Review — Batman: The Telltale Series — City Of Light

Batman: The Telltale Series

We sit down and review Batman: The Telltale Series — City Of Light. This is the fifth episode of Telltale’s take on the Batman franchise. Here’s our review on how they did

Here we go, and just before the holidays, but Batman: The Telltale Series‘ first season has come to a close and all of the mixed up lore that has been presented to us has all come to a head. It has been one interesting ride with Telltale Games‘ take on the beginning of the franchise and it has even brought us a few new bits of gameplay mechanics to go along with an epic story we’ve never really heard before. So far we’ve been rather impressed with Batman: The Telltale Series but now that the final episode is here, it is time to see if it is wrapped up nicely for us to want to look forward to another season or just something that should be left to rot in Arkham. Here’s our review on the final episode and how they handled Batman through it all.

Story

My story began with handling the aftermath of the event that I wasn’t able to cover in the last episode. This may not be the same for all. But Harvey was still doing some horrible things and slowly looking to become Two-Face more and more. All while Lady Arkham’s plans progressed even further with an inevitable showdown where someone that Batman loves is placed in peril just so he has a hard choice to make. That choice being if he should reveal himself as Bruce or carry on the Batman guise and possibly let an innocent die. Lady Arkham had us in a not-so-tight spot there now didn’t she? But who will truly save the day?

Hated

While I am not going to say that the story and ending of this season wasn’t top-notch, it did feel like the ending of it all was kind of the easier way out of things that we’ve seen Batman go through time and time again. Does he let an innocent die to keep his identity a secret? So far Telltale Games has done wonders to give us something that has not truly been done to death in the Batman franchise and it was not the case here. Maybe it was all the choices I made to get to where I did but the final showdown still boiled all down to this and it just felt out of place given what had been done so far. It’s not a horrible ending but definitely deviates from what Telltale was trying to do here. Maybe season two will go smoother from here.

To go along with this, it also felt like the puzzles and linking clues aspect of Batman: The Telltale Series was also affected in the same way. In earlier episodes there were many different options that could have linked together to try and solve the case which led to some true puzzle solving. In this episode, at least when it came up, it all felt very straight forward and more of a “we want to waste time” kind of thing as there really was no mystery on how everything linked together. I loved this from the times before and it felt like it was underused or misused here. It didn’t break the game by any means but it was something that could have ended on a higher not here for Batman and it just didn’t.

Loved

Even though the ending felt a little played out for where Batman: The Telltale Series was taking us, the rest of the story and plot twists completely made up for all of that. Not only that, but a few of the scenes that hinted at what could be in the future season were just amazing and scripted so very well. One that stands out for me has to be the chase scene through Arkham as well as the massive fight that Batman has to help quell to save a few lives. That whole thing still sticks with me as each of the characters were perfectly captured, seriously watch the background portions as well, and gave us a bit of story that is truly fitting for the end of a season. It is something that Telltale makes look so easy to pull off but I know has to be something truly hard to do.

To kind of go along with that, in this episode of Batman I think a few of my gripes about choices from before were kind of put to rest as well. A lot of those choices we made finally came back to help or haunt us in the story. Or at least mine did and it gave me that feeling I love when it comes to these kinds of games. Even some of the final ones we have to make hold a bit more baring on things and look like they could affect the future as well. This is a great example of how things should keep playing out even if they seem like nothing matters when they first pop up. It’s just hard to be able to see that and experience it all when secrets need to be kept for future episodes I guess.

Overall

While Batman: The Telltale Series didn’t have the strongest of endings for myself, I won’t deny that it was a fun ride from start to finish. A lot of the choices made in the game do start to matter at some point and leads us down a few different paths that will keep each play a bit different as you go. The best part had to be the blending of story and everything surrounding that. It really is a lot of what Batman has yet to bring us and it does throw some great twists on a franchise that has become a bit stagnant. Sure, some die-hard fans of the character will hold issue with what does go on in the game but it is still completely worth the time, effort, and cash to get a new experience to something that is so familiar to us all.

I give Batman: The Telltale Series — City Of Light 4 Super Villains on the Super Villain scale.

Batman: The Telltale Series — City Of Light was developed by Telltale Games. Batman: The Telltale Series — City Of Light was published by Telltale Games for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC on December 13^th 2016. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes.