Neue Rezensionen von Tony Stark

For the longest time, I knew about this game and didn't play it. It is excellent. This is from a man who deeply dislikes JRPG gameplay, but loves the stories. The story here is amazing, given how short it is, and the gameplay is diverse enough that even if you are playing as a completionist, you won't reach a point where the game is dragging.

The problem with the story is that it is too good. All four endings are touching, and each one will disembowel you emotionally. If you are depressed, I would not recommend playing this. If you are profoundly lonely or have lost someone, same advice. This brought up some stuff for me. It is an excellent game, and I do recommend playing it at some point, but not if you are in a bad place emotionally or mentally.

11/10

I have rarely cried just because of how beautiful a piece of art is, but this got me during the big run sequence. Also, no small game has the right to go this hard on its soundtrack.

For a game this beautiful, simple and perfect to be free is a crime. Do yourself a favor and play it. And please, please, please support the developer if you are able!

Spectacular game.

Not a fan of the Telltale style games, but damn is this good. Is it railroady? Sure. Is there barely any gameplay? You betcha.

HOWEVER, the story is great, the atmosphere is amazing, the soundtrack is perfect and the dialogue is chef's kiss. Every time you see characters, they work perfectly in the scene, and there are damn near no filler lines. This would be a steal for a full 60$ and at the prices it goes for in 2024, you should probably pick it up both here and on a separate platform, so that it doesn't feel like you're picking the studio's pocket.

The only criticism I have is that the game should definitely have a skip function. Replaying the whole scene again just because you though a dialogue option's description meant something else is just a pain with the current system. The games aim for an interactive television show feel, but the lack of such quality of life features is a bother.

9/10 only due to the technical issues. Buy it, play it, love it.

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

Deeply disappointed by this game. The first 80% of the game plays out like a mystery in which you submerge yourself ever deeper. The game contains some of the most profound storytelling, a great soundtrack, stunning art style and visuals. I don't go for games like these typically, and this one got me so excited. After about 8 hours of the best narrative and emotional build up I've ever seen, the game fails to resolve the majority of it's narrative threads, opting for what is essentially a narrative reset. It's as if all that the characters go through is for naught.

This game got shafted by the community. Arkham is one of my favorite game series, and I have 100% completed Asylum once on PS3, once on GFWL and now the GOTY here on Steam. Arkham City is by far my favorite game of all time so knowing that I am very biased coming to Origins in 2024, but here’s some thoughts:

POSITIVES:
+Story+
Although City is my favorite game and we have Roger Craig Smith and Troy Baker instead of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil who are the definitive voices of Batman and Joker respectively, for me the story blows both Asylum and City out of the water. In both City and Asylum, we have Batman and the Joker as icons that are fully formed and simply interacting with each other. You know how both of them tend to act and Batman is just this white wall of unshakable morality upon which the Joker smashes over and over again, so you get these epic scenes that have amazing stakes on the level of the characters, but their personalities almost never interact.
In Origins, the story is damn near visceral. Both Batman and the Joker get altered deeply by encountering one another and Batman’s convictions get tested to their limits. The story’s themes are elevated to a much higher degree of suffering, brutality and violence when compared to the previous two games. I love both Asylum and City, but this was indeed a step above.
+Bosses+
The bosses here are so much better than Asylum and City, it’s not even funny. In past games, most bosses slightly modify a standard combat encounter, maybe force you to use a gadget. Here, you have a mano-a-mano duel, which feels like snorting a line of the Lord’s powder, a fight against our favorite venom user that works differently both times, a thousand knife fight that feels dangerous as hell and a gadget fight for survival. The DLC Mr. Freeze fight is a bit meh, but you can’t have everything.
+Graphics+
The game holds up even this many years later. Textures and lighting, everything is beautiful, and it is amazing to think that this was a PS3 generation game. Sadly, if you want to run it the best it can look, you run the risk of instability due to some poor integration. Even so, the game looks great because the graphics fit with its art style. All the X360 generation games in the series have trouble with the integration of the Physx drivers and later version of DX, but are still gorgeous.
+Gameplay+
The game is pretty much a carbon copy of City as far as gameplay, with some notable additions and subtractions. The major addition is the martial artist enemy type, which is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand it adds some variety, but on the other it pulls you out of the flow of the fight because your character is suddenly playing Patty Cake in the middle of half a dozen thugs. Shock gloves are also a cool addition that allows you to get an additional gear in your flow, but they charge slowly and last too short for you to really be able to mentally sink into one rhythm or the other. There are some additional gadgets that give you more angles in predator encounters, but there has been some jank introduced that makes the gameplay. For example, instead of most edges, railings and surfaces in the open world being valid targets for grapples, now they have been limited to just a few types, and this makes the traversal very clunky when compared to city. All-in-all, it’s still the awesome gameplay of the Arkham series, so a buy just for that, but there are some issues.
+Music+
For the first time the music in an Arkham game has made me notice it. I won’t spoil the moment, but the use of some classical pieces fit so perfectly in a confrontation between the Joker and Batman that I was genuinely impressed. The original soundtrack is still fitting and well executed, but unremarkable, like in the previous two games.
NEUTRALS:
=Presentation=
The atmosphere is great, but there is far less of it. Gotham’s size has grown, but it feels like it is less dense. There is less detail to the environment, and thus, less reason to explore. The art direction is still amazing, though there are a couple of designs that I generally dislike when it comes to Arkham in general.
=Side missions and activities=
It feels like there’s more side content of lesser quality. Like in City, there are a couple of missions that genuinely expand on the ideas of the game and provide a good, albeit short story or idea, but there is a lot more of doing the same thing a given number of times in this game than in City.
NEGATIVES:
-Collectibles-
In the previous two games the Riddler trophies served as a means of making you explore the environment and were genuine short puzzles and riddles. Sadly, in Origins, they are just collectibles. There is neither challenge nor mystery. It’s just a checklist of the most mundane UbiSoft style trudge that you have seen a thousand times. Was a genuine pain to collect them all.

CONCLUSION:
This game is indeed jankier than the first two in the series. It does, however, deliver a great experience that is worthy of the series. I will definitely agree that as a whole it is worse than both Asylum and City, but it is insane to refer to this as a bad game. Very few games in this genre manage to deliver such a good experience, and although this does not feel like Colombian table salt like City, it sure as hell gets the job done.

While I don't particularly enjoy the game (RTS sections), the soundtrack is pretty decent. It's a 50/50 listen on its own, and I would say that is good enough to deserve the full price, especially if you enjoy the style of music. No masterpieces and few bad tracks. Definitely a pick up if it's on sale.

Good soundtrack. Most tracks are suitable for listening separately and more than a bit enjoyable. Congratulations to Chris Remo for a wonderful job. It really feels like a steal for only 5 EUR.

Got this free as part of the Deluxe Edition through a Humble Bundle giveaway years ago. Still haven't gotten around to playing the game properly. I used to enjoy Uplink once upon a time and just seeing the visual layout was neuron activation. I also don't particularly like electronic music a lot.

All that being said, this soundtrack is extremely good. I listened to it from start to finish today, and I was genuinely impressed with how expressive the music is and how well it flows. It is now going to be part of my productivity mix, since it's perfect for those moments of hyper focus. There's not a single track which I object to, and more than a couple that genuinely slap.

It's worth the money, especially as part of the deluxe edition. I actually feel kind of guilty having picked this up for free and will probably pick up the complete bundle on another good platform, so that the people behind it get some of my money.

This soundtrack punches way above the game's weight. I like the game on its own, and while I don't consider it a masterpiece or a classic, I still find it enormously enjoyable and own it on multiple platforms. The soundtrack is comprised of epic music, and is of such quality that maybe 3 or 4 out of all 20+ tracks aren't worth a listen on their own. If it was sold separately, I am sure that it would do well, but the fact that it is part of the game makes me feel like I bought one of my copies of the game to pay back the team for creating this gem, and by the Emperor is it worth it! It's an 8-9 out of 10 throughout. Definitely worth a listen, especially giving the wonderful audio quality.

Unlike the rest of the HL2 soundtracks, the one for Episode 2 is not only perfect for the game, but about half the tracks are good listens in their own right. It's maybe the only Valve soundtrack that I would listen to for enjoyment. Great job!