'Batman: Arkham City' - Better Than You Remember | Luke Stephens

This is one of my favorite games of all time. Despite this fact, this video will have criticism and analysis, but that doesn't mean I like Batman: Arkham City any less. It is still what I would consider a masterpiece and I DO NOT use that word lightly. Sit back, enjoy, and let me know your thoughts below!
Make sure to subscribe for the Batman: Arkham Origins Critique!
TIMESTAMPS:
2:05 - Story Synopsis and Analysis
23:26 - THAT Plot Twist
40:07 - Gameplay
1:01:55 - Wrap Up
Arkahm Asylum Critique: • Batman Arkham Asylum |...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
★★★ TWITCH: / lukestephenstv ★★★
★★★ Get some MERCH! - teespring.com/... ★★★
★★★ Help fund the Show on Patreon: / lukestephens ★★★
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Other Channel: / lukestephensvlogs
Main Channel: / lukestephenstv
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Listen To The Show On The Go!
ITUNES
★ itunes.apple.c...
SPOTIFY
★open.spotify.c...
SOUNDCLOUD
★ / luke-stephens-389765417
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join the Discord! / discord
Thank you to you all for making the show possible!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Rig:
Asus PRIME Z270-A MoBo
i7 7700k (Overclocked to 4.67 GHZ & watercooled)
GTX 1070 FE (OC'd)
32GB DDR4 RAM, 2666mhz
1TB SSD
4TB Barricuda HDD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
►FaceBook: / lukestephenstv
►Twitter: / lukestephenstv
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMONLY USED MUSIC:
The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
Source: chriszabriskie....
Artist: chriszabriskie....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Batman: Arkham City' product description (taken from Wikipedia):
Batman: Arkham City is a 2011 action-adventure video game developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the sequel to the 2009 video game Batman: Arkham Asylum and the second installment in the Batman: Arkham series. Written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini with Paul Crocker and Sefton Hill, Arkham City is inspired by the long-running comic book mythos. In the game's main storyline, Batman is incarcerated in Arkham City, a huge new super-prison enclosing the decaying urban slums of fictional Gotham City. He must uncover the secret behind the sinister scheme, "Protocol 10", orchestrated by the facility's warden, Hugo Strange. The game's leading characters are predominantly voiced by actors from the DC Animated Universe, with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprising their roles as Batman and the Joker, respectively.
#Gaming #Batman #BatmanArkhamCity
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe and I'll be your bestest friend!

[@iamtheAwesomo3000]

One of my favorite clues that hints at Joker being Clayface is when you fight him in the arena you can use your detective vision and see he has no skeleton.

[@tysonasaurus6392]

DarkJedi3000 so many clever little details in the game I love it

[@nudonashi9502]

I never knew about that. But thank you for telling me one more cool thing about one of my favorite games

[@RevengeTourIII]

There's another one when you first see the Clayface joker on the tv, you can hear the normal joker coughing

[@joeythehom1e569]

@Jacob Kay would that thing even consider a big pile of clay alive, I don't think he has a heartbeat or anything that would indicate him alive in human standards.

[@psyifinotic]

DarkJedi3000 noticed last night that in the first mission you hear Harley say “Mr. J, you look perfect!” and Joker says “Shh, you’ll ruin the surprise!”

[@MrBenMcLean]

Whenever Clayface-Joker is in the game, Detective Vision shows that he has no bones. Real Joker has bones. Every other character has bones. This was not a glitch.

[@kianbahadori4099]

Benjamin McLean and remember Clayface has a cameo in Arkham Asylum and he doesn't have bones there either

[@c-force5217]

Benjamin McLean this was a really fucking cool little touch. The idea that the Joker isn’t really Joker but it isn’t confirmed yet. That’s fucking cool.

[@edviza1935]

Similarly, when oracle “dies” in Arkham knight, the joker moves the gun on the table towards her, which couldn’t happen if it wasn’t a hallucination.

[@salmaankhan7]

Btw the immortal part, Talia promises Joker immortality when Batman fights joker in the steel mill

[@LukeStephensTV]

Good catch!

[@2xdraco]

to add on to this point the monarch theaters marquee also reads Joker the Immortal.

[@fucciz2228]

Luke Stephens idk how you missed that

[@genghiskahn1989]

Why would she do that?

[@matthewcrane5294]

Genghis Kahn have you not played the game?

[@josephstalone6911]

If you go to the back of the GCPD building after saving Nora you’ll see a trail of ice to the warehouse and Freeze is in there with his wife. It’s kinda romantic lol

[@Donkeydickdotgov]

Why is it always something like Phil Swift Johnny star why can't we have something like a josephi krakowski

[@josephstalone6911]

ELECTRIC CHERRY PLAYZ Hello it’s Josephi Krakowski with flex crack

[@josephstalone6911]

Not A Pikachu Very much my comrade

[@kazuya246]

And in Arkham Knight one of the officers comments that Freeze is no longer a villain.

[@josephstalone6911]

Zakum Yee the end of the DLC with freeze in it was beautiful made me cry

[@sheogorath2657]

Who else went back and listened to jokers voicemail messages after he died

[@Jigsaw0097]

Sheogorath 🙋🏻‍♂️

[@tonybussoli1676]

I literally started bawling

[@skxlter5747]

I read all of the character recordings and jokers too and made realize he was talking about the killing joke for his origin story to Hugo strange. God the Arkhamverse has the best interpretation of the joker

[@toosuperb]

Wait a minute.... Lord sheogorath, you played batman? He isnt in you’re universe though?

[@legion999]

I've wanted to see him dead for years, so no. I didn't care.

[@SilverBladeProductions]

Arkham City actually isn't in the center of Gotham- it's in "Old Gotham", a city ravaged by natural disasters that flooded a majority of it. Rather than rebuilding, they just made an entirely new Gotham. Therefore, Arkham City is just repurposed Old Gotham, with a wall separating it from New Gotham. This is all explained in the tie-in comics, as well as the little stories you unlock by completing side missions such as collecting Riddler Trophies.

[@alexanderwamsley5846]

well that explains alot

[@spideralexandre2099]

North Gotham specifically, as explained in one of the Arkham City stories. You can visit it in Origins.

[@sizar9003]

If I remember right, Batman says that Sharp buys old part of the city

[@bigdummy5805]

You can also overhear some conversations with random thugs

[@KingInfernagon]

YT Algorithm: Alcohol detected Luke: *slaps water mark* YT Algorithm: That water looks like piss... *Alcohol Undetected* Edit: More than halfway to the video and I just gotta say, stick with this format my friend. This is actually perfect with the back and forth of the gameplay and you proving/explaining your points (and of course those quips too). This is the best format in my most honest opinion. Great vid!

[@coolcap2600]

I absolutely adore Arkham City. You can tell the love and passion towards making this game. One thing I do like a lot in the game was the teasing of Scarecrow return! I remember discovering that the first time and my mind was blown away.

[@sambriddon3271]

I love that, the boat with the guy tied to the chair

[@joedinnie3079]

Cool Cap also the boat is underneath a crane Coincidence?

[@zeliumite]

This series was actually the reason I subscribed

[@zeliumite]

@AccidentalGenius 7 I... I just mentioned I subscribed because of this series to begin with. I don't get how you're confused?

[@Mothlocks]

@AccidentalGenius 7 he literally said he subbed. Can you read?

[@runespar]

Same for me, so glad I discovered Luke's channel!

[@toosuperb]

Fun fact: After the part when raj hits the fence, you can go back to the exact fence and his body isn’t there.

[@isr2295]

One of the best games ever made. Revolutionised superheroes in gaming.

[@sheogorath2657]

Fiddler revolutionized* srry bb I had to do it

[@isr2295]

@@sheogorath2657 I appreciate you friend.

[@stiggy9706]

@@sheogorath2657 he had the correct spelling. Americans spell it with a Z.

[@ProductionJournal]

"The moment you put Batman in a car, it becomes an entirely different kind of game". Holy hell where was this thinking in Batman: Arkham Tank?

[@littleoldmanboy]

Average braindead Arkham Knight hater. You spend less than 10% of the story in the batmobile

[@jivansjohal]

This game was a classic in the batman universe. If Nolan's TDK was the greatest film adaptation of Batman, this has to be the greatest video game adaptation of the character.

[@ziaali319]

youre forgetting the batman arkham insane knight city asylum 2 game

[@jamesburgess2k]

I was just about to watch this video, until you said you've done one on AA. Sorry, but I've gotta watch that one first, being my personal favorite of the trilogy. I'll be back in 45 mins

[@SlimSousaPlays]

In that clayface scene the projector is projecting "THE END" on clayface's body

[@brodeywickenden6180]

The plot twist had me in the palm of it's hand. I remember watching as it unfold and audibly losing my mind as I pieced it together. Still to this date one of my favorite twists ever, to be honest. Even revisiting it, I feel it's just really well done.

[@bedspla6551]

Well done dude somehow you manage to keep up this level of well researched and entertaining consistency with every video, excited for knight and arkham (underrated) Origins

[@skxlter5747]

I remember summer 2012 staying up late playing this game I was 13 ahhhh the memories, I must've replayed the story 5x cuz I loved it so much and it made realize that Batman is more than a hero and made me see what Batman is really capable of but most importantly how his villains are what defines him cuz before this game I never knew Batman's rogues gallery was this huge!, it made me delve into the history of Batman, Batman comics, and the Batman lore. This game is what introduced me to the amazing world of open world gaming and I always treasure it and respect it as one of my favorite masterpieces.

[@doctorsam5771]

This game is the Dark Knight of video games. The only superhero game which can stand in the elite line of goat games like Ocarina of time,Witcher 3,Half-life 2,Skyrim etc

[@doctorsam5771]

Rickdicular nah...it isn't about time. It's about quality and Spiderman doesn't hold a candle to Arkham City

[@HBSDU54]

"Skyrim" LOL, this game is shitty as hell.

[@Floral_Green]

El Angelo I see you’re yet to discover what ‘subjectivity’ is

[@jtcob8486]

@jiggus figgus I get that a person shouldn't just spam the word "subjectivity" or "opinion" just to ignore criticism but bad mouthing his taste is just unreasonable and makes you look like a toxic troll.

[@jtcob8486]

@jiggus figgus 1st. I didn't even say 'toxicity'. 2nd. Yes, that is a result of toxicity but also another rusult of toxicity comes from badmouthing someone for no reason other than liking something that you don't.

[@Jonkin715]

The Clayface reveal was very surprising. I really enjoyed it at the time (I was 28).

[@josephstalone6911]

Johnny Kinard lol I was like 12 haha

[@raresmacovei8382]

I was 18, haha.

[@Mothlocks]

I was 11 and had no idea wtf was going on and I just sorta went with it

[@souhail6148]

Nanaru Godgi same here hahaha XD

[@jackcrow9736]

It surprised me as well and I'm a comic reader and fan of the Batman animated series. I was 30 when this came out.

[@brianw9751]

If anyone is curious about the song at 2:05, it's Frost by Hovatoff.

[@staz_korragg7746]

Oh yes been waiting for this! The best part is its an Hour long.

[@HadesWTF]

The clayface reveal got me the first time. I loved it. I couldn't believe he was actually in the game.

[@PurushaDesa]

What an odd decision to criticise the Dr. Strange face off more than the irrationally easy Clayface fight, which is supposed to be the ultimate climax of the game. At least the Strange fight had a deliberately confined movement and the wonderful helicopter chase preamble. (My choice for best boss would go to the ingenious Mr. Freeze battle because it’s actually a puzzle masquerading as a set piece.)

[@starlord1521]

On the tourism aspect u mentioned(just a small nitpick btw),Gotham doesnt gain much from tourism due to it being so crime ridden

[@zeliumite]

YES ITS HERE AT LAST. THANK YOU FOR THIS BLESSING!

[@dbg-dabraziliangamer8163]

Something I only recently noticed from the game, due to replaying it last week, was the mirror image of Cain holding Abel in the beginning of the game with Batman holding the Joker. It's beautiful and symbolic image that showcases how Batman might feel about Joker's death. We know that Cain faced extreme guilt for killing his own brother, Abel; so I think it is apparent that Rocksteady wanted this feeling of guilt to be projected onto Batman for allowing the Joker to die.

[@Maniac536]

The catwoman DLC was exclusive to NEW copies of the game. Your friend either got a used copy or didn’t think to redeem the code inside the game case. It didn’t have a retail exclusivity, at least not in the US. It was one of those things game publishers were doing like crazy at the time to deter used sales. It was a trend that has been considered in hindsight to be an utter failure.

[@quasarone3083]

When you first meet Harley and have to go deeper into the building to find the Medic you can hear Harley say something like "Oh you look so good Mister J...oh wait...that isn't you is it", to which Joker replies "shut up Harley". Pretty much tells you the twist right there

[@socialyawkwardandrew7673]

I always thought she was talking about a dummy of the joker and joker told her to shut ul out of annoyance.

[@reffa2858]

1. Arkham City 2. Arkham Knight 3. Arkham Asylum 4. Arkham Origins Love this series, love Rocksteady, and I can't wait to see what they'll do next.

[@jamesward1210]

1. Arkham Asylum 2. Arkham Origins 3. Arkham City 4. Arkham Knight Crazy how different our personal rankings can be

[@buttermilk5364]

If arkham knight didnt try and shove the batmobile down your throat I would have put at #4 still.

[@NightwingRock]

Arkham Aslylum/ City (I cant decide) Arkham Origins Arkham Knight

[@bobbill3594]

Completely agree with your original list

[@alexanderterry187]

1) Arkham City 2) Arkham Knight (didn't mind the tank battles that much, would be #1 with less of them). 3) Asylum/Origins - I think Origins is underrated. It arguably has the best story out of all of them.

[@noble300000]

Actually you are told that the Monarch Theater is where the Lazarus pit is. When you're in the steel mill and Talia comes in and rescues batman, she tells Joker she can give him the secret to immortality. They leave and that's when Bats is stuck under the rubble. So in the message Joker left for Batman, he doesn't say he's going to become immortal, but we can pretty much infer what his intentions with the Lazarus pit will be.

[@GetWellSoonR.E.M.]

When i first played this at 15, the joker thing was given away for me in one small throwaway line. When Harley tells you at the beginning to "stay down there and burn!" after you fight some of the joker thugs for the first time. If you stick around after she locks down the office in the steel mill, you'll hear a conversation between her and Joker. "Oh, mister J, it's a miracle! You look perfect! Oh no... It's not you is it?" "Be quiet Harley!" That section completely gave it away for me tbh, but i was still super excited to see how everything would tie in

[@Maniax7517]

Man I am lucky and happy I found this channel 30 minutes ago.... subbed

[@9tailed2]

12 minutes ago ✋

[@Wbubbles3998]

Talia actually told The Joker that she'll give him the secret to immortality earlier in the game so that objective does make sense.

[@minhkhoapham950]

25:30 In the story, Batman was captured by Joker, Talia offered to give him immortality in exchange for Batman. That's what they meant by stopping Joker from becoming immortal.

[@ThelateDomC.]

Also, about the Clayface part, I'm pretty sure the movie he wanted to be in before he went nuts was "The Terror", which is the film you see in the background of the boss fight. You can also see an advertisement for one of Basil's films outside the cinema, hinting at him before the reveal.

[@HeyAnnieMok]

Great video! A couple of notes on Clayface's characterization and Hugo Strange's actions: So, maybe the other people that commented pointed this out, but Paul Dini wrote the game, and he's one of the main people who worked on Batman: The Animated Series. The B:TAS two-parter "Feat of Clay" with a story by Marv Wolfman and Michael Reaves introduces Clayface into the B:TAS universe that Dini had such a huge part in crafting and fed heavily into the first two Arkham games that Dini wrote. I believe Dini pulls much more from the B:TAS Clayface or the 1970ish comics of Clayface than the 1940's Clayface, who was a different character with a different backstory, besides them both being actors. In "Feat of Clay," the actor Matt Hagen gets turned into Clayface when he's sold Renew-U cream by corrupt CEO Roland Daggett, who then extorts Hagen to use the cream to change his face and steal for Daggett, which begins with him impersonating Bruce Wayne. Hagen becomes addicted to the cream, which has horrible side effects, and Daggett's goons give him an overdose of it which turns him into Clayface. Pertinent part being, Matt Hagen is characterized as being an excellent character actor, a Lon Chaney-type, who can appear in many forms before becoming Clayface. A big part of Clayface's methods involve acting, which often fools Batman, the great detective. So, when Clayface says "It's the role of a lifetime," he means it. He's an excellent actor which is the only way he'd have been able to fool Batman so badly. Which is interesting 'cause Joker is often characterized as a bad performer--his jokes and gags have been called by Batman to be corny occasionally (in the Dini-penned Mad Love). On your earlier point about it being unbelievable that Hugo Strange would be so bold as to kidnap Bruce Wayne in such an open way, I think you only need to look closer at our current administration and the state of human rights violations enacted by our government to see that it's really quite buy-able, even though it's brash and comic book-y. One of Dini and the other B:TAS creators running themes is that the real villains of Gotham are corrupt CEOs, a complacent mayor who only cares about votes, and bad cops. Mayor Sharp and Hugo Strange in this game makes perfect sense to me in that context. I'm only halfway through the video and I'm really enjoying it! Thanks for your content. I used to do KZbin stuff so I know it's hard out there for YTers.

[@theresabathory1005]

Yes Talia bargined immortality for sparing the Batman in the scene before the catwoman invades Stranges vault and having to make the choice to save or leave batman

[@xBen_III]

The last scene is this game where Batman gives J his last words is forever instilled in me in terms of Video game memories.

[@coreym29]

I remember all of the videos and theories of how the joker is still alive ahhh good times

[@denismurin]

All editions had Catwoman missions but they had to be activated with one time code. If your game was pre-owned - good luck.

[@nikolavideomaker]

Joker's death reminds me of Gollum's death in LOTR. Frodo is at Mt. Doom and he is hesitating throwing the ring away and then Gollum does the job for him. In this way both Joker and Gollum redeemed themselves kinda. Really liked that scene.

[@jackcrow9736]

Um no. Frodo's was hesitating but Gollum didn't realize that or redeem himself. His only thought was to regain the ring and attacks Frodo to do so. Ultimately causing his own death and the rings destruction. There was no redemption for Gollum. Same for Joker really. He ultimately knew Batman would have given the cure to him but because of the way he views the world and his growing desperation, he caused his own demise.

[@nikolavideomaker]

@@jackcrow9736 never said that they did it on purpose. It still was a way to redeem themselves by the author.

[@jackcrow9736]

@@nikolavideomaker Well maybe. I didn't mean to come off like an attack if I did. The first and foremost about reading or watching or playing any medium is every individual experiences and interprets in their own personal way.

[@DefinitelyReagan]

Uh, please explain how Joker redeemed himself? 😐

[@fujinwinds2514]

How did Joker redeem himself? In his final moments he killed Talia and stabbed Batman in an attempt to steal the cure. And Joker didn't do a single good deed in the entire game and acted selfishly the entire game.

[@maxmccarty3131]

I appreciate a good long-form critique and I appreciate your efforts to find honest critiques of a game you love, but I feel like you spent a lot of time during this video tackling perceived plotholes and inconsistencies and less time unpacking the movements of the story or game design. You definitely covered these things, but they almost felt shoe-horned in alongside a laundry list of logical flaws and a beat-by-beat description of the plot. Far be it from me to tell anyone how to make a video this long and detailed. I can only imagine how much work went into it. That said, this felt more like you were trying to get ahead of possible criticisms of the game before you felt comfortable calling it a masterpiece. If I hadn't already played/loved Arkham City and then watched this video, I would come away understanding more what didn't work about it than what did.

[@davienarmstrong1021]

plot twist totally fooled me when I first played it. but then again I was so into the story it could've been the green goblin and I would've been down

[@Vis1786]

I prefer Arkham asylum personally. I think that the writing, cinematography and especially atmosphere are far superior. Just my opinion though.

[@Qladstone]

Same here. Arkham Asylyum was more focussed. Environments were very detailed, and the atmosphere was powerful throughout the playthrough. Everything from driving Joker into the asylum, riding with him down the lift and the short blackout, Scarecrow's first appearance leading to the morgue, entering the penitentiary for the first time and turning on detective vision, and also the end with Joker's party with fireworks and the goons receiving Batman as the guest of honour. Everything was really well done. Arkham City had very little of this. The environments all felt generic and lacking in personality.

[@BrokenGodEnt]

for Atmosphere Asylum reigns supreme. It all feels very condescend, and cozy. But as far as every other aspect i.e gameplay (combat, gliding, or otherwise), story (in the sense of it's a bigger story, and is introduced more often into gameplay), boss fights, and side content: City is above Asylum. Asylum is like a good book, and City is more like the movie they make out of that book. It's flashier, and has more bells and whistles -- but it lacks the fine detail the book has. For gameplay I'd choose City, but if I'm going to sit down and play one of the games all the way through again, it'll definitely be Asylum out of the two.

[@williambradley2084]

Well this week I have played them both and u can rlly tell that city is better although I still love asylum (it being my first game on my 360 and being terrified of it)

[@elpotato5011]

I don't really have a favourite Arkham game, they are all great in my opinion Arkham City has better Gameplay, boss fights and animations. Arkham Asylum has a better story and atmosphere. Arkham Knight is a fun ending to the series. Oh and Origins is... Ok, it feels more like City dlc than a game.

[@LAGator-qu7tc]

@@elpotato5011 I disagree... Origins handled itself well. I looked pass the glitches (never dealt with it) but that game Is absolute.

[@xsprays7937]

It was hinted that Ra’s Al Ghul was ready to die since he told Batman that the Lazarus Pit had taken a toll on him. That was probably why he stabbed himself while freefalling. I always got the idea that Ra’s wanted Batman to lead the League of Shadows after his death.

[@blade3656]

Batman Arkham City was the very first game I played on PS3, so I may be a little biased and say its one of the greatest games.

[@alecgardner1916]

Chewie's Choice Funny, I had the same sort of experience. I had a wii as my only console up until 5th grade. The wii was great fun and packed with memorable moments, but none of the games ever came across as more than fun. I got an xbox 360 for Christmas and this was my very first game. Coming from the wii, I was stunned. The visuals were amazing and the game was far darker than any previous experience. As a result, like you, this game is very close to my heart. I’m glad it sounds like you enjoyed the game as much as I did.

[@izzyhopeunlisted]

I personally LOVED the freeze fight and the concept of not using the same tactic/attack twice. The fact that it makes you think of every possible way to take him on was really cool and had my mind scrambling as to what to do in my first playthrough. I feel like a lot of bosses in games is repeate the same wave and attacks 3 times then its done. So having it be unique and the game not strait up tell you every methiod you need to do was very cool and a great mental chalange

[@onionheadguy7094]

Better than I remember? Is that possible?!

[@maxhowlett9661]

Not necessarily a perfect game, but a PERFECT batman game.

[@albertpnc]

Actually, the immortal, "immoral" thing comes from a scene before. Right after having blown up the ride above Batman after the big confrontation in the amusement park / factory setting, Talia shows up and mentions the Lazarus pit and after noticing Batman's reaction Joker decides to follow her along. It's the scene where she puts on the tracker for Batman to find her in case I wasn't clear enough beforehand.

[@poodlerthedoodler6912]

I don’t know who needs to hear this but I’m tired of hearing people say it so I’m addressing this. People say that I doesn’t make sense that Batman is dying in a few hours while it took Joker over a year to die but I disagree. Notice that Batman was not given the ‘disease’ the Joker has, but had the Joker’s blood pumped into him which means the ‘disease’ that was in Joker’s blood, is now in Batman’s. This also means that the ‘disease’ is as bad as the Joker’s. Since the Joker was going to die that night this means that Batman was going to die too. (I want my like).

[@spencerlevesque8463]

This was an absolute perfect description of how I remember this game! I’ve played through this game countless times throughout middle school and it really made me appreciate games as a kid and even now as a young adult. You definitely earned another sub my man

[@sharkdude7]

What I love about all the Arkham games is the lore. Things like Wonder City and the story of Ra’s in the 19th century and the birth of Solomon Grundy interests me. As well as Firefly’s origin in Arkham Knight.

[@mentallyderangeddoggirl]

I just finished replaying Knight. I didn’t like it at first, when it released, but now I adore it almost as much as City.

[@skxlter5747]

This game had almost every Batman villain in it, it was a masterpiece

[@johnp.smithasimpleman7281]

Not really Batman has a SHIT TON of villains

[@batboythecool]

a small chunk

[@SpinningTurtle66]

I had some good memories through the Arkham Games, this one being my favourite.

[@TimmacTR]

9:25 "MAKE GOTHAM SAFE AGAIN!"

[@fujinwinds2514]

@Adam ET speak for yourself. Trump's a great president.

[@sawyerdale7338]

Adam ET you don’t seem to know much about politics bud. Trump is an amazing president, you just don’t know how to avoid the all the stupid crap that the media says

[@Sonofavenger]

Five months late, but my theory as to why Catwoman needed to help Batman is because his arms were pinned, and he couldn't get the leverage to pull himself free. Catwoman helping him allowed him to get the leverage required to push the rubble off of him. Also great job on the video. You've earned a subscriber.

[@slaterbemis1302]

On the point about how well the clayface plot twist was done: I had never played it until last year at 19. I saw all the hints and I figured it out a little early, HOWEVER I absolutely loved the twist, and I thought it was a very effective use of that narrative tool even though I saw it coming

[@stayslapped1568]

Been waiting for this forever, cant wait for your next part on the series. Best series ever.

[@KillSwitch24]

In the end when it says "stop the joker from receiving immortality" it refers to when Talia gives him the sword earlier on and says that he can access the fountain of youth.

[@tysonasaurus6392]

That ending makes me cry and laugh and my jaw drop every time, I don’t know why I cry for the Joker dying it’s so bizarre

[@fatmonkey9757]

I know, it's so strange

[@Narumi4918]

I just found your channel, and am absolutely subscribed after listening to you pour your heart out about a game I hold very dearly, also. This review is top notch. Something that I really hope you touch on before this series is over though, is the connection between these games and Batman: The Animated Series. Considering it's almost the exact same voice cast and that Paul Dini is directly involved, these games are arguably a direct continuation of B:TAS. I think that notion makes scenes such as the Joker's death THAT much more impactful, and re-contextualizes the entire "Arkham narrative" into something much bigger than even these four games.

[@stuart9358]

I kinda knew something wasn’t right about clay face joker in this game because (correct me if I’m wrong) joker doesn’t say ‘batman’ a lot he normally say something like ‘bats’ or ‘batsy’. This really bugged me throughout the game but when clay faces hand appeared , like you said, it all clicked

[@eliasneely4388]

They did get rid of one thing from the first game and that's the triple batclaw thing that you use like twice

[@ashwath5733]

honestly i miss it

[@haoluong1814]

They also got rid of the option for you to throw more then one batarang.

[@emperorleachicus2199]

24:43 I believe that when Joker first leaves with Talia, it’s because she told him about the Lazarus pit and was going to lead him to it so he can become immortal. He initially doesn’t believe her, but he realises from Batman’s reaction that she’s telling the truth. Because of this, Batman knows that Joker intends to become immortal, and must be stopped. It’s not specified that the theatre is above the Lazarus pit, but we do know that it’s where he’s heading, and so by stopping him at the theatre, you will stop him from being immortal. He doesn’t receive the information about Joker achieving immortality from the video invite, he already has the information from their previous meeting.

[@untidaledwildman5143]

Pretty much my favorite game of all time, and it impacted me the most. I was 12 this first came out and when I played it and it means so much to me. Jokers death is haunting and comforting all at the same time, and alll the gameplay and story leading up to it make it a bonefied masterpiece. This game floored me then and still does to this day.

[@gus6736]

Love that you go back and produce these retrospectives on these games that have since fallen out of the limelight. I'd love your take on the Dead Space series.

[@raresmacovei8382]

Rocksteady, the only developer that managed to fully leverage Unreal Engine 3 besides the engine's developer, Epic.

[@Che1Angelius]

nice, recap on one of my fav. games. I knew something was up when the joker kept asking for the cure and the mirror scene during his fist fight. I just didn't know they would use clayface.

[@benanderson7754]

12:20 the look in his face when he says I should be a super villain made me laugh for a straight 10 minutes at three thirty in the morning

[@cugamer8862]

After you complete the Heart of Ice side quest, if you go back to Nora's chamber Freeze is in there with her and just wants to be left alone with her.

[@SLiMmcl]

As you mentioned the secret in Asylum that had the blueprint for City. Arkham City has that too. It's on that little boat in the river next to the bridge with scarecrows mask. There is a hidden panel you can hack that lets you go inside the boat and there is fear gas and stuff in there. Keep up good work hope you do Origins as well.

[@kam2840]

I'd just like to say how much I appreaciate these critique videos. They clearly take a long time to make and it's great to see someone dissect a video game to such an extent. Keep up the great work, man! Love it.

[@cgoode1201]

Well, I'm 38 now (OH MY GOD I'M SO OLD) and in all honesty the twist completely caught me by surprise, considering I was around 32 when I completed the game. Now I don't have a PhD or the like and consider myself to be relatively intelligent and to be perfectly honest, was always fascinated by the strange, near-schizophrenic schism that the game had with portraying the fantastical elements of Batman in a semi-realistic light. I mean you JUST beat Rha's, but then the Joker's dead/not dead, and THAT'S the point where I'm scratching my head? Well, I was. The twist was great and, like you said, when that happened it all suddenly snapped into place. I especially appreciate how even little comments that could have been potentially missed can also be little cues to help lead you to the actual conclusion.

[@swoopisbird3117]

I always interpreted strange throwing bruce wayne into arkham city as a way to make sure he was present for protocal 10 wanting that event to be the thing that killed him for ideolistic reasons, if he killed him in any other way or any other time it would diminish the event. That being said it probably could have been handeled more clearly.

[@ernestsacco8552]

I play this game yearly....I mean you can get through the basic story quickly....and God is it a great story....best batman, best joker....best batman story...jokers death is handled so well and that sequence gives me goosebumps....the game captures the gothic steam/diesel punk of Gotham through the visuals and the music....I absolutely love the choir music of this game and to bring it back the music that plays after jokers death is amazing

[@ernestsacco8552]

Also joker talks about becoming immortal after talia talks to him when hes about to kill batman

[@twinmama42]

Dear Luke, dont't be offended, but from a German point of view, you are misspronouncing "Zeitgeist" - it should be /ˈtsai̯tɡai̯st/ - if you slipped in the initial "t", you'd sound just more sophisticated than you already do, because the rest is perfect. As always, your critique is directly on point. Well done, I'm looking forward to the next one. CU twinmama

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Good thing people who speak English aren't doing so from a German point of view. I have a friend named "Strasfeld" - I don't pronounced her name like a Nord from the Elder Scrolls series just because it's vaguely Germanic in origin.

[@twinmama42]

Dear @@fuzzydunlop7928, as the word "Zeitgeist" (and the whole concept of a "spirit of an era") is German, one should try to pronounce is as German-like as possible - or would you prefer non-native speakers to misspronounce your precious English? We Europeans are in steady contact with foreign languages and we consider it a matter of politeness to get the pronunciation as correct as possible in every foreign language we encouter. CU twinmama

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

@@twinmama42 My "precious English?" Don't be so fucking pedantic about it - if someone native in another language says something in English.... and I can understand what the other person is saying... that's the end of the fucking transaction. It's not a matter of etiquette as much as it's a matter of snobbery. As long as you can tell what the other person means - and we know you as the OP could because we're having this discussion in the first place - the pronunciation is tertiary to the point of the speaker and thus of less importance to the conversation. If you folks (or is it volks, as far as you're concerned?) paid more attention to the meaning and content of the other person's statements rather than the minute qualities of their pronunciation in regards to your oh-so important "Germaness" you may just find yourself having a pleasant experience instead of constantly perturbed that some stranger said a word in a way you didn't like - funny, if you volks were in constant contact with people from different language-groups, you'd think one wouldn't care quite so much for such fucking frivolities, and would focus on the pragmatic process of making ones self understood and understanding others. Perhaps you're a bit full of scheiße after all.

[@briggy4359]

Besides the fact that he's using zeitgeist in a poor way by its definition.

[@joshuareynolds23]

@@twinmama42 the same Zeitgeist that swept up germany through the 30's and 40's

[@Memu_]

I remember when i started playing a lot and i got this on my birthday and it blew my mind. At first i didnt even understand anything because i didnt know how to speak english but it was still amazing. I was so happy when return to arkham was released i was so happy that i could play this game again after my XBOX 360 broke.

[@Mothlocks]

Rip Xbox 360

[@benj8898]

Ive been waiting for this for months. please make the next batman one quick

[@mattiasristola3334]

The first time i played this i got shiver down my spine when Strange said "Batman" in Waynes ear

[@Jedihho]

I absolutely adore these videos! They're so well made and researched! Keep up the great work!

[@AyanS]

How about a GTA IV critique? That game was way ahead of it's time and people take that for granted.

[@Tuxedosnake00]

Gta4 was amazing. The most believable world with rdr2

[@Mothlocks]

@@Tuxedosnake00 agreed!

[@nmanswager]

Gta IV is interesting cause hI Ike I think the gameplay has aged the story is very intriguing

[@AyanS]

@@nmanswager If you actually see the physics, ragdoll, how people react to things, it's still better than some games out there.

[@clitcrusader4897]

I like the sound effect when you pick up money, no I don't remember anything else I played it like 8 years ago

[@exile1nc946]

I tried to play free roam after the ending but I just couldn’t,It didn’t feel right without you’re Clown friend.I came back a year later did the Dead-shot mission and just gave up again, I got so emotional and just couldn’t go on without him making jokes.

[@jackbanks5134]

Keep up the great work dude!!!! I remember beating this game back in the day, and feeling stunned and craving the next entry like crazy. Super thorough and excellent critique, I look forward to the next 2. Have a good one, dude.

[@ezekielcoronado700]

Man this game has so much Batman lore. I know that because I’m a big Batman fan

[@hirammaxim6400]

5:40 ...but sounds absolutely hilarious to your native german ear.

[@themadtitan7603]

Batman Arkham City is in my top 10 best games of all time, the combat, there's slightly more development for Batman's character (Asylum lacked that), great use of comicbook heroes anf villains, the game is filled amazing and insane details and easter eggs , and that ending... woah I was just speechless.

[@TheMegaDudeBroski]

The thing I loved about the Clayface twist was actually on my first few replays. At the time I was sure Joker didn’t die there but I was excited and really enjoyed the twist the first time. But going back and finding all the hints they put in the second time through, like the fact that Joker doesn’t have bones when he looks healthy which is actually something that you know about Clayface from Asylum, or that the movie playing behind him and the sign on the Monarch Theater has Basil Carlo on it is just great to me.

[@CousinVielgosh]

Awesome video! Can't wait for Akrham Knight critique

[@pipebhart4272]

I'm afraid I don't share your opinion of the last boss fight involving Clayface: The fight were derivatives of the Grundy (in the first phase) and Ras Al-Ghul (in the second phase) boss fights. It was still enjoyable, but I did feel that the Clayface fight lacked enough originality to stand out on its own merits compared to the previous fights in the game. The fights overall WAS a significant improvement from the first Asylum game though. As to the plot twist: I do think it was a decent twist, and his line was a good nod to his origins as an actor, but it felt a little sparse to me. I was a little disappointed that Clayface didn't expound a bit more on his role as Joker; I admit that it is a little nit-picky, but I felt that Clayface would have gloated a bit on how convincingly he fooled Batman of all people and would give himself a verbal pat on the back on his performance. The character always struck me as a bit narcissistic in that regard. A few brief lines like that would have given that character a bit more depth in that game and provide insight to players not that familiar to the Batman comic lore. Nonetheless, it is a brilliant game and is one of my all time favorites.

[@haunted._sound]

I kind of saw the twist coming because in Arkham Asylum, when rescuing Cash (or Gordon, can’t remember), Clayface is in a cell transforming into multiple characters trying to get Batman to release him, so I knew he could make an appearance in City. What really gave it away for me was seeing the “Joker” looking in a “mirror” putting lipstick on and one side looking sick, but then revealing he was “cured”. I saw that more than a way to just show the character Joker was cured, I knew something was up.

[@thebiggeridiot]

regarding origins, i don' t get how people find it fun, the world is garbafe due to either removing grapplepoints that cripples the ability to launch out of a grapple and into a glide or they made that new playable area that is not designed well around batman's gliding ability, they talked a big game how the verticality changes how it's played but they didn't increase the cap of how much velocity you gain which makes the increeased verticality poitless and since you can't glide over said buildings, you are instead awkwardly gliding in between walls. combat not only didn't progress much, it was a devalution because the execution of the auto lock and overall combat was verry clumsy, worse on consoles due to the lower frame rates a story line that was a bait and switch which also ended up with a lot of continuity issues which lead to a lot of people not considering the game canon

[@tysonasaurus6392]

I feel like most of the catwoman dlc was lacking, it clearly had effort and heart put into it but stuff like the traversal system or her limited tools were a noticeable drop in depth when being jerked into and out of catwoman sections. But I really love the last catwoman section, I felt it was the most interesting story and gameplay wise

[@trevvorgorman7985]

That moment at 18:40 left me dead lol. YOU ARE TEARING ME APART LISA!

[@jinception01]

When I first saw the plot twist I wasn't even old enough to play because my mom wouldn't let me so I watched it on youtube. Needless to say it was the most mind blowing plot twist of all time to 11-year old me

[@withalittlehelpfrom3]

Playing this after watching DC Universe's Harley Quinn made me so excited to see Clayface! The actor connection is immediately apparent if you watch that show, and funny as hell. Although that show also makes me disappointed with how Harley and Poison Ivy are portrayed in this game, since the animated show really explores their motivations in a great way.

[@spideralexandre2099]

I guess you forgot about the part when Talia tells Joker about the Lazarus Pit and Batman freaks the fuck out. You do have to play as Catwoman immediately after that scene so maybe that made your brain fart.

[@zartig09]

This is my favourite game.