Rewatching this stream makes me wish I had reached out to Shamus Young for such things much sooner. I’ve had a lot of great and fun streams with friends, but Shamus was someone special in that I had looked up to him for a long time, and the two of us had the same approach to analyzing a game’s narrative and design. He was far stronger than I am at pointing out logical flaws in the plot or world-building, but I always understood what he meant to convey and found our difference of perspective on game design complementary.

Batman: Arkham Origins was a perfect game to begin with because we both found it to be filled with shortcomings compared to its Rocksteady developed predecessors. It was also the perfect sort of game for a pair of fellows that enjoy constructive griping.

Listening to the two of us chatter away, it really makes me miss him and wish there had just been a bit more time. Granted, the loss of Shamus would always have been too soon, and in the end my regret is only that I had waited so long to muster the courage to reach out to him.

Still, I think he would be most honored if this memorial upload were accompanied by his most famous of activities: griping.

While Shamus Young had found the other Arkham series titles to be perfectable in combat, I had always found them a bit too finicky in regards to enemy A.I. and a lack of Batman’s own freedom. However, in Arkham Origins that freedom is truly robbed as the criminal mooks seem to behave far more inconsistently, sometimes pausing and performing no action whatsoever just when you expect to need to counter or perform some other action. Several times I lose my combo because I’m anticipating the goons to perform in a predictable fashion, their own behaviors matching the flow of my rhythmic button presses. In titles such as Arkham Asylum or Arkham City, it often felt as if the player would lose their combo due to carelessness, ignoring the incoming alerts or striking an enemy with an ineffective gadget. Here in Origins, all it takes is for a hesitant mook to stand there, or to suddenly turn around to pick up a weapon.

It’s the first indication that something about this game is off, that it’s not Rocksteady piecing this thing together. The question is, why does the Mook A.I. suddenly perform so differently from the prior two games? The best guess one can offer is that it was incomplete code from Rocksteady being worked with.

Then again, the first real indicator that this isn’t the same studio is in the opening cut-scene. The storyboard artist (or, I suppose, cinematographer? Tough to tell when you’re playing with graphics as intense as this) takes great pains for the player to see a portrait of Bruce Wayne as a boy with his parents reflected in the pristine stainless steel cover of his dinner, reminding us once more that Batman’s parents are dead. However, it is the below screenshot that I found most curious, and yet was somehow missed by Shamus and I during our stream together.

This choice of a reflection, lining Bruce Wayne’s body up perfectly with the Bat Suit, would seem like a rather clever shot at first. It’s clearly intentional and conveys a deeper meaning of… a deeper meaning that… well, you see, it indicates that…

I suppose it doesn’t really indicate anything of significance. We already know Bruce Wayne is Batman. Shots such as this are either intended to foreshadow something — for example, if this were following the continuity where Dick Grayson had taken up the cowl after Bruce Wayne’s death or vanishing, then having Dick Grayson stand before the reflection in this manner before Bruce Wayne’s passing would be foreshadowing Grayson’s destiny to be next in line. Alternatively, a similar shot could be used for the character of Nite Owl from The Watchmen, who was constantly suffering a crisis of identity and impotence as a regular, post-super hero civilian. In this instance, however, there is no context to communicate. Bruce Wayne is already Batman, and there is nothing about that which shall change in this story.

The closest I can imagine is that Bruce is still carrying the rage from his dead parents with him, and that he has not yet truly become the Batman until he has rid himself of that anger, but if that is the intent then these shots communicate that idea poorly, as does the entire introduction.

When Shamus had originally made an accompanying post to the first episode’s Twitch archive, he had also posted what were intended to be notes for him regarding the Deathstroke fight. I did not get a chance to edit the words for clarity, and so I have always felt a bit embarrassed by my half-thought out words being placed upon his blog. As such, I will now clarify some of my meaning.

The issue with the Deathstroke brawl is that there is no communication as to what works, nor when. The batclaw, for example, seems to work some of the time, but he will eventually begin to dodge it. At first I had begun pondering if maybe you need to use the claw immediately after countering his own blow, when he’s theoretically off guard. This is not the case, because sometimes he will dodge it in this circumstance, and other times he will not. Other times he will dodge any blatant claw attempt, other times it will work. At some point in the fight the player is able to successfully strike at Deathstroke after countering the assassin’s blow. Other times the player is unsuccessful.

One could sit there and argue that this is intended to simulate the player’s own ability to adapt, but that’s not what the player is doing. The player has to first figure out what options are available, and from there experiment within just those options until success is achieved. Of course, some of those options will be viable later, but are not viable immediately. This means the player cannot even permanently rule a tactic out.

If they wanted to test the player’s own wit and intelligence in such a fight, then Deathstroke would need to change his stance or posture to indicate what he’s preparing to defend against, and therefore the player can figure out how to counter that. Or, perhaps, certain attacks could be outdone by certain gadgets of Batman’s. As the fight stands, however, it feels so inconsistent and random because nothing Deathstroke does indicates that his own response to certain tactics or gadgets has changed.

There are plenty of games out there that provide clear pattern recognition and indicators of enemy attacks that the player can learn while still being an incredible test of skill. From character action titles such as the Devil May Cry series to the punishing From Software Soulsborne series, a fight is not made “too easy” by having a consistent set of rules and information with which to provide the player. This fight is not challenging, it is instead obtuse.

I have nothing more I can add regarding the explosive barrels, though. Aside from questioning why they are even there, I can only think that the intent is for the player to use their own batclaw and/or the counter button. Unfortunately, the situation is too unclear and the prompts too sudden for the player to comprehend what must be necessary for success.

There will be no set schedule when I upload these, but I will continue to upload the Batman: Arkham Origins series followed by our Resident Evil 5 playthrough. Please look forward to them.