Which Arkham Game has the BEST Map Design? 

Apologies for the subtitles being a little hard to read since they lack outlines. Had some technical difficulties last minute. Hope you still enjoy!

Probably the one with Batman in it

It's crazy to think Arkham Knight could have dropped TODAY and still hold up graphics wise

My one problem with Arkham Knight’s map design is that most of the buildings were too short. The biggest buildings are Wayne international plaza, Wayne Enterprises and the Grand avenue station. I was expecting a Gotham similar to that of the backdrop in Arkham City. I think it would be a really cool experience weaving and gliding through gothic skyscrapers so high in the air. If Arkham Knights Gotham tried to incorporate more of that Batman The Animated Series verison of Gotham it would’ve arguably been a lot more memorable and in parr with the other games. I also wish Arkham Knight had the Batcave and civilians in it too. I also wish it had more dark alleys of course we did get that to an extent. Nonetheless still an amazing map design and I understand why they couldn’t make the skyscrapers taller because it was probably too hard and they chose to make up for it by crafting a map with so much more detail and Im thankful for that.

Arkham Asylum/Island had the best atmosphere because you are trapped in an insane asylum. Arkham Origins had the best weather. It is also one of the only superhero games that you can play on Christmas. Arkham Knight was the most open and biggest map design. It still looks good in 2023. Arkham City was the most memorable map design. I think it was the best map design because you can remember the city without having to look at the map.

Arkham City had the more memorable landmarks that you would affiliate to characters: The Steel Mill - Joker and Harley Quinn The Museum - Penguin The Old GCPD Building - Mr. Freeze The Courthouse - Two-Face Krank Co. Toys - Bane Monarch Theater - Clayface Wonder Tower - Hugo Strange

10:51 "Here's a clip of me using a web shooter to get some cheezits" That came out of nowhere and just went back into the ether as quick as it came. What the heck was that?! 🤣

For some reason I think Origins map has a very eerie feel to it. Which further adds to the juxtaposition between Christmas and the darkness of Gotham

I do wish that Kights city looked more like the gotham you can see in the background of Arkham City. The absolutely massive gothic skyscrapers just make the city seem so imposing

One thing I do love about the Arkham knight map is that you can see Arkham asylum, Arkham city, even Wayne manor, and more oh the horizon

Arkham Asylum’s map is just too iconic, when you think of Arkham Asylum you think abt this map

Honestly, nothing will ever quite reach that feeling of stepping out of Intensive Treatment through the rock tunnel, walking out over that ledge and hearing the music crescendo as we see the full scope of the asylum under an insanely large full moon for me.

I love Origins’ map for providing a look at a cleaner Gotham City. Compared to City and Knight there’s not as much chaos in the streets. It’s closer to what you see in the movies or the animated series.

Knight does an amazing job of making every building and street look unique enough so I can identify which island I'm on and which compass direction I'm facing.

It's a tie between Asylum and City. Asylum is kinda hard to compare to the others given the open world size, but where it really shines is its horror comic book style design and variety (Intensive Treatment, Mansion, Botanical Gardens, Caves, Medical Facility, Penitentiary, etc.). As for City, it has the most original open world design of the sequels since it really feels like you're stuck in a city sized prison rather than just another free-to-roam city surrounded by water. Add to that how its sectioned off between the Tyger controlled area and the thirds controlled by Penguin, Two Face and Joker and it really feels like you're in the middle of a miniature war zone.

Whatever we decide is our favorite we can all agree every Arkham game is unique, fun, and iconic in their own right.

They're all fantastic in their own way, but I have to give it to Asylum. The thing that always stood out to me - even when I was younger and didn't have the words for it - was just how unbelievably heavy the atmosphere is. The locations are not just a pretty backdrop for a game. Almost every inch of the island is chalked full of incredible world building, perfectly setting the tone that it is not a place you want to be. All of the decay on the buildings, from the dirty carpets and chipping paint of the mansion to the cracked tiling in the medical center, perfectly details an island that is scarred due to its history. The way I see it, Arkham Asylum isn't just a map for Batman to traverse. It is its own living, breathing character that is the centerpiece of the story. I feel as though the more intimate and subdued nature of the map has a lot to do with this. The other three games lose this oneness with the setting, as the devs were clearly more focused on creating an open world sandbox. Which is totally fine, I love those games. But the feel of their respective maps can't even begin to hold a candle to Asylum. In my opinion, it's a no contest. As a side note: I'd give Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth a read if you haven't already. From what I can gather, it served as the primary inspiration for Rocksteady when creating their version of the Asylum.

Arkham origins had that huge bridge in the middle which was a pain to cross

My favourite is Arkham asylum because of the atmosphere it captured and the feeling of emptiness, loneliness and fear are amazing to experience and its by far the one i adore the most because of how the lore expanded the history of each building!!!

For me it's City because it's bigger than Asylum but not too big. I feel not all alone and the areas are too memorable.

I personaly love the Arkham Origins atmosphere, the weather, the big old biuldings with their arhitecture and lights shining on them (also the streets in the new area looking and the big biuldings its neat too), the cold colors in contrast with the city lights and not to mention the background map music.

Happy Holidays mate. Thank you for keeping the Arkhamverse relevant.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for the built in captions. I can have a hard time hearing and understand videos occasionally and just wanted to say thank you for the effort!

3:25 aslume confirmed

Asylum is the best map design because by virtue of being so small, there is truly a bunch of detail packed into every single inch of the map, the game in and of itself will always be the greatest love letter from video-game developers to comic book fans, Arkham Asylum is a game made for comic book readers, if you've read at least a tenth of Batman's canon that was avialable in 2009 , the game just felt...familiar, you feel at home, it's comic books into a motion picture format. I read a comment suggesting that Arkham City has the best map because you can quickly memorize it without needing to open the map, Arkham Asylum to comic book fans feels like a place you already know your way around on your first playthrough, for this and much more, Arkham Asylum will always be the best game in the franchise to me, of course it has the best map.

Aside from the bridge, I really like Origins’ map. There’s lots of dark alley ways and the city genuinely doesn’t feel safe from the snow storm, to corrupt cops, and criminals. Also there’s random acts of crime going on. I like how the buildings are more close quarters than Knight’s Gotham. It’s like they’re stacked on top of each other as Gotham should feel overpowering and intimidating from the streets.

great vid. funniest shit is at 3:22 with the aslume lol

37 seconds in and here’s my personal opinions Origins: for the snow and Christmas theme, and it’s the only game that doesn’t take place at night so I like it for being different Asylum: the atmosphere and eerie vibe it has, perfect game to play during Halloween City: the run down look of the map and the little bit of snow it has Knight: purely for the rain itself but it’s a fun map to spend hours grinding in

3:18 Aslume

Broooo YOU ARE EXTREMELY UNDERRATED❤❤

I think the Arkham Asylum map is objectively the best in terms of map design. It’s feels like every inch of that map was designed with so much care and passion. Everything flows together so well, and I still feel like I’m being watched or like something could jump out at me any moment when I play this game. The level design is amazing and there are so many hidden parts. For example, the best one is easily the the Warden’s Secret Room in the Arkham Mansion, which cannot simply be found with detective mode or anything. There’s so much world building in this game. The cells of iconic Batman villains, the tapes that are spread out across the map hinting at an extremely vast and lived in world. Being able to look at the skyline of Gotham from the island is just the cherry on top. As a side note, we never really get to see that version of Gotham City even though we do eventually go to Gotham in later games, which is kinda sad to me.

This is a really good video broski.

I've been replaying all the Arkham games on PC recently. With Origins, I really didn't enjoy it as much as the others. A big part of that was the "Dark Knight Challenge" system. Playing it again on PC with mods, and console commands to get all the upgrades, it was a much more enjoyable experience. I don't know why, but I feel like when I originally played it on 360, I didn't really appreciate a lot of the game, the map included. Like you said, it does reuse some assets from City. However with the weather, combined with the architecture of the buildings, I feel like it really reminds me of the aesthetic of the Burton Batman movies. Going from Origins to Knight, I feel like there is a very stark difference in the 2 maps in regards to the vibe. The map in Knight is beautiful and immersive. However it doesn't feel dangerous. Not like something nefariously bad lurks around every corner. Gotham in Origins has that feeling. Gotham in Knight feels like it might not be a too bad of a place to visit as long as you don't stay past dark. The map in Origins feels dangerous and oppressive.

One thing I love about city’s map is how in some areas the prison wall basically slices through buildings cutting them in half

Bro really lived out my childhood dream with that web shooter

One issue with asylum is once you took out all the enemies that was it they stop spawning

I love you for having the budokai 2 opening song as outro music!

SADLY Gotham Knights, as it's very close to how Gotham is structured in the comics. Both have the three main islands, with a few smaller ones, but the way GK's ones are arranged is much closer to the comics than how the ones in AK are.

Seeing Origins cleaner alive city and seeing it 10 years later in Arkham city but, dead, dirty, and corrupted, really makes you question if Batman really makes Gotham a better place. If you think about it’s him who brings out the worst of villains. They do the most horrid shit to get his attention or one up him.

Personally my favorite map is Arkham city and I say it’s one reason that takes the cake, the world building levelution. Arkham Asylum had this but not at the scale of City. What do I mean by this? Levelution in Arkham games to me is how the maps change throughout the games, you revisit a lot of areas throughout the games and often times there are distinct changes, in Asylum you can see the mansion section and other sections fall under the control of jokers men, see Joker stick snipers in the towers, the insane patients come out, and ivy rip the island apart, & through all that joker builds his face on the visitor center. However in City the world takes full advantage the ensuing gang war, every faction has their turf, Joker has the Steel mill and Amusement Mile, Two face controls the Bowery and Courthouse, & eventually penguins turf, and Penguin has the whole museum district as an impressive fortress. Through the game factions will move around and do certain actions that effect the over world, the obvious example being Joker & Twoface putting the squeeze on the weakened Penguin, but a better example could be when Joker makes his gang advance into twig face territory while searching for Freeze and that two faces men can be seen on rooftops trying to stay out of Joker’s way while they plan a counter offensive. It’s stuff like that I admire while playing Arkham City, being able to stop and listen to Jokers men terrorize standard inmates or find the stranded penguin mercs outside of Jokers turf or rooting out the Penguin Loyalists in the museum.

Hi ,Your vids are awesome ❤❤

Good video 👌✨

I’m a better man now for have watching you attempt to grab those cheese it’s with your web shooter? Thank you I’ll never forget this.

Keep it up on your work and this video and channel I love this video and channel Thanks you for your video and channel I love Batman Arkham all franchise

asylum has been my favourite game of all time since it came out, and I believe that its map design (and story, honestly) is the best of the series - but I assumed I was in the vast minority with that take! especially going up against city and knight; cool to see you had similar thoughts to mine

Drinking game: take a shot every time he says, "Metriodvania." Take a double shot at the end if you don't know what that means.

As a kid when I first played Arkham Asylum I kind of liked the map but I didn't fully understanding concepts like the difference between "penitentiary" and "intensive treatment" Then when I played the other games with the bigger maps I was so excited because I could explore more Now that I look back, though, I understand that bigger doesn't mean better even though I still really like the map from Knight which has so many iconic points and is overall majestic

I love the Arkham Asylum map because of the creepiness but if we're talking about overall map design that would be Arkham Knight for me

All of the Arkham games were masterpieces. All of them. Even Origins was using the Rocksteady formula, but was immaculate

I completely understand why anyone would choose asylum, city, or orgins for map design but for me its my favorite in general is 100% knight. It makes me feel powerful like people are truly terrified of me like when you shoot out into the sky and people see you picking of person one by one on rooftops or driving around in a tank and jumping out at like 60 rioters in the street and only 10 of them fight me while the rest run in fear or when you help out some cops with some random thugs and you hear them scared for there life. To me it's just unmatched

Arkham asylum is great but I can't help but wonder who's designing a mental asylum with human size ventilation ducts and entire hallways in-between walls

Asylum (atmosphere especially the medical facility, croc's lair, Botanical gardens and penetentiary and the catacombs showing us the asylum's decaying foundations) City (The Steel Mill, Museum, wonder city, wonder tower and the court house) the perfect showcase of Gotham city's decay the history of Gotham with old Gotham being built on top of. Origins (it cleaned up the old slums but it showcases the corruption of Gotham especially the GCPD mission) Knight (it represents the future and hope of Gotham but it's still Gotham with it's winding roads and tight alleyways)

“Also, heres a clip of me using a web shooter on some cheezitz”😂😂 bro where tf did that come from?

Incase you haven’t heard the news about suicide squad KTJL, they let out a major spoiler by accident to do with the world and character of Batman here’s the spoiler… Batman’s Bruce Wayne…

Great stuff. Asylum is definitely the best when it comes to atmosphere. I'm not used to considering that when it comes to map design, since I'm more of a nuts and bolts kind of player. For me, traversal and exploration are higher priority when it comes to evaluating it. City is great, but it can get tiring having to cross the entire map. Origins isn't as good, especially with the bridge being as large as it is, along with the issues you mentioned. Knight is probably the best in terms of exploration and traversal, but that's also because of the mobility upgrades compared with the other games. So it really comes down to personal preference when it comes to the criteria for evaluating. Atmosphere is another layer that I consider separately from layout.

I love how he sometimes put a few secrets in his subtitles.

I think asylum has the best looks- color scheme & layout makes you feels lost depressed and you can get lost pretty easy if not paying attention and a lot of hidden passage ways you can find

The one where man and jonker just be brawling and having laufs

Open world - Arkham knight Individuality - Arkham asylum (except his years)

Great Video! I have a question! Whats the name of the theme you use when you introduce the map? Thank you 😄

10:54 that was so random😂

Just finished replaying Arkham asylum and I realized that I took that game for granted when I was younger because I tried to speed run it the first time I played it to get to Arkham city faster and man I didn’t realized how good and creepy the environment of the asylum was, there were parts where I felt creeped out walking around because there were no goons or security, just Batman’s footsteps or alarms going off or nothing

I understand there were probably some engine limitations, but I wish gotham city in knight was much bigger. The skyscrapers of Gotham in Arkham City were literally towering over Wonder Tower. It was huge with unique buildings that stood out and had a purpose. Wish we could've gotten something more similar to Arkham City's Gotham.

I played Origins first so playing through City and it being the same map was awesome for me, felt like a full circle moment.

I think it depends on the mood you’re in when it comes to which is the best map. If you want closed in, eerie, and dramatic then it’s asylum but if you want open world, lots of locations, and rainfall then it’s knight etc. Overall it depends imo

I personally like city the best because each villain kind of has their own building if not section of the map it’s a big enough map to do plenty of things in and it’s easy to remember where you are going because of the way they split up the map with the different villains and their territory

The Arkham island map fit the darkness of the Arkhamverse it was so creepy and honestly imo Arkham Asylum can pass as a horror game🤷🏿‍♂️ but Arkham City was perfect and it did the most Gotham thing I could think of😂

10:09 Isn’t Christmas also the theme for one of Tim Burton’s Batman film too?

If you go on founders island or Miagani and look closely you can see Arkham city in the background and one of the riddles includes Arkham Island. So it also includes all the other games in some way

That cutaway to the Cheez Itz was the most random thing haha

My first vid I've watched from you thanks to the almighty RU-vid Algorithm, and insta-sub. Nice work.

I love the gameplay of city but the map makes it hard to replay because I feel like I’m running in circles the whole time. Like it’s a giant horse shoe but it would have been better if it were a different shape

My favorite is asylum and my least favorite that i was surprised was not brought up in this video was the god damn bridge that was unnecessarily long, how the top of it was arkham city being reused, plus how origins changed the inside of sionis steel mill cause the area you use to get to the drug lab in the basement is an elevator shaft in city, and how joker and harley met in blackgate instead of the asylum, but other than those its good, to get to certain areas in knight like the pretty dolls parlor, langstroms lab, and the mall entrance to arkham knight hq was a little difficult while it was much easier to navigate asylum and city

did anyone else feel a sadness like no other after jumping off wonder tower only to realise its a separate area and you can't divebomb down to arkham city

"Batman can beat godzilla." Simply based

Personally I think Asylum had the best map design mainly because of how you go from section to section of the island as you progress the story. May be bleak after you beat the game but even then it’s still atmospheric

I really think the Asylum was the best map design, nothing felt wasted in that map, it didn't have the same unique and somewhat colorful look of the city, but it felt well-utilized.

Asylum is more of a hub world with a map than a map,city has a horseshoe shape that is really clunky;it's super inconvenient to have to go all the way around to go from the bowery to the steel mill instead of going straight,origins is a bone shape split with the bridge which sucks to traverse,knight I believe has the best map;the bridges are shorter with alt routes and it gives you alot of freedom when traveling but city is condensed with a trophy or riddle every 6 feet so I'd say it has the best collectible placement.

Tbh the games remind me of the generations of movies. You have asylum like the 90 films, you have city and Nolan’s, and then you have Arkham knight and the Batman. Everytime a game or movie came out it was divisiveness, but I like to just love them all for what they are and how I can go to any of them and experience Batman in whatever way I want. Arkham knight is great at making you feel like the Batman , evening the odds , fighting on your terms, and defending a whole city ripe with lore that fills it with life. Asylum is excellent at experiencing what it is to fight against Batman’s rogues in a setting that is horrifying and is also my personal favorite. City is the staple mark of this series for good reason, every place is so memorable for sure and the map is fun to free roam. As much as I love the Batmobile it just felt like it was required far too often and with its design limited it to skins specific to it otherwise you couldn’t utilize it full potential and I really love just cruising in the 69 Batmobile man it’s sick 😂 my point being no matter which is the best, I think they all have something special about them that makes them the best at allowing you to experience Batman exactly how those games are designed around him being. No matter which you play though , it’s always a great time I fucking love these games man they’re timeless. I’m replaying the trilogy rn and am getting origins again for my pc soon, but fr though can we talk about Lego Batman’s level design being god tier ? The first one is my childhood man haha

Personally to me, Arkham City & Arkham Knight are the best maps simply because during my play through, I barely ever have to use the map. The level design is so distinctive that I can always tell where I am at any given moment. Also as great as Arkham Asylum’s map is I think the critical flaw with it is that there’s really nothing to do after you beat the main story and get all the Riddler trophies. Maybe there was responding enemies It could help its case? Like imagine if you return to the hospital wing and there’s a predator map ready for you at any time or maybe some random joker henchman are gathered in the outdoor sections talking about how crazy it is that Batman defeated Titan Joker just for you to glide kick into them and start a fight.

"Batman can beat Jiren" 😭💀 *12:17*

Arkham City is my favorite set design because it reminded me of escape from NY where the whole city is a prison.

take a shot for every “metroidvania”

I absolutely loved origins map whenever I played it as a kid, the idea of people in their homes feet away from you, as you’re beating the shit out of criminals on their rooftop. However, traveling across the map was terrible and had they left out fast travel, it would have been nearly unplayable. The amount of side quests made traveling that specific map more enjoyable as well.

Origins was always my fav. Have my sub for being a man of taste

Metroidvania-esque puzzle design

12:18 what's with the "Batman can beat Jiren"? 😂

Will you do a video discussing what it would look like if all four Arkham games were combined into one giant map?!

can you do a dlc ranking

I really like Arkham City in Origins. They definitely made it feel like an older but more in use version of the city. I think the only issue I have with it is that it felt like they just copy pasted it then edited it because the wall is like a 3rd removed, which kind of takes me out of it a bit. It's like they started removing it then gave up halfway through. I honestly played Origins before any of the others and was so confused on why there was a giant wall in that area. Wasn't until I played City that I realised and thought it was kind of funny.

Gotham Knights as it more closely resembles the most commonly used comic Gotham map from No Man's Land. By no means exact but closer.

Bro did not take a break in the middle of the video to explain the concept of a museum

“Batman can beat Zeno” bro just hid that in the subtitles huh

Arhkam Origins is definitely underrated

The movie Batman Returns was set during Christmas.

Despite City's horseshoe layout, it had more distinct areas and buildings than Knight. You could tell whose territory you were heading into just by seeing the designs and henchmen. Personally though, whenever I'm in the Asylum, I always feel some cold fingers massaging my shoulders because of how creepy that atmosphere is.

As much as I would like to Asylum get an Arkham Knight level makeover, I do like the fact that Asylum has a slightly more comic book-ish look to it.

The background of Arkham City. I would turn gravity off and explore that area. In my headcanon that part of gotham is another part of Gotham and we don’t see it in Knight. Bruce Wayne has 3 towers in Knight. Wayne Tower, Wayne International plaza and the Wayne Enterprise building from the background of Arkham City.

I still find it crazy Asylum is in the same universe as Knight, which isn't a bad thing, it shows how much has just evolved since then

Bro really got those cheez its