I played Asylum and City extensively and the former especially was the most fun I'd had in a videogame in quite some time the first time I played it. Origins kept my interest long enough to finish the main story but little else beyond that. Let me get some positives out of the way first. I dig the Christmas setting and feel and the score is very good. Graphically the game looks superior to City and Asylum. The story kept me interested and enjoyed seeing a rough, inexperienced Batman being at odds with basically everyone, even Alfred at times. Unfortunately one of the core aspects of the game, the combat feels extremely rough after the incredibly smooth experience from City. Combo counters kept resetting for no apparent reason after doing some moves, Batman wouldn't counter when he was supposed to or hit an enemy before he was hit in turn. Other times, Batman wouldn't finish a foe on the ground causing me to lose my combo completely. WB Montreal kept Batman's moveset practically the same from City but decided to throw in a bunch of new enemy types to increase the challenge. Thing is, most of that challenge goes out the window once you unlock the shock gloves which bypass enemy defenses effortlessly but is clearly the way the devs meant for you to reach higher scores on the challenge maps. Crimes in progress are a neat idea in theory but lose their novelty when you have to keep doing the same things over and over again. And as for the Dark Knight System and Most Wanted, while I get the idea behind them, they unfortunately force you to complete all of them if you want to fully upgrade Batman's arsenal which makes zero logical sense to me. As for bugs I only faced one game breaking bug: when doing Anarky's mission, talking to one of his followers wouldn't trigger the next objective but instead cause Batman to fall through the map. Overall, a fun game to play for the story but Asylum and City did everything else better, in my opinion.
Let me get something out of the way first. Even if you're PC isn't top of the line consider downloading this demo and giving it a go. On a system with a i3-9100F, GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB VRAM, 32GB of RAM and a basic 60Hz screen I was able to get an almost locked 60FPS experience with a mixture of High and Epic settings at 1080p. Only moments with heavy use of particle effects dropped FPS to the high 40s. Those of you with much better CPUs, graphics cards and monitors should be able to run it comfortably at 144Hz with the visuals turned up and I'd imagine that'd be a much better experience overall. In short, the game runs very well for how good it looks so thumbs up to the devs for optimizing this game so well. This game is definitely not for everyone. If you like fast-paced action games then this one might be for you. If you like parkour games then that is another point in its favor. If you like challenging games then that's yet another point. Don't like games where one hit means you're dead? Then pause before you buy. You WILL die, perhaps a lot, before the level is done while you master the controls. Save yourself the frustration if this doesn't sound like something that's appealing to you. In the game's defense, though, there is virtually no delay when you want to get back to the action. A single button press and that's it. I give this demo five stars mostly because of how well it runs on my low end system and because the setting and type of game appeal to me. Soundtrack is also pretty good. In a time where demos are becoming increasingly rare, it's a good thing some companies still see it fit to allow potential buyers the chance to test the game for free in order to see if it's something they'd like.
Having completed my first playthrough ever as a Brujah, melee-focused vampire using no mods but Wesp5's Unofficial Patch I can say this: The game is fun, but I believe it's vastly overrated. I was pleased I was given lots of options to customize my character however I wanted, even if during character creation, each clan has preferences in XP distribution. This is crucial for an RPG and I see myself playing again as a different clan to experiment with new playstyles. There aren't actually many characters to really talk to, but that only makes it easier to remember most of them. They are all different from each other, with their own personalities, stories, allegiances and motivations. The facial animations were surprisingly good and really helped these people be believable. KOTOR came out only a year prior and it's facial animations aren't even close to the level of VtM:B. Where the game really shines is in the myriad side quests that you can undertake. They're varied and well crafted, with a healthy mix of combat, stealth, persuasion/intimidation/seduction and a plethora of goals beyond just "go to point A, fight some enemies and return with an item". Some are funny, others are more serious and some well and truly reminded me this is primarily a horror game. Maybe when people talk about how great this game is, they are really talking about the sidequests. I also have to commend the excellent taste in music displayed here. Not gonna lie, I spent a lot of time just dancing to the music inside the Asp Hole listening to Tiamat's "Cain" and the themes for Downtown, Hollywood and Chinatown are a joy to listen to. Unfortunately, the rushed nature of the game becomes evident as the main story progresses beyond the first hub. The very first mission to retrieve some explosives can be completed in several ways, but the following missions favor stealth greatly and the rest after that are uninspired combat focused dungeon crawls. I had fun, but I wasn't blown away.
I first played this game back in September 2008, when it was first released on Xbox 360. I had forgotten how good this game looked for the time and I have to give LucasArts credit for the convincing cloth simulation they used, considering many games I played in later years still had characters wearing robes and skirts that looked like they were glued to their pants. There's more depth to the combat system than is apparent at first glance, too. At it's core it may be hack-and-slash with a dose of powers for flair but it does reward creativity. The destructible environment aspect was hyped a lot prior to release, though honestly, in 2019, it's nothing to write home about. They are a gimmick that are mainly showcased in the first two levels. After that, it's limited to destroying obstacles to progress. As far as enemy behaviors, they'll sometimes grab onto a ledge when at risk of falling or will grab an ally in a last ditch effort to save themselves from your Grip power, though that's really the extent of the realistic behaviors that was also hyped prior to release. The story was a decent addition to the old Expanded Universe that sought to tell the story of how the Rebel Alliance was formed. The voice acting is extremely well done and the original characters introduced are for the most part likeable, though there is little reason to play the game after watching the canon light side ending beyond getting the alternate dark side ending, trying out the new costumes, maxing out combos, talents and powers and completing all the secondary objectives. The only alternate gameplay mode is a series of simulated battles against the AI which offer no in-game rewards and the three DLC missions don't really offer anything new in terms of gameplay, with the only selling point being that two of them follow a "what if" setting after the dark side ending. Play it for the story, but there is little to see and do after the credits roll.
