The absence of an Arkhamverse villain in Batman: Arkham Shadow is felt

Batman: Arkham Shadow it's for Blackgate prison thing Batman: Arkham Asylum It's for Arkham Asylum. As Irving “Matches” Malone, players can observe or interact with tons of inmates and characters introduced in Batman: Arkham Origins AND Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgateand the group of antagonists or bosses that players encounter are intentionally chosen from among other prisoners or individuals working in the prison. This continues Batman: Arkham ShadowThe plot is airtight as Matches and Batman hunt the Mouse King, and the high-profile villains have never been made more prominent for the sake of fan service.

Of course, it's interesting to see what Origins AND Early Blackgatethe characters are up to par Batman: Arkham Shadow is the direct sequel to those episodes. Hearing Lonnie Machin's Anarky talk to Vic Sage is enlightening, for example, and the notable absence of Oswald Cobblepot's Penguin is explained away as he pretends to reform and trades immunity for incriminating evidence on Carmine Falcone. However, one antagonist who has made at least some sort of appearance in nearly every other Arkhamverse game so far is nowhere to be found: the Riddler, whose absence is a relief.

Batman: Arkham Shadow takes another well-deserved break from the Riddler

Before Batman: Arkham ShadowThe Riddler has arguably been the most important villain in the Arkhamverse other than Joker and has permeated every game except Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate– with its exclusive collectibles and green challenges, both physical and cerebral. He's the easiest Arkhamverse villain by a mile, despite the excessive trophies, and yet it's hard to overstate his importance in the franchise.

Batman: Arkham Origins debuts a soft origin story for the enigmatic artist, then known as Enigma. Here, Enigma presented Batman with intercepted GCR communications towers to bring back online, network relays to destroy, and data packets to obtain, but his threat level is noticeably low compared to his machinations later in the timeline. It is interesting to note that Batman: Arkham Shadow is set only six months later and Enigma himself is nowhere to be seen or heard of beyond an incredibly subtle reference in the Minotaur Enigma payphone puzzle and the Gotham Herald newspaper report, although his manual labor and environmental puzzles are clearly inspiration for the Rat King. large catalog of destructible collectibles.

Batman: Arkham Shadow puts the collector-oriented antagonists of the Arkhamverse into perspective

Batman still has a wealth of meticulously scattered collectibles to hunt down Batman: Arkham Shadowbut without a bowler-hatted egomaniac like the Riddler taunting and berating him the whole time, it hardly seems like arduous or burdensome work. Indeed, radios can be ripped out and broken before much of the Rat King's propaganda can reach players' ears, and even then it's much appreciated that the Rat King's digitized voice isn't continually mocking Batman or the player.

Batman: Arkham Shadow is proof of how full Arkhamverse titles don't need the Riddler to fill a game with collectibles, and that's an exciting prospect as it opens the door for many other supervillains to take on that role instead. Rodent idols of the Rat King replace question mark trophies while radios, bombs, and maps litter maps with more to collect or destroy (all before even considering Echoes of the Past, ancient runes, or patient session tapes ), diversifying the pool. of oddities, puzzles, and items that players may be tasked with optionally searching for in the future.

Therefore, there is more than enough evidence to suggest that the incessant annoyance and deprecation is what made the Riddler an annoyance, not a plethora of collectibles. The Riddler will eventually pop up again, more will pop up Arkham games are in the works, but Shadow proves that collectibles don't have to be exclusive to him, and that's a boon to the franchise's longevity and ingenuity.