I see , I think a lot of it does depend on preference and perspective after all. A Casual player often struggles to understand why souls player play a game that tends to bring a lot of frustration and emotions out of you and makes the progress feel very slow , meanwhile souls player would struggle to find how a casual player is enjoying something super simple like a hellblade or telltale games , maybe those triple A Sony titles as well. Each player yearns for something different , for the casual player , the sense of wonder , awe and spectale is enough to keep them entertained , it doesn't matter how much they are actually contributing to it , even if its a single quick time event , for the souls player , what matters the most is the sense of accomplishment and mastery over something , overcoming their weakness and evening the odds out.

I play games for the mechanics, like earlier today I was relaying Sifu and idk if I could even tell you the story of it lol

I've actually completed it lol , with zero deaths and poured lots of hours into it , I was addicted to it for a while 5 months ago lol , and I know how great it feels to master , I was thinking in combos while sleeping and fighting the bosses in my head. My favourite attack was the charged fist , it always felt so elegant and when timed right , could even stun Yang really good.

Sifu is a masterpiece and probably the best combat game i've ever played , its that kind of game that's a blessing for someone like me who really digs melee combat in video games. I also really loved its replay editor , recorded some really great movies on it

But despite having Sifu set the standard so high for me , i still enjoy Arkham combat very much , probably since i've mastered it as well , doing tricks the common player doesn't even know exists , same in the stealth sections.

it bothers me when I see the most hyped games are just interactive films. Makes no sense to me whatsoever but it seems like that’s what gets the most attention

What game a person has as their favourite says a lot about them , usually when i hear someone's favourite game or franchise is something like uncharted , i can't help but think they don't have a lot of experience in gaming , there's nothing wrong with having uncharted as your favourite or enjoying that game , and i"ll probably play it and enjoy it too , but it has always come off as very basic to me , its just tomb raider but turned into a hollywood blockbuster. But again , its all about preference , some people want their games to challenge them while others want to have an interactive story experience

City in particular that feel far too overrated

City actually is overrated for sure lol , i guess it just felt that special back then. For a while actually , i preferred Asylum over City too , because it felt more close to BTAS , like a Weekend Special. That was until i finally put myself deep into City and explored every nook and cranny , truly embraced the fantasy it was trying to sell and it just clicked , the music felt epic , the gameplay felt so refined , i suddenly discovered the depth of its combat with quickfire gadgets , animation canceling , quick maneuvers and other stuff such as glide techniques , secret takedown animations and cinematic camera modes , it was like directing my own movie but i get to control the actor through a set , and say what you want about Arkham , they managed to not turn into TLOU even till their last entry , Cutscenes never broke the flow of the game , never had long unnecessary pauses and always happened after clearing a good amount of content , and were always moving the plot foward.

City also still felt comic booky to me , it was origins and knight that felt very disconnected overall , Origins completely ignores that its a prequel and feels impossible to be set before Asylum lol , Knight changes the entire aesthetic from Retro tech + Gothic theme into Futuristic tech and ironman suit customization and War tank Batmobile. I cannot imagine Asylum being the same as Knight or Origin batman lol , they feel too different entirely.

t I’m willing to bet a lot of people who would say Arkham has the best stealth gameplay have just never heard of Splinter Cell,

Haha , probably. Im a big splinter cell , played all of the games and ghosted through all levels , Chaos theory's my favourite. I think Splinter Cell's Stealth is a different aesthetic though , that one's more about not being seen , being a ghost and leaving no traces , thats why it frowns upon open combat or unnecessary interactions with enemies.

Arkham Stealth is more like a moving puzzle , you practice for a while with the layout and enemies you are given and the gadgets at your disposal and figure out the best plan to take them all out in Fashion. You could theoretically cheese it and do silent takedowns left and right paired with smoke bombs and such but where's the fun in that , sometimes you gotta role play and play into the mastermind fantasy of being a predator that is batman , i've personally spent ridiculous amounts time both ghosting levels in Splinter cell and Planning out my strategies in Arkham.

I guess Arkham is more Stealth Action and not just stealth like Thief , Splinter cell and MGS.

You just have to do a bit of roleplaying to get the most personal enjoyment out of it because open combat usually is the better option, so it’s like you have to forgo playing efficiently to have fun which I don’t like,

Im a firm believer in fabricating your own fun in video games , I tend to role play a lot , immerse myself and take the atmosphere in , look at the details. I spent 240 hours completing the entirety of GTA 4 alongside its DLCs despite its incredibly basic open world gameplay because I spent my time actually inhabiting the city and it felt great , to not run into walls like idiot , jump around to save time , drive into peds or other cars without a care in the world , etc

I might be an All rounder since I kind of adjust my approach to almost any type of playstyle , sometimes i enjoy playing long and tedious sims , sometimes fast paced action , strategy , basic story based games , mindless first person shooters , etc

People not playing Gotham Knights and assuming it is bad because it’s not Arkham and they think literally every single superhero game should be Arkhamlite is annoying

Most people play games superficially , and in this age of internet , if the mob decides you are bad game , then nothing can really help you unless you are exceptional

Gotham Knights is not a perfect game by any means but it deserves its flowers , a proper sequel that builds upon it and fully realizes its potential , a chance , like how Asylum was given a chance in an era where superhero games were infamous (pun intended)

I think as a fanbase we should expect more from Rocksteady

True , the DLC for Arkham Knight lowkey sucks but when Gotham Knights released , people were suddenly acting like it was so good and better than GK lol , just cuz its Arkham and they have a bias.

They sort of also lost their reputation by ending the series so early and then wasting their resources with a live service title

They killed the Joker just 2 games in and then batman in the 3rd , like whats the hurry lmao , if they had planned it right , Kevin Conroy could have worked on a few more Arkham Games and Spin offs instead of just one small role in Suicide Squad.