Batman: Arkham City

[SpideyVille]

I haven't played Origins since it first launched on PS3, but I bought it for PC last night, and 10 minutes in I could already tell that I wasn't going to enjoy it as much as I have the others. It just feels so off. I remember it being a good game, but I still feel like it a bit overrated by those who are so mad about its exclusion from the remaster.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Yeah, I think if we talk about gameplay and mechanics...Origins is the weaker one. It lacks the polish of the other games, and there's still bugs that have never and will never get patched. I think I just like WB Montreal's vision of a Batman more than Rocksteady's. The writing, the characterizations, how the characters interact, and how the story progressed is what I think the draw is.

And man, I didn't realize how much the game struggles to run on my PS3. The drop in framerate is kinda scary, where it seems like it's going to crash or something. And there's enough minor stuff, like the Wayne Tech theme not unlocking for completing I Am the Night, or the Batsuit you unlock for finishing the Dark Knight challenges looking torn apart, or how we never got the Worst Nightmare batsuit for some unknown reason. Learning there was supposed to be a Deathstroke mode just made me sad, too.

I think apart from how good the writing is, looking at the faults of the fiction in the Rocksteady games just makes Origins look even better.

Well, that and paying nearly $60 for two last-gen games that I've bought more than once already would have been better if it'd been for three games.

 

[SpideyVille]

So Return to Arkham releases tomorrow. Is anyone picking it up?

I'm trying to get it through Gamefly, mostly because I want to see how it looks/feels first before thinking about buying. I've tried watching some comparison videos from people who received early copies, and it seems hit or miss in terms of visual improvements.

 

[spiderman2]

So Return to Arkham releases tomorrow. Is anyone picking it up?

I'm trying to get it through Gamefly, mostly because I want to see how it looks/feels first before thinking about buying. I've tried watching some comparison videos from people who received early copies, and it seems hit or miss in terms of visual improvements.

I may get it when it gets cheaper has I don't like really rebuying something I have because it looks better like rebuying a movie I have on dvd on bluray but with that said the Arkham games are some of my all time favorite games and after seeing this I have to say city looks a lot better in the remaster couldn't find one for asylum yet though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5brKQa8ces

 

[SpideyVille]

Apparently WB has been removing videos from youtube that show the gameplay of the remasters, but I did manage to find a few that were recently uploaded, and while the games do look much better in terms of crispness and atmosphere, it isn't until you see comparisons that you really notice the difference in models.

With that said though, I just saw that I will be getting it from Gamefly this week, so I will definitely check it out, but I'm also going to wait for a price drop, most likely on Black Friday, before I buy this.

 

[Havok83]

Save your money. Looks like the porting is unimpressive. At least wait till its like $20

http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/10/18/batman-return-to-arkham-review

 

[Nardz937]

My expectations were low since that first trailer. I knew this game wasn't going to be a true remaster but rather a port.

I'm going to pick it up this morning or later tonight anyway. I've been dying to replay these games for awhile now.

 

[The Joker]

Save your money. Looks like the porting is unimpressive. At least wait till its like $20

http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/10/18/batman-return-to-arkham-review

Wasn't planning on picking it up anyway. Most of the screenshots put me off. Especially bulldog faced Batman.

 

[Rodrigo90]

Maybe they wanted to incorporate elements from the movies and wanted to give him Kilmer's lips? Obviously doing a poor job

I've just been watching kNIGHTWING01's playthrough and while some improvements do impress, there isn't one major killer quality that is going to possess me to pick it up.

 

[Mister J]

Maybe they wanted to incorporate elements from the movies and wanted to give him Kilmer's lips? Obviously doing a poor job

That's nothing, unless they also offer a "Tell me, Doctor. Do you like the 'thircus'." speech pattern DLC to accompany it.

 

[Rodrigo90]

I literally thought I was the only person to hear him say "thircus"

 

[zenith16]

• 
  [YT]hPUKMguidT8[/YT]

927 views 7 hours ago​

• Test Chamber – Going Back To Gotham In Batman: Return To Arkham
  
  Feature
• on Oct 18, 2016 at 02:23 PM
  3,660 Views
  
  7
  Andrew Reiner, Brian Shea, and Michael Leri revisit the remastered versions of two of the best Batman games ever made in Batman: Return to Arkham.
  ... More

source: GI

 

[Galactus123]

Look at Batman's mouth:


Around 0:37. It's also stupid that the old cutscenes look better than the new ones. They might be pre-rendered but still.

 

[KillerMcQueen]

It's a shame the cutscenes don't even get close to the quality of the PS3 pre-render, Gordon especially looked bad in that footage, from what I've seen the gameplay itself does for the most part look quite a bit better though.

 

[Rodrigo90]

Some things look better, some don't, and others look worse... It's the definition of a mixed bag.

 

[SpideyVille]

My takeaways so far is for the most part, the atmospheres look great and detailed, but the models suffer from things like lighting, updated models and over-saturation of color.

The thing about the saturation is that it works well for the atmosphere. Like seeing all the colors pop from neon signs and stuff in the night sky look beautiful in comparison to the original version. The problem comes from having characters too lit up, in which case, it's more of a lighting issue where shadows are not as prominent or deep, so adding that in with the colors of something like the Joker's suit, it works against the tone of the game. So there's some trade off doing either.

 

[Nardz937]

Completed the Arkham Asylum remaster to 100% tonight and platinum trophied it all over again.

For somebody who has never played these games but want too, Return To Arkham is an absolute must, you get both games with most of their DLC (they say all DLC but they did not include the Arkham City Wii U content). But for somebody who has played these games and already own them, RTA is a tough sell. It adds absolutely nothing new to the gameplay, not even a photo mode and the visual update is only overall okay-ish, The environments, textures, lighting, shadows, etc are actually really, really good and is definitely an improvement - the character models however are hit-or-miss.

Couple pictures I snapped.

Now on to replaying Arkham City

 

[SpideyVille]

I gotta be honest, Return to Arkham doesn't look too bad. My only real visual complaint is that with the enhanced lighting and over saturation of color, there tends to be a more yellowish hue to things, meaning the tone looks warmer as opposed to cooler with a blue tint. It doesn't make the game seem as dark or gloomy as I'd remember.

But aside from that, yeah the PC runs better because of 60fps, but this doesn't seem too bad for 5-7 year old games. The details and atmosphere looks beautiful, and although the models look a bit more cartoony, it's hard to compare since AK looked much more real. But I'd definitely recommend this version if you can wait a bit and get it at a discounted price in a few weeks.

 

[Nardz937]

Playing Arkham City right now and skins still don't carry over into cinematic cut-scenes. Words can't describe my disappointment.

Also I have to say, RTA is much more glitchy than the original games. The original games were extremely well-polished.

 

[Broseph44]

Playing Arkham City right now and skins still don't carry over into cinematic cut-scenes. Words can't describe my disappointment.

Also I have to say, RTA is much more glitchy than the original games. The original games were extremely well-polished.

You set yourself up for that disappointment honestly if you thought that with these remasters that the skins would show in cut scenes. Come on now.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

You set yourself up for that disappointment honestly if you thought that with these remasters that the skins would show in cut scenes. Come on now.

Considering they seemingly remade the cut scenes, I can understand expecting them to fix that.

 

[Broseph44]

Considering they seemingly remade the cut scenes, I can understand expecting them to fix that.

Ehh still seems like being set up for disappointment to me. Oh well

 

[Nardz937]

Considering they seemingly remade the cut scenes, I can understand expecting them to fix that.

Thank you

 

[KillerMcQueen]

yeah, I thought the entire excuse for it was them being pre-rendered on the last gen versions, this time its just laziness. Origins and Knight both used the alternate skins in cutscenes, so I see no good excuse for it here.

 

[Broseph44]

Still didn't expect cut scenes to allow other skins to show. This always appeared to be and was a lazy remaster it seems so, that's why I say that. Seemed fairly obvious they weren't going to go the extra mile for something like that so dunno why some expected it. That's my thoughts on it anyway. Like I said at this point it's whatever.