mentally ill people are depicted as evil, everyone knows this isn't depicting real life in any way.

[@klceed2343]

You see i also think you need to apply a certain frame of reference its nice to jump and add our own critiscism of how a society is run but without alot of information its hard to just get a clear definite answer. It also brings into the question at what point does a mentally ill person stops requiring to recieve empathy and i mean joker you understand where he is from but at the same time with the continued suffering he causes the average joe would love to hear he got a bullet punisher style.

[@MontyZander]

Dropping a comment for the algorithm. I'll be back tomorrow!!

[@markpain98]

What a thought provoking video. It is very refreshing to see these games challenged on such a real level. We all agree Asylum and the Arkham series as a whole are classics, but it is rather difficult to settle with the idea that Batman seems content with the horrors these patients go through. Truly amazing video here.

[@zombieterminator6296]

Hope this blows up dropping a comment to help the algorithm notice

[@menanmate2006]

Wow man. Just wow. I normally don't watch videos this long about stuff I've already heard but with KZbin premium I was able to listen to this whole thing at work and it's actually a brilliant video. Bravo mate honestly. You changed the way I see a game and really did end up spreading awareness as well. Great job 👍

[@gankspanker4204]

I've been watching this over a few days now and I think you did a good job talking about the topics you have brought up. But your interpretation on Joker as a revolutionary going against the corruption of the system is a misread I believe. He uses his henchmen as a tool to interact with Batman, not to give them any freedom or justice. Joker's motivations don't come from, in this game, from being wronged by the system but from his obsession with Batman. Also Arkham Asylum is used as a supermax prison with the window dressing of an insane asylem. And your points of Batmans beating on the mentally ill falls on their face for a majority of the characters present. Namely the aforementioned prisoners. This is because they are Blackgate prisoners and NOT mental patients. However the "lunatic" enemies are sorrowful to see. But what would you have anyone do when they are running towards you? Though I do agree with you looking into the injustice visible on the island and it is a glaring flaw that he never says anything nor does anything about it.

[@moxis9260]

I audibly gasped when half way through the video pivots from generic gameplay analysis into a genuinely refreshing and haunting deep look into the darkest aspects of the game

[@robbiesrevelations3096]

Too be fair, he either stops them or they kill innocent people. Also the game doesn't think people with mental disorders and illnesses are a disease. No it shines a light on the prison and law system as a whole. How the people aren't looked as people but animals waiting to be put down. Batman isn't solely responsible, nor can he be expected to fix it alone. Someone has to deal with these people when they get out, but someone must also ACTUALLY REHABILITATE them so they may become a member of society again

[@traumatizedcritic8679]

Honestly, among all the lazy comments calling this video woke and leftist propaganda, I really like your view on the matter. However, I do think the game doesn’t give Batman the opportunity to voice his disgust at the treatment of patients in the Asylum, such as when he apprehends Zsasz and demands that’s “somebody get this animal back in his cell!” I do think that was a low point in my experience of the game. But yes, I do think Rocksteady wasn’t demonising anyone with mental health issues, but rather a victim of ignorance.

[@kwayneboy1524]

​@@traumatizedcritic8679I mean yeah that is a big flaw for the game as I think Batman feels a little flat as character because he doesn't speak much which is fine but I feel like if they used his internal monologue from the comics that would be better because without it he feels indifferent to things. Plus if they had Bruce be more concerned by stuff at Arkham then I think would've tied into Arkham City and explains why Hugo Strange is now on his radar and why Bruce doesn't trust Sharp. Besides that I think it's fair for Bruce to call Victor an animal as even in the source material Batman hates Zsasz and views him as just evil.

[@traumatizedcritic8679]

@@kwayneboy1524 I can see where you’re coming from I suppose. After all, Zsasz is one of the only villains who doesn’t merely kill as a means to an end. Killing IS his purpose, and believes it’s righteous, which completely juxtaposes Batman’s belief in the sanctity of life.

[@ethan1937]

First half of this video is fine but the second half sounds like you taking a moral highground stance on something where it's not needed. Nobody is advocating for demonizing mentally ill people. This is a fictional universe, a place like Arkham Asylum obviously wouldn't exist, just like Batman wouldn't exist. You having a problem with punching one of the lunatics and leaving them outside is just so absurd, it's a video game. I hope you never get your hands on the Batman IP and PC it up.

[@dylanwolf1773]

Yeah this guy just seems like your typical leftist who has to turn every little thing into some social issue.

[@Aldgri]

This video is so beautiful that it made me want to make a whole story based around the things you have revealed.

[@thenoblerot1511]

Am I the only one who loves the slo mo during combat? I think it adds a sense of style and helps prepare you for an inmate’s next move

[@klceed2343]

certainly helps judging who to hit next.

[@thenoblerot1511]

@@klceed2343 exactly

[@Haydon.F.]

Oh damn. Thought we were done. Pleasantly surprised.

[@plentyofmagoes1143]

I wonder if the Teen rating of this game contributed to the ethical implications of the game being immoral. I think it’s possible that if the game had a mature rating the elements could have worked together. The setting of the asylum wouldn’t be reduced to just a suspenseful atmosphere and Batman would have to confront the fact that the asylum is corrupt and he has been hurting innocent people. There was potential for a fantastic story in this game out of the problematic one that we got. In service of the player’s enjoyment through the “good guy” vs. “bad guy” formula for this game, Rocksteady forgot to consider the implications of what they were making where a much more interesting and considerate story was laying dormant. I loved this video and it helped me kind unpack something I never really realized I had been thinking about when playing this game, even as someone not neurotypical myself.

[@MattEldritchHorror]

I wonder if the story could've been salvaged if this was the first time that Batman ever had to enter the Asylum himself and discover how horribly the inmates are treated. Now that I think about it, the Arkhamverse really doesn't capture the humanity that the DCAU had towards Batman's rogues gallery. There could never have been a "Harley's Holiday" or a "Birds of a Feather" or even a "Baby Doll" here because almost all the villains are just one-dimensional monsters who essentially deserve whatever punishment that Batman and the law throw at them. It even fails at Batman's very character because he's essentially an cold, uncaring asshole to everyone, especially his so-called allies. Look how he's either telling Robin how he doesn't need his help, barely acknowledges how Robin saved him in Harley Quinn's Revenge and then locks him up in a cell in Arkham Knight. That's essentially the last meaningful interaction he has with his sidekick in the entire damn franchise.

[@heyyygabiii]

this is the biggest problem i have with the arkham batman and you said it all perfectly.

[@kwayneboy1524]

I mean Bruce wasn't in the right head space so I think him not saying thanks to Tim is fine.

[@samueledmonds7358]

Jesus Christ. What a good video. Loved the Aradale postscript. Amazing work. CANT WAIT FOR CITY

[@dejureclaims8214]

One of the best multi-hour retrospectives out there.

[@ryle1858]

Genuinely amazing and incredible video. We do truly need to reframe and reshape how we look and approach the handling of this property and how we approach discussions regarding this game series as a whole.

[@hellishrain1835]

I love the Arkham series and this video is incredible, but I did have an issue with it. The section discussing how the game handles mental health. What really stuck out to me was at around 2:11:25 you said you didn’t see anybody’s parental upbringing impact their issues, but you see something like that with Batman himself. The lack of a parental upbringing, especially having pretty much nobody to deal with that trauma. If you read the comic that the game was based on (ill admit, its one of the three batman comics ive read) you see how the Asylum, along with the people in it are like Batman. Its expanded on more in Origins but the Jokers whole “one bad day” thing. His trauma caused him to be like this, which makes Batman the same because his trauma also made him the way he is. So I personally don’t think the game portrays it poorly

[@hellishrain1835]

Also, saying there aren’t people in the game isn’t true, because it shows blatant flaws in its main characters, even mentally sound. Take The Penguin for example. He’s not mentally ill, he’s just a dick. Plus saying it demonizes, dehumanizes and degrade while building up the protagonist isn’t true because it actively equates the protagonist to the villains, which forces us to empathize with them. I do agree that the Asylum is outdated, however, i only think it’s outdated visually and intentionally. Like you referenced, the gothic architecture. But things that are there that may not hold up today don’t have to, because it’s intentionally outdated. It makes even more sense when you think about Gotham itself. Im Gotham you’re either rich or you’re poor, and rich≠good, while poor≠bad. But Gotham’s society is willing to ignore the mental illness and the series directly addresses that. It comments and reflects on real life while exaggerated. Two-Face is a perfect example that I feel you underused in the discussion. Two-Face frequently comments about how it isn’t his fault, and Bruce knows that, but he also talks about how he’s just going to be thrown back in prison and not given the help he deserved. He comments on it the most I think in Arkham Knight, specifically when you’re bringing him to the GCPD after his last Most Wanted mission.

[@jonathand.4088]

19:40 Thank you! Finally a KZbinr who knows what they're talking about with the combat

[@liltateinc.9942]

Commentary on how society treats the mentally ill aside, let's go back to the game dev explanation of focusing on strengths over weaknesses. World building was definitely a weakness. After everything we saw in game with the facility, Batman should have done something at the end. He could have complied enough data and handed Gordon like a file of all the illegal actions on the island or just something rather than nothing. (Pretty sure you even mentioned that) and I totally agree. It's a problem that really wouldn't really been fixed until Knight. And even then, I still feel like Knight has its own hoard of writing problems. Over all the lack of Character we see from Batman feels more like a force of nature than a person with confliting feelings. Feelings shown in the comics that are often left out of most adaptations. I've always loved these games and always will, but they've always felt off somehow. Thank you for explaining why, and can't wait for future vids!

[@wowisntitanamazinglyamazin9550]

I personally really liked Scarecrows writing in Knight

[@doctorstrangelovee]

thats literally the whole point of arkham city bro

[@shahzebafzal3833]

You're hella underated and i'm barely into the video. It's criminal that you don't have more subscribers, keep on going bro!

[@moralitiesaspook168]

Degrading and dehumanizing bro there’s nothing more human than eating rats

[@indian_horse]

you have a very beautiful and poetic way of trying this video together

[@tomhato5523]

I always got confused when I heard the criticism that Batman just takes his aggression out on underprivileged people while ignoring greater societal problems, hoarding his wealth and looking down on the less successful and mentally ill. I wondered where it came from. It’s not in the comics where he’s fairly sympathetic to his foes and unrealistically generous as Bruce Wayne. It’s not even in the Nolan trilogy. There’s a bit of it in the Burton movies, but he’s portrayed as more of an antihero there, so that’s hard to get mad at. That interpretation I always saw as a “bad take” is totally accurate in most of the Arkham series. And I’m not sure i heard much of that interpretation talked about until the Arkham games. Seeing Batman condemn the Asylum or express some guilt would go a long way. I think Sharpe is portrayed as evil, but nothing happens in that regard despite how much evidence is on him. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about the rest of the series

[@dredgengam4610]

I don't view This game under too much a critical eye. I don't always like looking too deep into underlying themes in my games, I just risk upsetting myself most of the time, and we've all got more important things to worry about... Mostly, but if you're a nerd like me.... That's different. it's not "that" deep at the end of the day. Games are meant to be enjoyed, entertainment doesn't need to take itself overly serious or be super philosophical about things, if it's dumb fun, it's dumb fun. Those are just my thoughts though, and it's not to invalidate the passionate feelings behind this. I actually resonate with it believe it or not

[@JEMA333]

There are so many examples of me relating to these characters batman has put in the asylum. And i know them going in there wouldnt help😢 i remember being horrified as a child watching the batman animated seriees because there were times the characters were clearly just in need of someone to help them properly and address their condition legitimately.

[@lainiwakura8560]

Simply a masterpiece. Seen your Arkham Series retrospective. Keep up the good work.

[@TheSlickMachine]

This video sunk the titanic. Really incredible.

[@pearbar5174]

Came out 15 years ago, yeah bro it’s over

[@cryojudgement2376]

I LOVE the Asylum and it’s architecture and atmosphere. It’s fantastic how the Asylum honestly feels like a manifestation of insanity itself. The asylum shifts and changes around you and I don’t mean environmental changes such as Ivy’s plants or the various buildings and Vehicles that begin to clutter up the island. But rather when the Asylum needs to be claustrophobic it becomes suffocating in its grip on you, feeling the stale recycled old air being choked out of the room when you’re in small halls and rooms, or how Sweeping it’s enormous and grandiose set pieces and areas can become. The mansion being basically a giant labyrinth with entire subsets and hidden libraries that architecturally shouldn’t make sense, with no pathways for men to feasibly traverse them, almost as if you’re seeing the packed and unfettered collection of books all wrapped up together basically bursting at the seams ready to all fall out or be stuck together pressurized for no one to read them forever almost as if you’re in the mind of a person, or the main Library in the mansion which is enormous but cluttered and unkept with entire cages full of books and papers clothing the desks and floors with knowledge and secrets of a hidden evil that cares nothing for the disease that so desperately needs to be cured and that these rooms serve as the graveyard to those peoples souls in the form of papers damning them to whatever dark fate the asylum held for them. And in the filth and age of the asylum from the dirt and dust and mold caking the walls of the asylum hiding it’s youth and innocence showing it’s true nature in how it’s decrepit and uncared and how it’s no longer living but a vast Ghoul that holds its grip on the island through its brick and mortar that he been decaying for decades, nearing a century. Or the unbelievable neglect and unbelievable structure of when you enter the belly of the beast at the bottom of the Medical building where you crawl through ancient Art Deco vents and enter into a 2000’s hospital with flickering lights and ceramic tile shattered and peeling off the wall and venturing further finding cave structures and even stalactites cutting through the Walls to show how deep this structure reaches and how ancient it is but also to establish just how old and mad this place is that honestly you couldn’t tell if this place is real from how much this place could perplex the eyes of any unbroken mind. While I’ve rambled on for this short essay I just want to express my love of how unreal and mind shattering it’s architecture is and how atmospheric it’s filth and state is. Just a young fool expressing his love for the beauty and depth of such wonderous and mad world design of a serious house on a serious earth.

[@orbit802]

Penelope Young is mentioned a several times in the matter if the family dlc

[@pinklennonade7155]

i’d love to hear your thoughts on the telltale batman series, specifically season 2 and how it actually gives you the chance to be kind and empathetic to the joker and the other villains, and actively work towards their redemption

[@solafren9432]

I'm speechless, you did an amazing job with this video (and all your videos.) I cant wait to see what I learn from your thoughts in part 2.

[@hrz7214]

damn section 2 of this video is gorgeous low key would have started the video there

[@blackboimuzikkingmario9728]

Also seeing where Jason Todd was held is INSANE

[@purpsensei271]

Where was he held ?

[@blackboimuzikkingmario9728]

@@purpsensei271 you can find it on KZbin..wen I seen it I was tripping like what is this...look it up on KZbin

[@ethancastillo9221]

From what I’ve read and heard it sounds like the art to the Arkham asylum comic is both one of its greatest assets and yet stunts the story ment to be told

[@amusingmoose9924]

Absolutely. It’s a beautifully expressive book, but I couldn’t read it.

[@QweepQweep]

Sorry I’m very late to this video, but I think this game should have been used to criticize how Arkham treats its inmates, we should’ve seen Batman be shocked at the conditions of the asylum, we should’ve seen him be confronted with his own ignorance, and we should’ve seen him treat the doctors and security guards with the same disdain he shows his own villains, or even more so, Batman should’ve acknowledged the pure torture these criminals go through, and how close he is to being like them, not only would it be more accurate to Batman’s character, it would’ve brought depth and heart to a game that simply just does not have it. This was a great analysis, great work, loved this entire video.

[@icantthinkofausernamehere4618]

I second this, it sounds like the best storyline the series could've had. It would make the player and Batman feel more conflicted on his journey seeing how he unknowingly delivered them to the worst place on earth, and Joker just taunting him about it all the way through it.

[@kwayneboy1524]

I don't think it should go that far but have Bruce start to question stuff like the lunatic inmates and those weird chairs with spikes in them at Arkham. I think if Bruce would start to ask more questions it would tie into the story of Arkham City more better and show why Bruce is starting to become more involved with the city.

[@peachdoesart7175]

and ironically enough that happened in the comic this game is based on

[@brunomilocchi3897]

I played these games for the very first time in my life last year (I was 21). I absolutely love them. By the way, I came in already having played multiple games that shaped the industry, and actually came in thinking "ok, let's see how Spider-Man's combat and stealth system was at the very beginning". Never would I have expected to find three games (Origins wasn't included) this striking in both the presentation and gameplay overall. So no, I don't think that having this as one's favourite game to this day is a matter of just nostalgia. These games are solid to this very day.

[@blackboimuzikkingmario9728]

Exactly damn near evey game takes mechanics from the BATMAN SERIES

[@brunomilocchi3897]

@@blackboimuzikkingmario9728 Well, I wouldn't go that far, also because the Arkham series itself takes elements from other series (Arkham Asylum for example takes pretty heavy inspiration from the Metroid games due to how progression works), but it surely influenced action games in general going forward.

[@MrMM-bm5fo]

Even if I disagree with one or two parts, I definitely acknowledge that this game has so much deeper aspects once you look further into it. Makes you wonder if Batman(Or at least this version of Batman) is, in a way, truly the villain. In fact, while watching this, I recalled an iconic quote from Hugo Strange from Arkham City. ‘’Before my arrival, this city was drowning under a tide of filth. Had you ever considered that all this is your fault? Your presence creates these animals. Like germs they spread. You created the environment that allowed the germ to mutate, to become stronger. Look at the Joker. Would he even exist if not for you? It must be depressing: all your sacrifices and yet you are the one to blame!’’ If you ever make a video on Arkham City, I hope you bring this up. Interesting how Batman himself, intentionally or not, has made an already corrupt city, asylum, and the rising of mentally ill and evil individuals in said places far worse(Not counting his lack of trying to protest and stop the mistreatment of said individuals, primarily the ones with mental illnesses), if you look deeper into Strange’s speech. Anyways, great video. Keep up the good work. 🙂👍

[@TBone4Breakfast]

The only villian that Batman had any real part in helping manifest was Two Face. The fact Batman worked outside the law meant that the next best target was Harvey. Every other villian got their start either before Batman took up the mantle or in circumstances that didnt involve Batman

[@trevorphilips9065]

@@TBone4Breakfast Arkham Knight: First time?

[@rasheemthebestfirstone3274]

@@trevorphilips9065 yeah but that’s the next game not this one

[@trevorphilips9065]

@@rasheemthebestfirstone3274 Still

[@brendanpelkey120]

What before Batman came around gotham was controlled by the mob. He stopped that, things were worse before he came along.