Batman the Enemy Within - the Telltale Series Review

The first season of Telltale's Batman did an admirable job creating a version of Gotham different any other, with Bruce Wayne carefully managing his relationships with confidantes and would-be friends when he wasn't punching out thugs in alleyways. Though in that location take been a thousand stories virtually the origin of Batman, Telltale'due south emphasis on how choices dictate allies and enemies made this version particularly compelling. Having established this anything-goes version of Batman's world, the second season focuses on his greatest nemesis: the Joker.

This 2nd outing starts off rough, with the Riddler showing upwardly in Gotham city to wreak havoc in a killing spree. He'south soon joined by fan favorites Amanda Waller, Harley Quinn, and a host of rogues from Batman'south universe. Telltale puts too many moving pieces on the lath, and tedious puzzles and ludicrous plot twists (similar one involving an undisguised Bruce Wayne having to infiltrate a group of supervillains) made me question whether the set-up would ever pay off.

About midway through the flavor, something special happens: The majority of puzzles and superfluous plot threads disappear, and the relationship betwixt the Joker (a.yard.a. John Doe) and Batman takes heart stage. Doe is shut to Harley and provides a way to gain her trust. However, he's also mentally unstable, childlike, and badly wants to to earn your affection and respect. The way my interactions unfolded with the clown prince made it feel like this relationship was a living thing, constantly taking new shape, wriggling merely beyond my control thanks to Doe's unpredictable reactions.

At its core, The Enemy Within is a series of ethical dilemmas centered on friendship, and all those scenarios build to something fascinating and explosive. Merely who is John Doe to me? Is he my friend? Someone I'yard using for my ain personal gain? Is he an irredeemable psychopath, or a man who can use his talents to fight for the greater good? These questions are all Joker-centric concepts that the Batman comics accept tackled earlier, only The Enemy Within shines considering it puts usa in control of sculpting this iconic character.

Telltale has received plenty of earned criticism over the years regarding choices with too footling touch on, with series that effectively end in the same mode no thing what players practise. The Enemy Within upends that. Depending on your interactions with Doe throughout the series, his eventual transformation serves as a goad for the finale, with ii radically different Jokers that lead to carve up (still equally satisfying) conclusions. The concluding episode in the series completely changes, with unique episodes telling completely different stories depending on whether or non Joker has joined you as a vigilante or become your nemesis. Both of those paths end whatever side you've chosen with thrilling (and heartbreaking) finales that perfectly cap off your chance through Gotham.

For my part, I felt torn. I tried to serve Gotham, but I also saw John Doe as a person. I wanted to believe he could be skillful, not just considering that would exist an interesting twist, merely considering the Doe'southward label and dialog is and so well done that I was sympathetic to him at all times. Bruce and John also have a buddy-comedy chemical science, with Doe oftentimes wide-eyed and making goofy jokes that provide stark contrast to Bruce's stoic nature.

The second flavour'south writing has a surprising amount of craft behind information technology. I felt like every decision I made was a poor one, just I wasn't forced into that box in an artificial mode. Bruce and John are ii people who detect themselves in an awful state of affairs. They have unlike needs from one another and from society as a whole, and what emerges from that combination is disastrous and middle-wrenching, simply besides compelling.

Beyond superb storytelling, the more traditionally gamey (and oft criticized) elements of Telltale'south oeuvre also amend with that halfway bespeak story switch. The puzzles all simply disappear, and the quick-fourth dimension gainsay scenes have an enjoyable level of creativity, with brutality backed past convincing sound blueprint. These improvements help the story jet along at a nice pacing toward end, refusing to let any obstacle stand between you lot and the unfolding story.

Despite a flawed first, The Enemy Within emerges as i of Telltale's all-time series and 1 of my favorite narrative-focused games in years. It goes all-in on allowing players to shape the intricacies of Joker and Bruce's relationship, and it pays off marvelously. As the game sped toward its memorable and cute conclusion(southward), I couldn't assistance but just think how smart the serial was, manipulating my emotions much in the same way I had manipulated John. As the credits rolled on my second playthrough, I still felt a lingering desire to dive back in from the commencement, not to see if any of new choices would dramatically shift the story but instead to experience this powerfully told story one last fourth dimension.

Note: This review is an overview of all five episodes of Batman: The Enemy Within. You can read individual episode breakup here:

Episode 1: The Enigma
Episode 2: The Pact
Episode iii: Fractured Mask
Episode 4: What Ails You lot
Episode 5: Same Stitch

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Source: https://www.gameinformer.com/games/batman_the_enemy_within/b/playstation4/archive/2018/03/30/batman-the-enemy-within-review-the-thrill-and-terror-of-making-monsters.aspx

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