The attention to the finer detail and the right touches are what is required to truly make the game magical amongst a plethora of games that are set to release in the coming year. Let’s look at some of the details that we know about the upcoming release of Hogwarts Legacy:

The Common Rooms

The Gryffindor common room looked the most reminiscent of older games and brought a warm feeling for the player with portraits of older students and board games along with carpeted floors. The Slytherin common room definitely takes the cake for the best-looking entrance. It houses an elaborate snake that animates itself across the entrance, to begin with. It comes with the highest ceilings and a number of fossils and relics that set the mood for the dark dungeon-like rooms. The common room is essentially underwater with tinted glasses that can be peered through to have a look at creatures in the lake. The engravings on the wall give it a very dark and dingy feel but also provide the space with a lot of history and personality. Ravenclaw being the house of the smart and inquisitive, rightfully has expanses of sprawling bookcases and a central chamber that doubles down as a glass dome to look into the open sky. The final Hufflepuff common room looks the coziest and magical with wood-paneled interiors and enchanted shrubbery littering the premises.

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New items, Side missions & Usable Dark Arts

Each of the common room trailers features the player wearing a house-specific variant of their robes. There is a way to gain access to these ‘house fanatic robes’. Simply link your Harry Potter fan account to your Warner Bros. Games account to receive a few other special rewards along with the robes. The recent footage shown at the Gamescom event follows a side mission that seems very elaborately written. Community manager, Chandler Wood confirms on Twitter that this is indeed just a optional side mission- opening up expectations to players that the main quest lines would be a lot more detailed. The quest follows a Slytherin character called Sebastian Cello who is trying to reverse a curse that is ailing his family. He believes researching Salazar Slytherin and their dark secrets in Hogwarts’ premises would somehow help his case. The PlayStation State of Play event introduced the mechanic where the player is able to learn different spells from companions across the story line. No spells are out of reach as the option to learn dark magic which are prohibited by the Wizarding law is also in reach of the player to use in the game.

Morality System, Quidditch & Exclusive Content

The game’s FAQ clearly states that there will not be a morality system built in-game as it could hinder the openness of the players’ free will. But instead, it is put across that players will indeed encounter a number of quests and storylines throughout the duration of the game that will directly influence the witch or wizard they choose to become. It sounds like the same mechanic from Witcher 3, where one is able to make important decisions in dialogue and actions that does not inevitable provide a light and dark side meter to tell a player if they are doing the right thing. This directly ties in with the house that the player is put into by the sorting hat in the beginning of the game.

A recently updated FAQ on the game states that unfortunately, the wizard sport of Quidditch will not be playable in this game. Although that is the case, the player can indeed use brooms to traverse the huge expanse of the game and for broom races. Subsequently, the player is also able to take flying lessons to master the movement and experience the joy of flying around the game.

The game’s pre-orders are already live, where the game has exclusive content on PlayStation which includes an additional mission that is not available on other platforms. This mission is not tied to pre-orders, and is set to be about a haunted store in the town of Hogsmead. Pre-orders on the PlayStation to the Felix Felicis Potion recipe (the luck potion) which is set to be a boost to item drop modifiers and critical chances in combat for a limited period of time. Every pre-order of the game whether it is PC or console, will get access to the Onyx Hippogriff mount which seems like an exciting change to only traversing on broomsticks. The community has had mixed views on the contents of the collector’s edition. More specifically, the physical content that came with the collector’s edition. The digital content of the same includes everything from the digital deluxe edition that has the Dark Arts cosmetic pack, an exclusive dark arts battle arena and a Thestral mount- which is the only way one can get access to this particular beast. Alongside this, the collector’s edition has a steel case and a life-size magnetic wand with a spell book that doubles down as a floating base for the wand.

Delve into a Magical World of Wizardry

Hogwarts Legacy’s minimum requirements are put down with a a processor of Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, 8GB RAM with a GPU of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 or AMD RX Vega 56 to run the game on 1080p in the lowest settings. This high precedence in system requirements warrants the game’s release performance to being slightly buggy as other games like Cyberpunk 2077 which had similar requirements crashed on PC upon release.

Either this game is going to look absolutely incredible upon launch or it is going to be un-optimized. This is unlikely as the game has already been delayed over six months since it’s initial release date. This could also imply that they are focusing less development time on the PC version so as to ensure that the console releases go smoothly in the first cycle of release. With Sony investing in a lot of exclusive content and marketing schemes for Hogwarts Legacy’s release, the game will be most suited to play on the PlayStation 5.

What do you think about the early looks of one of the most anticipated releases of 2022? What was your favorite part of the gameplay in Hogwarts Legacy? Let us know down in the comments!

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Big Shoes to Fill

Targeting a holiday window for its release in 2017, Assassin’s Creed: Origins had a lot to live up to. Apart from being an entertaining action game, that an Assassin’s Creed title is expected to be, the game also carried the responsibility of re-inventing the franchise and breathe some fresh air, drifting away from the then somewhat stale action-stealth genre. It was a tall order, and the cynicism from fans and critics alike were understandable thanks to the bad taste left by AC: Unity not too long ago. Early leaks suggesting that the new game will take inspiration from The Witcher 3 also left more doubts in the minds of fans than warranted. But then, the game was shown in all of its glory at E3. The change in direction was very noticeable, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The game still had stealth mechanics, and its core combat looked quite fun. Then there was the setting. The ancient Egypt featured in the demo had little variety in the visuals, but what was on display did impress, particularly on the then new-to-market Xbox Series X. But this was all still an E3 demo. And there were still questions like whether or not a story set in ancient Egypt will be on par with the other historical settings from past games, and if playing as a character who wasn’t an Assassin, will be as much fun as playing as the series’ other protagonists. These were questions that could only be answered upon release.

Related Read: The 10 Most Memorable E3 Moments in the Past 10 Years

A Stellar Launch

The game released a few months later, to stellar reviews. Origins garnered universal acclaim for its approach towards mission structures, open world design choices, the setting and story as a whole. It was clear that Ubisoft was focused on crafting a game that resonated with AC fans, while providing completely different gameplay experience. The open world was much larger than past games in the series while also being a visual spectacle. In the process Ubisoft had crafted one of their best-looking worlds yet, with a story that is enthralling with big moments, while also being grounded and more personal for the protagonist Ba-Yek. But these were just the general takes from various media outlets. To understand what all of this meant, one had to pick up the controller and experience the game for themselves.

But Why Was Origins So Good, Really?

I have never been as glad to have given a chance to a videogame as I did for AC: Origins. As a big fan of old school AC games, my skepticism towards an RPG Assassin’s Creed was fueled with relative ease. But the E3 demo did enough to sway me towards trying Origins. After an hour into the game, it was clear that Assassin’s Creed: Origins was in every way an Assassin’s Creed game, only evolved to serve a gameplay style that fit well with the genre it adopted. The combat which had a fair amount of depth, the stealth mechanics which now relied on its environments in a much more organic way, and the mission structures which gave the player a certain level of freedom was all accommodated thanks to the new gameplay style. And they all worked rather well complimenting each other in the moment-to-moment gameplay. But these are just things that one can see on first glance. Stick with the game however, and the many nuances of the game add up to an experience that can only be described as spectacular. From the many species of wildlife that tie into the crafting system, the NPCs that have dedicated day and night life routines, AI that dynamically reacts to the player’s actions in the environment, the stellar lighting, the unreal water physics, the mirages that appear during prolonged travel times in the desert, all lead to various unscripted moments of awe.

And all of it compliment the main story of Ba-Yek. A Medjay to his people, a husband who loves his wife deeply, and a loving father, are some of the facets we see of this fascinating character who serves as the driving force of the story. Without getting into spoilers, I can say that the story in AC: Origins does a fantastic job of justifying the motivations of a humble man which drive his evolution into an Assassin who eventually initiates the brotherhood of Assassins. Then there are the side-quests that are much more meaningful than what was seen at least in its time, weaving into multiple plot threads and occasionally into the main story. The game often, rather effortlessly, displays the astounding amount of work that has gone into creating this world and characters. And that is what makes Origins much more than the sum of its parts. While other entries in the series sometimes feel like a by-the-numbers open world game, you don’t get that with Origins, which is what makes the game as good as it is.

But Wait…..

All of this is not to say that the game was without its issues. Origins was still prone to the bugs that often plague open world games, especially ones that are as large as this one. But none of those issues were game breaking. They were even amusing to a certain degree, at least at launch. That said, I have to also address that these bugs still prevail. The game recently launched on GamePass with updated visuals and 60 fps support. Even with this patch, and nearly five years after release, the game still had bugs, and were more frequent than I recall. Hopefully these are fixed sooner than later.

If we consider all of the games in the series in retrospect, Origins might make my top five list, but certainly not my first pick. That honor goes to Black Flag, probably due to nostalgia, mostly. The second pick would be AC: Odyssey, only because it features one of the most charismatic protagonists ever since Ezio, and of course that Spartan Kick. Origins is special for different reasons. It had a big mission to accomplish, and it did that with confidence while looking spectacular. It is games like these that instill trust among players towards the creators and their publishers. Assassin’s Creed games are mostly a once-a-year affair and an entry like Origins makes the wait for the next one that much harder. There is not better compliment to a game than that.

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So, that was our take on Assassin’s Creed: Origins. What was your favorite AC game? Do sound off in the comments.

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Assassin’s Creed: Unity

Assassin’s Creed: Unity was the first game in the series to be launched exclusively for the then next gen consoles and PC. Early teasers and developer updates promised stellar graphics, advanced AI with massive crowds of NPCs, a seamless co-op experience, in a world featuring a 1 to 1 representation of Paris during a key moment in history. All of this sounds too ambitious on paper, but Ubisoft had done great things with the franchise in the past, so pulling all this together was certainly within the realms of possibility. But, in hindsight it is safe to say that Unity fell victim to its own ambitions. To start with, Ubisoft realized that an ambitious title like Unity can only be possible on next gen hardware, but the company did not want to lose sales on the hundreds of millions of PS3s and Xbox 360s at the time. And hence, for the first time in the history of the franchise two Assassin’s Creed games were being developed targeting the same year. Assassin’s Creed: Rogue was the other title released in 2014 for the then last gen consoles. Even with a larger resource pool it wasn’t enough to bring both games to completion in time for the holiday launch in 2014. Upon release Assassin’s Creed: Rogue performed better technically and was in-line with the previous games in the series. Unity, however, had launched in a state that was less than ideal for any game to release, to put it mildly. Characters’ faces were missing, the in-game crowds were glitchy and the game was not able to detect collision during parkour sections.

These were just few of the many issues with the game at launch. Considering this was one of the most anticipated games of the year, these issues quickly magnified the game’s reputation as an unplayable mess at the time, turning it into a meme of sorts. Today, eight years later, Unity has somewhat seen a resurrection from players now that all the issues have been fixed and it remains one of the most beloved games by its community.

Fallout 76

Bethesda is a company that has had very few missteps considering the large library of games it develops and publishes. The company, especially the development studio, has enjoyed massive acclaim for being pioneers in storytelling, thanks to games like Elder Scrolls Morrowind, Skyrim, Fallout 3 and 4 to name a few. But its games were not without its issues. Like many games of such scale and premise, Bethesda’s games had bugs and issues that often occur during a typical playthrough of the game. However, these were largely insignificant and were overlooked by fans, going as far as stating that these issues were “charming in a Bethesda sort of way” and were “part of the experience in a Bethesda game”. Such was the goodwill earned by the company thanks to the amazing experiences they had produced over the decades in the industry. But all that good will was nearly lost with the release of Fallout 76. The first proper multiplayer experience from a studio that most made large single player experience, made in an already aging in-house engine, that was tailor made for single player experiences. The huge promises made by creator Todd Howard, during the E3 prior to release did not help matters. His quote “It simply works” from that E3 presentation turned into a meme shortly after the release of Fallout 76.

It was very evident that the game and the engine on which it was built were not ready to handle the intricacies of a multiplayer experience. Videos of bugs from the game flooded the internet, but the company was not ready to fully acknowledge these issues at the time. Even today, Fallout 76 remains a unique case study in the industry. The game is in a better state now, but many are still surprised that it still has a player base. Not to mention subscribers to its 100$ a year premium experience. This is a shame considering what the Fallout name meant prior to the release of Fallout 76. The future of the franchise looks bright though, as the company is now under the quality centric hands of Microsoft.

WWE 2K20

Probably one of the worst offenders in the list, there are many reasons how WWE 2K20 ended up releasing in a state that it did. This game had a unique set of issues during its development. Thanks to disagreements between longtime developer of the franchise Yukes and its publisher at the time 2K, the development for 2K20 was handed over to a different team. Visual concepts, who had assisted Yukes on various WWE projects, were now handed the full responsibility of releasing the game with just a few months of development time. It is important to understand that any videogame, sports or otherwise, take well over a year or two once it begins full production. Even, out of the pre-production phase and into full development, the time offered to the new team was nowhere close to sufficient while the company pushed for the release of the game, the same year. What is even worse is that although the new team had assisted Yukes in the past, they lacked the knowledge of developing the game in many key areas.

After a short delay from the originally announced date, the game finally released and to no one’s surprise the game was, simply put, unfinished. Videos of bugs in this game soon flooded the internet, making the character monstrosities in found in Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Fallout 76 look tame in the process. As a consequence of these events, WWE did not push for a follow up to 2K20, and for the first time in about two decades there was no annual WWE game in 2020. WWE 2K22 had since launched in March 2021, and while it had its own quirks, it fared much better than the company’s previous iteration.

GTA trilogy – Definitive edition

A typical conversation about a Rockstar game is usually a mix of high praises, with a lot of passion for the game in discussion. Over the course of the last couple of decades, Rockstar have made some of the best games in the industry ranging from cult classics like The Warriors, racers like Midnight club, with the occasional detour like Rockstar presents Table Tennis, while also creating pop culture phenomenon like the Grand Theft Auto series. Through all these games, Rockstar has had one key aspect as a consistent theme. Quality! Whether in the form of writing, mission designs, game mechanics or its open worlds, the company has ensured that their games, however big or small, met a certain quality standard. Fans rejoiced when the company announced the definitive edition of classic GTA games in one package. While GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas had been remastered before, the idea of a definitive versions for these storied games seemed like something that everybody would appreciate. But concerns began to rise when there was little to no footage shown, and the one trailer released featured no gameplay. Not to mention, the character looked like weird. But, owing to Rockstar’s pedigree and the inherent expectation of high-quality, fans such as myself still waited in anticipation. When the game released though, what we got was nothing close to the original’s quality.

Many of the game’s mechanics were broken, the open world lacked any kind of visual fidelity expected out of a definitive edition, all the characters had soft round edges and looked cartoony, the rain effect were downright ghastly and greatly affected visibility in game, and the list goes on. To, Rockstar’s credit they did add various quality of life improvements to each of the three games in the series, but the game’s issues were so prominent that some publications even questioned if Rockstar themselves revere their games as much as the fans do, owing to how poorly three of the most influential and groundbreaking games, not only in the GTA series but the industry in general, have been treated. Today, after various patches and bug fixes since, the game is still not without issues and people find it hard to recommend.

Cyberpunk 2077

When you go through a list like this, you know that Cyberpunk 2077 would show up at some point. This is still hard to fathom as Cyberpunk had all the signs pointing towards a world class product. One that provides an immersive dystopian world to play with, filled with compelling characters, innovative gameplay, and a gripping story. Afterall, this game was made by CD Project Red, the makers of the much-revered Witcher series. Their last major release The Witcher 3 and its expansions stand tall as one of the most beloved and best reviewed games to date. So, it stands to reason that Cyberpunk 2077 was expected to be one of the most talked about games in its time. Despite its extremely long development time, which is typically a red flag, the high expectations towards the game were further solidified, thanks to an amazing E3 demo and an impressive trailer when the game was closer to an originally set launch date. Anticipation only grew higher thanks to numerous delays citing more “polish” to the game. It looked like there was nothing in the way of Cyberpunk 2077 to become the Game of the Year for everyone around the world. And then, the game released!

There is no easy way to chronicle the fallout following the release. The game was buggy to the point that it was sometimes unplayable. And this is on a decent spec PC hardware. On lower end PCs and last gen consoles like PS4 and Xbox One however, the game was just unfinished. Some notable gameplay features seen in the E3 gameplay footage had been removed from the game. And the game rarely resembled the details seen in the trailer. Angry tweets, YouTube rants, memes, all dominated the conversations on the game. PlayStation was forced to remove the game from its store front, a move that Sony had never done due to a situation like this. And many users from other platforms claimed refunds. Over a year and a half after its release, the game is in a much better position today. But this came at a cost. The next-gen versions of The Witcher 3 had to be delayed. So were the planned DLCs for Cyberpunk and its own next gen versions as well. CD Project Red also took a hit financially with the company now only worth ¼ of what was prior to the release of the game, all attributing towards the fallout of Cyberpunk’s release. But perhaps the biggest loss for the company is its reputation and the good will it had with its player base. Something that takes years to garner, and just one botched release to lose.

And that was the list. What all these games have in common is their lack of acknowledgement to QA feedback. And for that the entities making these games have suffered both financially and through bad reputation. The worst part is that these issues could have been avoided with a little extra muscle in the QA department, and some extra time. Cyberpunk 2077’s trailer famously touted the phrase “Coming: When it’s Ready”. And this should be the mantra followed by all developers. But, today most developers, even the ones who added that quote in the trailer have fallen prey to misjudging the game’s state. As a QA myself, I can vouch that no game is perfect during development. And no game is truly finished, as one can keep improving it in perpetuity. There is a thin line between when a game is considered ready to launch, and when the game still needs work. Companies need to figure out when they reach that line, without keeping fiscal revenue goals in mind. If some companies can do it and deliver excellent quality games consistently. All can.

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There is an increasing need for services such as game compliance testing as it can directly impact the reception of the game in the beginning parts of their releases. Let’s delve into the continuation of ranking every assassin’s creed game to exist and see how they have progressed over the years:

6. Assassin’s Creed: Origins

This was the entry into the role-playing game format of assassin’s creed games and there has been a mixed reception to it for that very reason. Ubisoft decided to completely change up the formula from the franchise being a character-driven action-adventure genre to an open-world role-playing game. This implied that the game was going to be a lot bigger in scope and the stories are going to be a lot more in number as the side-missions and the sprawling world can have mysteries to discover for months on end. Origins has a very strong connective thread that links back to the previous games but is also very new in terms of story-telling and gameplay mechanics. As compared to the other two RPG titles from Part 1, the story and characters are much better fleshed out as there are no options in dialogue. The narrative team and the animation team have richly animated characters and the setting, wherein different parts of Ancient Egypt can be explored to the players’ content. The eery feeling of exploring darkened tombs is contrasted with beautiful sceneries with oases and enemy encampments in the desert.

5. Assassin’s Creed 3

This game came out at the most opportune time as it was the first title, I got to play on a Playstation 3. Along with vast open-world areas and a heart-wrenching story about American History, the player gets to journey along with Connor and his struggles with being an aboriginal in a world of Americans. AC 3 ties in a strong philosophical question about race and familial relationships that no other title in the series has done better. There are many iconic moments in the game that makes one question whether the assassins’ intentions are actually good all the time. The combat is one of the most satisfying in the series with brutal finishers and good options of gadgets that can be toggled between which can double down as hunting weapons for crafting purposes.

4. Assassin’s Creed: 2

Assassin’s Creed 2 is unanimously most fans’ favorite assassin’s creed title of all time. This is for good reason; it marks the beginning of Ezio’s journey to becoming a master assassin towards the end of the three-part series. It also ended up being the core identity of the whole assassin’s creed series and has remained that way even in the face of newer releases.

Along with personalities such as Leonardo da Vinci being a friend and a mentor figure, it weaves real-life elements into the setting in ancient Italy that is to this day iconic of the franchise. As any sequel should, this game took elements such as the hidden blade in the first release and made it even better by giving dual hidden blades to the player to use. An improved story and being able to use a gun along with experiencing Ezio’s 20-year revenge story to becoming a full-fledged assassin, this game allows the player to explore the origin story of one of the most beloved characters in video game history.

3. Assassin’s Creed: Unity

Assassin’s Creed Unity is the modern vision for the assassin fantasy realized before it was changed forever with Origins. The game could have benefited from a longer release cycle so it was more polished but it is one of the few assassin’s creed titles that deliver on the dream of being an assassin. The game looks and feels incredible as it takes the DNA of the previous games and pushes the boundaries further to what is true to the identity of the series. There are crowd events and explorable indoors that are complimented by multiple paths to missions and opportunities to create new playable experiences in most missions across the game. The fluid animations and traversal along with heavy customization available are also accentuated by having multi-player and co-op missions exist in the same game ecosystem.

Unlike Origins, it does not try to rewrite the DNA of the franchise but sticks to the path that the previous releases had taken by feeling like one of the best assassin’s creed experiences to exist. This is a game that was made for people that loved what had come before and also for people who were looking for something interesting enough to delve into for the first time.

2. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Acting as a sequel to Assassin’s Creed 2, Ezio has reached his pinnacle of assassin capabilities. As a fully-fledged assassin, he works with the brotherhood to help citizens fight against atrocities that are caused by templars, fanatics, and the government. Set in Ancient Rome, the city is incredible with the most detailed art direction one can witness in a video game title. There are so many great set pieces and unforgettable side content that can keep one engaged for a good time. The focus on the assassin fantasy is strong, as the game expands on the premises set down by the first title and expands it to new characters and locations with extreme ease and elegance.

The gameplay is mildly dated, but to this day- it is one of the few assassin’s creed titles that holds true as a wholesome experience with being able to do everything that one could imagine an assassin being able to do.

1. Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag

In theory, and according to a lot of fans, this game is not exactly the most heart-felt assassin’s creed title. Even though that is the case, it is at the top of this list for many reasons. It has the most nuanced storytelling for a video game that I’ve ever played. The whole assassin fantasy is not even explored until after a few hours of playing as a mercenary and pirate, but this game tells the story of a vagabond turned hero in the most interesting manner possible. Edward Kenway is one of the most awe-inspiring assassins to exist as the player begins the game, he seems like the most undeserving character to hold praise.

Along the events of the game, he becomes more selfless and caring for his mates and pirate buddies alike. The game is astoundingly beautiful with a ship (the Jackdaw) that he helms through the waters of the West Indies, during the golden age of piracy in the 18^th century. I spent the most time playing this unforgettable game, which represents what Valhalla tries so hard to represent- that is balance two starkly different fantasies. Edward feels like a pirate for the most part, but he also attributes the characteristics of a true assassin. This delicate balance is struck at many points in the game that nails different spots in the world such as towns, jungles, islands, and even underwater. Meandering across the Caribbean, the player gets to meet a number of memorable characters that evoke strong emotions due to the plot points and story beats that are dealt with. 

The newer assassin’s creed games have changed the series for better or for worse. Many fans are let down by the recent releases whilst some think it’s a breath of fresh air. This has been our list of assassin’s creed titles over the years. What did you think of the recent change to a role-playing game format? Is the assassin’s creed franchise losing its identity, or creating a new one worth remembering? Let us know down in the comments!

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This brings into light the necessity of game testing services that can help boost the critical acclaim of triple-A titles in their initial cycle of releases. It is important to note that every fan, casual player, or critic might have a list of their own and the games at the bottom of this list are also worth playing at least once. There are definitely no titles that genuinely fall flat in providing a fun story and experience, but there are games that play more cohesively as compared to others. Assassin’s Creed Chronicles is not included in the list as the game is much smaller in scope and is designed in a completely new format for smaller consoles and shorter play durations.

Here is our ranking of Assassin’s Creed games and details on how they have fared in the last decade:

12: Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla

The last 3 releases in the franchise have been the most debated as the game mechanics have turned from action-adventure games to open-world role-playing games. This changes a lot in terms of how the game plays and how the story and the world are explored. The character dialogues do not do much in terms of bringing the player closer to the character. The promise that was made right before release that this game was going to be the return to classic elements also fell short as it did very little to incorporate older gameplay mechanics like stealth and environment blending. What this game does well is making the player really feel like a Viking by making the gameplay mechanics a lot more brutal and crunchier. The game has a lot to do all the way from raiding monasteries and islands, and the visuals that complement it are a sight to behold. Although the world looks beautiful on newer generation consoles (on 60FPS) the story is disjointed and lacks the charm that older games brought to the fore.

Also Read: The Assassin’s Creed Franchise – IN RETROSPECT

11. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

This game is the most controversial game released in a controversial series. Some people would put this at the very bottom of the list based on principle and love for the original series alone, as critics went to the extent to say it does not deserve to hold the assassin’s creed title. The first nine games are story-centric with a titular character exploring the world in a linear trajectory that the developers create for the player. Odyssey takes the player on a journey through Ancient Greece through the waters of the Mediterranean Sea as a mercenary for hire. Although these are not what the original games were about, Odyssey tries to change things up with a huge and sprawling map. The combat is magical and flamboyant looking for the most part and helps to make fighting look fun with light-hearted side stories that can get a chuckle or two out of a casual player- it is definitely a game one can sink hours into.

10. Assassin’s Creed: Rogue

Rogue deserved a longer run-time with more development into its story being the seventh game in seven years in the series. After Black Flag’s story and open world that could be explored for months on end, fans’ expectations were subverted as the story is about the protagonist being a Templar as opposed to being an assassin. At the end of the day, it does little to dive deeper into the systems that it brings back from the previous game alongside newer features that have little time to shine, Rogue acts as a sequel or an extension to Black Flag wherein the terrain is made of ice and the story ties into both Black Flag and Unity. With a little more time, Rogue could have had its time in the spotlight for a lot longer than it originally did.

9. Assassin’s Creed

This game set the path for every other Assassin’s Creed game and observing it in a vacuum, it might just be the best game in the series. Although that is the case, revisiting it after playing the games that were released gives a much-needed perspective to any returning player. The game’s identity is plain and straightforward with a compelling story set both in the past and present day. Observing the gameplay mechanics with a microscope, one can see that the missions sometimes get repetitive in nature- but this was so only to serve the purpose of the story and the overall experience. The traversal and combat can feel very stiff- which is possibly a result of the game being an answer by Ubisoft to many fans after making Prince of Persia a success. But the dated nature of the game is easily overshadowed by memorable tropes and missions across the duration of the game.  

8. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate

Set in 19^th century London, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate delivers quite a punch with it being the second Assassin’s Creed release on the last generation of consoles. The world and stealth are rock-solid with the game providing a foundational assassin’s creed experience. The protagonists are witty and light-hearted throughout which throws off a returning player as most protagonists have a bit more than their humor to get them through the stories. The rope launcher is a welcome addition as it can be fun rappelling through the extremely huge open world where the buildings are humungous and the architectures are far apart.  The environment is bursting with ambient animations throughout and although the overarching story falls flat- the side characters can be very interesting with historical names such as Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell & Karl Marx.

7. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

This game feels like a worthwhile conclusion to the Ezio trilogy. Although that is the case- it is also one of the more underwhelming assassin’s creed games. It ties a neat bow and brings together the stories of multiple protagonists who exist in the AC franchise, namely- Desmond Miles, Altair Ibn-La’Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze. This trifecta was what the series had fans fall in love with over a period of almost half a decade. The game feels much like the initial release where it is not made based on marketing metrics, but to tell a heartfelt story.  There are new gameplay features such as the hook blade which make the traversal and parkour faster if not smoother. This is the only game in the franchise wherein the player gets to control a gruesome and seasoned assassin. This entails that while playing as Ezio, the player also gets to train other assassins and associates in order to see them help them grow and evolve to be fully fledged assassins. This fleshes out the mentor assassin fantasy in a way that no other assassin’s creed game does while also providing the player with a more mature character with nuanced story writing.

That wraps up the first half of the ranking of every assassin’s creed game released in the last decade. Which ones from this list did you spend the most time with? Look forward to part two of this ranking list where we cover the remaining of the games in detail. Which of the games did you think had the best story? Let us know down in the comments!

The post Ranking Assassin’s Creed Games: Part 1 appeared first on iXie Gaming.

DLCs are usually distributed through the internet by the game’s publisher. It is sometimes for no cost at all or can be used as a form of monetizing on existing games. This is done in order to gain further revenue after a game title has been published- often termed as microtransactions.

It can be challenging for game testers to construct gaming analytics across newer portions of games as they may get developed only after the base game is released. These services are used to understand active player patterns and improve the overall quality and build of the product to maximise the marketing efforts and game retention.

Providing a premium experience is the goal for any triple-A title, wherein the game needs to be thoroughly tested with both its base and DLC content as they release so it can be ensured to be an optimal experience for the end-user.

Here are some our top picks for the most detailed DLCs in games, where the DLCs provided a world for players to get lost in:

No. 5: Kingdom: New Lands & Two Crowns

The New Lands DLC quite literally introduces newer pastures to explore as there is an abundance of content that is accessible with new merchants, characters, mounts and bandits that hail from these lands. There are also newer locations to discover as the obstacles only get more mysterious. The Two Crowns DLC put across the all new cooperative play option that was unavailable to players previously. This lets players choose between a solo adventure or play alongside a friend online or locally- letting them assist your king or queen on their journey to find new lands.

No 4: Mario Kart 8: The Egg & Triforce Cup

Mario Kart is known for its quirky characters and tracks that leave a distinct memory for players to cherish. Along with classic tracks such as the Rainbow Road there were 8 new tracks that were introduced. Taking inspiration from Super Smash Bros. the new DLC is set to step out of the mushroom kingdom alone and introduce characters and maps from other titles such Excitebike and F-Zero. Wave 2 is set to release in August 2022 wherein 8 more tracks are to be introduced following which an enormous number of 40 more tracks are to be accessible through 4 more waves to be slated for the foreseeable future.

Let’s go through the 6 Games that have aged like fine wine

No 3: Witcher 3: Blood and Wine

Witcher 3 is known to have one of the biggest and sprawling maps in gaming history with a very nuanced story. There are many characters and tropes that are picked up throughout the plotline and the DLC Blood and Wine added an entirely new area for players to explore for the first time ever. This expansion featured all new characters, dangerous new monsters & new weapons. Toussaint, the land of wine holds over 32 hours of new journeys and adventures which are very different from what one experiences in Wild Hunt or Hearts of Stone.

Along with surreal monsters coming to life, the player is allowed to also enter a grand tournament to fight knights. This is complimented by being able to dye the armour in different colours using new gear and abilities to live the high fantasy dream life one wishes to lead.

Also Read: Cyberpunk 2077 – The Story with Many Lessons

No 2: Destiny 2

Destiny 2 has had several downloadable expansions that have released in the last few years that are put out almost on an annual basis. Bungie informs its fanbase that they have began production work on the DLC even before the initial release of the game in 2017. This has made it possible to introduce new lands, players, gameplay mechanics and items that can be told with enough forethought in the context of the story and settings. The base game is free to play to all players- but if one wants to experience the story like the developers intended them to, the expansions are a must.

The first year brought to the fore the Curse of Osiris and Warmind- and successively, Forsaken, Shadowkeep, Beyond Light & The Witch Queen have released in the last few years. Forsaken introduced a major rehaul in gameplay that was under heavy scrutiny by players. Shadowkeep takes place on the Moon, Beyond Light on a moon of Jupiter and the Witch Queen on her own planet. Destiny tells stories across the galaxy and is looking to conclude the sage with the next two releases- Lightfall & The Final Shape tentatively slated to release Fall 2022 & 2023 respectively.

No 1: Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course

This run-and-gun video game developed by Studio MDHR follows the titular Cuphead. He is on a mission to follow up on a game he lost at the Devil and is given the responsibility of repossessing the souls of other debtors who have fled the Devil’s grasp. The surrealist quality of the game comes across in the old-school gameplay mechanics and the aesthetics that are used. The game revolves around a line of continuous boss fights with run-and-gun levels sprinkled across the story.

The Delicious Last Course released on the 30^th of June 2022 as an expansion pack. It included Ms. Chalice as a whole new playable character besides Cuphead with new move sets and abilities. There is a level of replay value that is introduced as Ms. Chalice can be used in the base game after unlocking the character. New parts of the Inkwell Isle were opened up for the player to discover newer weapons & charms to complete the Legendary Chalice’s secret quest.

Many other DLCs open up a whole new world for the player to get lost into. Drop down in the comments which games you think did the best in terms of adding content post release!

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Open-world games have come a long way over the years. They offer a long range of options and freedom as to how we explore and how we approach our objectives in games. These games need to focus on providing a number of things- that include a good narrative, interesting challenges and intuitive game mechanics. These are some attributes that game development studios need to focus on so the game can be on anyone’s radar as a game to play.

Here are our top five picks for open-world games that have released in 2022 and earlier; where we sift through which games deliver as a complete package in letting us best get lost in a world, lore and characters:

No. 5: Spider Man: Miles Morales

New York city around Christmas time can be a magical thing to witness. Insomniac does an incredible job recreating that very charming atmosphere in Marvel’s Miles Morales. Every aspect of this game is built upon and around Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018). This game follows up on the fundamental gameplay mechanics from the previous title, but everything else from the approach to the world, mission design and story is starkly different and improved upon in this game.

Although there is much less of the game to play through, the streamlined aspect of storytelling where Miles discovers his powers through the game and the player gets to unlock them through the events- makes the story all the more personally impactful. Along with a smoother combat mechanic and traversal system, animations are overhauled and new skills and gadgets are introduced. Insomniac captures both the heart of both Spider-Man and New York in an astounding manner, letting players swing through Christmas in New York at any point of time in the year.

There are many things that can go awry in open-world games- here’s what happened with Cyberpunk 2077

No. 4: Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

Metal Gear Solid 5 has an extremely detailed and expansive open-world sandbox that allows the player to virtually approach most missions in more than one way. This overwhelming world is the result of a number of Kojima’s eccentric storytelling tropes that make it feel even more special with a fantastic soundtrack. The story is the weakest part of the game, but the freedom the game affords still makes it an interesting sandbox for players to delve into.

Every little design aspect is purposeful and intentional, such as the day-night cycle and dynamic weather systems make it so that this game is built on realistic world environments. Time of the day dictates how visible far away targets are and different times of the day has NPCs doing a variety of things such as eating, patrolling, sleeping among other activities. Every infiltration space including guard posts and command centres give a varied and challenging experience where there is no scripting or directing from the game developers that one needs to follow. This opens up the possibilities of what the game can offer new and returning players alike!

No. 3: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Theis game has been remastered and re-released on platforms all the way from PS5 & Xbox Series X and even on Amazon Alexa devices in recent times. This is because the game has set a precedent as to what an open-world adventure game could be and it remains to be a great game for over a decade as a reference.

The PC version has one of the most bust modding communities in gaming history where full side games are born out of its community developer efforts. Along with the recent upgrade to next-gen platforms, with its engrossing story, living open-world and more content that constantly gets created, Skyrim still stands today as one of the greatest open-world RPG a player can spend their time with.

No. 2: Grand Theft Auto 5

The legacy and influence of the Grand Theft Auto series is unparalleled. This game proves to be the perfect send off to PS3’s and the Xbox 360’s era of gaming, as it still holds a powerful presence in the industry extending into an additional two generations of hardware. Topping charts whenever re-released on last generation’s PS4, Xbox One and PC, it is no doubt that as it was released on PS5 and Xbox Series, it garnered similar results. This is owing to the impressive and frequent updates and patch fixes the game receives from the developers for Grand Theft Auto Online.

The game has a compelling story that spans across a triple protagonist structure which takes the player through the story in natural missions to flesh out both the world and the characters included. The immersiveness of GTA 5’s open-world is added upon with features such as being able to invest in the in-game stock market and seeing how rates for different products go up or down in-game. Along with containing activities like being able to skydive, participating in a triathlon and purchasing house properties, the game offers a wide variety of missions and activities to partake in and revisit with friends on GTA Online.

Here’s our picks for top 10 characters from the Grand Theft Auto Series

No. 1: The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild

This game provides a breath of fresh air as it serves to be the product of the ultimate realization that the early Legend of Zelda games sought to provide. The template was laid out in the NES days when the first few titles of the game came out. The fully explorable and infinitely replayable nature of the game is aided by the humungous map design and gameplay mechanics that need to be constantly learned and unlearnt through the events of the game.

The simple charm of the character and world design coupled with a traversal system aided by most environment being able to be scaled, provides an experience that is adventure filled and magical to behold.

There are many other open-world games such as Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, Elden Ring, No Man’s Sky & Death Stranding to name a few that have been fan favourites over the years. If there are games that you think are interesting to add to this list, put them down on the comments section, let’s discuss!

Increase Scalability, Flexibility and Performance of your Game with our specialized Game QA Service.

The post Top 5 Open-World Games in 2022 appeared first on iXie Gaming.

Many gaming services and game QA services come into play when trying to ensure that a captivating story is told. This needs to be done while the gameplay mechanics are intact and also while introducing the player to the unique game genre’s design and layout. Specialized services such as game localization services is brought into the picture- as the process of making video games accessible on a foreign market is crucial in building a bigger fanbase.

Some of the most memorable stories in video game history featured some completely unexpected twists. Let’s look at 5 such unexpected plot twists that sends the story on a spin:

No. 5: Metal Gear Solid 2

If we want to revisit a plot that is constantly spinning out of control- we should look no further than Metal Gear Solid 2. Only a very small number of games really push artistic and creative boundaries to put across a story that is equal parts surprising and scintillating to the player. Most triple A titles choose to keep ambiguous tropes and palatable villains while Konami pushes the game’s metatextual complexities. The first and most twists is that there is a completely new playable character that replaces Solid Snake after the first two hours of gameplay.

Towards the end of the game there are a group of criminals called The Patriots who have built a weapon called the Arsenal Gear. We also learn that the big incident that inducts the new Solid Snake recruit is a training program that mould the newbie into a professional snake. Learning Colonel Campbell is an AI program through small glitches and static in the game makes it very nerve racking as we expressly find out plot points through the game’s story. The open-ended closing to the story makes the player wonder if Snake was the one that went through a simulation or themselves- which is a very interesting way of finishing any story.

No. 4: Red Dead Redemption 2

The fate that Arthur Morgan has to endure as the player goes through the game is contracting tuberculosis- which is pretty much unavoidable. This is an integral part of the story as the game acts as a prequel to the first release in the Red Dead franchise. It tells the story of an outlaw and a loan shark in the late 1800’s and how his escapades change him as a person for the better through the events of the story. In a small side mission where the player has to go around apprehend people who have been lent money, Arthur contracts the disease in a very visible way as Thomas Downes the Farmer coughs on Arthur as he thrashes him half to death.

This story beat is carried on till after the story ends through various side missions as the player has to confront and deal with the repercussions of their actions. One could go through these missions to actually put the pieces of the puzzle together and finally figure out the case of Arthur’s sickness. Rockstar wrote this game in a masterful manner where the player can figure out the twist as it’s happening or through later events in the game. This adds to the replayability of the game as a whole and adds layered nuances in the story as a whole.

Some games have great stories that get adapted into movies, read here to learn why most movie adaptations fail in recent times

No. 3: Batman: Arkham Origins

Acting as a prequel to the Arkham Games created by Rocksteady, Arkham Origins was developed by Warner Bros. The game begins at Christmas Eve as Batman apprehends Black Mask and finds out that he has hired eight deadly assassins in the criminal world to hunt down Batman for $50 million. As the events of Arkham City wraps up Joker’s story, when Origins introduced the Joker as the man behind the mask- it acted as a great surprise to me while playing. In respect with the Arkham series, it is safe to say that the story hinges on the overarching relationship between Batman and the Joker and not having the Joker appear in this one would have been a disservice. Given that fact, the story soon spirals into a kidnapping and delves into the deep and wide criminal world that Gotham City garners.

As the story comes to a close after a lot of running around and staying alive, Bane suffers amnesia after finding out Batman’s true identity. This sends the game into setting up the first game in the series as Quincy Sharp says he will lobby to reopen the premises of Arkham Asylum. Deathstroke is approached by Amanda Waller to join the Suicide Squad- who we’ll see killing the Justice League sometime next year. (read. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League)

No. 2: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

The Uncharted series is full of plot twists and as a genre of games, is one of the most dramatically action fuelled video games to exist. Some nice details like being able to play another one of Sony’s IPs, Crash Bandicoot between Nate and Elina in their hall breaks the 3^rd wall and lets the player enjoy a warm moment in their relationship.

Sam’s intentions with Drake are very ominous for most part of the game and Nate realizes later that the tale of Hector Alcazar, that Sam had been feeding Nate was a fake all along. This is done under the circumstances of Nate having to risk his marriage to save Sam and to help him find the treasure to pay off the drug lord Alcazar.

The first game introduced zombies out of all the supernatural things in the world, but A Thief’s End stuck to a more grounded form of storytelling where it has rich environments with actions of the past affecting the atmosphere of the story. Things like exploding mummies and pirates give a look at how time takes its toll on the places that Nate traverses through and gives a very realistic feeling to the overall gaming experience.

Iconic game plot twists contain iconic characters that have been long lost. Here’s our picks for Iconic video game characters who deserve a return

No. 1: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Ocarina of Time is considered one of the greatest video games of all time by numerous publications for good reason. It was not only one of the first open-world 3D rendered games in the Zelda series, but it also harboured a rich and well-told story. Link, the protagonist has a vision of a “wicked man of the desert” chasing him down the fields of Hyrule. After finding out from the Great Deku Tree that he is destined to stop this villain. Ganondorf’s goal is to conquer the world and to curse him. The player is then sent into a time bending narrative that ensues.  

After getting the two elemental stones from the Gorons and the Zoras, Link sees his vision from the beginning of the game play out a little differently as Ganondorf chases Zelda and her caretaker Impa onto the fields of Hyrule. This makes Link go into the Temple of Time and wake up seven years later at the Sacred Realm as an older Link. It is explained that Link’s spirit was sealed for seven years until he could wield the “Master Sword”- the only weapon that could best the evil sorcerer. After bringing together the seven sages according to the prophecy, the evil sorcerer king of evil, Ganondorf is sealed in the Dark Realm.

Video game plot twists are a sight to behold owing to their slow burn factor and how the player gets to experience it along with the characters. This lets developers create small story moments throughout the playtime of the game that can stick with players for many years after. What games do you think have the best plot twists? Drop them down below on the comments!

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A Strong Start

Sony was the first in line with its State of Play event and, we must admit, it was a strong start. Sony’s State of Plays are usually 20 -30-minute affairs that does not garner much fanfare, but it is a format that has worked for the company, and so the company has kept what works for them. So, expectations were low for this show, especially as Sony had stated that this 30-minute showcase will feature third party games and titles for the PSVR2. This meant no first party announcements or, perhaps more importantly, a release date for God of War: Ragnarök. But what we got was without a doubt the strongest edition of State of Play since its inception. The shows started with the release date for Resident Evil 4, which was then followed by a featurette and trailer. This was followed by the announcement of Resident Evil village for PSVR2. All of the announced PSVR2 games looked fantastic as expected. But there were also some unexpected surprises like the reveal of a PC port for Spider-Man remastered and released date for stray and its day-one availability on PlayStation Plus Extra. There was an impressive collection of smaller indie titles too, alongside a good look as Street fighter 6 including gameplay, before the show closed off with Final Fantasy XVI. That is a lot of big punches and there has never been a State of Play this strong. But Sony’s presence may not end with these, and we’ll get back to that in a bit.

Ever wondered what it is like to be a game tester? Here is one of our Senior Test Engineers chronicling their daily routine for a week.

Mild Summer Heat

When Geoff Keighley tries to temper expectations, it is not a good sign of things to come. Sadly, that is exactly what he did at the start of the Summer Game Fest show. To be fair there were some really good announcements including some cool gameplay features of already announced games like The Callisto Protocol. Save for a few new game reveals, the show mostly stuck with revealing more for already announced games including heavyweights like Call of Duty, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Street Fighter 6 and Gotham Knights. Add to this a rather confusing off-stage appearance by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (which I still don’t know what to make of), and the show’s final surprise, The Last of Us Part 1, being fully leaked on the day of the event and we had a lukewarm show on our hands. I mean, the man did warn us beforehand. So, there’s that.

Devolver Digital was up next, and we had predicted that “what we CAN expect is another off the rails, completely bonkers showcase”. And the company totally delivered on that. The show was light on new announcements though, but what new was shown was completely unique and charming in a typical Devolver Digital way. I’m looking at you two, Anger Foot and The Plucky Squire! I do have to admit that the presence of Suda 51 made me anticipate a new game from the legend himself, but that left me disappointed.

Gotham knights has big hill to climb without Batman. But it is these characters in the Arkhamverse that made the Arkham games so good.

Microsoft made an interesting decision to show games that are due to release within the next 12 months. This was a sensible move, at least on paper, which comes as ripple effect of two major delays, namely Starfield and Redfall. The show featured some great announcements like the release date for Scorn, a full release for Obsidian’s Grounded, Persona franchise making its way to Xbox, the new game High on Life from the creators of Trover saves the Universe, among various others. All of these were accompanied by taglines indicating console exclusivity and day one releases on Gamepass. The show even began with the gameplay trailer for Redfall, hoping to put fans at ease signalling that the game was in good shape despite the delay. All this was good. Nothing that made the internet go crazy, but good. Then Starfield was showcased. This was classic Todd Howard and ever second of it was entertaining to say the least. Whether the game will live up to the expectations and promises is yet to be seen. But, for people to jump the gun and take a jab at the game’s framerate, engine and similarities to No Man’s Sky is a bit uncalled for at the moment. The game was delayed for a reason, and it is best to reserve judgment until we have it in our hands.

Speaking of big games, here are five of best games out this year on PlayStation

More Showcases. Indies Shine

I do not recall these many shows or event during the time of in-person E3 events, but there were a whole lot of them this year. Other than the ones mentioned above, the month of June featured Day of the Devs, Netflix Geeked week Gaming event, Assassin’s Creed 15^th Anniversary Celebration, Tribeca Games spotlight, Epics Games Store Summer Showcase, Guerrilla Collective, Wholesome Direct, Future Games Show, PC Gaming Show, Capcom Showcase and a Nintendo Direct Mini to close the month out. That is a lot of events to be showcased in one month. To no one’s surprise, some of them were devoid of meaningful content while others, re-iterated past announcements. But, between these events were some true gems that showcased the amazing creativity of the Indie development community. Big budget games are fun, yes. And there are big corporations getting them developed. These games are much like a formulaic Superhero movie that is being made with the backing of some great talent, the goal of which however is to create a franchise and make money. Indie games on the other hand are what hold the industry as still being this creative goldmine, and the games present in these showcases further solidify that fact. I was taken aback by the simplicity and weirdness of it all, in the best way possible. Games like Time flies, A little to the left, 30 Birds, Schim, and Naiad among many others just ooze with creativity. I highly recommend checking out these events to understand what cannot be expressed in words.

Missing Pieces of the Puzzle

With all that said, there may still be a few things to look forward to. Ubisoft had officially cancelled their Ubisoft Forward showcase for June but have mentioned that there will be some kind of an event later this year. The Assassin’s Creed Celebration event seems like it will span across a number of showcases over a few months. And getting back to Sony, there was a second state of play rumoured to have been on the 30^th of June featuring God of War: Ragnarök, but that was cancelled at the last moment (also a rumour). If we consider these rumours to be true for a moment, then we are left to wonder, what caused Sony to cancel the event? And what is the company planning next? Sony has had its annual grand showcase of sorts around September over the last couple of years. Can we expect one this year as well, perhaps sooner? We will have to wait and watch.

What did you think of this year’s events during the E3 season? Sound off in the comments.

Looking for a trustable game testing partner? Inquire Now! We are a Leading Video Game Testing company with over 10 years’ experience in testing various game genres.

The post E3 Season 2022 – A Look Back At The Events So Far appeared first on iXie Gaming.

Let’s imagine, how it would be if these iconic videogame characters that made a comeback.

The release of Arkham Asylum in 2009 set the path for Rocksteady to be able to scale up the grandeur of their stories and the characters in them. Game testing services would have for certain extended to this triple-A giant to be able to improve the quality of gameplay, writing, and design of the games to come. – (read. Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, Batman: Arkham Knight)

Let’s follow some of these characters across the Batman Arkham series and find out how according to us, they captivated old hard-core fans and new players alike:

No. 5- Arkham Knight

Although the character only appears in Batman: Arkham Knight- the game and story try to immerse the player into relating with the Arkham Knight’s past traumas. It is a constant uphill battle that Batman goes through as he tries to outmatch the Arkham Knight in terms of battle strategies and technological capabilities. It is easy to see from the very first introduction of the Arkham Knight that he has some sort of a connection with Bruce in the past- but the player does not quite know why or how. As the events of the game go forward, it is made more and more clear that the Akham Knight knows Batman’s tactics and techniques- which makes the player ponder how close he could be to Batman. As the reveal happens, it all falls into place and we are able to puzzle the pieces together. Troy Baker does a stellar job voicing the Arkham Knight- as the performance captures the pain and suffering that the character has to go through in his past.      

It might be interesting to read on Top 10 Character From the Grant Theft Auto Series

No. 4- Penguin

The Penguin’s story throughout the Arkham games is not so dissimilar from what he goes through in the movies or T.V. shows. Constantly trying to be one the best mobsters in Gotham City, Cobblepot is given ample screen time across the series and we get to see how the young gangster is very flippant and reactionary in his younger days in Arkham Origins. As the series picks up and he gets to shine in different situations such as when he trains the Abramovici Twins in Arkham City, it gives him a lot of agency in the overarching narrative. He keeps getting control of weapon caches and rogue thugs to use against Batman- but is unfortunately bested at every turn by the player and Batman’s wills put together! There are moments in the game where the player is brought to a complete halt in progression, just to find out that something the Penguin has done or gotten orchestrated needs to be fixed by Batman.

No. 3- Barbara Gordon   

Barbara Gordon is one of Batman’s most trusted family members who also goes by Oracle and Batwoman throughout the storyline. The game allows the player to play as Batwoman for a DLC which gives a slightly different playstyle than what Batman operates like- hopefully, these mechanics are polished and repurposed for each of the Bat-family members in Gotham Knights (release late 2022). Batwoman gets crippled by Joker in Batman: The Killing Joke (in past events in the Arkham universe)- and she goes on to become Oracle and Batman’s assistant in his nightly escapades. Barbara plays an integral role in Batman’s story and character arc, as she is the Commissioner’s daughter, an old friend, and a past love interest. She drives the story and characters ahead and play a significant role in Batman’s transformation into his final accepted self at the end of Arkham Knight.

No. 2- Aaron Cash

Our first introduction to Aaron is when he helps Batman escort joker into Arkham Asylum in the opening credits scene. Over the next few games, we get to see Aaron doing different police duties and also interacting with and helping Batman more than any of the other officers in the GCPD (Gotham Central Police Department). Officer Cash is responsible for many of the high-profile jobs in the police department such as tracking down Azrael, Killer and the Riddler. The only inmate he ever feared was Killer Croc, as he had been amputated by the creature during a riot in the asylum. He goes on to lead a medical team in Arkham City after losing his job after the events of Arkham Asylum- where he is unable to do his duty as the chief security guard.

No. 1- The Joker

The Joker is a character that has had multiple retellings over comics over the last few decades. He is integral to the story of Batman and for the success of the Arkham Series- as he drives home the age-old analogy of a “unstoppable force meeting an immovable object”- where the unstoppable force is the Joker and the immovable object is Batman. Arkham Asylum begins with him being caught and escaping to orchestrate the events of the whole game- and Arkham City and Arkham Knight further explores his relationship with Batman. After Joker’s demise in Arkham city, at the end of Arkham Knight is finally when Batman is able to get rid of Scarecrow’s toxins from his system- metaphorically enough, the Joker is also cleansed from his psyche as he has been obsessing over catching him and putting him away. The message is put across quite poignantly through cutscenes and character arcs across the games over the years.

If you have any additions to this list of interesting characters, drop them down below in the comments!

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