The first episode of Telltale Games’ take on Batman introduced us to the various lives that one man, Bruce Wayne, lives. Juggling friendships and partnerships from the likes of Harvey Dent and Oswald Cobblepot would seem strange in most Batman tales, but the first episode did a great job laying down those foundations. Another facet of Bruce Wayne done well was Batman, both in terms of combat and in terms of devising plans. With Episode Two, “Children of Arkham”, we start to see the blending of these lives, and the ground work for what is obviously to come.
The seeds of Episode One build up this implication that the Wayne family may not be as wholesome and prestigious as originally thought, and “Children of Arkham” expounds upon that implication further. At the same time, the titular Children of Arkham provide interesting twists to traditional Batman canon. While familiar names with ultimately lead to familiar paths, new wrinkles in the fabric of Batman storytelling and changes to conventional lore have me captivated.
While shorter, I think Children of Arkham really does a great job of both paying off some of what the first episode promised, and setting up future conflict, as any good middle-ish chapter does. The core gameplay loop of Telltale games still goes strong, with quicktime events and fast-paced responses haven’t quite lost their charm.
Visually, it’s not much of an improvement from newer Telltale offerings. Evidence linking and plotting out courses of action are still in force.
Overall, this is an interesting middle chapter that has lots of potential looking forward. This game’s not getting a lot of attention in the gaming zeitgeist, which is a shame, because it’s one of Telltale’s best efforts. With three episodes on the way, Telltale’s laid a very interesting foundation that yearns to be built upon while fixing up some plots introduced in the first episode.