Finished Legends 2 and started Marvel Ultimate Alliance earlier. I really, really, really miss these games. They were so amazing and it really just takes me back!
I loved Ultimate Alliance. I can't recall how many hours I spent with it, but it was a whole lot. I enjoyed the second one but I think the original was better. It's a shame they never made a third.
Anyway, after burning through Batman: Return to Arkham, I've finally been able to play Arkham Knight and have recently finished it. I'm currently working through the extra DLC episodes, but holy sh*t, what a game. It's easily the best for me. They really upped their game in so many ways.
The story is just a vast improvement over previous games. The Arkham Knight may have been a dumb and pointless identity and the reveal wasn't really shocking either, but there were still plenty of big shockers and moments throughout. You can really feel the sh*t piling on Batman's shoulders in this game and the way they went about handling it all was very satisfactory.
Free-flow combat is even more fluid as is traversing the city. Combos are no longer ruined by downed enemies or enemies too far to attack or counter. The quickfire exploding gel has even received a much needed streamlined revision that makes it easier to use in combat and the the wide array of new moves keeps the combat from getting stale.
I honestly don't get why there's so much criticism for the Batmobile. Sure, it's a big part of the game, but you're still going to be gliding around Gotham, beating up bad guys, and doing stealth for the majority of the game. And it's not like the Batmobile itself was awful to use. I actually really enjoyed the many ways it was implemented and it only further added to the feel of Batman (tank battles aside, of course).
I will say however, recycling the Arkham Knight tank battle for Deathstroke was really cheap and unnecessary. I genuinely enjoyed the battle the first time with the Arkham Knight, as it was really tense, but doing it a second time was overkill.
The boss fights in this game were pretty weak in general, which is true for most of the games. Arkham Origins is the only one to have good boss fights all around. Though, this is definitely the better game overall, so I didn't really mind it too much, considering this series isn't exactly known for its boss fights.
Honestly, I hope this is the last we see of this series. It was a good end and continuing it would only cheapen the legacy of these games. Right now, I'd prefer if Rocksteady moved onto a new superhero, specifically Superman, and do him justice like they did Batman. If they ever return to Batman, it should be under a new title, set in a new universe, with a different art style. Though, I take it WB is already working on another game.