Gotham Knights completed

Finished! My PlayStation says I spent 39 hours in the game. I was taking my time at it, too, doing all the optional content, so this isn’t a speed run. Tactics Ogre Reborn came today, though, so I just went straight for the ending, which wasn’t all that far away.

I can’t say much of anything about the rest of the plot. Some of the stuff that was telegraphed from the beginning of the game happened. Some stuff that I should have expected to have happen, happened as well. About the only thing that really shocked me was how easy the final battle was. But, I was max level (30), had superior armor and weapons, and most importantly — I had finally mastered Perfect Evade on Batgirl. Having played Elden Ring this past summer, dodging the well-telegraphed attacks here was cake.

Other players dropped in a couple of times, and so I wasn’t alone during Mr. Freeze’s final fight. (During the credit roll, when they show dramatic shots from important plot points, that other player was there). I didn’t know people could just drop in like that, and so I turned it off. Still, at the end, I think it would have been better if the entire team had been there.

Harley Quinn

I did enjoy her take as someone who might want to aid the bat family in some way — even voluntarily getting herself locked up so that she could do psych analyses on the inmates. Not sure if she ever even mentioned the Joker. (Though the Joker was still in Jason Todd’s back story, so he did exist at some point).

The Penguin

Mostly floated around the edges of the plot, though he had connections to one major faction that weren’t immediately obvious. A less flamboyant characterization than we usually see. He was also the only mob boss we saw in the game, so the whole Maroni / Falconi rivalry wasn’t anywhere to be found. (Aside from the faction “The Mob”, which I guess was a stand-in for them both).

Mr. Freeze

I just have never gotten Mr. Freeze’s whole thing. He wants to make things cold for reasons. And he wants to find a cure for both he and his wife. And, like every villain, blames Batman for something. In this case, for not finding a cure before he died even though he pinky-swear promised.

I think he should just cure global warming or something. Just make the polar ice caps colder. Do everyone and the world a favor.

Clayface

Clayface’s best days were behind him when the game began. He, like everyone, blamed Batman for something. In his case, for not saving him from falling into a turbine blade. Batman didn’t push him, or anything, and in fact was trying to save him, but he failed, and so now the bats must die.

Again, he didn’t have any real motivation. He was sadly pathetic. Decent boss fight, though.

Talia al-Ghul

Like all the rest, every villain that shows up here has had years and decades of stories with Batman. Every Batman story and arc ended with his death. And so we have to just know about Talia and Batman’s relationship. Jason Todd’s story does go into some detail about how he and Talia connect, but almost nothing about how Talia and Batman did.

A Game for Fans

To be blunt, if you know the real names of all four Robins and each of their backstories, this is going to be the game for you. You can tune the difficulty, go multiplayer or solo, and get really good at evading and follow-ups. Each of the four crew play very differently — I found Tim Drake’s Robin to have really powerful attacks that were very different from Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl. An entirely different playstyle. I didn’t take Nightwing or Red Hood out to play, but I probably should have.

If you enjoyed Arkham Asylum and Arkham Nights, there are going to be a lot of Easter eggs to find. Batman had pretty much all the skills in those games that are parceled out among the four heroes here, so there were a lot more options in approaching a battle. Since the enemies in Gotham Knights have to be defeated by any one or combination of the four heroes, each battle is fairly generic — sometimes extremely so, when encounters reuse a location.

Once you reach max level, encounters of “very high” difficulty begin to pop up. High level characters with special moves, and special conditions for each battle, make nightly patrols less cookie-cutter.

I play DC Universe Online. I watch a lot of DC animated movies, cartoons, live action movies, and TV shows. I knew all the characters and their backstories. I wasn’t really in any hurry to leave Gotham, but, the game just isn’t that long.

Devoted fans should play this now. Casual fans should probably wait for a sale. Those who know little about the DC comic universe probably won’t have a fantastic time in this game.