Batman: The Telltale Series

So, according to Telltale Games, the new Batman episodic series is:

"At Telltale, we’ve been honored to bring our unique approach to interactive storytelling to some of the biggest entertainment franchises in the world, and we’re excited to announce that we’ll soon be exploring what it means to be Batman in an all-new series starting next year,” announced Telltale CEO and co-founder Kevin Bruner, in a press release. “This iteration of Batman will give fans a first-hand opportunity to dive deeper into the complex life and mind of Bruce Wayne, the duality of his own identity, and the struggle of responsibility in saving a city overcome with corruption and villainy.”

You know what I would like? A Batman mystery where he isn't facing one of the Rogue's Gallery, but just a crime story against a mob kingpin. It doesn't have to be Bane/Joker, Joker/Bane, Catwoman/everyone. Seriously. Those tales are DULL.

Or, maybe a soap opera Batman game, where he must pick between Salina, Talia, Pamela, or Floozy #3, who thinks you spell "engagement" with an "I". "Ingagement!" Okay, that idea is not serious, but it still would be hilarious.

If Batman's villains aren't part of it, then why bother? It may as well be a second season of The Wolf Among Us at that point.

Which I'm also hoping they're working on, but Batman will hold me over for now.

This really caught me off guard when they announced it last night at the VGA.

I'm not opposing the idea of a Batman game by Telltale, but what about that Marvel game they announced a while back? That's still a thing, right?

You'd think people would be tired of Batman by now

Even Beware The Batman did this better. It only used obscure batman villains as thinly-veiled expies of popular classic villains.

I'm thinking Hush would be a good villain for this, since he's never been a major villain in a non-comics thing before.

I'm guessing it's more an early-days-of-Batman-possibly-first-interactions-with-Joker-and-Catwoman kind of thing, given that the aesthetic of the trailer is very 1940s.

Some of the best Batman tales have just been against a normal crime boss. Heck, that's how the Matches Malone character started.

edited 4th Dec '15 8:56:37 PM by AnotherGuy

Really wishing this was a Superman game instead, or in addition to. As far as I'm concerned, Batman is overexposed in games right now. The Arkham series drove him into the ground.

Meanwhile, a Telltale style adventure game sidesteps ALL the traditional problems preventing a good Superman game by taking the focus off action and putting it on a narrative, his interactions with people and his effect on the world around him. You can have Supes do anything during QT Es, where failure is making the wrong split second decision, rather than masked thugs depleting his "health bar" by hitting him with crowbars. Making a game about Clark and Lois investigating a story as opposed to how many street thugs the Man of Steel can repetitively fight while under the effects of a kryptonite fog is the best bet you're ever going to have for a good Superman game without nerfing his abilities down for the sake of game mechanics.

In my ideal world, they'd be letting big blue have a crack at this first. Not that I think Bats fans shouldn't get a TT game themselves, but I wont be getting it and will just be hoping it leads to more DC partnerships down the road.

I'm looking forward to it but it could easily be a game about the Question. Because Telltale games revolve around looking for clues and trying to tell when people are lying so I can see why they chose Batman he is the World's Greatest Detective.

Making a challenging game about investigative reporting and deduction is kind of hard when your star is a man who can hear and see across the planet and through buildings, and can detect if you're lying by listening to your heartbeat.

For a second, I thought you were talking about Daredevil, but then I realized you were talking about Superman.

Doy.

A Superman adventure game would revolve around MORAL choices.

A superman game would need Asuras Wrath esque set pieces to work, really.

Not necessarily. Daily Planet, etc. A Superman game would focus on Clark and his personal life.

I wonder if you even control Batman. Maybe you will play as a cop in the Major Crimes Unit. I would love to see favorites from Gotham Central like Rene Montoya dealing with the lower-tier rogues like Maxie Zeus

Batman seems like a pretty good choice for this type of game, seeing how many different versions of his character there are. You could have the choice between going Adam West, Frank Miller or anything in between.

The press release explicitly states you play Bruce, and the game deals with his mindset.

Oh good. I still hope we get to solve a mystery, like in Wolf Among Us.

Really? Do you mean as in you can decide whether Batman a feared and hated violent vigilante, or respected and beloved by the GCPD and people of Gotham?

I think it would be difficult to write a game that is both Silver Age AND Dark Age in tone. Since Batman and his villains have to reflect each other, I wonder if they change depending on your choices as well? Like if they act more violent if you play it more violent.

Holy shit that would awesome. And an ambitious break from the Telltale formula where your choices can hardly matter.

edited 10th Dec '15 5:02:08 PM by jenkind1

I bet you anything that there'll be a choice of if to kill the Joker or not.

I'm not sure if I like this because Batman has very rigid and defined morals and those don't always relate well to RP Gs.

I hope not, I hate it when writers try to put batman in a situation where he's forced to kill or have him use guns to show how dangerous a villain is. Batman is supposed to be so smart he can always find another way.

Unless they go the Killing Joke route. That was at least a whole story leading up to Batman (supposedly) killing the Joker.

edited 10th Dec '15 5:37:10 PM by jenkind1

I'm seriously bored of the Joker.

I'm also tired of the Joker having a major presence in Batman games. The stories of Arkham City and Arkham Knight suffered because of the focus on Joker. Arkham Origins story is still good even with the Joker focus, but it's still not what I would have wanted.

, i agree.

it isn't going to happen, but i would seriously not mind the Joker being shelved for a few years and see writers work with different characters for a while.