Just finished the game and have to say, this is by far my favorite of the trilogy. The plot and story is just incredible, like movie quality, and way more intriguing than the previous games. In particular, I like how more down to earth and realistic this one comes off, where as City, and particularly Asylum, got a bit too cartoony. Also, the expanded Gotham City and batcave are just so damn engrossing. As much as I loved the map for Arkham City, I got tired of it after a few days. Not so with this one, I just keep wanting to explore the city. I also love how it's set on Christmas Eve, and how the city is decorated and you occasionally here Christmas music. Some other things I love:
-Nolanverse influenced Bane is AMAZING! Probably the best part of the game
-Joker: As much as he has been used, I think this may be is magnum opus for the series. His introduction, and relationship with Batman was done very well. Also, the beginnings of [BLACKOUT]his relationship with Harley[/BLACKOUT] was a great treat.
-The Deadshot, Bane and Firefly boss fights gave me chills.
I know there were complaints about it not introducing anything new gameplay wise, and the whole [BLACKOUT]Joker posing as Black Mask[/BLACKOUT] thing, but this definitely goes on my list of top games of the year, and best entry in the series. Can't wait for some expansion packs!
I finished it last night too and I loved the story. I share most of your feelings. It was more personal, delving into the psychology of Batman and Joker and those surrounding them. The conclusion was just the best of the series so far. I can't even count the end of AC, since it just...ended.
I have to applaud what they did to Bane. He felt so intimidating. When he stood up against Joker's orders and slowly approached him in the hotel, it's like I could hear Joker thinking ''oh crap, please don't screw me'', trying to hide it with a smile.
Besides what Joker did, I had this feeling that Bane was the main threat. His presence was really strong and remarkable. More points to WBM for explaining why he becomes so dumb, which was, imo, Rocksteady's biggest sin.
The boss battles were another step up. Even though Shiva was the weakest and less inspired (and I still have to do Deadshot's), Deathstroke was the higher point. I repeated that battle so many times just to get a flawless victory and counter all his counters, but I didn't mind. That's EXACTLY the kind of battle I wanted since the first game. Someone I could go toe to toe, all out. And they excelled at that. I want more of that against Prometheus in a future sequel to City.
As for the city...I'm tired of it. As I knew I would. It's not just that big part of it is a remake of Arkham City's, but I don't see anything truly new with the part they added. All the time I couldn't stop thinking that it's more of the same and, once again, like in Arkham City and Arkham Asylum, my favorite parts of the game are when we're indoors, not out there, in the open, so I naturally fear when rumors of a bigger city for Arkham 3 come around. It's inside the locations that I feel like Batman and truly play like him, not outside.
Here's hope that they will bring something different and a breath of fresh air to the sequel, instead of just bigger areas to make it seem like the game will be better because of that or that it is going a step further.
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