Telltale’s Batman has come to a close on its first season, and overall, it’s a remarkable game that fans of the Caped Crusader need to experience. That being said, disappointing technical issues are common in the last episode, with gameplay often stuttering to get through a scene.
Batman is a Telltale game, so the story is the highlight here. While there’s not as many twists and turns as you’ll find in the previous episodes, City of Light offers some satisfying conclusions for many of the arcs seen across the five chapters in Bruce Wayne’s story. Based on how you play, you’ll see some endings that are more satisfying than others. For example, my Harvey Dent story ended on a lackluster note, making me wish I had played differently to see a better ending.
City of Light also seemed to feature much more combat than previous episodes. It makes sense, as the final showdowns in Batman stories are always fights with the main villain. There are still some Bruce moments, but expect to be under the cowl for more time than other episodes.
There is also plenty of set-up here for the inevitable second season. Some major storylines seem to have been drawn out with no resolution, and the end scene ensures who the main villain will be if Telltale chooses to go ahead with more. With what’s been established so far, I certainly hope there is more coming, and I won’t spoil any more than that.
One thing I hope doesn’t make a return is the terrible performance of Batman. The first chapter especially felt like watching a YouTube video on a bad internet connection. The framerate was stuttering so much, making the audio off pace when things got more fluid. Thankfully, the game seemed to settle in by the end of the chapter, but there were still the odd slowdowns here and there.
There also was a moment during my “Previous On…” segment where it showed a clip featuring a decision I didn’t make. Lucious was sitting at the Bat Computer despite me having told him to stay at Wayne Enterprises. While this isn’t a major error, it could be possible other players may see some other decision misrepresented in their game. Thankfully, the save file still played out with my decisions intact, and it was just the cutscene that had an error.
Despite these glaring flaws, Batman is still a fantastic story well worth experiencing, regardless of whether you’re a Batman fan or not. Being the only game to offer Party Play at the moment is also an added bonus, allowing you and a group of friends to all play along and shape your own story. Even if you’ve already played by yourself, it’s fun to go back and make all the opposite choices from your last playthrough.
So what do you think? Are you interested in playing through Batman now that the entire first season is out? What do you hope happens next for the Dark Knight? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
