RF Generation Message Board

Dust of your Batarangs and dive it anytime now!!

I played this morning to what I felt was a good cut-off point, which is once you exit the Medical Center. So basically play away for the next week (until the 8th) and try and get to at least the end of the Medical Center and use this thread as a place to discuss the game up to that point. If you play ahead please keep the discussion only up to our check points (the medical center for this week) so that spoilers don't ruin any surprises for the guys who havn't had a chance to experience Arkham Asylum before.

Check Point # 1 (April 8th) - Upon Leaving the Medical Center you have reach the 1st Check Point (after fight with Bane). Stop Playing
Check Point # 2 (April 15th) - Upon Entering the Botanical Gardens Building for the first time you have reached Check Point 2. Stop Playing
Check Point # 3 (April 22nd) - Next time you see Killer Croc  you have reached Check Point 3. Stop Playing
Check Point # 4(April 29th) - Stop the Joker

How many hours in we talking?

It took me less than 2 hours on Hard Mode, but I've played it several times before. Maybe 3-5 for someone on their first attempt on Normal? A little less than that on Easy.

Aighty, I'll probably start it tomorrow.

Count me in!

I've been doing some redecorating including setting up a game room so I haven't had a chance to play yet. I'll sit down tomorrow and plug away until I get to the first checkpoint.

Finally got around to playing. Very well done thus far, reminds me of Escape from Butcher Bay insofar as you can tell right away how much tlc was given to the game by the devs. Found the walk-in intro a little tedious and superfluous, but it was survivable. Gameplay is tight, combat's a blast, and stealth is as good as I've seen outside of the MGS franchise. Tearing off every gate with button mashing may get old, again though, I can deal.

Love hearing Mark Hamill back as la Joker.

If you are an achievement person you can get 5000 gamer score in this game. :)

I got to start the game today also. Maybe it's just me, but I find Batman to be a rather dull character. He's just too much of a good guy, I like the Batman from the recent movies a lot more. Joker, on the other hand, is quite interesting and entertaining. His role will probably keep me coming back for more (aside from the obligation to finish the game established by this thread).

I like using the environment to my advantage rather than going in with guns blazing into fights.

My one gripe so far is the darkness of the game itself. I turned the brightness up but not too much to lose the ambience, but still find it dark. That's just me though... I like bright, sharp images.

Yeah, he does seem pretty boring. AND I JUST WANT TO KILL EVERYONE. THESE FREAKS WOULDN'T EXIST IF HE KILLED LIKE...ONE OF THEM

I think a lot of Arkham's problems would be solved if Batman actually killed or mortally wounded those thugs. Not that I condone murder, but come on Batman, do something about all the crime in your city!

As a long time Batman fan it physically pains me to listen to you guys, lol.

Can't find a single thing to complain about so far. I'm really loving it,

...and Batman? Kill? Yous alls crazys.

I agree Batman is a wuss. Kill same damn people. You cant have a repeat offender if they are dead. First time Batman caught the Joker he should of killed him. Since then all the murders Joker has done the blood is on his and Batmans hands.

I really like the fact that Batman has a strong sense of morality (although it is a quite an unusual one) and refuses to kill. Joker is the only one responsible for the murders he has committed. How do you figure its blood on Batman's hands?

@Fleach - I love to dark atmosphere of the game. I think it looks fantastic. Don't turn up the brightness to compensate. By doing that you are altering the environment in such a way that doesn't compliment the game imo.

Batman puts the Joker in jail.  It's Arkham's fault for letting Joker out.  :)

just got my hands on the game of the year edition of this for the ps3 today, so i'll be catching up this weekend i hope :)

There's no debate that Batman has a strong sense of morality. Although I don't think this version of him is as awesome as Christian Bale's portrayal. I can't get enough of how his Batman strikes fear into criminals.

As for the darkness levels... I recently got a new TV which is brighter. I'll get it calibrated too so darkness levels and loss of ambiance won't be such a problem anymore.

I guess I should get in on this, although the game was in my future plans.  I'm in.  I'll get started tomorrow.  I grew up on the 80's-90's comics and movies (plus watching the Adam West version on reruns), so a truly dark Batman is still a bit difficult to swallow.  Considering his back story, it does seem more fitting.

I'm curious to know how you guys are using your xp to level up your Bats.

Just got outside (I assume that's what you meant by "Medical Centre").  Man, I really enjoyed this: Mark Hamill manages to play the Joker without feeling like the same version as the Animated Series. 

Only niggling complaint is that Harley Quinn first appeared in Batman TAS, not the comic books.

Levelled up in Armour and Hitting Things.

Mystified by Portal-style room.

i just got outside the first place too, is that where you meant by exiting the medical center? map says i'm at Arkham East, and i'm looking at the Arkham Mansion

I got the remote control bat-rang, critical combo thing, armor upgrade and proximity explosive gel

I've just been upgrading Batman's armour. My next upgrade will probably be something for combos.

I got armor and the thing to tie up people on gargoyles or what have you.

armor and better combos here. my question wasn't answered yet :P did i finish at the right place? i don't think i did but i'm not sure...waiting to progress more in case that is the place to stop.

That's where I stopped. Seemed logical and it was after a medical center bit.

I'll risk a spoiler since we are almost at the deadline. I meant right after you fight with Bane and have saved the doctors. You'll be taken out to a dock and your progress is saved.

oh, is the place we stopped far from that point? not sure if i'll make it by tomorrow but i'll try

Oh, nope stopped before that...Guess I'll have some playing to do tomorrow.

made it to the right spot this time! definitely where crabby described. so far i'm really liking it, the combat is great, story seems good, music and visuals are well done.

current progress:

challenges: 0%
riddles: 53/240
upgrades: 6/20
character bios: 20/42
completed: 15%

just thought of an idea that might make it easier to point out the weekly stopping point. where it doesn't risk spoiling anything why not use a screenshot of what you should see when you get to the point of stopping? you could do that plus a description, just to make it clearer. i mean the point you described for this time was actually clear and the rest of us just made the wrong assumption ("he said medical facility but did he really mean it?" ;)), but it should make it easier.

So at right point this time, the showdowns are great.

Looks like I may have stopped just short of the checkpoint too. Oops.

I faught some big hulk-like guy with razor teeth and escaped the loony bin. Found the Batmobile, tracked down the warden via dropped tobacco and started breaking into where he's held.

I don't mind small spoilers like "play up to and including the fight with X".

Sounds like I did a poor job explaining the first check point. So this time around I'll try and make it as clear as possible so that we can all stay together. I'll also update the first post with the rest of the checkpoints so that you don't have to dig through this thread looking for them.

Check Point # 2 - Upon Entering the Botanical Gardens building for the first time you have reached the 2nd Check Point. Stop Playing.

I just got outside for the first time.  If we're going to the Bane fight, I'll keep playing.  I upgraded my Batarang to use during fights, and the Critical Hit upgrade.

I like your progress report idea!

After getting to check point # 2 here is my progress:

Challenges - 31%
Riddles - 136/240
Upgrades - 13/20
Character Bios - 34/42
Completed - 44%

Anyone give the challenges a try yet? Anyone feeling ambitious enough to go for a 100% completion or Platinum Trophy/1000 Achievement Points? I'd be happy to help you achieve any of those goals and I think blcklblskt has done them before too so I'm sure he would chime in with tips too.

I think that if you guys have been enjoying the story so far you'll really like what is uncovered up to this next check point. It gets a lot meatier so that its not just "Crazy old Joker is at it again!".

i haven't tried the challenges yet, those are only accessible through the menu right? my usual routine with new games is to go through only the story/campaign first and then do all extras like multiplayer and bonus modes afterwards.

i may try for Platinum on this one, i'm enjoying the collectibles so far. are there any trophies/achievements you can think of that are one time only and easily missed? i hate considering going for platinum and then finding out after that i missed something i can't get again without replaying the whole game.

by the way which system is everyone playing on? i'm on PS3.

The challenges are in the main menu, not in the story mode.  You'll also need to beat the game on Hard mode as part of the platinum.  I recommend playing on normal mode first, then hard once you get the hang of combat. 

x2. Hard mode isn't too much harder once you have a firm grasp on the combat, but its VERY important to get good at the combat before attempting it.

I don't think there are any missable trophies in this game. You can always back track and grab any you might have missed later in the game.

The challenges unlock gradually as you collect/solve riddler puzzles. If you reach the check point before each Monday I'd recommend checking them out with your extra time. Not only are they pretty fun, but it'll be great practice for both the combat and stealth parts of the game.

I'm on the PS3 also. Username is EurekaMonkey if you want to add me.


Mainly for any of you Batman fans (but I'd also be quite interested in people's thoughts that arn't as smitten with the Dark Knight as I am), what are your thoughts on how the different villians have been portrayed in the game so far? Up to the first check point you should have come across The Joker, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Scarecrow and Bane. Many others are referenced, but those ones I mentioned you actually interact with so I'm more interested in your thoughts on those characters in particular.

I love how they handled 3 of the 5 of those villains and was a bit disappointed with one and completely loathe what they did with one.

I'm not a hard core Batman fan (the cartoons are about all I watch) but I'm pretty happy with all 5 main villains so far. I'm also having fun learning about some of these other villains I've never heard of before.

Which ones disappointed you Crab?

Also are any of you finding these upgrades really that helpful? I've got 4 upgrades stocked right now just because none of these upgrades seem that cool or necessary.

I loved the Scarecrow confrontation- games that explore altered perceptions of reality are a hit with me, even though it was a bit obvious. 

Bane was okay but not great- he's meant to be intelligent and that doesn't come across- but still a satisfying boss fight.

Harley's a little odd- she sounds and acts exactly like the animated series character (same actress?), which is at odds with the redesign.

Scarecrow was cool. Bane fight was stupid and annoying, ended up just spamming him with batarangs pretty much. Went a bit further, got the new grapnel.

You need to use the Batarang to beat Bane.

I like how all the villains are portrayed so far.  I think Scarecrow was done incredibly well.  Like Raidou, I enjoy the altered perception of reality.

ya i like them all so far except i agree bane fight was annoying, even when i hit him with the batarang it took a couple deaths before i realised how exactly that was helping me.

as for upgrades, the armor upgrades have helped a lot, and the batarang being able to actually do something to the regular baddies, but i haven't noticed the combo ones helping all that much. i unlocked the one that gives you a bonus move after 8X combo and that was useless because i only combo'd that well once, but then i unlocked the upgrade that knocks that down to a 5X requirement and now it's pretty decent.

Yeah you're right, makes him crash into the wall and what not. After restarting a couple times though I just stayed back and smacked him with batarangs when I wasn't taking down goons, only melee'd him when he was stunned.

The combat system rewards fluidity and building combos.  You'll need to learn how to combine moves in order to get through basic fights in Hard mode and the harder challenge modes, so normal and easy modes are a great spot to learn.  The special moves also give you a chance to re-assess your situation in a larger fight, so knocking down to the 5x requirement is handy.  There is also an upgrade that will give you 2x multiplier for each "critical hit" you land, which becomes a huge help by basically unlocking the special moves within three hits.

finished up to the end of the Arkham Mansion stuff, stopped at a checkpoint following quinn with sharp. going to continue to the rest of this week's segment another day.

I felt the The Joker and Harley were done as well as could be expected. Other than the Dark Knight movie and some rare instances in the comics I'm rarely that impressed by The Joker. I like them in this game, but I'm happier when they spend more time focussing on other villains. Mark nails his voice though and he is often amusing.

Scarecrow really surprised me in the game during my first playthrough. He is an interesting enough character, but he doesn't seem like a great choice for a game like this as he isn't really someone you can physically fight (since he is a tiny frail man). They proved me wrong and made the parts involving him fantastic.

Killer Croc kind of annoys me a bit. He's obviously more of a B-list villain that the others so it's not too bad though. I think its mostly the voice acting that hurt him for me.

Bane drives me absolutely nuts though! I'm a HUGE Bane fan and grew up with the Knightfall story arc. I still have, and read every year or two, the entire Knightfall arc. Its also one of the first books I shared with my son (I've got a picture somewhere reading it to him when he was just a couple months old). I hate how he is portrayed in both this game and Arkham City. I want him to get a bigger role and have his intellect, dedication and patience played up and not just use him as a brute (although he does make an awesome brute).

I also forgot to mention Zsasz when listing the villains. I really like him in this game. He really helps show the balance of characters Batman comes up against. He is extremely dangerous to most people, but he is almost comically easy for Batman to take out. Very one dimensional character, but he definitely has his place.



And to echo blcklblskt, the combat upgrades may not seem all the impressive at first glace, but they are extremely useful as the game gets harder. Like he said getting the x5 and the critical hit allow you to do either your throw or special takedown very quickly which helps A LOT when fighting large groups of guys. And the groups will just keep getting bigger and more varied as you progress. The throw lets you clear and area and get a good view of your surroundings and the special takedown is helpful for both taking a breather, cutting down the number of enemies and 1-hit killing some of the more annoying enemies (like guys with knifes, guns or stun batons).

Also forgot about The Riddler. I LOVE how the Riddler is represented in this game. He is largely an annoying and fairly lame character, but much like Scarecrow I think they found a way to keep him true to his character and fit him enjoyably into the game.

I've reached the botanical gardens.  My stats for now:

Challenges: 31%
Riddles: 139/240
Upgrades 13/20
Character Bios: 34/42
Completed 44%

If I get the itch to play again this week, I'll probably run through some of the previously visited areas to get a few more riddles out of the way.

wow you and crabby have the exact same progress on all but riddles

Updated

Challenges:        10%
Riddles:              144/240
Upgrades:          12/20
Character Bios:   34/42
Completed:         41%

At the gardens

I think he's playing on hard mode as well, lol.  I went through all of the challenges currently available, so that's why we both have the same Challenges %.

Argh, I've been out riddled!!!

I just reached the fight with Bane. Let's just say I'm not as good a video gamer as I thought. I'm getting my Bat kicked! (see what I did there ;))

Is the checkpoint after this battle?

first checkpoint, yes.

That was the first check point. We are working towards the second check point currently which should be upon entering the Botanical Gardens.

Good thing we didn't end up playing Dark Souls then, eh?

If you need help, let us know Fleach!

I gave the fight a rest and will tackle it fresh today.

My current strategy is to stun Bane then land a few punches. When Joker sends out the goons I just run around and let Bane take out the distractions. It's a slow method but it seems to he working. I'll get it soon enough.

Looks like I've got some catching up to do.

Yeah, great thing we're not playing Dark Souls!

UPDATE

I'm catching up now. Wasted Bane... finally! I thought Scarecrow and the nightmare scene was very creepy and awesome. I got a bit of an Alan Wake vibe there.

Next Check Point added on first post.

@Fleach - Glad you made it through Bane! Its pretty important to be able to handle that fight since the Titan enemies (which you have already encountered) are pretty much Bane clones.

So now that you've (hopefully) reached the Botanical Gardens we've got yet another Super Villain added to the mix with Poison Ivy. Like a few other classic Batman story arcs he is getting run through a gauntlet of baddies. Joker's plan should more or less be laid out for you now so its just a matter of actually figuring out how to stop him now.

Fleach mentioned being a bit behind the pace. How are the rest of you guys finding the checkpoints? Are they too long?

Don't worry about me - I'll be bringing up the rear always nipping at your heels. My schedule is kind of erratic and I don't always have time to plug through a game. The pacing of the checkpoints is quite good actually. They're set up nicely to practically make chapters for the game.

i didn't finish yet but that's because i was busy this weekend and i found someone to play Age of Empires 2 HD with online so i've been putting a lot of time into that. i'm right at the point before you get into the gardens though so it won't take me long to catch up.

I've been keeping up, other games have failed in keeping my attention as of late. Gonna start the new section with dinner here.

Already past checkpoint 3, and playing Persona 4 to stop myself going nuts in the meantime :)

Oh man, Persona 4 is soooooo good. You're blasting through some fantastic games right now.

This game is growing on me. I'm starting to really enjoy how Joker is always one step ahead of Batman and the gloomy aesthetic is great!

At the current moment I'm in the Greenhouse rescuing the guards from the control deck type room (whichever room is after the flooded corridor). Sneaking around, hanging from gargoyles, grappling around the rafters is all a lot of fun. This game is definitely entertaining, even though I'm a little indifferent when it comes to superhero games.

I can't get back into it. Bioshock put me into a sort of introspective funk towards gaming. I may come back and play a night to power back up to where you guys are one of these weeks.

just exited the gardens after my first time in there, i'll continue the rest of this week's checkpoint later. really happy about all the gadgets i've got now, feels like i'll be much less restricted.

I'm up to the checkpoint.  Current stats:

Challenges: 50%
Riddles: 189/240
Upgrades: 17/20
Character Bios: 40/42
Completed: 67%

Look out guys, I hit this week's checkpoint one day ahead of time!

When I reached the hallway to Killer Croc's lair and the game "glitched" I thought the disc had problems. But nope, old Scarecrow was up to no good again. The scene with Batman being wheeled into the asylum had me on the edge of my seat. I'm loving the hallucination sequences; they're so well done.

just hit this week's checkpoint too! really enjoying the game so far, also that glitch part freaked me out because i wasn't expecting it and i thought my system broke LOL.
Progress:
challenges: 0%
riddles: 159/240
upgrades: 14/20
character bios: 36/42
completed: 53%

The "Glitch" was well-played (reminiscent of Eternal Darkness).  My PS3 makes noises when I play Disgaea 3 so I was well-spooked!!

I also liked how every now and then Batman would briefly appear as Scarecrow.

This game is getting much better. It's moving away a standard superhero game towards something more psychological and spooky.

I played some more and am at the point where Batman has to confront Ivy again with the Titan antidote.

Sorry I'm late on the last check point. I'm currently out of town and I meant to update it before I left, but completely forgot.

Well, I finished the game, and here are my stats:

Challenges: 93%
Riddles: 240/240
Upgrades: 20/20
Character Bios: 42/42
Completed: 99%

I don't really like the Predator challenges, so I think I'm going to move onto beating more challenges in Arkham City.

Beat the game today as well. Great ending! The game had a bit of a ho-hum start but it really picked up as the story went on.  really loved the Scarecrow scenes and delving deeper into Batman's damaged mind.

I haven't been keeping a tab on my stats but everything amounted to 65% completion.

Thanks Crabby for hosting another great playthrough! I really had fun with this one and I'm happy I got to play a game I would have otherwise overlooked.

The clown is down!!

Going back to find riddles

Challenges:        13%
Riddles:               237/240
Upgrades:           20/20
Character Bios:    42/42
Completed:          85%

I really should've joined in on this...

i just finished too, great game. the ending was pretty good, and a nice setup for City.

If you've played the game already feel free to jump in with your thoughts.

There's always next time if you want to take part. These group playthroughs are a lot of fun. I'd love for this to become a recurring activity on RF Gen.

speaking of next time i was thinking we should do a playthrough of an old game next, instead of only modern games.

Agree 100%. That'd be great.

I kind of think we should wait a little while (maybe a month) before we start discussing future playthrough plans. That'll give us time to finish up anything we're personally playing and track down a copy of the next group game.

ya for sure, we don't want the community playthrough idea to get stale by overdoing it :P

Do you guys thing that one every month is too much? 

Are there people who would be interested in on retro playthrough and one current gen playthrough each month?

I know I'm buying Blood Dragon on Wednesday if anyone else is interested in doing one on that.

i think it depends on the length of the game. if we're mostly doing RPGs, or long games like batman (somewhat long) then i think once every 2 months would be best. or like you said do one retro and one current gen, but i think not at the same time. it might be good to alternate, one month do a current gen game, the next we do something retro. that way it's being done on a more structured schedule and people can have something to look forward to, plus if someone wants to stay out of a playthrough it won't be long for them to wait until the next one.

edit: i also think the person organizing the checkpoints and other things should be someone that's already played it before, if anyone playing along has. unless crabmaster wants to do them all himself ;)

That's a great idea! I think something like that would be loads of fun.

I just found this on racketboy and it seems they have an established community playthrough system. Looks like this idea is nothing new.

Here's the article for those who are interested: http://www.racketboy.com/retro/racketboy-game-club-together-retro-intro

Just wanted to share this as I've been having a blast playing games with you guys and would love to continue this. It's a great opportunity to add quality titles to my gaming repertoire.

I'm down for a retro playthrough. I don't own any current generation systems (now that the Wii U was released), so yeah, something older always appeals to me.