I’m not a huge gamer. My gaming habits consist of playing The Sims games and mobile games. I couldn’t tell you the difference between Destiny and No Mans Sky in terms of narrative or game style. I’m a very casual gamer. However I played Telltale’s Batman game because I saw it on my iPad’s app store and I adore Batman. Batman is one of my favourite comic book characters. I played through the first episode (which was about 2 hours of game play, from what I can remember) and I was hooked. The game was so cinematic and was really interesting as instead of focusing on the Batman, it focused on Bruce Wayne. It was a different direction to previous stuff I had seen for the character and it was so fun to choose what direction you wanted the game to go in. It was like you were building your own game which is something I like. After completing the first episode, I bought the season pass and played through the game. It was so twisty and turny and brought in characters from the Batman mythos so well that I adored the game. It was clever, fun, interesting and quite a bit different. As soon as I finished episode five, I was excited for a sequel. Now that one has been announced, I’m going to talk about what is seen in the teaser and what I hope will be in the game. Beware, spoilers for Telltale’s Batman ahead.
I’m going to start with what we see in the teaser.The teaser opens with an empty cell with some framed newspaper clippings. The voiceover is the Joker (or proto-Joker as the developers say in the video) “I told you I’d see you again, didn’t I?” so I’m assuming that within the first couple of episodes Bruce Wayne will see The Joker again. I’m not sure whether this will be an interaction where Bruce takes the Joker back to Arkham as at the end of the first game, The Joker is seen at a bar out of the asylum, or one where The Joker is back in Arkham. Personally I think the first scenario is far more likely as who wouldn’t want to see Batman and The Joker fight properly. I bet it will be a very interesting conversation though because I thought The Joker stuff in the game was absolutely fantastic.
The next parts of the teaser show a newspaper clipping saying ‘Gruesome clues signal a bizarre new criminal in Gotham’ . From what is shown at the end of the teaser, I think The Joker and The Riddler are working together in someway as the clues part of the headline just makes me think of The Riddler. However the gruesomeness of the crime (a mutilated body of a Judge whose eyes have been ripped out. A funny way of saying justice is blind.) isn’t something I associate with The Riddler. That being said, I’ve never read much of The Riddler so this may just be an interpretation of his character. However The Joker voiceover of how they are basically two sides of the same coin (I’m assuming he’s talking to Bruce) is making me think the crimes are connected to him somehow.
Then we see a dead man next to loads of safes with a sticker of a face on. I don’t know who he is or who the face sticker is of, but I don’t think the character will be of much importance.During this point of the teaser, The Joker is saying “I’ve made some new friends.” then we see Batman in front of some screens. The screens turn from static to The Riddler’s famous hallmark of a green question mark. These screens are next to the safes we see earlier in the trailer, so I think we find out about The Riddler very early into the game.
I think The Joker’s comments during this sequence seem to confirm that The Riddler and he are working together, which would be very fun and exciting from a narrative perspective. I also think The Riddler will be a very interesting threat as a main villain as in the first game we saw the deconstruction of Bruce Wayne. We learned what made him tick and Vicki Vale really messed with his head. She was a very clever villain and everything she did worked in a way to mess with Bruce’s psyche. I know she got The Penguin to do a lot of the work, but both of them really did some sneaky shit. Even though Bruce Wayne’s name has been restored and he’s back as CEO of Wayne Enterprises, I think stuff from the first game will be in his head and, as The Riddler will play with Bruce’s head, it’ll be interesting to see if , in these games, Bruce Wayne is Batman or Batman is Bruce Wayne. It’ll be sort of interesting if Telltale makes that a question players are asking themselves within the game. I suppose the question is answered on your style of gameplay, as there will be so many choices in the game and you are the one deciding Bruce Wayne’s fate.
As The Joker said at the end of the teaser, We are going to have so much fun.
Now that I’ve analysed everything I possibly could in the small teaser, I’m going to list the top three things I’d love to see in this game.
Number 1: Glimpses of other villians
In the first game we saw so many characters who are icons in Batman mythology. We had Harvey Dent (who was turned into Two Face), Catwoman, The Penguin, Falcone, and The Joker just to name a few. I hope that this game introduces us to some of Gotham’s other characters. Personally, my top three picks for new characters would be Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Scarecrow. However, I’d love to see Bane, Mad Hatter, Talia Al Ghul, and the Calender Man be part of the Telltale Batman universe. I think Poison Ivy would be really cool in this game especially as she is a very interesting villain. Also I think it would be great to see this universe’s version of Harley Quinn , but I’m not 100% sure she’d fit in with the story yet as I don’t think this version of The Joker has really found his criminal self yet. However a mention of a Dr Harleen Quinzelle would be excellent.
Number 2: The return of Catwoman
In the first game, I loved the relationship between Bruce and Selina. It was great and very sexy when it needed to be. I loved their chemistry and really added to the story. Since she left Gotham in episode five, I really hope she comes back. She was one of my favourite characters in the game, and I loved the bar fight in episode 3 (I think). If she came back we might be able to see some development in their relationship, and maybe we could see more interaction between her and other villians which could be very cool.
Number 3: The development of Two Face
Harvey Dent wasn’t a great friend to Bruce Wayne when everyone found out Bruce Wayne’s father wasn’t a good guy, but when his half of face got burnt off, he lost his sanity and no guy really deserves that. However when he tried to seize the Wayne Estate and tried to kill Alfred, he became a villain. Then Harvey was sent to either Prison or Arkham (depending on your choice). In this sequel, I’d love to see Dent again, so I hope to see an Arkham break out or riot. I’d also love to see Dent develop his villianess and see what happened to his character after this first game. I don’t think we need to see lots of him, but I’d like him to have a role similar in length to The Joker in the first game.
Overall, I’m really excited for this game. I think this game could be a lot of fun and The Riddler and Joker working together sounds particularly exciting. Â Whilst we don’t see much in the teaser, what we do see looks very good. I’ve listed a few things I’d love to see in the sequel, like seeing glimpses of other villians in the Batman universe and the return of a couple characters. Comment anything you saw in the teaser that I didn’t mention or anything you want to see in this game.
Thank you for reading
Chelsea
