How it was concealed: This clue was actually a concealment for the real plot. During the conversation Joker even says, “No one’s who you think they are”. When Batman wakes up, Clayface is gone, and we’re talking to Joker. That’s Joker in the wheelchair, and Clayface that sneaks up on Batman. A few minutes later we run into the FIRST fake Joker gag, and if we remember this exchange it’s likely that we’ll say one explains the other and leave it at that.Ĭlue: The fake Joker gag. How it was concealed: We don’t know what this exchange means at this point in the game. That’s not you, is it?” To which Joker replies, “Shh! Don’t ruin the surprise!” (Or however it went.) Harley says, “Oh Mister J! You’re all better. So let’s go over them:Ĭlue: When you arrive at the steel mill and Harley Quinn locks you out of the manager’s office, you can stick around and listen in on a bit of conversation. I’m curious if I missed any, and how well they worked for people more familiar with the material. The game gave small clues that this was going on. Sometimes Joker was really Clayface in Joker form. Throughout the game and unbeknownst to the player, the Joker was running a scam where Clayface was pretending to be the Joker. He couldn’t get it himself, so he hornswoggled Batman and put the poison into him, knowing that if anyone could find a cure, the Batman could. I really liked Joker’s gambit: He had been poisoned by the Titan formula he took at the end of Arkham Asylum, and needed a cure. I don’t have space to outline the whole plot, so if you haven’t played then you might have trouble keeping up. From here on, we’re going to be spoiling the game in absolute terms. Look, there’s no way to discuss it without spoiling it. It’s hard to pull off a good con without cheating, and moreso when the guy doing the con is… In fact, it might be harder, because comic book fans have seen these sort of twists done again and again over the years, and can usually see them coming before you even start dropping clues. If you want to pull this off, you need to be a good writer with a subtle touch, even when dealing with subject matter as loud and frenetic as comic book superheroes. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a plot twist like this since Jade Empire or KOTOR. Okay, I’m not a hardcore Batfan and maybe there are cues I’m missing, but from my casual familiarity with the lore, it was telegraphed fair and square. Playing through the game a second time, I could see they never cheated. This means telegraphing your twist and using misdirection to hide these clues. A good twist is one where we don’t see it coming but we can plainly see it in retrospect. That’s not hard, but it’s basically cheating and it’s not satisfying for the audience. I mean, any writer can just execute a sudden “it was a clone / evil twin / time-travel” twist at any point if they want to. It’s got a wonderfully detailed world and buffet-style gameplay. The difficulty modes run the spectrum from “I’ve just arrived from the Middle Ages and have never seen a computer before” to “OMG this game is so hard I’m bleeding in real life”. Like Arkham Asylum, this is a balanced, polished experience with tons of content. If I’d played it before the new year, it would have made my list of memorable games of 2011. Reader Taliesin was nice enough to get me a copy of Batman: Arkham City.
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