I Cannot Rewrite Arkham City | Praising the Best Batman Game

Batman Arkham City is a game with near-perfect storytelling and I cannot rewrite it. In this 10-years-later retrospective, I go through what makes Arkham City's storytelling so well-knit and offer the best Batman video game some deserved praise. This is a reupload from my other channel Shut Up Denny. #arkhamcity #batman #arkhamgames
▶️ Batman Game Series ▶️
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[@ItsUrBoiV]

An argument for a rewrite can be said that freeze could have kept some of ra's blood and use it later to make a cure for nora

[@themadtitan7603]

Which could've been explored in Arkham Knight.

[@urmomsonmydick]

i would also like to add that this game has one of the greatest soundtracks of all time

[@RandomRamblings86]

Batman delivers Ra's blood to Freeze but Freeze refuses to make the cure as he wants to use the blood on his wife. This causes the fight. During or after the fight Batman convinces Freeze that the cure is more at the moment due to the active threat of protocol 10 and that Nora will have to wait so then Freeze makes the cure. As Freeze gives the vial to Batman Harley swoops in and steals the cure. Batman then chases after her but stops as he has to save Viki Vale from the snipers allowing Harley to escape and the game to proceed as normal.

[@SplosionMovies]

playing this game on release with no spoilers was the most lit gaming experience of my life

[@sprosonator]

Arkham City is untouchable. Arkham Knight however could definitely use some tweaking. Thomas Elliot needed a longer/bigger side quest, I think Damian Wayne being the Arkham Knight would’ve made much more sense than Jason Todd on account of the voice filter disguising his voice to hide his age, his own identity, his motivations to both cover Gotham City in fear toxin that is inhabited almost exclusively with criminals and would also explain why he comes into the scene after the death of his mother in Arkham City and the downfall of Ra’s Al Ghül. Expanding further on that story, I imagine the backstory is Bruce sent Damian as Robin back to his mother when he realised he couldn’t stop him from killing which isn’t out of character for either of them. I just thought Jason suddenly turning good at the end and becoming Red Hood felt really cheap after everything he did to Gotham in the name of trying to kill Batman, people died, that’s irredeemable. Other than that though, I love Arkham Knight to bits.

[@JackOswaldWhite1940]

Damien as the Arkham Knight doesn’t really make any sense. By Arkham knight, he would be no older than 8 years old. And Talia’s death wasn’t anyone’s fault but her own so why would Damien blame Batman for it? Who else could the Arkham knight could have been? Jason is the only sensible one.

[@3AMMAK.]

Arkham city if really go six on this game story instead being blinded by nostalgia this is the closest we will ever get to adam west sillyness in batman story ever and if you don,t believe me after 30 minutes if watching this video YOU WILL kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGm2c6qhnbJ7iZIsi=sAdAKcu7eHwylu6M

[@TalkedPuma6023]

Arkham City to this day is still my favourite Arkham game for a reason.

[@mjlee29]

I agree. I to this day I will occasionally replay it just cause I like it that much. I really enjoy doing it with the alternate skins, like TAS, Beyond and the Yellow Lantern skins.

[@wavyquaddy6531]

i think personally if anything they should've acted more on the thought of freeze knowing abt the lazarus pit in knight than in city

[@themadtitan7603]

Agreed. I still think Freeze should've been a part of Knight's main story rather than just an add-on side mission. And it should've focused on him trying to find the Lazarus pit and using it to try curing Nora.

[@ZeroNeedsCoffee]

Would still love to hear what you came up with and what dead ends snd butterfly effecta u ran into sounds interesting

[@georgiepig5726]

The only real problem i have with the arkham city story is the protocol 10 plotline not only gets just sidelined and essentially forgotten about for a good portion of the game with only the occasional reminder of how many hours into the game you are from hugo dumbass strange and the protocol 10 plotline also just feels like it blows by way too fast its definitely more noticable on repeat playthroughs and even if i do love arkham city a lot it is literally my favourite out of the series i still play it to this day through the return to arkham collection even if i'm so dogshit at the game that i can barely beat even the second to last tyger guard combat section before the second to last tyger guard predator section on just normal mode i still love the game just not for its story if anything i find it to be the weakest part of the game imo but i still like the game all around

[@NaveRellim34]

The moment where it activates and all the prisoners start dying was perfect though

[@georgiepig5726]

@@NaveRellim34 yeah its a pretty good moment but it would have been a million times better if the game actually ACKNOWLEDGED it instead of just basically going "oh yeah protocol 10 is happening now with no ACTUAL buildup whatsoever in the actual STORY and PLOT so just go with it" its the most annoying thing about the story in my eyes

[@johnprime1147]

You know funny thing. I will one day have to go through what you went through. I am writing at the moment the Arkham Series. Sort of. It started out not that. But it grew to me just wanting to use Asylum, City, and Knight. The whole thing goes like what is shown below. Season 1 The Gang War: Bruce Wayne is done watching the corruption from Wayne Tower, his Limousine, and Wayne Manor. He finally dawns the cowl but he has a lot to learn. Season 2 The Riddler: He's grown a bit of experience. But a mysterious man named The Riddler has kidnapped 5 Hostages and even then he has to deal with other things. Like Catwoman, Mad Hatter, Clayface, The Penguin, Killer Moth, Scarface, etc. He is starting to get no break. But he is starting to be seen. Season 3 The Killing Joke: Plays almost exactly like Origins. Except key details like the Mad Hatter, and the Riddler. But in this I change how the 8 Assassins will meet Batman. Well the ones that didn't sit well with people and me. And I introduced Dick Grayson. I mean. I don't have much time. So I have to introduce him eventually. Or as early as possible. Season 4 The League of Assassins: Well. I will spoil something. Two Face is made in this season. And well this season and the same with the Court of Owls is basically just filler. To expand the universe a bit more. But the whole season will be about the League. But this season is basically just filler. Season 5 The Court of Owls: Yea. But I will have had put hints before of a white owl flying around every 2 to 3 times in the past seasons. Like hinting that the Court exists. And with that Batman could even remember one time seeing a white owl. It looked out of place. There will be more filler episodes like the League of Assassins Season. Season 6 Arkham Asylum: The night will last a very long time. And Batman notices. To everyone else it's just a regular night basically. But to Batman. It looks and feels like it never ends. But by the time the Joker becomes Titan Joker the sun will start rising. I promise you. The day still exists. But the night just feels way too long. Going into that feeling. Everyone else they feel the night as always. But for Batman. The night's are growing longer. Not every night. But the night's that are important. Season 7 Arkham City: The same goes with this. Nothing really changes much. Besides cameos. Like the Green Arrow. And Nightwing will be shown in this. Same with Tim. I think I will also be doing Harley Quinn's Revenge in this. Probably as bonus Episodes. Season 8 Arkham Knight: Now this. The night stretches. For everyone else. It goes on like it should. But for Batman. It stretches for FAR too long. And the Joker mentions that after being in his body. He feels like the night doesn't end. And never will. He never thought Batman felt like the night grew by the second. And the more time goes on the Joker starts begging for the morning to finally come. Because he realizes that in Batman's eyes. The night never ends until the end. Basically going with the whole player thing. Even though no one is controlling Batman. It goes with the whole weird thing of the night never ending even though you play the game for hours on end. There would be changes. Lot's of changes. Like for one the designs which I am using from multiple people. And the whole story beat of it. I might move the whole Court of Owl thing after Asylum or after City. Who knows. And I might even add another Season. But what I do know is I plan to end the whole story almost exactly like how the Arkham Series ended. So you guys give your opinion of what you think of this book series I am starting to write. I am open to criticism. I openly like it. No. Not like it. I CRAVE it. So I ill be right here if you guys need me. I will be right here waiting for your guys responses

[@no-facejames7360]

Dude, if this will be on any fanfic sites, or if you're planning to show it off some other way, send me a link, this sounds cool as hell.

[@johnprime1147]

@No-Face James I will send you a link to where the Fanfic site is once I finish the 1st Season. I thought long and hard about this

[@carlosmujun]

There's something wrong with Rā's being the main villain after being defeated, then Joker randomly appearing just to finish his story.

[@herosshade2247]

This just goes to show that any fault you have with the game could be addressed by the game's subtext. Sure, Freeze doesn't outright tell you he wants you to bring her Nora for the Lazarus, but who's to say that wasn't on his mind when Batman brought him the blood sample confirming it existed? The interview tapes also add a lot of clever detail.

[@JackOswaldWhite1940]

Arkham city’s subtext doesn’t explain how turning the heart of Gotham in a prison facility got ratified by the city council or literally any bureaucratic officials. It’s a safety hazard to the Innocent civilians in Gotham so how did Arkham city even get approved in the first place? The subtext doesn’t explain why Hugo strange doesn’t hold any of Batman’s friends captive so he doesn’t interfere with protocol 10. Because Hugo is stupid for the sake of this contrived and manufactured story. The subtext doesn’t explain why Two face allowed catwoman to keep her claws. The subtext doesn’t answer how joker knew Batman would even be at the courthouse or even at that exact moment. Joker needs Batman alive so he can find the cure so why doesn’t he tell his cronies to cease fire whenever they spot Batman? The subtext doesn’t explain why the hospitals accepted samples of joker’s blood and actually used them without first checking for toxins. (Seems to me like manufactured tension). The sub text doesn’t explain how Batman knew the ninja at the museum would be triggered just by hearing ra’s al Ghul’s name. The subtext doesn’t explain how the ninja didn’t notice the tracking device on her bare skin and why she even bothered attacking Batman in the first place. So the only reason Batman is still alive is because the ninja was an complete idiot and didn’t escape to the lair without attracting Batman’s attention. The subtext doesn’t explain why freeze was such an irrational idiot and just simply ask Batman to save to avoid the ultimately superfluous boss fight. The subtext doesn’t explain how Harley knew the cure was in the safe, and how she even knows it works or how she got to the police station so quickly. The subtext doesn’t explain why Vicki’s copter continues to gain altitude even though it’s tail rotor was annihilated. The subtext doesn’t explain how Batman survived being crushed by falling debris. Also talia goes about saving Batman in the worst possible way. Instead of stabbing the clayface joker, she forms a stupid deal with instead. If talia actually stabbed the clayface joker, that would spoil the twist quite a bit earlier. Seeing how easily the twist could have been ruined now renders it a unearned payoff. The subtext doesn’t explain how talia even got captured in the first. The subtext doesn’t explain why joker simply didn’t just lick the cure off the ground? Why would he even stab Batman in the first place? Joker’s death was poorly and clumsily executed. So no, the subtext doesn’t answer every problem with the story of Arkham City. Worst story in the Arkham series by far.

[@mareklonestar7053]

@@JackOswaldWhite1940 Finally somebody who doesnt praise Arkham Citys Story. I cant believe that so many say the story was good, heck, amazing even. It had potential and definitley hooks you in the beginning with Dr.Strange knowing Batmans Identity, but it doesnt do anything interesting with that. You couldnt do anything interesting with a psychiatrist, who managed to manipulate Gotham to build a super prison? Somebody like that would probably play lots of personal mind games with the bat, pushing him to his edge mentally, while also trying to psychoanalyze him. Heck, maybe Strange would even try to "cure" Batman. But no, after that the only interesting thing he does is Protocol 10. Also both Plot Twists were lame. The Clayface Twist was predictable if you know him and if you dont, than the twist comes out of nowhere. And the ras a ghul twist undermines the little bit that made Strange interesting relegating him to just a pawn to a boss you already defeated and who dies immediatly afterwards anyway. Doesnt matter if it was surprising. Good Plot Twists need to be more than just surprising. To be fair, I dont think any of the Arkham Games have well written Stories. The only good one was Arkham Origins and just because it does the bare minimum required to be engaging. If you want actual good Batman stories, watch the movies, shows or read the comics. The Arkham Games do however have incredible gameplay, where you can get creative with both combat and stealth. The main reason why I even play them to be honest.

[@JackOswaldWhite1940]

@@mareklonestar7053 I think Arkham asylum is pretty good in terms of writing. Arkham knight isn’t great in terms of plot structure but it excels in character writing for Batman and Joker. Origins does too.

[@mareklonestar7053]

@@JackOswaldWhite1940 Arkham Asylums Story is fine. It exists more to give Batman a reason to fight a bunch of lunatics. Though the "how" feels forced. How does Batman not figure out immediately that Joker plans to break out? Joker drops obvious hints every second and even outright tells Batman something along the lines of "Aren't you wondering why all blackgate prisoners are transferred here because of a convenient fire?" And Batman, who is supposed to be "the worlds GREATEST detective" which is canon in the Arkham verse,(I would have been fine, if he was just a pretty good detective in the Arkhamverse, but by pointing out that he is the GREATEST, that makes every bad decision stand out more) only comes to the conclusion:"Huh, he never gave up without a fight. That's strange" and does nothing to warn the Asylum and Gordon to prepare for an attack or at least insist on escorting Joker till he is properly jailed. But ignoring the story of the games, I do enjoy the characters, especially in Origins and Knight. However the story (City specifically) always leaves a little bitter after taste, because it could have been the best of the best, but flunks for stupid reasons, because the writers didn't put in the effort. And people praise them and say they did. People can like what they want, but I can't help getting a litte annoyed, when people say the story of City was the best, like in this video. There are a lot of others games, which tell a better story. But Arkham City does have a great world and isolated moments, which are awesome and probably trick people into blindly liking it.

[@Black_Knight_-BK-]

@@mareklonestar7053 How do you rank the games, storywise? Mine is City>Origins>Asylum>Knight

[@couruu]

Proud to be here before 100 subs. Top tier stuff

[@GameDenColor]

Thank you :)

[@RacingSnails64]

Bro, Freeze totally deserves to put Nora in the Lazarus Pit. That should totally be a comic.

[@brewmaster2912]

That actually happened in the comics. Nora went insane and got fire powers for some reason tho. DC really treats Mr. Freeze like Marvel editorial treats Spider-Man. No happy endings. Damnit. Just let them be happy.

[@junichixo7947]

i love arkham knight as is but i truly have no words for how much i love this rewrite and wish it was the game we got. masterfully done rewrite man kudos to you

[@EST283]

The way u speak has so much charisma, more than most ppl I know, lots of respect

[@jojo-b55]

Respectfully, I can't stand this game's story. Hugo Strange isn't the most popular Batman villain, but he's the guy DC advertised as the big bad in all their promotional material for this story. We see Hugo for about a minute before he becomes a background character for 95% of the story, only to be revealed as a pawn for a better villain we already beat at the halfway mark. Who's our main antagonist if not Strange (as advertised) or al Ghul (who we've already dealt with)? Joker, who *dies* at the end of the story (only to appear as the main antagonist in both sequels because he's DC's favorite cash cow). The story mode starts to feel like a series of fetch quests after a while (go fight Penguin/rescue his hostages, go find Ra's al Ghul & take his blood, go get the cure back from the one who stole it, etc.). That said, the combat is amazing, the boss battles are vastly improved upon (looking at you, Mr. Freeze) & the ability to play as other characters in the Bat-Family is greatly appreciated. Overall, i prefer to play the "Riddler's Revenge" campaigns over official story mode.

[@Jokerpersona5335]

Mr freeze: The clown has my wife bring her back to me and tell me where this Lazarus pit is located. Batman:I'm not in the mood for this freeze give me the cure and I'll find her as for the pit it's not stable it will do more harm than good freeze and you know it. Freeze: The cure is yours when my wife is safe. *Batman makes a move on the safe as it's frozen shut* Batman:You don't want to do this freeze. Freeze: With the pit or without it Batman You will bring me Nora or you will 🎲. Boss fight ensues

[@thecringeexterminationservice]

I find it very funny that the best rewrite of this game is more of a what if and not a rewrite

[@jacks910]

I’m surprised you didn’t implement Robin more. I feel like that was one of the few mess ups of City.

[@user-cg1gs4bh2m]

I love starting the game and seeing azreal watching you in the jail

[@Ciscoflexx]

the writing in city was way worse than we all remembered lol. talia, hugo, joker, ras were all the “main characters” and all together had 11 minutes of screen time. and they all die without us really caring (minus mistah j) this was my comment from another video and surprisingly people agreed lol

[@EST283]

That’s a small detail

[@JackOswaldWhite1940]

@@EST283 Talia being an idiot and going about saving Batman in the worst possible way, Hugo not kidnapping one of Batman’s Allie’s to discourage him from interfering with his plans, and joker’s stupidly not telling his goons to cease fire because he needs Batman alive are all small details? This game’s story is worse than I remember.

[@EST283]

@@JackOswaldWhite1940 don’t think about the form of things, think about the nature of things

[@intergalactic92]

@@JackOswaldWhite1940it’s simply not in Joker's character to not try and kill Batman, even if he does want him alive. That’s part of the fun for him.

[@Ciscoflexx]

good game but awful writing. we all praised it in 2011 because we had low expectations and we’re young. synopsis: -courtroom (lasts like 5 min) -head to tower to find joker (5 min) -head to steel mil to confront joker. you get poisoned (15min) -head to gcpd for freeze/cure (5 min) - head to museum recover freeze. end up chasing a ninja (30 min ish) - wonder city ras, cure (30 min ish) - fight freeze for no reason (5 min) - head back to steel mil (20 min) - protocol 10, hugo appears then dies same with ras(30 min) - joker/clay face, theatre (10 min) story can be completed without cutscenes (or glitches) in 2hrs approximately.

[@galodebotas9360]

and?

[@bleachjazz1726]

Yeah it's an okay story way cooler the first time you play it

[@urmomsonmydick]

yeah i think it was a great game when it came out but over the years people just began to expect more from video games. but playing it the first time is an incredible experience

[@swagwolfgang]

Yeah City and Origins are tied as my favorite i know that City is overall a much better game but i am one of the few who actually loves Origins

[@sizar9003]

Few become millions over the years. You can hardly call it underrated anymore

[@godzillazfriction]

you're definitely not one of the few plus how is Arkham City overall a much better game... yet another objective speaker

[@daph0307]

Arkham Origins is a wasted potential of a game and a copy of city 🤢

[@godzillazfriction]

@@daph0307 your moms pussy 🤢🤮

[@themadtitan7603]

I agree that City is a better game but Origins has the better story imo.

[@bullymaguire5221]

this is good

[@dustinvasquez8294]

Th only thing I didn’t like was the city that’s it

[@kreyrfer8293]

I have one advice for u if u plan on playing AC Don't play it on PS4 the game is badly optimized on it, it will ruin your experience

[@3AMMAK.]

if really go six on this game story instead being blinded by nostalgia this is the closest we will ever get to adam west sillyness in batman story ever and if you don,t believe me after 30 minutes if watching this video YOU WILL kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGm2c6qhnbJ7iZIsi=sAdAKcu7eHwylu6M