The Shared Trauma of the Batman Family Is at the Heart of Gotham Knights

Not sure how I feel about each character having to deal with 'the trauma' of Batman and having to do it so overtly. I saw how my father dealt with real trauma stoically and with reserve, never letting it spill out into life and affect his relationships. I find it a little disappointing that EVERY character in this game just has to externalise their grief as if it's a normal thing to do or that it's an expectation, but more than that, that in doing so it detrimentally affects them and those around them regardless if eventually they turn that around into an affirmation of their determination to succeed. I find it a bit contrived. I hope the devs at least give us 1 or 2 characters who are able to deal with the trauma without letting it overtake their emotions.

@riceNpea I agree, every person deals with trauma differently to some extent.

My kids and I are really looking forward to this. I hope it turns out well. If it does, I’ll buy it first week.

To be honest, after watching the batman, im not sure i want to spend any more time in this universe. Why would i want to save a load of lemmings that run underground during a FLOOD!?

See ya later, Gotham...

Don't think it will hold a candle to the Arkham games but I'm hoping this is still mainly story driven and feels like a genuine single player game ..have no desire to play co-op...

Will be one of the few games I get day 1 simply because the Arkham games are one of my fav franchises (unless it gets absolutely abysmal reviews spread across the board)

@TheNomadLad yeah. This modern fascination with expressing into the world intense emotions being the norm, it's like an overcorrection of the days when everything was suppressed.

@riceNpea I think most experts would disagree with you, but I, too, sometimes wonder whether it's indeed an overcorrection.

@riceNpea again i do agree , i believe everything is way way better when it's done in moderation, and in case of dealing with trauma, i think it's healthy (again if done in moderation) if you have someone who is close to you and you do trust in, who you can express your intense emotions with when it's getting too much for you to handle, rather than just doing it so overtly into the world and completely externalize your grief.

@naruball I want to make a distinction between going to a professional or a confidant for counselling about a trauma and the modern expectation to aire it publically. Goodness knows, as an extreme example, I've witnessed lots of public 'grief' on social media sites about people the griever (is that a word?) didn't even know for the sake of being seen to grieve. The latter is what I find an overcorrection.

So are we looking at 20-hour cry fest here? I'd like to give the dev team the benefit of the doubt but the way stories have gone in modern 'AAA' games I'm not exactly hopeful.

I’m looking forward to this game enough to the point I have it pre-ordered, but the sheer amount of marketing on it beforehand has me rather concerned. RARELY do I ever see a product marketed this intensely before release and it actually turns out to be good, let alone great. We shall see though….

@DETfaninATL definelty truth in that. One of the best games I ever played was one I had never heard of previously. I imported Demon Souls on PS3 purely because of word of mouth and it was amazing, a proper revelation, and its popularity grew organically to become one of the greatest franchises of all-time. A great game doesn't need millions of pounds of advertising but a bad one surely does.

Can't wait! My most anticipated game of the year!

@riceNpea That's a really good point and one I completely agree with. I think a lot of modern writers emphasize way too much on characters externalizing all of their emotions, especially when it comes to dealing with the death of a loved one.

@RBMango yeah. We live in a age of hypersensitivity. The notion of having a 'stiff upper lip' has been superceded by externalising emotions to prove your worth to the collective who expects it or trying to seek acceptance from. I'm generalising of course but the shift in attitudes is definelty there, and in storytelling it seems to be very prevalent.

I just find it odd that Batman is dead in this storyline, and Batman "died" at the end of Arkham Knight, but the two games are in separate universes. Seems like a missed opportunity

@KidBoruto Well Arkham Origins was from a different developer (the same developer of Arkham Knight I think) than rocksteady and was still set within the Arkham storyline/franchise