BATMAN - The Telltale Series - Episode 1: Realm of Shadows Reviews
Telltale’s Batman slowly transforms its routine story into a promising mystery
As for whether this Telltale game in particular is worth your time; considering the glut of Telltale games now, it’s really only worthwhile playing the ones based on IPs you’re most fond of. If you’re a fan of a the Caped Crusader then step right up. If you're not, there's not much here to raise Batman above some of Telltale's other, stronger, efforts.
Batman’s first episode ends on an exciting and intriguing cliffhanger, promising a story that feels genuinely new for the franchise.
While I would’ve liked a little more story from Realm of Shadows, it’s definitely an opening chapter that gets off on the right foot. The scripting is excellent, the voice acting equally so, and the art style beckons the older days of the Dark Knight, instead of the modern design that so many developers seem to be going for these days.
A slow but solid first chapter which offsets ponderous exposition with some thrilling fight scenes, and introduces much-needed new mechanics to a now familiar template.
Damn you Telltale games... now I have to wait for episode 2 before I can don the cape and cowl again...
Batman is a superb game in the point and click style. The overall narrative and Bruce Wayne driven interactions in Episode 1 really pull you behind the cowl and are a unique take on a fan favorite. The art style sells the whole thing and the majority of vocal performances add a strong sense of life to what's happening. The heavy use of QTE does feature in the replayability score as it severely limits the possibilities in combat situations. Batman or Telltale fans should get their money's worth at the current price for the full series. I rated this review as I did, due to episode 1 currently being free. You can't beat that. And it should give players a great idea on whether the rest of the game is worth it for them.
Batman: The Telltale Series has everything you would expect from Telltale: an engaging plot, important choices and a ton of dialogues, but we want to see more of the new gadgets and the link mechanic in the next episode.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A fine start then to Telltale’s Batman, let’s hope the developer builds on it.
As the first episode in the series, Realm of Shadows offers a compelling start to what could be an enjoyable Batman adventure. Performance could be better - notwithstanding other issues plaguing PC gamers - and Telltale's gameplay is getting pretty old but Batman: The Telltale Series more than holds up with its story-telling, art and mechanics.
The game that finally convinced me to get a Telltale account.
The Bruce Wayne heavy story is going to turn some people off, but this is a rather unique and interesting take on Batman and it features the most gameplay that Telltale has offered yet. A great first episode that has me interested in the rest of the series.
Batman: The Telltale Series Episode 1: Realm of Shadows does a great job in getting the series off to a tremendous start. Telltale Games has proven it can handle known properties by creating stellar sound and music in addition to their unique vision. As always, story driven games require a great story and the developer definitely did not disappoint in this department. My only concern is that the quality and depth of the overall experience would somehow recede in future episodes. Nevertheless, the future looks bright until proven otherwise.
Story is what you pay for, and ‘Realm of Shadows’ will certainly leave you in a position of wanting to see more.
Telltale’s take on the Caped Crusader has a confident storyline that captures the essence of the iconic world well, and establishes an intriguing tale for future installments to expand upon.
One of Telltale’s weakest opening chapters yet
For now? It’s a good start. I’m not hooked like the first season of The Walking Dead or Wolf Among Us, but it’s looking like more of a slow burn with a lot of potential. Telltale sets up a lot of plot threads in this first episode, and it’s actually pretty impressive how many bit players they’ve introduced in just an hour and a half.
Episode 1 of Batman: The TellTale Series is well worth your time if you’re a Batman fan, and can act as a great way to introduce people to the character as well. Tweaking some of Batman’s traditional mythos and focusing more on Bruce Wayne makes the character more accessible to both new and old fans.
Telltale and Batman fans are well catered for in Batman: A Telltale Series' first episode, with a hefty dose of action and intrigue to set things up for the rest of the ensuing saga. We can't wait for more.
Telltale really knocked it out of the park on this one. I really hope that the rest of the season provides the same, refreshing look at Gotham that "Realm of Shadows" provided. They have introduced lots of interesting characters, and I am really excited to see where they take them all. Keep an eye out for episode 2, "Children of Arkham" releasing in September!!