Batman Arkham – The Problem with Escalation

I don’t want to come across as some kind of shill, but every now and then Xbox’s Game Pass will sump something onto my lap that really takes me to a place. A few weeks ago, the duel release of Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham games fell into my downloads. Like an old glove, I found myself slipping into these gems again without much argument.

Batman Arkham – The Problem with Escalation

Playing both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City in quick succession, I came to realise that both games are actually very different from one another. While both fantastic pieces of video games craftsmanship and storytelling, both shine in totally different ways. With two short years between 2009’s Asylum and 2011’s City, it’s astounding how different a direction Rocksteady went with the follow up to their marque release.

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Dragon Ball Super – Chapter 46 Review: Namek in Decline

A chapter that begins with Goku receiving an almost Vegeta-like beat down. That’s certainly refreshing. What isn’t refreshing is the Namekians getting their home ravaged by a space monster who is after their Dragon Balls. Frankly, I don’t know why they still have the things around, they seem far more trouble than they’re worth. Y’know with the near extinction of their race on multiple occasions.

The chapter begins by trundling down the incredibly telegraphed grooves in the road that have been indicating the direction of this story: Goku and Vegeta rushed to confront Moro half cocked, didn’t realise his powers and get beaten down soundly by him as a consequence.

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The Problem with Ending a story with a time travel twist

Time Travel is a fascinating concept in fiction. It can be used in any number of ways to tell so many different kinds of stories. Sometimes its the crux of an entire narrative, but sometimes its introduced right at the end as an easy to get the characters out of a sticky situation, or simply to surprise the audience.

Doing this can really turn a story on its head, especially if it’s how the author decides to end their story. It has some real potential to backfire in their face and upset the audience. Or it can upset me at the very least. I’ve noticed a few things have been doing this lately in the media I consume, and thought I ought to shine a light onto it, just to let people know where I’m coming from.

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