Game:

Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Duration: 55:01

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3

R.I.P. Kevin Conroy
Full Arkham series Hard Mode No Upgrade playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX5QeKJZun4GscVCP5fGfBp1eAfViKq6Q

When starting this series I was really torn over whether I should do a New Game Hard Mode No Upgrade run, or a New Game Plus No Upgrade run. They're very different experiences. Unlike in Arkham Asylum, on New Game even on Hard Mode you get Counter indicators but they're removed for New Game Plus. However on New Game Plus you'll still have certain upgrades like the Freeze Grenade and REC from the very beginning, so doing New Game Hard felt more pure to the spirit of the run, especially since I'm aiming to keep the video series fairly cinematic.

From a combat perspective there are a lot of changes from a No Upgrade run of Asylum to City. Batman starts this game far less barebones, and honestly is a pretty overpowered character right from the drop. Not only does he carry over Asylum upgrades such as Batclaw Slam, Combo Batarang, Special Combo Instant Takedown, and Explosive Gel, but he comes with a few brand new perks such as Combo Explosive Gel and, most importantly, Beatdown. Beatdown is an extremely broken move, allowing you to instantly kill a single enemy while also racking enough combo points for an Instant Takedown immediately after, while allowing you to still safely counter out of it. It will be my primary offense throughout this run.

1:10 Of course first I have to start with Catwoman. Catwoman is dramatically inferior to Batman in a normal run, but without upgrades they're pretty comparable, since she also has Beatdown and Instant Takedown right from the beginning. I considered uninstalling the Catwoman DLC like speedrunners do, since this is a challenge run, but honestly most of her segments aren't awful and there's some story elements so I decided to leave it in. Although I will say, I personally think her DLC makes the game worse overall, not better.

The first Catwoman fight goes great. Most of the game's fights will more or less follow this same script, but they won't all be this well-executed. There's a rhythm to combat in Arkham City, and when I lose it, I often wind up taking several hits before reorienting myself.

In my first fight as Batman at 15:00, you can see how valuable Combo Batarang is, as well. It's quicker than a punch, has longer range, has consistent timing, leaves Batman less vulnerable (you can counter afterward faster), and still has all of the good properties of a punch. Under normal run conditions Combo Batarang isn't as valuable because of Critical Strikes, which do massive damage and give 2x hits, but in a No Upgrade Run, Combo Batarang is superior to normal punches in almost every way.

The next major action sequence is at 20:08. I mess up the ending here because I want to finish the fight out of Two-Face's gun range, just for fun, but overall it's another good encounter.

I skip some overworld fights and dialogue scenes after the Courthouse. This will occur frequently throughout the run. While I tried to catch all of the major dialogue in Asylum, Arkham City is too big and there's too much of it, and too much is meaningless or redundant. I'll try to catch interesting ones throughout and keep things cinematic, but I'll take more liberties to rush things than I did in Asylum.

While Harley Quinn's character model, particularly her face, was one of the worst graphical aspects of Arkham Asylum, her completely redone-from-the-ground up City model at 29:00 is absolutely excellent. Perhaps because she was redone from scratch, I think her face is one of the most expressive in the game. Really good stuff even after all these years.

The upgrade I miss the most in this run is definitely the Grapnel Boost from the AR Training. Fortunately when only doing story content there's a lot less navigating the world map than a typical run.

On the Predator encounter at 44:50, everything goes according to plan except the last guy isn't supposed to see me climbing into the Grate. Normally I can do a Grate Takedown on him without being detected.

After this I get the REC, which is a decently useful gadget. I like to use it for mopping up the last two enemies in Predator encounters if they refuse to separate.

I almost get killed by Mister Hammer because I keep trying to counter thugs out of habit. Mister Hammer attacks right through your counter animation, so you don't want to use it during this fight. Instead you just focus on using Mister Hammer to quickly build up Instant Takedowns and tear through the thug ranks easily.

As the video ends it's time for the second Catwoman segment. That will be first on the next video's agenda.

0:00 New Game Menuing
0:30 Catwoman DLC Prologue
2:24 Intro
9:53 Bruce Wayne vs. Oswald Cobblepot
13:15 I am Batman
14:55 Two-Face's Courthouse
26:10 Harley and the Church (Predator)
33:20 Amusement Mile
35:35 Sionis Steel Mill
50:50 Mister Hammer
53:30 Back to Catwoman

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