TellTale Games’ Batman: Season 1/ Episode 2 "Children of Arkham" – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Overview

And so we return to Gotham and TellTale has upped the possibilities of you dying, and allowed you to choose more decisions which will lead the fate of the Wayne name, as well as Batman’s, down a winding road.

Trigger Warning(s)
Body Horror & Gun Wounds

Play Through Time
Approximately 1 Hour and 40 Minutes

Storyline

There is so much we don’t know. Telltale Games decides to change the background of the Wayne family and make it so your father isn’t some benevolent saint. No more is he the doctor who somehow became a billionaire. All the cracks are filled with information about how the Wayne empire came to be and it doesn’t mirror Gotham’s take. It is much more sinister, ruthless, and it leads Bruce to question all he knows.

But while his father’s legacy is tarnished, the Children of Arkham rise. They want revolution in the form many want revolution. They want things back to how they used to be when their people, their ancestors, had power. Question is, how far are you willing to go as either Batman or Bruce Wayne to uncover the truth and stop them?

Review

Highlights

For quite some time it felt like TellTale Games has placed us in a reverse delta. We had all these decisions but, ultimately, they all led to the same result. With episode two it felt different. As noted in the first review, to be re-posted hopefully by the month’s end, this balancing act between maintaining the legend of the Batman and salvaging what it means to be Bruce Wayne is difficult. You can wear a mask and get what you want risking the vigilante becoming yet another villain or you can just hope the Wayne name can still get you places, still allow for conversation, and perhaps get what you need.

On top of that, outside of Bruce’s investigations, you have the Mayor Hill and Harvey Dent issue. As you learn more about your dad’s dealings, so comes the question of how will you handle things? Will you rekindle old friendships, perhaps to only turn on them later, or will you stay on the path you have already chosen? Then with Selina, again you are tasked if following what most of Batman lore has, an uneasy relationship which swings from friends, lovers, to enemies, or will you try to stick to one label only?

Those are of the many decisions you have which, maybe as of now, may not feel worthy of you rewinding and redoing an episode, but as it is revealed, the consequences of your decisions, prep for a bit of frustration. Of which you can perhaps only blame yourself.

On The Fence

I have to admit, the end credit feature of telling you how many people chose certain things makes you wonder if really are those decisions the only ones which matter in the long run? A part of me would like to know if they are, yet at the same time I like the idea of there being a mystery to it. Like all decisions do matter and not just for a few responses from characters, but where Bruce/ Batman ultimately end up.