Why, my dear delusional Dark Knight, it hasn't even begun (Why Arkham Knight is a Perfectly Told Story Part I)

Today, we discuss the Batman Trilogies.
There are two so far in my lifetime:

1. The Dark Knight Trilogy of Christopher Nolan
2. The Arkham Trilogy of Rocksteady Games

Because from this day when people say The Batman Trilogy, I will no longer immediately associate it with Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Series:

Which was remarkably well told by the way.

No, instead I will always associate it with the Arkham Trilogy:

Which is superior in every way.
IN EVERY WAY.
Now, I need to emphasize again that this is not going to be a Nolan bashing because it isn't.
I will praise the Nolanverse and what he accomplished (particularly with Dark Knight and Batman Begins), but the Arkham Trilogy is just vastly better told.
This article will attempt to illustrate how.
But, in order to do so we are going to ruin some pretty key plot points.
So....SPOILERS
You have been warned!

Where to begin?
Let us start with the beginning BATMAN BEGINS

In it, we have Bruce Wayne's origin story:

Yup, this whiny bitch.
We get a pretty linear narrative.
Bruce Wayne has a loving father and mother.
They take him to see a play and...

Gunned down in an alley.
We immediately cut to a loving father figure in Lieutenant Gordan

Followed by Batman!

Nope...Bruce Wayne...crying...again.
I could belabor the issue, but the point is, we have to wait another twenty minutes of training with R'as, walking, talking before we get this:

This whole sequence is brilliant.
The henchmen are well armed, well equipped, but they don't stand a chance against Batman.
Why?
Because he's Batman!
He is everywhere.
The whole movie built to this one sequence and everything that follows just feels like more Batman
The Car

The girl

The Car!

We can't help but root for Batman as he overcomes his fears to become the Dark Knight.
He battles his teacher and loses and then comes back to beat him in a final twist.

"I won't kill you...but, I don't have to save you."

Boom! Batman!
And we applauded.
But, doesn't it ring just a little hollow?
I didn't think so at the time.
But, we will come back to this moment.

Let us go to the Arkham series and start with Arkham Asylum:
It begins in the Batmobile...where you are Batman and you have already apprehended the Joker.
You get moments like the sign that reads

HITCH HIKERS MAY BE ESCAPING PATIENTS

But the image that starts the game is this:

You as Batman just dominating the Joker physically as you arrest him.

Now, this wouldn't be a start to the Batman franchise if we didn't bring up his dead parents.

But, how does Arkham do it?

A third of the way through the game!

As you are under the influence of the Scarecrow.

Now, mind you this is the game where you can do this at pretty much every instant:

Whenever Batman feels bad, he is awesome instead. True story.

The reason I show the video is to show how monstrously powerful Batman is.

He is engaging twenty assailants and is not hit once in the entire exchange.

The amount of power and agency that is capable in video games is staggering and no one does it quite like Rocksteady.
So what happens under Scarecrow toxin?
All that agency goes away.
You can't punch or run or even walk good.
You get this:

For those who don't want to watch the whole clip:

• Batman walks down a hallway
• As he does the echoed memories of his parents and a young Bruce leaving a theatre
• It is highlighted that Bruce asked to leave
• That is why they are in the alley
• A monstrous voice (unidentifiable) assaults Thomas and Martha
• Gun shots
• And then the image of a young Bruce kneeling by his parents
• And then he gets up and walks away as the sound changes
• And a comforting voice tells him it will be all right and says, "Call me, Jim"
• Before we flash back to being Batman.

But, and here is the scary bit, you just wait there in the game.

You don't move right away because nothing prepares you for suddenly being your younger self.

You assume it is a cut scene, a movie inserted into a game that you are only allowed to watch, not interact with, experience at a distance.

But, Rocksteady is brilliant and actually gives you agency.

You control when young Bruce stands!

So now we have Batman as this impotent, tiny, fragile human being only capable of a shuffling walk away from his dead parents....

Holy damn.

I cannot emphasize how effective that moment is in the game.

Because you get to experience how powerless young Bruce is because you have experienced all of the power of Batman. 

It is really, really powerful storytelling.

And why? 

Because you are able to feel like Batman and then Rocksteady takes it away from you.

But, don't worry, you come right back and kick Scarecrow's ass!

The rest of the game is slowly accruing gadgets, fighting the madness of Joker, stopping the big bad plan and ultimately saving the girl.

Oh, but we did mention that last moment.

The moment of truth.

When, Batman comes face to face with his final opponent, a Joker hopped up on mutated Venom (what gives Bane his superpowered strength and awfulness) it looks like this:

(Is anyone else noticing a physical parallel?)

Joker is completely dominating Batman by the end of this game.

How did it get like this?

1. Joker attempts to infect Commissioner Gordan
2. Batman intervenes and gets infected
3. Batman resists
4. Joker infects himself
5. Batman has a choice and cures himself (effectively taking away the level playing field and giving himself a huge handicap)

It seems pretty hopeless.

But, at the end of the long, drawn out, gadget filled, ridiculousness that follows this, we get this:

Batman.
He will always stop him.
He doesn't have to kill the Joker because no matter happens, he will always stop him; he will always be there.
My heart soars at this moment.
He even destroys Joker's signature grin!
(Guess what? It's a symbol!)
I could gush for hours about this game.
But, I won't, because this is not the best game in the series.
Not by a long shot.
This is possibly the worst game in the Arkham series.
Until the next.