Arkham Origins Success Was Staying True to the Lore That Assassin’s Creed Needs to Remember

In many cases, video games tend to follow an already-created storyline of a franchise, bringing fan-favorite characters to life. This further allows players to have insight into how the lives of these characters are played out, just like one can do in the famous Batman: Arkham video game series.

However, the success of the stated series all boiled down to one thing, which is how much were they able to deliver a realistic approach to the character of Batman, adding nothing that was not necessary and sticking to what the given lore dictates.

Arkham Origins was the second major release in the Batman: Arkham series and managed to gain the attention of many fans within a short period of time. Allowing players to experience what being the lethal vigilante felt like was no small deal, allowing it to become a cult classic within the community.

Commenting on how the studio was able to pull it off, Guillaume Voghel, Associate Producer of Arkham Origins, mentions the following in an interview via Forbes.

Gameplay comes first. Even if narratively or historically it would make sense for Batman not to have certain gadgets, we always put gameplay first. And gamers are going to appreciate that we didn’t try to reinvent the entire recipe. The combat is still very similar to Arkham City and Asylum; it’s had little tweaks here and there – some more enemies and some new stuff that adds another level.

The associate producer in this context talked about how the developing team refrained from including some gadgets that were already developed then for previous releases. Likewise, Origins focuses on Wayne’s initial experience becoming the superhero, so it only remained sensible for the team to not poke around too much and stick to what the lore says.

The success story of the game should also serve as a lesson for Ubisoft, who happened to recently announce the latest Assassin’s Creed: Shadow title, based in Japan. The studio has also received backlash from fans criticising the choice of protagonists, allegedly drifting the AC franchise away from its motto of remaining historically accurate by casting Yasuke, the world’s first black samurai as one of the main characters.

The last major release in the Arkham video game series was the Batman: Arkham Knight title, which was launched back in 2015. However, it remains unknown to many how the developing studio had to take a leap of faith and release the game on up-and-coming consoles of the time instead of making a free-to-play mobile game, a trend that was prominent in the gaming industry during the era.

Fortunately, it all turned out to be for the better as the game ended up becoming a huge hit amongst the fans, and manages to stay relevant to this day. This can be proven by seeing how players to this day are still working on perfecting all the mechanics provided in the game, attaining a flawless manner to complete the missions.

Batman: Arkham Origins is available to purchase on Steam.