Well, it's better then it was at release, running more smoothly though I think it's demanding way too much of my computers resources for what's on offer. I have a graphics card that is a generation ahead of what was available when Origins was made and while I can get 60fps on max settings, it does chug every so often when exploring the open world and PhysX stuff is, typically, more resource demanding then it's worth.Lightknight said:
In game it has issues that are a nuisance but don't hinder progression (though it can wall off achievements) and that seems to be by design. Unlike City, Origins requires you complete certain feats in order to unlock certain abilities. Each feat must be completed in sequence, you can't do them randomly out of order. This leads to a problem in one set where, if you aren't pushing yourself to beat them, you can easily go past the ONLY PLACE IN THE GAME where you can complete one of them and once that moment is past in game you'll have to wait till new game+ to get a second chance. This is fairly early in the list of feats which means the rest of the list is locked off until new game+, including bonus abilities (sonic batarangs shock ability for example).
Similarly one of the feats (a different category this time) seems impossible to accomplish without going into new game+. The last feat in the combat category requires you to stop a crime in progress in each major area of the game. But the bridge only seems to spawn one crime in progress as a scripted event then never spawns one again and that scripted event doesn't count to the feat (you need to have unlocked the feat for any action to count towards it). There is a workaround which requires to you trigger a crime in progress in nearby location, then lead them to the bridge district (not as hard as it sounds actually) which then counts towards it. There is also a convenient glitch that may occur which causes another crime in progress to count towards the bridge district, even if it's nowhere near it (you can do all the other districts, then fight one more crime in progress and for some reason it may or may not count towards the bridge districts even if you are nowhere near it).
They seem to deliberately make it so you can't 100% the riddlers challenges until you go into the post game free roam. This isn't made clear and I spent several hours looking for an unmarked "data handler" between missions. He appears (directly in front of you) post game... but there is a glitch where he doesn't appear at all (though that can be fixed by exiting and reloading). This again seems to be an issue with the bridge district.
Beyond that the game has some balance issues. Much the same as the previous arkham games you can easily make it through most combat encounters with strikes and counters, and the gadgets are just a little extra flair if you feel like using them. Though they try to mix things up a bit more in Origins then in City to force you to use other abilities. However they give you a powerful ability midway through the game that completely wrecks any semblance of challenge and makes getting high combos ludicrously simple. It's great for feeling like a badass but, beyond bosses, it trivializes combat.
All that aside, I still enjoyed origins. I think it's narrative is stronger and more focused then City, it has more interesting boss battles even if they are pretty simple and short and the combat system for all it's flaws feels better once you get a feel for it. City and Asylum feel kind of floaty by comparison.
It's far from perfect and City is still the best in the series, but depending on your tolerance for certain failings, and a certain amount of luck as to what issues you might encounter, it's still very enjoyable and has some fairly memorable moments. If your getting it cheap and like all things batman I'd say it's worth it.
