Arkham Knight Critique - Legacy of the Bat

Thanks again for being here (especially to those of you who make it to the end of this mammoth video!) ICYMI - we are going to cover the Arkham series on Lore Dump! Chase knows nothing about the stories. So subscribe to the second channel so you get notified when it's out next year! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLH6434Wp2A&t=143s&ab_channel=LoreDump

From Ivy saying: "Nature always wins," I always interpreted that as her accepting Batman as force of nature and therefore having some form of respect for him.

I really love that for Riddler through each design in every game you can see how his stability and mentality deteriorate. In Arkham Origins he doesn't entirely sound sure of himself It looks quite fit ans handsome like he actually takes care of himself but as the character progresses he becomes more and more unhinged. In Arkham Asylum he is more obsessed, in Arkham City he looks filled with dirt around his clothes, he has noticeable stubble, looks a lot skinnier and has gone to more extreme lengths ro ensure Batman silves his riddles to the point where in Arkham Knight Batman is all he thinks about, so much so that no one else wanted to work with him and so he started building robots instead.

One thing I love about this game is the Knight's design. His suit is Batman's but militaristic, as if it comes from a world where Batman's #1 rule (No killing) doesn't exist.

What never ceases to amaze me is that Arkham Knight runs on Unreal 3. The same engine as Arkham City. And somehow both games are still stunning to me. I remember thinking 'damn Arkham City looks beautiful' and then I played Knight and it was like night and day, in the same engine no less!

The Jason Todd boss battle really needed a third phase. 1. Batmobile. 2. Predator 3. Melee The whole gameplay shabang.

And thus; The Arkham Saga concludes. Thank you so much for covering this series!

"The Joker has a nuke." Famous last words

I think both endings to Ra's Al Ghul sidequest exemplify one of my favorite quotes from the Joker of all people: "You managed to find a way to win...and everybody still loses!" Ending A where he saves Ra's ends in Ra's retracting his people from Gotham, but in the death of Nessa Ending B has Batman breaking his no-kill rule, letting Ra's die so that countless others might live.

2:07:28 actually. Even you aren’t safe. One time I wanted to use photo mode while in the Batmobile during the cloudburst. I looked at myself driving and found Joker had decided to take the wheel instead. So no haha

I'm curious if you knew this but Kirk Langstrom in this game was voiced by Loren Lester who voiced Dick Grayson in Batman the Animated Series and Johnny Charisma was voiced by Michael Rosenbaum who voiced the Flash in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited as well as Lex Luthor in Smallville.

The "crematorium worker" is Jim. He mentions in the game he pushed the button himself.

The one thing I'm a little sad is missing from this (huge and awesome) video is how it's not just the details of Jason's death that've gotten messed with over time; it's also how he came back from the dead. (For those unaware, however they're playing the story these days, he originally did actually straight-up die... and then in 2005, as part of the "Infinite Crisis" crossover event, it was revealed - and no, I'm not going to fully explain this, it's better to just sit with the bizarreness of what you're about to read - that Jason came back to life because Superboy-Prime literally punched the space-time continuum. Comics, everyone! 😄)

1:16:37 Bouncing off of the comment at the end of the video about personal Batmen, I find the talk about the League of Assassins subplot really interesting, because... I always destroy the Lazarus machine every time I play that mission. I don't think it counts as breaking Batman's one rule, exactly - Bruce has destroyed Lazarus Pits in the past in comics, it's always been presented as him considering them as an extension of life at the expense of others, and I honestly agree with Nyssa's argument that Ra's' mind has decayed too much for this to be considered 'murder' by my metric - the character design does all the talking here, Ra's is a 900-year-old corpse that should have died a long time ago, I don't consider this killing Ra's anymore than I consider euthanasia 'murder'. But more than that, I think the way the sidequest plays out afterwards to be possibly the best version of The Final Confrontation Ra's and Bruce have ever had. It's the one time I don't mind the lack of bossfight, because the way Bruce softly says "You weren't a good man, Ra's. But you had conviction.", the way he still stops Nyssa from killing him quickly, insisting he take him to the GCPD even knowing he's condemning Ra's to a painful, agonizing death, the way he carries him in a direct parallel to the way he carried the Joker in Arkham City, and best of all, when he puts Ra's on the hospital bed and as he walks away Ra's softly whispers "Det... tec... tive? Proud... of... you." And Bruce has that look on his face, and you just know that that's the worst thing Ra's could have said, and then he slams the door, it's just... really good, and imo a far better story than 'Bruce chooses to save Ra's and we get, like, our fourth Fridging because of it - and the second one in the same family!' That's not to say that people who choose to save Ra's is wrong, again as Monty says at the end of the video it's all a matter of personal interpretation, I just... really like the narrative depth that choice offers, at the end of what was a very fetch questy sidequest.

The ending of this game is something else. That brief exchange between Batman and Gordon carries so much weight, so many emotions with just a few words. The final shot of Batman overlooking Gotham, so good. Man, playing Gotham Knights after this would feel like plunging into raw sewage after a hot aroma bath. Brace yourself)

I love how these games are still talked about to this day. Really shows you how good these games really are.

As a Lebanese from the Bekaa valley, I didn't realize how much the misrepresentation of my beautiful corner of the world would hurt so much until I saw how an 80s American comic decided to go about it

I just have to say it: you might have the most satisfying video essay formats on the platform. I am excited to watch every video you make, I’m able to just sit down and eat my food while you talk about Arkham knight and I love it. Thanks for making these.

Monty, you’ve done it. After 3 videos patiently waiting, it’s here. Arkham knight, my favorite arkham game, and you grace me with a three and a half hour long video… you’re going to make me cry.

Hot damn, 3hrs of Monty and the Bat Been loving this series, really making me wanting to go back and play the series