Get out of my dreams and into my Batmobile

I don't know if it was the launch's technical infidelity, or if critics just romanticized Arkham City more than I did, but consensus still ranks Batman: Arkham Knight below its predecessor and I just don't agree.

Sure, some narrative sequences feel forced and melodramatic, especially the first-person diner intro and especially especially the over-long Joker hallucination near the outro. The ending, even the 100%-completion ending, is underwhelming. But Knight's story succeeds at delivering impressive set-piece encounters, at continually teasing you with a tantalizing "what's next" objective, and at integrating sidequests that finally make the open world feel engaging and immersive.

Yeah, Bat-tank combat encounters are longer and more numerous than they really needed to be. The assault on GCPD and some later mine-defusing missions can get kinda repetitive. But these feel like exceptions to the overall rule of badassness established by rocketing around in the Batmobile and blowing shit up with it.

Melee combat, while overall more fluid than before, hits some rough edges in complicated terrain -- failing to grapple to the right thing, or jumping off a building instead of over a grunt. But it works more often than it doesn't; and to be fair, this open-world design problem remains prevalent today, five years later. (Ubisoft has been working on open world unit testing though I can't vouch for that myself.) Not to mention, the new Fear Multi Takedown ability is ... awesome.

And I will never forget that this game's instability on PC is the reason that Steam has refunds. But as of my replay this past week, the game performed beautifully and I didn't encounter any crashes. Just a soft-lock at the splash screen, which still pisses me off, but is really quite minor in the grand scheme of things.

Arkham Knight's successes handily outpace its flaws. Between the comprehensive and compelling side missions, the thrilling and dark story, and some genuinely inventive new mechanics, it really feels like a complete improvement on Arkham City - a generational leap beyond it - and an even fuller realization of Rocksteady's "vision" for a free-roaming Batman experience.

Better than: Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag, Batman: Arkham Asylum (though not its story), Batman: Arkham City
Not as good as: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Once the summer sales hit: I'll finally try out the A Matter of Family and Season of Infamy DLCs.

Progress: Finished just about everything except that Riddler bullshit.