Batman: Return to Arkham - Arkham Asylum (2016)

When the mythical "good" Batman game finally came along, it was undeniably great. Great enough that it became the prototype for other games.

Simply put, this was the best adaptation of a Batman game I had ever played up to that point. It really gave you the feeling that you WERE Batman, and not just a video game sprite that happened to have a Batman skin on it. From the use of Detective Mode to set up an investigation perimeter and find hidden items, to the first person perspective of crawling through the air vents, to the genius inclusion of so many of the Dark Knight's gadgets to affect gameplay and combat, this game had it all.

And that's not even mentioning the freeflow combat system that has gotten use in other acclaimed games, such as the Middle-earth: Shadow of games and the Marvel's Spider-Man series from Insomniac. The system is easy to learn, difficult to master, and when you do, you feel like a complete and total badass. It's an excellent addition to a game that already immerses you completely into the role of the Caped Crusader.

It took me forever to getting around to playing this game once I had it, but when I did, I was so drawn in by the story, the gameplay, and even the voice work by Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, that I was there on day one for the game's follow-up, Arkham City. In returning to this game through the Return to Arkham remaster for the PS4, I relived and enjoyed an experience that has come to shape my perspective as a gamer, and even managed to platinum the game. An excellent experience, and one I would recommend to anyone with an interest in superhero games, dark, gritty games, and just plain good games with excellent storytelling.

My final playthrough of Batman: Arkham Asylum, in which I platinum the game and get set up for Arkham City.

Just finished a livestream where I'm playing through Batman: Return to Arkham - Arkham Asylum. My goal is to platinum the game before Halloween so I can start Arkham City and get to working on that damn Calendar Man trophy, starting with Halloween.

All I have left to get are the trophies for beating the story on Hard difficulty (Biggest Bang), and the one you get for beating up Joker's men when they're all clapping for you near the end of the game (Party Pooper) before it triggers the platinum. Hopefully this Wednesday's playthrough will be the final one for this game.