Beat Final Fantasy XIII-2. I need to put out the disclaimer that Final Fantasy XIII was not my favorite game in the world. It was all right, but not enough to push me to play the sequels. However Greene seemed pretty enthralled with the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology and explained it to me, and out of curiosity I decided to continue with the series. The sequel is... again, all right. I think it's worse than the original because it doesn't have that same in-depth character exploration, which is what made XIII really shine, but still on its own it's OKish. I have only three major complaints:

1. You're either all in with the Pokémon or you don't do it all. I've seen this type of hybrid system before with other games and it just doesn't work. Stop doing it. The monster has a completely different leveling system (which requires grinding to get the materials I want to make it more powerful), it doesn't fit into the paradigm system as well, I pour all my resources into this one monster only to later in the game find one with better base stats the first monster couldn't even think of achieving... Just give me a third party member. Don't do this collection bullshit.

2. There was an excessive amount of padding. Originally it was cool seeing all these new areas, and at some point I realized they were just sending us back to the same five places over and over. And most of them never even changed all that much during the centuries, so it was super boring to walk through it the third time. I came to Yaschas Massif to solve some red orb problem... and then return ten years later to work on the same problem?! Honestly it would've been great to have a unique area for that, but if you're going to do it in Yaschas Massif, why divide that into two time periods? Why am I learning the bare minimum of plot they gave to Mog in Oerba? Two of the times I'm in Bresha Ruins it didn't really add anything to the plot.

3. Fuck the DLC. Just fuck it to hell. For Lightning's chapter, you fight Caius, but it's virtually impossible to beat him the first time around. Literally her entire chapter is battling him, losing, getting some XP, and then fighting him again. Rinse, repeat. That's not fun. That's not interesting. That's just Square trying to extend playtime to justify paying extra for that chapter, when in reality it gave about ten minutes worth of plot. What's worse is I finally beat him at level 4 after an hour-long battle... only to find I can't unlock his second form and fight him fully until level 5. After that I just gave up and watched the ending on YouTube. From what I can see Sazh's DLC is playing poker repeatedly, but at that point I was so pissed from the Lightning fiasco I just stopped caring.

I have some issues with the plot as well:

• Why was it necessary to make a new Cocoon? Originally it made sense to try to float it on their own, but once you realize the pillar is gonna crash nevertheless, why not just get everyone out (which you need to do anyway to transport them to new Cocoon) and have them live on Pulse?
• If Caius could achieve his goal via suicide, why didn't he just do that in the beginning? Greene suggested he wanted Noel to replace him, but I don't understand how that would help his ultimate goal of ending Yeul's cycle.
• If Caius was taking care of Yeul because of his l'Cie mission, why didn't he just walk away when Etro removed his mark? Why did he keep taking care of Yeul? Also, why did Etro give him her heart when she could just remove the mark like with Lightning's crew?
• If Etro freeing Lightning and the rest of them from the crystal was the original paradox that fucked up everything, killing Caius doesn't really negate that original paradox.

Maybe this'll be explained in Lightning Returns, but at the rate I play games I'll get to that c.2025. Overall it's all right, but I think for the backstory Greene presented to me, this game wasn't the best narrator for it. It's relatively short, especially if you decide not to collect all the fragments, so if you decide to see how the Final Fantasy XIII crew grows (except for Snow, who to my dismay did not mature at all in the three years since the first game), it's nice to pick up.

Each time they talked about paradoxes (which was very often), all I could think was that Raiden video and them screaming, "TIME PARADOX!!"

Arkham Origins, which most don't consider when they think of the Arkham series. It's by a different studio and I could tell instantly it had a lower budget because the graphics look like a souped-up PS2 game, and they didn't have the Conroy-Hamil duo. For that I thought this would be a shit game, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well it was fleshed out. The plot is done quite well with a twist midway I wasn't quite expecting, and I think this scene is one of the best in the entire series.

Most of my complaints are minor: 1. Some aspects of the game are dissatisfying: You never capture Penguin and he spends the rest of the night having a threesome, there's never a good fight with the Electrocutioner, hell you never even get to fight Branden, and the Riddler (who hasn't taken up that mantle yet) never fully makes an appearance so you can't beat the shit out of him for being a dickhead. 2. Holy shit the grapnel gun never fucking works. Maybe it's because I came off of Arkham Knight where you could launch yourself off of almost anything, but half the time I'm smashing the button to launch this thing and it's not connecting ot anything. The worst is if you're off the side of the bridge and trying to get on top, but there are limited access points. 3. The gear was so good in this game, especially the Electrocutioner's gloves! Holy fuck, where were those in the other games? I would've liked Deathstroke's remote grapple that immediately tied enemies to the gargoyles. 4. Why the hell didn't they subtitle NPC conversations? I've stated multiple times they are the height of the series, but when I'm like twenty stories in the air I can't hear very well, and without subtitles I just miss everything. It's such a shame. 5. The graphics really did ruin the experience a bit. If the map weren't based off of City I think I wouldn't've cared, but now I'm comparing the two and wanting to see what City would've looked like before it became a shithole and the graphics aren't providing. 6. Did I really have to beat the game to put on different Batsuits? I fucking paid for the DLC, just let me wear it. 7. Menu interface could've definitely been done better, but it's not the most awful in the world.

Even though it's a different studio, I can see Origins did influence Knight in a lot of ways. The best example is probably the fighting system, where Batman is now flying all over the place like anyone can just leave across fifteen feet to deliver a punch to someone's face. And also the crime scene investigation where you reconstruct everything to make a video. Even though it's impossible in real life, I actually loved doing it, examining the evidence and figuring out trajectories and such. Origins does this more than anywhere else in the game, and the Black Mask apartment scene was especially really good. One thing I really appreciated is Batman had to investigate regular murders too, which shows what he does on the regular when shit isn't going to hell.

Baddies in this game are Black Mask, Joker, Killer Croc, Electrocutioner, Deathstroke, Copperhead, Shiva, Deadshot, Bane, Firefly, Penguin, Mad Hatter, Anarky, and Riddler. Origins really shone with some of the boss fights too, especially Deathstroke's, which is really the fight I wanted from Knight. Firefly's was also amazing with the bridge collapsing around you. I really enjoyed Mad Hatter's universe in Knight and it was done possibly even better here. The final boss fight was very nerve wracking and done well. For some reason Copperhead's poison had Scarecrow-like effects, and I think the developers handled it better because instead of random monsters it was someone Batman couldn't save asking why he didn't, which I believe is more of a true fear for him.

Overall a solid installment for the series. I don't think it's on the same level as City or anything, but if it had a better budget I think it would've really shown. Good work guys.

First and foremost about Knight: Fuck the Batmobile.

Honestly, if it weren’t for that, this would’ve been the best game in the series. By far. As I was playing Arkham City, I thought I would love this game even more if it were just Gotham in general, and that’s what was delivered here. Really, it’s amazing to see what designers will plan for a completely made-up city. Did you see those bridges with giant statues on it? Or the suspension railways? It didn’t matter if you were up in the air or wandering around the ground, there was so much detail put into Gotham.

But unfortunately there’s the Batmobile. If they hadn’t put so much emphasis on it, I would’ve been fine. Would’ve been cool with chasing after APCs, maybe do a weird racetrack. When it’s required in the dungeons, not so much. At some point I’m standing in front of an elevator, but it’s not working. I had to control the Batmobile to put it up, get out of that mode to step on, go back to the Batmobile to slowly lower it. Same bullshit getting back up. That’s not fun or challenging, just annoying. Also, Deathstroke shows up in this game. You excited for an epic showdown? What if I told you there’s no hand-to-hand combat—which is what he’s known for—but rather you gotta shoot at his tank with the Batmobile?

Speaking of which, I think the Cloudburst fight shot up to my top five most nerve wracking fights of all time. Think of any game that involves sneaking around, like Metal Gear Solid or whatever, and now imagine trying to do that with the fucking Batmobile. What were they thinking?

Plot is the height of the series, hands down. It’s a great exploration of Bruce’s thought patterns and mindset, plus the terrible business with what happened to Jason. The best part is the studio where you see Batman’s guilt and horror, the hilarity of Joker serenading him with spotlights and music, a team up section with Robin, and an amazing plot twist at the end.

What I really did enjoy was the crime scene investigation. It was fun already in Arkham City, but this took it to the next level. It did get to the point of fantastical, but reconstructing what went down really brings home how he’s the world’s greatest detective, which I feel is often forgotten.

This game has Azrael, Poison Ivy, Riddler, Joker, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Penguin, Deathstroke, Firefly, Deacon Blackfire, Hush, Professor Pyg, Man-Bat, Simon Stagg, Two Face, and Scarecrow, and in the DLC Mr. Freeze, Nyssa and Ra’s al-Ghul, Mad Hatter, Killer Croc, and Black Mask. For once you actually get to fight most of these guys, and it’s fun to bring them back to the police station and see them interact with one another in lockup. Professor Pyg was fucking horrifying and I can imagine being a police officer stumbling over that insanity. And I heartily recommend getting the DLC because each one was fun: fighting in Mad Hatter’s book, uncovering the cruelty in the prison blimp, the bittersweet ending of Victor and Nora Fries, and choose whether to save Ra’s al-Ghul.

Post-game DLC is great too. Particularly of note is Harley’s because it shows her fucking insanity and Red Hood’s just due to the fact he has a gun. I’m spending time trying to slowly punch people as Batgirl and Robin, and I blew through Hood’s chapter because he’s just shooting people in the face.

Riddler’s puzzles I feel were easier in this game, just more annoying. It’s possible I just got more skilled at it after City, but I think they required less finesse and just focused more on using the Batmobile. However, he does have these underground puzzle dungeons, and those admittedly were really fun to figure out.

Also, the rave reviews in City of NPC chatter? It’s back and the writers put in all the effort here. I’m laughing like a maniac as I fly over the city, hearing a rioter mention he needs to wrap it up soon because he has to pick up his kids in the morning. Or militia talking about the mathematics of Two Face and his half faces. Whoever you people are, you’re the ones who carried the series.

Besides the Batmobile, there are smaller complaints: For one, there was no final boss fight. Also, the battle with Jason was a disappointment; for a guy who trained the militia on what steps to take to counteract Batman, he didn’t do any of that shit. I thought this was gonna be two people sneaking around, trying to get the upper hand. There’s a lack of dungeons, but Asylum actually had the most and City and Knight were half of those.

What the hell was Tim’s and Barbara’s romance? That shit was weird, especially since Nightwing was in the picture. And I didn’t mention this in my City review, but Joker’s sudden flirting with Batman in that game was really weird. The dude wasn’t even trying to make a hint of that in Asylum, so why lay it on heavily in City? Mad Hatter starts doing that in Knight, calling Batman his Alice and talking about putting a wig and dress on him. Why bring it out from nowhere?

I think what I feel for this game is disappointment because it should’ve been so amazing, would’ve been so amazing, if the Batmobile weren’t dragging it down. It’s such a shame that they did that. I guess they were proud of everything they programmed and had to roll with it. Otherwise, good job guys.