So, arguably the most controversial Arkham game of the 4, but in no doubt unfitting, in fact I would argue it is perhaps one of the most interesting ones if not the most interesting entry in the franchise.
Let's start with the gameplay. Unfortunately, this game is incredibly weak in that department, the level design is horrendous, you will be lost many times and it will not be obvious where to go or what to do, and this will break your immersion. The open world is even worse, possibly the worst thing about this game which is a huge shame. Empty, uninteresting and just a pain to navigate with the gutted grappling system that has a total reach of like 5 meters, it's filled with some side stuff and of course the famous Riddler trophies, but even such padding cannot make the open world bearable, so it's a slog to do the Most Wanted side stories. As for the stealth system, it's decent, very underutilized though, I wouldn't be surprised if the stealth segments in this game number somewhere below 15, and an equal minimal amount in the open world. There's not much interesting going on in the stealth. Lastly, the combat was remade a little to make it a little less monotonous, but that doesn't work here because the very premise of the Arkham combat system is based upon just magnetizing towards enemies with every strike. Once you introduce what this game introduces, such as having to actually move your stick more towards the strike and actually roll and dodge, it becomes clear the combat is inherently flawed to be more than just "fun". Depth is lost when you try to delve into combos and the sluggish button detection can often make it frustrating. The boss battles were equally uninteresting, most of them are pretty lame and not captivating, and Bane's fights are just straight up awful.
Now let's talk presentation. Possibly the best part of the game is it's presentation, the cut scenes are all great and the direction of some level segments, such as Mad Hatter's or some important story missions are very well directed and executed. It's all very interesting in the form of this amusement park ride, and the potential for storytelling via this is immense.
However, the storytelling potential wasn't truly tapped into. The characterization of Batman/Bruce is pretty good, it's not perfect due to it falling into the Brutal Vengeance stereotype, but the entire game is centred around him learning to work with others. It's just a little strange that even after 2 years, Bruce is still this relatively brutal and violent guy, and it was never really tapped into how he changes that, despite Alfred commenting on it in the game. Additionally, Bruce is also very rarely if ever seen showing concern for his enemies, which is something I think even a Year One Batman would have, and especially a Year Two Batman, but all in all, this is probably the Arkham game that has the most interesting and compelling Batman characterization simply because it is not a self-insert Batman fantasy, which is what the other games fall prey to. In those games, Bruce is mostly an action figure, which stoic performances (due to the writing and voice direction, Conroy can do a good performative Batman) and minimal self-discovery. It's clear these games worship this character and write him in a reverent manner, whereas Origins does not, and is unafraid to commit to a distinct type of Batman take that has a personality, can be disliked, and as a result gets a more compelling journey.
The rest of the narrative is OK, it's decent in some parts and not so good in others. The setting is very good, putting it on Christmas day is a thing barely any Batman media does besides comics, and it introduces a very unique visual and thematic aesthetic to a lot of fans that probably don't see it that often. Unfortunately that's where that idea ends, there's some snippets here and there where the narrative plays with this setting, but beyond a cool suite and a cool environment and art direction, there's not much going on. This is kind of the same with the rest of the story, it's not that special. Joker's character is alright, I don't personally enjoy them going the route of Under the Red Hood, and the game over-mythologizes the Joker a little too much, despite it being his literal introduction to the Arkham timeline. I would've preferred a more thorough deconstruction. All the other villains were a little smushed on. Copperhead was an interesting legacy take on a relatively obscure character, but other than that she's very much a side character. Mad Hatter was pretty decent though once again, a side story with a minimal take. This goes for most of these characters, Deathstroke being in the game at all is strange as he's not even a Batman villain, and Shiva being in it is also really unfitting because she'd just wipe the floor with a Year Two Batman and call it a day. Harley's inclusion is extremely barebones and she's only there to explain surface level things for the Arkham universe, and Barbara had a similar fate unfortunately. I find it really strange that they decided to make the Shock Gauntlets a very crucial part of the narrative, yet Electrocutioner was a really shallow and uninteresting character. There would've been a lot to be done there, but it wasn't. Bane was also kind of not that great and dumbed down.
Music though was fantastic, especially that Christmas suite, and though this is very much taste based, I'd argue the visual designs for all the characters are also quite drab. It doesn't really give much of a Year Two, and Batman's own suit is just kind of awful. Not being able to change suits unless you already played through it just rubs this in, so I modded a classic Silver Age suit into the game which made me look way cooler lmao. Also, this is probably unsurprising, but the lack of any real or meaningful female characters was also quite disappointing, but I didn't really expect anything more than that here.
Overall, this game is interesting for a fresh and compelling take on Batman and a cool visual aesthetic on Gotham, but I wouldn't recommend spending a lot of time in the open world or challenges, so do the story stuff and them call it a night I reckon. It's absolutely worth it for the uniqueness alone, but I wouldn't call it the best Arkham, it's simply too unfun for that.
Overall 5 star rating; ☆☆☆
