Warner Bros. Games Montreal has finally unveiled their new reboot of the Batman franchise in the form of Gotham Knights: an open world action-adventure RPG in which Batman is dead. Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood reconcile and rise to the occasion to pick up where he left off and become Gotham City's symbols of justice.
Of course, fans are excited to play the game next year since it was confirmed to have some familiar elements of the beloved Batman: Arkham series so fans of that series are not alienated but there are also going to be new elements. Which should return from Arkham and which should be changed?
10 Keep: Epic Storytelling
One thing every Arkham game provided over the years was a massive story that rivaled something one would see in an epic blockbuster superhero movie. With the concept of Bruce Wayne gone and the rest of the Bat-Family having to deal with that loss, it could allow for a lot of great stories.
The emotions of the Knights themselves, how Gotham's villains are responding to the lack of Batman, and the different personalities of the characters, there is so much potential with the story they have chosen. Combined with the fact that the whole game can be played with any character from beginning to end, this could even top the Arkham games.
9 Change: Story Choices
As mentioned before, players have the option to play as any of the four Knights from beginning to end or swap between any of them throughout the story. This could allow for a lot of different dialogue in each playthrough which is already providing tons replayability.
What else could provide playability? Character specific choices: characters like Batgirl and Red Hood have drastically different mindsets and personalities as well as methods. Fans would love if Gotham Knights took a page from the Telltale games or even Fallout and allowed players to choose dialogue and different outcomes to situations.
8 Keep: Detective Work
One aspect that continuously got better and better with each entry of the Arkham games were the things that Batman was known for in the first place when he debuted in Detective Comics #27: the detective and crime scene investigation elements.
Perhaps with Gotham Knights, it could return and even be expanded upon with questioning and interrogation via the multiple characters' different methods. Think a DC version of LA Noire where Batgirl is firm but harmless, while Red Hood would more than likely would break an arm or two for information.
7 Change: Fix The Boss Fights
Despite the fondness gamers and fans have for the Arkham games, there is one common complaint of most of the games: the boss fights were not that good. The best boss fights stemmed from Batman: Arkham Origins which also just happens to have been developed by Warner Bros. Games Montreal.
Bosses like Deathstroke, Copperhead, and the final encounters with Bane and Joker are considered some of the most well-done bosses in the Arkham franchise. With the teasing of Two-Face, the reveal of Mr. Freeze and the Court Of Owls, as well as the many possible villains in Gotham City, many fans hope the developers make every boss fight memorable and fun.
6 Keep: Predator Tactics
The Bat-Family all have a tendency to strike from the shadows and take down their enemies with precision. This was an outstanding feature throughout the Arkham games that provided challenges that could make a player frustrated but never to the point of wanting to give up. It was a good balance of challenge and fun!
With four different characters with four different styles of gameplay, it would be interesting to see how each Knight deals with stealth. Robin seems to be the most stealthy with his cloaking device and teleportation abilities, while Red Hood might have to rely on charging forward and knocking out the enemy quickly.
5 Change: More Stuff To Do
While this game was confirmed by the devs to not be a "Games As A Service" title like Destiny 2, it would be nice if there was more content in the open world of Gotham City both on and post-launch day. In the Arkham games, once you completed all the side quests and story missions, the only thing left to do was run around and beat-up random thugs.
In Gotham Knights, it would be nice if there were new side missions and activities to have fun with: especially since this game features co-op. Take a page out of Red Dead Redemption 2 or The Witcher III: Wild Hunt by adding an endless amount of instances, side quests, and activities for friends to enjoy even when the main story is over.
4 Keep: Plenty Of Villains
Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, and the Court Of Owls are all well and good but if this is a giant open world to explore, fans are going to want more. Since this is a reboot, many characters that perished across the Arkham games could still be alive and ready for the Gotham Knights to take them on.
There's plenty of villains to choose from including Man-Bat, Firefly, Killer Croc, Clayface, The Ventriloquist, The Penguin, Calendar Man, The Joker, Anarky, Deathstroke, Black Mask, and even Crazy Quilt. The list is practically a mile long and all of them each have different methods and stories to tell: plenty of sidequest material.
3 Change: Do Not Put The Riddler In There
Hey diddle diddle, everybody is sick of solving riddles. In Batman: Arkham Asylum, Riddler's challenges were a fun distraction; in Arkham City. It was a little grating but fun enough to keep the player going, but when Arkham Knight hit the scene? Riddler went from a pesky little side quest giver to the most irritating character in the series.
His puzzles that are so simple that it just feels like a chore to finish them all, the constant transmissions telling the player to keep finding trophies, and the unbearable use of Max Headroom-esque audio glitches were enough to make players give up on trying to 100% the game. If the developers want to put a collect-athon in there, use a different villain.
2 Keep: New Bat-Family DLC Characters
With any big title like this, new DLC characters are inevitable whether gamers like it or not. Sure, four characters that players have the choice of playing the whole way through or swapping between at any time will surely provide enough content and replayability to keep many satisfied.
However, many fans would not say no to even more members of the Bat-Family from the comics who are not in the game so far, including Batwing, Renee Montoya (who is currently an NPC) AKA The Question, Orphan, or Batwoman. With the new gear and suit system, added characters could keep players entertained for years.
1 Change: More Vehicle Types
In the reveal trailer and first gameplay, it was shown that the Knights can ride high tech motorcycles that even Ghost Rider would be jealous of. This looks awesome but some fans are wondering if the game will suffer from the same flaw as Arkham Knight: too much of one good thing can ruin it.
The Batmobile in Arkham Knight had great mechanics and controls but many felt it was overused and that it got boring after a while. One way to spice this up is by having multiple vehicles to traverse this new massive version of Gotham City. Imagine piloting the Batwing across the sky and experiencing dogfights, riding on the motorcycles, and so much more. Batman had many vehicles: fans wouldn't even say no to piloting a Batboat across Gotham Harbor.