Check out the companion video where we discuss the game itself in more detail- th-cam.com/video/3jsjDIIsHbY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=499pnjbelupu7gw_ Also, a quick correction: as some people have mentioned, the Scarecrow backstory tape is referring to the doctor's backstory, not Crane's.
44:20 I think it's important to remember what happens at the very end of the book when Batman gives Harvey his coin back. Harvey flips it to decide whether or not to let Batman leave alive. Ultimately, Batman is let go, but in a later panel, we see that the side the coin landed on was the scarred side, the side which indicated that he was supposed to die. In the end, Harvey didn’t rely on the coin to make that choice, he let Batman leave by his own free will. Turning to the deck of tarot cards, arranged in a house of cards he remarks, “Who cares for you? You’re nothing but a pack of cards,” before knocking it over, showing that he doesn't need these things to make decisions anymore. This is actually a rather hopeful ending, that even despite all of the horrors of Arkham, there is still a chance for rehabilitation. Overall though, great video, great game, and great comic. Cheers!
@@velloceti6898 Yeah. There are a lot of references like that throughout the book. Grant Morrison’s script in the back of the reissues helps a lot with finding them all.
@aliquidgaming1068 Yea, tbh I thought it'd be obvious that's his cell, the Arkham guards were taking him that direction, and everything Joker's ever done should definitely be an indicator that's where he'd be
Jokers cell was in maximum security. Which is the section of Arkham we don't bet access to. Joker rides the cell there after we first encounter the titan thug and it has a heart attack. Keep in mind how in the first game we go deeper and deeper into Arkham at the start when escorting joker to show how they want to ensure joker doesn't get out this time. Also in Arkham knight Bruce throws joker into a similar cell in his mind and locks him away in it. Joker was being sent to maximum security and going to be locked away deep and far.
Another point of gross incompetence on the Arkham staff's part is the fact that Batman was able to build an ENTIRE FUCKING BATCAVE under the Asylum, without anyone noticing.
Batman’s main purpose is to rid the streets of Gotham of the evil that took his parents. This leads me to believe that Batman has little care for how the criminals become rehabilitated or reformed. Batman just wants them gone. However, I also believe that Batman views rehabilitation as Bruce Wayne’s job. Not sure if it’s seen in the Arkham games, but I know in the animated series there’s a scene where Bruce visits Harvey in the hospital after Batman defeats him. Batman might want to criminals gone, but I think Bruce Wayne truly does care.
Always happy to see another video essay on Arkham Asylum. Somehow, every time I get to hear about something I didn't before. A detail I've seen other point out that you might find interesting for this angle is the presence of the high-tech doors in the asylum, which are sometimes just jammed into old, decaying buildings. Another video I saw read it as Bruce giving the asylum money and tech to improve the facilities, but the asylum couldn't or wouldn't use them properly. I liked how you wove some of the game scenery into your retelling of Amadeus' story. Something that I've thought about A Serious House on Serious Earth, though, is that I feel that it should be pointed out that Bruce/Batman not caring about what happens to people after he captures them is very much a 'depending on the writer' thing. It's something that has always rubbed me the wrong way about it.
The problem I have with this whole idea of Batman being just as evil by letting Joker live is that if Batman’s responsible for NOT killing Joker then by that logic every single person in the city is just as culpable for Jokers actions. Jokers and Joker alone is responsible for his own actions. Anyone could kill him. Batman doesn’t kill people. He’s barking up the safest tree trying to tempt Bats into committing murder. What makes Jokers life Batman’s personal responsibility? It’s like asking the parent you know will say yes and wondering why you always get what you want.
I really like that in the modern comics they’ve turned Bruce’s mum Martha into an Arkham and she had a lot of mental illnesses through her life due to this bloodline. It makes you question Bruce’s sanity. Wondering if he would be damaged mentally even if his parents hadn’t died, because of him being half Arkham
In BTAS, at least, Batman is very intimately aware of the ongoings at the asylum and even advocated for the removal of Lyle Bolton (Lock-Up) from Arkham's payroll after it became apparent that he was abusive towards the inmates. He also is pretty supportive in a number of the "villain tries to reform" episodes and even successfully redeems Ventriloquist. So that's at least one iteration of Batman shown to care. I think generally, the animated Batmen do care. It only gets sketchier when you start getting into the grittier depictions. To go back to the game, I know you're not really supposed to think about the bad guys in Arkham Asylum as much of anything other than bad guys. They're pretty one-dimensionally evil when it comes to their actions, with Harley even trying to trick you and trap you if you wind up feeling pity for her. But, at the same time, seeing the environment they live in and hearing the Arkham staff talk about them as if they're not even human always kinda felt uncomfortable to me. Even Aaron Cash, a guy you're supposed to like. For example, it's wild that they just take Killer Croc and throw him in the sewers, just occasionally doing food drops. It's one of those things that I think makes Asylum feel a bit more like a standalone game rather than a part of its own universe, because Croc seems a lot more normal/curable in Origins and pitiable in Knight where he's shown helping the other inmates of Iron Heights in combat and even shown sympathy by others for the inhumane treatment he goes through on that airship.
I find it amazing how you and Monty Zander had such a similar outline of video, yet how extremely different each video is. Insane amount of detail and research in this man. Can’t wait to see more
@ddl3718 I'll be honest and say I became aware of the Monty video about halfway through scripting, checked it out out of curiosity and turned it off after about 5 min because I was worried it would effect the direction of mine too much. I'm glad you found there to be enough differences here, since I was a little worried about the overlap
I’ve been forcefully committed to a mental hospital before. Although nothing horrific happened to me while I was there, I am still terrified of being hospitalized again. I was stuck there and no matter how desperately I wanted to go home, I was trapped inside. To this day I still refer to the hospital as Arkham.
Awesome video but just to put this out there, Batman simply doesn’t kill because it stoops to the level of his worst enemies but because he has to put faith in the system, as much as Batman can be blamed for his very callous nature torward the asylum it is also sort of not his job, he probably views himself even as unworthy given he fears he should be in there. I also think that this idea of Batman’s success being superficial comes with that bittersweet victory in city where he is able to save himself and lots of other inmates but not everyone like joker or Talia This video is awesome btw keep up the work
Definitely an important aspect of his whole psychology, although given his influence and direct contributions financially I still think he should be a little more aware of the goings on there, even if he doesn't get too directly involved And I appreciate that, thank you!
Asad, your a spiritual successor to the heydays when Super Bunnyhop produced excellent gaming essays and commentary. Thank you for carrying that baton forward and kudos on the growth of your primary and second channels.
In the game I always saw the Asylum as kind of a ticking time bomb because the place is literally falling apart with not much renovations done to it except for the new automatic doors and TV Screens and Cameras. That made me wonder if Batman knew the asylum would eventually stop being used altogether and the city might resort back to Blackgate Prison as we all know how bad that turned out in Arkham Origins.
I have to disagree with you on the whole thing about Batman not giving a damnn, for Zsasz, he knows he wont change, he’s too far gone and needs to be contained; for 2 face, his mind was already gone and depended on choices, he knew that giving him too many choices (8-sided dies, tarot cards) would just break his mind since the choice was not coming from him but the amount of options which he couldn’t dictate which was better
Fantastic video, I'm glad the algorithm brought me here! I've watched so many Arkham videos but there's always something new to say, truly a masterpiece.
Arkham Asylum has a sheer degree of atmosphere that none of the other games in the Arkham series ever truly captured again- a choice perhaps for their betterment, as a tradeoff for the tone those games wanted to strike and as more ideas for the series developed… but Arkham Asylum remains my favorite for its unparalleled ambiance alone. The experience is not so much the actual Joker-Titan surface plot, but its dissection of the Batman mythos and a pretty stunning indictment of the existence of Arkham Asylum in the lore and critique of Batman’s ideals in his methods and modus operandi- never openly criticized by the game, but insinuated and inferred through every crack in the crumbling Asylum, its torturous medieval-looking medical equipment, the callous and unethical treatment of villains under a clinical, insidious veneer of a rehabilitation mission, and all scathingly wrapped up in the fact that for not the Joker’s breakout scheme, this would have been just another night for Batman. To capture and deposit criminals back here, to leave villains to the clutches of the Asylum and walk away with this comic mantle we place upon him as Gotham’s protector and the hero. I am so happy someone is putting to words how special Asylum is from the horror perspective, what I’ve felt but have struggled to articulate for so long.
I really like how stylized your editing is and you can feel the tension of the setting through your narration you should do more horror stuff bro definitely subscribing
This video deserves more views. The atmosphere of Arkham asylum is truly what makes the game so great. I hope you gain more subscribers bcs you deserve it.
The atmosphere is the only thing that makes it great the story is bland and is blatantly ablest and shows a frankly insulting and stigmatizing view of the mental issues that many face.
This was a fantastic video! Albeit I would have to disagree with the idea that Batman was wrong in the comic when he disregarded the doctors choice to make two face go from a coin to a deck in order to “cure” him, when it’s shown there that all that has accomplished is that he feels so overwhelmed he can’t even go to the bathroom and soils himself constantly. Another default hat I really like is that even in such a bleak and hopeless comic, it’s Two Face himself the one that sees the hope in Batman and goes against his coin to let him be free at the end.
In arkham shadows they reveal how the Wayne's paid for the asylum to be built and then Wayne foundation pays for it to be reopen again after orgins. It's kinda funny how crucial batman and his family were for arkham but he doesn't really care that much about their treatment, only seems to care about Dr. Y young with bane but that's about it in asylum.
42:41 - 44:30 You've perfectly explained what I realized about Batman. What makes him pretty incompetent at his own self imposed mission of being a vigilante who "stops evil" isn't that he refuses to kill the bad guys, it's that he is very much okay with EVERYTHING else that can be done to those bad guys as long as they're kept alive, and we all know there are fates worse than death... I'm not sure if this has been explored in any iteration of this comic superhero, but it brings up an important question: Batman disagrees with killing villains, but does that mean he's a-okay with giving them other torturous fates as long as they're alive? If you know anything about "I have no mouth and I must scream", then you start to realize maybe Bruce SHOULD be taken somewhere far away from society like all the other villains.
No Batman is very much against torture and stuff along those lines. He might break some bones but he’s never gonna injure you in such a way that you won’t heal and recover
@@kylerpruitt1620That's good to know. I've seen some interpretations where he's actually very kind to those villains who do get redeemed or are trying to be, but those are mostly from the animated series (particularly with Harley Quinn and Ace). Meanwhile, darker interpretations don't give way to that comforting side of Batman/Bruce, and I think the one in Arkham Asylum (game) would fall into that category, since he sees through environment and audio log how many villains arent given proper treatment for true rehabilitation. We could make the assumption that he is affected by them and at the end of the game he forces changes to the asylum, but first of all, it's an assumption, and secondly, if he had made changes then I'm pretty sure we wouldn't see the exact same villains in the sequel games being just as bad as they always were (except for Ivy to an extent, she did sacrifice herself in Arkham Knight, but she only did it for the plantlife)
He is extremely against torture and is usually kinder to his enemies, the games just usually don’t elaborate that side of him. the Batman from the animated series is much closer to how he is in the comics than the Arkham games, although they are equally good adaptations of the characters in my opinion.
Personally I assumed the reason why we didn't see jokers cell was because he was constantly changing cells because inmates didn't want him next to them or the staff didn't want him to formulate a plan to escape
I loved that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprised their roles in the game. It made the game immediately feel "correct" i guess. It felt right to hear them
Excellent analysis! It’s always been one of my favorite things about Asylum (and City as well to a similar extent), how much of the actual “story” of the game is baked into the scenery. You’ve done an amazing job covering it all here!
I had a whole collection of batmans books, including key moments up to Endgame. And to me, Arkahm Asylum always seemed like a nightmare batman was having.
Forgive me if I’m mismembering, but regarding Scarecrow’s first interview tape, wasn’t he testing his formula on a doctor in the asylum? The first and last tapes were him using the toxin and psychoanalyzing the fear of a doctor in the first, leading to a doctor and security guards in the last tape. From the context of the first tape, he was referring to his “test subject” to have lost a wife and child. Although, it still draws a connection to Amadeus Arkham and his insanity, albeit a literal sense with Scarecrow pumping gas compared to a series of unfortunate events.
You may be right, since the whole wife/daughter thing isn't a typical part of cranes backstory. I guess it still connects just not as directly as I remembered
i was going to listen to this while going to sleep but now i just found out about comicstorian passing away. that's fucking tragic and i'm sure he led many many more like me to falling in love with comics. rip legend
20:20 To answer your question as to what the devs might have intended with Scarface, I have my own theory. Scarface is specifically located inside of Quincy Sharp's office, which I think is subtle foreshadowing that Quincy is merely a puppet in Strange and Ra's plan for Arkham and Gotham city as a whole.
19:30 seems like you messed up here, in that interview it's actually Crane having his own twisted 'therapy session' with one Dr. Combs, who is the one with the dead wife and kids. I was also confused the first time i heard that interview tape, but once you realize the first person speaking IS crane it all makes sense lol
I have a problem with external noises and i sleep with headphones on. The amount of Arkham Asylum videos I've fell asleep to over the years is definitely in the double digits. Here's one for tonight. Thanks!
As much as I love these games I'm not gonna lie they have one of the weakest and least compelling versions of Batman character-wise IMO. Sure, he's cool, and has several of Batman's key qualities like intelligence, durability and the indomitable will, but he also has next to no compassion or humanity within him. Everytime he interacts with someone, whether they be a villain, crook, ally, or one of his own family members like Robin or Oracle, he's either cold and uncaring to the point it feels like he views them as burdens, or a merciless powerhouse with no regard for compassion or feeling. When he's talking with Mr Freeze in Arkham City it legit just feels to me like I'm watching the same character talk with himself. Batman should be flawed, yes, but when you make him an overly cold detatched punching machine who only cares about stopping bad guys rather than helping them or spreading hope you just get Mr. Freeze or Lock-Up but in BDSM armor. It's why Arkham Shadow has the best story in the Arkham franchise IMO since Bruce/Batman feels like an actual person who WANTS to help people (especially with the Matches Malone persona) and WANTS to do the right thing, the way he reacts to seeing Harvey Dent become Two-face especially is night and day compared to his reaction to Jason in Arkham Knight or ANY interaction he has with Tim Drake, lol.
He _is_ too cold & distant, I'll agree, but there _are_ a few lines of dialogue where there _is_ empathy to his villains. Almost never in the cutscenes, but mostly in extra dialogue if you bother talking to NPCs more than you have to.
Knight by itself is fine but if you played the first two games it's understandable why many see Arkham Knight as an disappointment. It doesn't have the horror and fucked up lore of the first two games and instead it's more like...normal cartoon episode with bad writing.
35:08 I just checked this bug in the game, and yes - it really happens in the game if you go outside with detective mode enabled. However, now another question arises - is this really a glitch in the game, or is there some kind of feature that Rocksteady did intentionally...
The mannequin could be of clayface because i remember he have one in his cell. So maybe it ended in the sewers in one of his escapes of arkham and having in mind he would fit though pipes makes sense
Honestly i assume joker dosen't have a dedicated cell to make it harder too escape cause if you leave him in the one cell long enough he will find out a way too escape Much like batman you give joker enough time he can escape anything And as for the riddler trophies i always assumed the more hidden ones were actually riddler placing them in secret and the more obvious ones were placed by some if riddlers inside men once the events of asylum take place
I think arkham completely blows as a story, despite how good the game is, "batman bad" has always been a flimsy debate as its entirely dependant on the writer being extremely pessimistic and cynical and typically the people that portray batman as bad tend to be people that hate the mentally ill, batman is shown many times by actual good writers to genuine care and even intervene in abuse towards the asylum patients, to even in some stories take an active role in helping the patients recover, arkham has always been a very very bad story much like other gritty and "real" stories because its very negative towards the villains especially, Joker even has been very very badly exaggerated through the years and he needs a hard reset on his character
I had already started playing this ha ha. And yes the Batman is as bad as his villains is played out, if he wasn’t there the villains would still be doing what they’d be doing.
Check out the companion video where we discuss the game itself in more detail- th-cam.com/video/3jsjDIIsHbY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=499pnjbelupu7gw_
Also, a quick correction: as some people have mentioned, the Scarecrow backstory tape is referring to the doctor's backstory, not Crane's.
Awesome ❤❤❤
Okay okay okay… you convinced me, I’ll replay Arkham Asylum
You aren't the only who'll be booting up soon.
Just did for Halloween. Best time to play it
for the 10th time
I replay all the games every year, so special
@@what-xn3lv same every December. But I'll be playing them sooner now.
44:20 I think it's important to remember what happens at the very end of the book when Batman gives Harvey his coin back. Harvey flips it to decide whether or not to let Batman leave alive. Ultimately, Batman is let go, but in a later panel, we see that the side the coin landed on was the scarred side, the side which indicated that he was supposed to die. In the end, Harvey didn’t rely on the coin to make that choice, he let Batman leave by his own free will. Turning to the deck of tarot cards, arranged in a house of cards he remarks, “Who cares for you? You’re nothing but a pack of cards,” before knocking it over, showing that he doesn't need these things to make decisions anymore. This is actually a rather hopeful ending, that even despite all of the horrors of Arkham, there is still a chance for rehabilitation.
Overall though, great video, great game, and great comic. Cheers!
The "who cares, you're nothing but a pack of cards" is also an Alice in Wonderland quote. Such a nice touch.
@@velloceti6898 Yeah. There are a lot of references like that throughout the book. Grant Morrison’s script in the back of the reissues helps a lot with finding them all.
Pretty sure Joker's dedicated cell is extreme confinement/solitary, aka the only place we can't go in the Asylum
I commented the same thing. It was the only place on Arkham we couldn't access
It's also the cell in Knight that batman locks joker in for good.
@aliquidgaming1068 Yea, tbh I thought it'd be obvious that's his cell, the Arkham guards were taking him that direction, and everything Joker's ever done should definitely be an indicator that's where he'd be
The same cell the first Titan thug came out of, yep.
Jokers cell was in maximum security. Which is the section of Arkham we don't bet access to. Joker rides the cell there after we first encounter the titan thug and it has a heart attack. Keep in mind how in the first game we go deeper and deeper into Arkham at the start when escorting joker to show how they want to ensure joker doesn't get out this time. Also in Arkham knight Bruce throws joker into a similar cell in his mind and locks him away in it.
Joker was being sent to maximum security and going to be locked away deep and far.
Another point of gross incompetence on the Arkham staff's part is the fact that Batman was able to build an ENTIRE FUCKING BATCAVE under the Asylum, without anyone noticing.
Why would Arkham Asylum staff jump off a cliff and explore caves? Lol
I mean one of the guards said they make 15 bucks an hour, and ive worked 15 an hour jobs, i aint gaf about stuff i dont have to gaf
Batman’s main purpose is to rid the streets of Gotham of the evil that took his parents. This leads me to believe that Batman has little care for how the criminals become rehabilitated or reformed. Batman just wants them gone. However, I also believe that Batman views rehabilitation as Bruce Wayne’s job. Not sure if it’s seen in the Arkham games, but I know in the animated series there’s a scene where Bruce visits Harvey in the hospital after Batman defeats him. Batman might want to criminals gone, but I think Bruce Wayne truly does care.
Definitely. Bruce's image is that of a philanthropist and rehabilitation, funding public projects and the such in Gotham
Always happy to see another video essay on Arkham Asylum. Somehow, every time I get to hear about something I didn't before.
A detail I've seen other point out that you might find interesting for this angle is the presence of the high-tech doors in the asylum, which are sometimes just jammed into old, decaying buildings. Another video I saw read it as Bruce giving the asylum money and tech to improve the facilities, but the asylum couldn't or wouldn't use them properly.
I liked how you wove some of the game scenery into your retelling of Amadeus' story.
Something that I've thought about A Serious House on Serious Earth, though, is that I feel that it should be pointed out that Bruce/Batman not caring about what happens to people after he captures them is very much a 'depending on the writer' thing. It's something that has always rubbed me the wrong way about it.
The problem I have with this whole idea of Batman being just as evil by letting Joker live is that if Batman’s responsible for NOT killing Joker then by that logic every single person in the city is just as culpable for Jokers actions. Jokers and Joker alone is responsible for his own actions. Anyone could kill him. Batman doesn’t kill people. He’s barking up the safest tree trying to tempt Bats into committing murder. What makes Jokers life Batman’s personal responsibility? It’s like asking the parent you know will say yes and wondering why you always get what you want.
I really like that in the modern comics they’ve turned Bruce’s mum Martha into an Arkham and she had a lot of mental illnesses through her life due to this bloodline. It makes you question Bruce’s sanity. Wondering if he would be damaged mentally even if his parents hadn’t died, because of him being half Arkham
In BTAS, at least, Batman is very intimately aware of the ongoings at the asylum and even advocated for the removal of Lyle Bolton (Lock-Up) from Arkham's payroll after it became apparent that he was abusive towards the inmates. He also is pretty supportive in a number of the "villain tries to reform" episodes and even successfully redeems Ventriloquist. So that's at least one iteration of Batman shown to care. I think generally, the animated Batmen do care. It only gets sketchier when you start getting into the grittier depictions.
To go back to the game, I know you're not really supposed to think about the bad guys in Arkham Asylum as much of anything other than bad guys. They're pretty one-dimensionally evil when it comes to their actions, with Harley even trying to trick you and trap you if you wind up feeling pity for her. But, at the same time, seeing the environment they live in and hearing the Arkham staff talk about them as if they're not even human always kinda felt uncomfortable to me. Even Aaron Cash, a guy you're supposed to like.
For example, it's wild that they just take Killer Croc and throw him in the sewers, just occasionally doing food drops. It's one of those things that I think makes Asylum feel a bit more like a standalone game rather than a part of its own universe, because Croc seems a lot more normal/curable in Origins and pitiable in Knight where he's shown helping the other inmates of Iron Heights in combat and even shown sympathy by others for the inhumane treatment he goes through on that airship.
I find it amazing how you and Monty Zander had such a similar outline of video, yet how extremely different each video is. Insane amount of detail and research in this man. Can’t wait to see more
@ddl3718 I'll be honest and say I became aware of the Monty video about halfway through scripting, checked it out out of curiosity and turned it off after about 5 min because I was worried it would effect the direction of mine too much. I'm glad you found there to be enough differences here, since I was a little worried about the overlap
Maybe the real horror in Arkham Asylum is how many damn Riddles there are in it.
0:16 a perfect one?
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???
!!!
!!!????
"what are we? Some kind of Dragon Ball Z?"
Arkham Asylum breakdown? I'm here for it.
I’ve been forcefully committed to a mental hospital before. Although nothing horrific happened to me while I was there, I am still terrified of being hospitalized again. I was stuck there and no matter how desperately I wanted to go home, I was trapped inside. To this day I still refer to the hospital as Arkham.
Why were you put there?
Awesome video but just to put this out there, Batman simply doesn’t kill because it stoops to the level of his worst enemies but because he has to put faith in the system, as much as Batman can be blamed for his very callous nature torward the asylum it is also sort of not his job, he probably views himself even as unworthy given he fears he should be in there. I also think that this idea of Batman’s success being superficial comes with that bittersweet victory in city where he is able to save himself and lots of other inmates but not everyone like joker or Talia
This video is awesome btw keep up the work
Definitely an important aspect of his whole psychology, although given his influence and direct contributions financially I still think he should be a little more aware of the goings on there, even if he doesn't get too directly involved
And I appreciate that, thank you!
Asad, your a spiritual successor to the heydays when Super Bunnyhop produced excellent gaming essays and commentary. Thank you for carrying that baton forward and kudos on the growth of your primary and second channels.
I really appreciate that, thank you!
Wow I miss Super Bunnyhop, love to see this comparison
Agreed they’re amazing ❤❤❤
@@PuffPuff903same. 🐰 bunnyhop was amazing and it’s a great comparison 🎉❤❤ to asad!! 🎉
In the game I always saw the Asylum as kind of a ticking time bomb because the place is literally falling apart with not much renovations done to it except for the new automatic doors and TV Screens and Cameras. That made me wonder if Batman knew the asylum would eventually stop being used altogether and the city might resort back to Blackgate Prison as we all know how bad that turned out in Arkham Origins.
I have to disagree with you on the whole thing about Batman not giving a damnn, for Zsasz, he knows he wont change, he’s too far gone and needs to be contained; for 2 face, his mind was already gone and depended on choices, he knew that giving him too many choices (8-sided dies, tarot cards) would just break his mind since the choice was not coming from him but the amount of options which he couldn’t dictate which was better
Fantastic video, I'm glad the algorithm brought me here! I've watched so many Arkham videos but there's always something new to say, truly a masterpiece.
19:35 pretty sure the loss of wife & daughter were referring to Dr. Murphy, crane previous doctor, not crane himself
Arkham Asylum has a sheer degree of atmosphere that none of the other games in the Arkham series ever truly captured again- a choice perhaps for their betterment, as a tradeoff for the tone those games wanted to strike and as more ideas for the series developed… but Arkham Asylum remains my favorite for its unparalleled ambiance alone. The experience is not so much the actual Joker-Titan surface plot, but its dissection of the Batman mythos and a pretty stunning indictment of the existence of Arkham Asylum in the lore and critique of Batman’s ideals in his methods and modus operandi- never openly criticized by the game, but insinuated and inferred through every crack in the crumbling Asylum, its torturous medieval-looking medical equipment, the callous and unethical treatment of villains under a clinical, insidious veneer of a rehabilitation mission, and all scathingly wrapped up in the fact that for not the Joker’s breakout scheme, this would have been just another night for Batman. To capture and deposit criminals back here, to leave villains to the clutches of the Asylum and walk away with this comic mantle we place upon him as Gotham’s protector and the hero. I am so happy someone is putting to words how special Asylum is from the horror perspective, what I’ve felt but have struggled to articulate for so long.
Was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by the detail and care put into this video, instant sub! Also love the RDR2 music for the Amadeus segments, fit perfectly
I really like how stylized your editing is and you can feel the tension of the setting through your narration you should do more horror stuff bro definitely subscribing
This video deserves more views. The atmosphere of Arkham asylum is truly what makes the game so great. I hope you gain more subscribers bcs you deserve it.
The atmosphere is the only thing that makes it great the story is bland and is blatantly ablest and shows a frankly insulting and stigmatizing view of the mental issues that many face.
This was a fantastic video! Albeit I would have to disagree with the idea that Batman was wrong in the comic when he disregarded the doctors choice to make two face go from a coin to a deck in order to “cure” him, when it’s shown there that all that has accomplished is that he feels so overwhelmed he can’t even go to the bathroom and soils himself constantly.
Another default hat I really like is that even in such a bleak and hopeless comic, it’s Two Face himself the one that sees the hope in Batman and goes against his coin to let him be free at the end.
Just started replaying Asylum again, this video found me at the perfect time
Great game & great comic. Both have got such amazing aesthetics.
The comic has some of my favourite comic art ever hands down
@@AsadAnjum Same! Also forgot to say this but the section on Comicstorian was much appreciated.
I think this is the best video ever made
Facts ❤❤🎉
Agreed!
In arkham shadows they reveal how the Wayne's paid for the asylum to be built and then Wayne foundation pays for it to be reopen again after orgins. It's kinda funny how crucial batman and his family were for arkham but he doesn't really care that much about their treatment, only seems to care about Dr. Y young with bane but that's about it in asylum.
not much time for actual treatment when they keep breaking out every single time
Bro imagine the Devs of the Outlast games making a Batman game.
That'd sell like hotcakes
42:41 - 44:30 You've perfectly explained what I realized about Batman. What makes him pretty incompetent at his own self imposed mission of being a vigilante who "stops evil" isn't that he refuses to kill the bad guys, it's that he is very much okay with EVERYTHING else that can be done to those bad guys as long as they're kept alive, and we all know there are fates worse than death...
I'm not sure if this has been explored in any iteration of this comic superhero, but it brings up an important question: Batman disagrees with killing villains, but does that mean he's a-okay with giving them other torturous fates as long as they're alive? If you know anything about "I have no mouth and I must scream", then you start to realize maybe Bruce SHOULD be taken somewhere far away from society like all the other villains.
No Batman is very much against torture and stuff along those lines. He might break some bones but he’s never gonna injure you in such a way that you won’t heal and recover
@@kylerpruitt1620That's good to know. I've seen some interpretations where he's actually very kind to those villains who do get redeemed or are trying to be, but those are mostly from the animated series (particularly with Harley Quinn and Ace). Meanwhile, darker interpretations don't give way to that comforting side of Batman/Bruce, and I think the one in Arkham Asylum (game) would fall into that category, since he sees through environment and audio log how many villains arent given proper treatment for true rehabilitation. We could make the assumption that he is affected by them and at the end of the game he forces changes to the asylum, but first of all, it's an assumption, and secondly, if he had made changes then I'm pretty sure we wouldn't see the exact same villains in the sequel games being just as bad as they always were (except for Ivy to an extent, she did sacrifice herself in Arkham Knight, but she only did it for the plantlife)
@100lovenana the games sadly don't rlly elaborate on any of this.
He is extremely against torture and is usually kinder to his enemies, the games just usually don’t elaborate that side of him. the Batman from the animated series is much closer to how he is in the comics than the Arkham games, although they are equally good adaptations of the characters in my opinion.
Personally I assumed the reason why we didn't see jokers cell was because he was constantly changing cells because inmates didn't want him
next to them or the staff didn't want him to formulate a plan to escape
17:00 jokers cell is in the the intensive treatment where the first titan fight is, you see his sell in knight its one of the hanging ones
i’ve watched 15 years worth of videos about this game and this is easily top 3. fantastic analysis my friend!
Very well crafted video in both pacing and ideal focus. Really gets me in a Batman deep dive kick.
Terrific video. Cant believe I didnt find this channel earlier.
This is incredibly well made both in pacing and creativity
I loved that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprised their roles in the game. It made the game immediately feel "correct" i guess. It felt right to hear them
I’ve always wanted a video like this. For this game and the comic thank you.
COMICSTORIAN DIED NO WAY
Yeah, other people have continued the channel since but Ben Potter (who ran the channel throughout the years) passed away over the summer
@AsadAnjum my day was ruined
Yea, it was really sad to find out but im glad his memory will never be forgotten.
Perfect video to hit my recommended feed after recently 100%-ing Arkham Asylum
Excellent analysis! It’s always been one of my favorite things about Asylum (and City as well to a similar extent), how much of the actual “story” of the game is baked into the scenery. You’ve done an amazing job covering it all here!
22:52 You'd think he would find some way to escape into the surrounding water of the island. Especially if he potentially has access to the sewer.
I wish I could rate this video 5 stars, it is truly perfect and well made!
This was amazing. Thank you
I had a whole collection of batmans books, including key moments up to Endgame. And to me, Arkahm Asylum always seemed like a nightmare batman was having.
Forgive me if I’m mismembering, but regarding Scarecrow’s first interview tape, wasn’t he testing his formula on a doctor in the asylum? The first and last tapes were him using the toxin and psychoanalyzing the fear of a doctor in the first, leading to a doctor and security guards in the last tape. From the context of the first tape, he was referring to his “test subject” to have lost a wife and child.
Although, it still draws a connection to Amadeus Arkham and his insanity, albeit a literal sense with Scarecrow pumping gas compared to a series of unfortunate events.
You may be right, since the whole wife/daughter thing isn't a typical part of cranes backstory. I guess it still connects just not as directly as I remembered
great vid, loved the take mixing the comics with the game
Kinda funny how I decide to play Batman again starting from asylum & it seems like we all kinda have that itch at this moment haha. That’s awesome!
Cannot wait for the Arkham City video now!
i was going to listen to this while going to sleep but now i just found out about comicstorian passing away. that's fucking tragic and i'm sure he led many many more like me to falling in love with comics. rip legend
Shout out to Ben ... Rest easy
20:20 To answer your question as to what the devs might have intended with Scarface, I have my own theory. Scarface is specifically located inside of Quincy Sharp's office, which I think is subtle foreshadowing that Quincy is merely a puppet in Strange and Ra's plan for Arkham and Gotham city as a whole.
amazing video!! loveeee horror breakdowns!
18:47 Technical we do have it in the comics. In the anniversary version we get storyboard version that show him in the outfit full force.
19:30 seems like you messed up here, in that interview it's actually Crane having his own twisted 'therapy session' with one Dr. Combs, who is the one with the dead wife and kids. I was also confused the first time i heard that interview tape, but once you realize the first person speaking IS crane it all makes sense lol
Really well-produced and thought provoking video. I’d love to see your take on other Arkham games.
Perfect video. Subscribed
This video is so underrated i hope it blows up in the algorithm
Please, make more videos like this. Absolutely great video my man
Excellent work on this. Good job!
I have a problem with external noises and i sleep with headphones on. The amount of Arkham Asylum videos I've fell asleep to over the years is definitely in the double digits. Here's one for tonight. Thanks!
Wtf this is soo good. The quality is insane
Wait, I thought that the Riddler was allowed to place those trophies everywhere because he escaped with the rest of the inmates!
new batman retrospective for me to watch, HELL YEAH
Best Batman Lore video ever made
This video is top notch. Keep it up.
Watching this while replaying arkham asylum
Excellent video man!!!!
This videos editing gives me goosebumps
Cool video. Just that, if a patient is happy he's quiet, that's what they mean, not the opposite.
Why did i find out thru this video comicstorian died?? :( dude was my childhood
Same, he was also the reason I started to read comic books
As much as I love these games I'm not gonna lie they have one of the weakest and least compelling versions of Batman character-wise IMO. Sure, he's cool, and has several of Batman's key qualities like intelligence, durability and the indomitable will, but he also has next to no compassion or humanity within him. Everytime he interacts with someone, whether they be a villain, crook, ally, or one of his own family members like Robin or Oracle, he's either cold and uncaring to the point it feels like he views them as burdens, or a merciless powerhouse with no regard for compassion or feeling. When he's talking with Mr Freeze in Arkham City it legit just feels to me like I'm watching the same character talk with himself. Batman should be flawed, yes, but when you make him an overly cold detatched punching machine who only cares about stopping bad guys rather than helping them or spreading hope you just get Mr. Freeze or Lock-Up but in BDSM armor. It's why Arkham Shadow has the best story in the Arkham franchise IMO since Bruce/Batman feels like an actual person who WANTS to help people (especially with the Matches Malone persona) and WANTS to do the right thing, the way he reacts to seeing Harvey Dent become Two-face especially is night and day compared to his reaction to Jason in Arkham Knight or ANY interaction he has with Tim Drake, lol.
He _is_ too cold & distant, I'll agree, but there _are_ a few lines of dialogue where there _is_ empathy to his villains. Almost never in the cutscenes, but mostly in extra dialogue if you bother talking to NPCs more than you have to.
okay, you conviced me to read the comic in just a few words
The resistance 3 poster in the back is awesome
Rip comicstorian such a tragedy 😢
You also need to do one on City and Origins
Creepy batman video game
I JUST BOUGHT IT AN HOUR AGO
Hopefully you enjoy it!
Even though City is the best
Asylum is my favorite.
Knight by itself is fine but if you played the first two games it's understandable why many see Arkham Knight as an disappointment.
It doesn't have the horror and fucked up lore of the first two games and instead it's more like...normal cartoon episode with bad writing.
I used the same light blobs on my latest vid, they're so gooood 😂❤ (the video turned out amazing, great stuff) loved the chapter titles too.
35:08 I just checked this bug in the game, and yes - it really happens in the game if you go outside with detective mode enabled. However, now another question arises - is this really a glitch in the game, or is there some kind of feature that Rocksteady did intentionally...
The mannequin could be of clayface because i remember he have one in his cell. So maybe it ended in the sewers in one of his escapes of arkham and having in mind he would fit though pipes makes sense
Incredible video !!! Loved watching it! Also will you maybe an arkham city one?
Absolutely, although it's probably gonna be a yearly Halloween thing so you'll have to wait some time 😅
@@AsadAnjum cannot wait for more Arkham content videos then!
There is a reason the latest Arkham game took inspiration from Asylum most of all.
Awsome video!
LOVE THIS
btw barbra gordon is the light bc she’s in a wheelchair 😭 her legs would lack a lot of mass
Honestly i assume joker dosen't have a dedicated cell to make it harder too escape cause if you leave him in the one cell long enough he will find out a way too escape
Much like batman you give joker enough time he can escape anything
And as for the riddler trophies i always assumed the more hidden ones were actually riddler placing them in secret and the more obvious ones were placed by some if riddlers inside men once the events of asylum take place
I think arkham completely blows as a story, despite how good the game is, "batman bad" has always been a flimsy debate as its entirely dependant on the writer being extremely pessimistic and cynical and typically the people that portray batman as bad tend to be people that hate the mentally ill, batman is shown many times by actual good writers to genuine care and even intervene in abuse towards the asylum patients, to even in some stories take an active role in helping the patients recover, arkham has always been a very very bad story much like other gritty and "real" stories because its very negative towards the villains especially, Joker even has been very very badly exaggerated through the years and he needs a hard reset on his character
It all depends on perspective.
I had already started playing this ha ha. And yes the Batman is as bad as his villains is played out, if he wasn’t there the villains would still be doing what they’d be doing.
"Bwahaha " naw i love that lol his way of telling us anyone watching this should hopefully know this shit now lets move on
The whole video is just like monty zanders but shorter
this video was amazing
love the video, but trust me pal, the last thing we need in Suicide Squad is sexy, zesty joker 😂😭
This is the one youtuber whose handsomer than his animated pfp lol
Where was that doll head in the pipe located? It’s the first I’ve ever heard of it.
They're not gargoyles, but rather grotesques.