MicShazam

Just one example to key you into what kind of thing I'm talking about: Those sequences where you walk slowly while Batman talks to some disembodied voice.

Or as another example, those sequences where you have to use some gadget to progress but there's no real puzzle and it's just like a pointless road block to make you feel like you're doing something.

And the emphasis on pointless collectibles in City.

A bunch of shallow, unfocused design stuff that makes this sort of game feel really watered down to me. A typical Gears of War type game does a lot of the same stuff with the moment to moment structure as the first Batman game does, for example.

Now, I have a long history with being very annoyed by how certain ways of putting together a game have taken hold over the past 15 years, so not everyone will agree with me, as clearly, most gamers really love these big AAA games. I think they are to gaming what the Fast & Furious and Transformers franchises are to movies, and what Ariana Grande and 50 Cent are/were to music.

Assassins Creed, Call of Duty, Arkham, GTA, Uncharted, Gears of War, Splinter Cell, Hitman, more recent Tomb Raider games, etc.

Those and a lot of other games are honestly kinda trash in my view of things. Just not very interesting or focused designs. Lots of shallow, patronizing details in the moment to moment gameplay.

Of course it's just my subjective view of things, as I'm arguing elsewhere that that is all it can possibly be, but that's it. To me, it is surprising that even people who play a lot of different games keep on hyping those big franchises. To me, they're just not even close to being interesting. But oh well. Different strokes...

Basically, if I'm being honest, I downright find those Batman games to be terrible and miserable to play. It's like being stuck in a Michael Bay marathon.

[Kind of went off topic there, but come on: Can't you see how the moment to moment gameplay in the Batman games is often very close to that of other AAA games? It sure as hell isn't like playing something from the 90's or like playing some more focused indie action game.]