Tag: Batman: The Enemy Within

The Enemy Within – Episode 5

Izlain2 Comments

Another season of Telltale’s Batman series has come to a close. This series has been full of twists and turns and it was surprising to see how it ended. In all honesty, it was left as a cliffhanger ending (at least with my choices made) and it’s pretty clear that it was left open for a third season. There haven’t been many of the Telltale series that have made it that far though, so we shall see but the way it was written I imagine we’ll see more of Batman in the future. Here’s how things shook up with my relationships by the end of episode 5:

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I like the amount of detail that was put into these choices and how they affected your relationship with people. Seeing the “your relationship with so and so has changed” really makes you think twice about the decisions you made throughout the season. If I was so inclined I could play through it again making different selections and I’m sure these relationships would have ended up differently, but surprisingly I made similar choices to most people, percentage wise. The big part of the story here was how your relationship with John Doe turned him towards being a vigilante, but of course being the mentally-unstable Joker means that he can’t be bothered with Batman’s “code.” As such, he still turns out to be a villain, particularly because he’s going after the Agency rather than real criminals. There are bits where it points to the Agency being no better than the bad guys though, so I had trouble walking the line between being John’s friend and doing what’s right. It was neat to see Joker-rangs and his silly grappling hook and other devices. What shocked me most was seeing Alfred leave at the end… and not really having any closure on the Joker front. Regardless, it was a great series and I look forward to more.

There were more tracked choices in this episode again which was warranted. A bunch of things happened that affected relationships and the story in this episode. The only one I’m really not happy with is the first, only because there was a timed response needed and I think I was distracted at that moment so I “hesitated” during the attack. I would have chosen to help the clown over the agent, only because he seemed like a scumbag anyway. Tiffany became a nightwing-esque character and that was interesting. As I said, I stood up for John when I could, and that pissed off Waller though we made our peace before the end of the line. I suppose I could have chosen to give up being Batman and maybe Alfred would have stayed, but how do you give up being Batman?! I defeated Joker and he ended up back in Arkham, but we all know he won’t stay there.

All in all it was a great series and I look forward to more!

The Enemy Within – Episode 4

Izlain

There isn’t much else to say about this series that I haven’t said. It plays like its predecessors, it continues the story from the first season, and you can affect individual characters more deeply than in other Telltale games (or at least it’s better tracked here). By the end of this episode I had positive results with all of the characters except for Waller, and she was only mad because I sided with John Doe, and honestly at this point I can’t remember exactly what the climax was because I played this episode at least a week ago.

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What’s most interesting here is that I set John down the path of being a “vigilante” like Batman. He vowed that we would both clean up the streets of Gotham. I don’t remember anything like this in Joker’s origin story, but I would assume that he will be picking up that moniker sooner rather than later. How Joker will end up being a vigilante I’m not sure, he’s always been a villain to me so I’m not sure how this will pan out. What I suspect is that he will be crushed when Batman tells him that he works alone and will be hell bent on taking out his frustrations on Batman as the Joker — or at least that would help this story to line up with the overall canon we all know. As I noted last episode, this episode had even less major choices in it, and here are the two that they tracked:

Despite Mr. Freeze being a villain I showed a little mercy as Waller’s crew was basically going to kill him. I doubt that will change things between us, but I figured Batman wouldn’t be that cruel hearted to ignore his pleas. After the big climax event of the episode, I let John go off to find Harley himself as she managed to run off. That’s all there was for big choices this time around and that isn’t really indicative of what’s happened throughout the whole episode but it is what it is.

The 5th and final episode of this season isn’t out just yet, but I imagine it will be soon enough. I’ll return then to finish off this blog series. Stay tuned.

The Enemy Within – Episode 3

Izlain

In Episode three, the story continues with Bruce still embroiled in his dealings with The Pact. But, another familiar face enters the fold and complicates things to say the least. Despite my amorous circumstances with Catwoman in the first season, I didn’t treat her so well this time around and left her feeling betrayed as a consequence. In the first season there was a major story arch where Bruce’s reputation was tarnished and it took careful thought with your reactions in the game to redeem that once pristine status. With this new season there is the inclusion of relationships with individuals that shifts between each episode, so its easier to track and make your moves to benefit you later. For instance, in the last episode I left Harley Quinn hostile towards me but because I was mindful of this I managed to work my way back up to being less skeptical, and that progress is tracked much more quickly this time around. Things have turned around with everyone for the most part, and that seemed important while aligning with my goals.

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There have been progressively less major choices as a result of this shift in their tracking mechanics. I have already noted that this is less than the previous episode and the following episode records less — meaning that the interpersonal relationships are a more important focal point in this game. Having experienced it both ways I think I actually like this system better overall but either will work and depending on the subject material that may play a role.

These choices are still pretty indicative of the way the interpersonal relationships turn out. Clearly telling Tiffany that I’m Batman and bringing another Fox into the fold left her feeling honored, and 2 strikes against Catwoman (not warning her and letting John throw her under the bus) affected her Betrayed feelings. I didn’t fall in line with most players on these choices, but I’m okay with how the story has turned out so far and I’m unlikely to ever replay the series so my set of circumstances are fine. It’s been an entertaining ride so far!

The Enemy Within – Episode 2

Izlain

The second episode of The Enemy Within kept up with the pace of the first. Bruce is trying to infiltrate “The Pact,” which is a super villain group consisting of John Doe (Joker), Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze and Bane. As Bruce, you’re playing both sides trying to act like the bad boy rich kid that’s finally following in his father’s footsteps while still working with Gordon (GCPD) and Waller (FBI). Waller has tasked you with trying to stop this group, while you have kind of left Gordon in the dark. Your relationships with the main characters seem to adjust to what you do in the game, and clearly I’ve adjusted them compared to the first episode:

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Playing both sides is difficult, because you have to make the villains trust you, while still trying to stop them. This means communicating with Alfred and Waller via your tech while keeping that on the extreme down low when around the villains.

There were several key choices to make in this episode, and for the most part I went along with the majority of players. I had to sneak into Wayne tower to get the Phalanx key for Harley, but of course John and her had to accompany me. Thankfully Tiffany (Lucius’s Daughter) was able to give me the key and keep her mouth shut, but this means that the villains would get closer to their goal. The episode culminated with the police trying to stop the group, and there was a major choice to try and stop either Bane or Harley from killing cops, and I chose to go after Bane thinking it would help my relationship with Harley, but instead she gets left behind and is pissed. I’m sure I can smooth things over with her in the next episode.

Overall this series has kept me hooked. At this point there’s only a couple more to go before I have to wait for the last episode to release but I think it was a worthy purchase. If you have plus and didn’t play the first season I’d recommend doing so then do yourself a favor and play this one as well. I didn’t think Batman would be a fun series but it’s been great!

Batman: The Enemy Within

Izlain

Despite not really caring about Telltale’s Batman series, I gave it a whirl because it was free on Playstation Plus. After playing through the first season though, it got its hooks into me. After completing the title I mentioned that I was thinking about picking up the second season, and I ended up doing just that. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, and knowing that Telltale tends to continue on storylines using your choices I wanted to see how my version of Gotham was faring. I’m glad that I decided to get this game, because the story took no time at all getting going (despite the first season’s first episode being pretty boring) and the action was even tighter than the first go around.

For the most part, the game is a direct continuation and the mechanics are pretty much the same. You’ll still chat and fight as both Batman and Bruce Wayne, and you’ll have to be the great detective that you are during certain points in the game, having to link clues together to decipher crime scenes. What’s different is that this time around the game tracks your relationships with main characters, and then let’s you know how they feel about you at the end:

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There are the usual major/difficult choices to make, but it seems even minor things can affect your relationships with these characters. As you can see, the range of emotions is varied – Alfred is vengeful and the Joker is ecstatic! Each of the pictures above will show the various choices I had made that left each character feeling a particular way. Spoiler alert, these feelings will change as the game goes on, so it’s good to know if you make someone angry you can still redeem yourself later!

The summary at the end of each episode shows four of the major choices, along with the feelings of each character towards you. For the most part it seems that I went with the majority of players, and it was interesting to see how the story continued on and my choices from the last season ended up affecting this one. I don’t want to get too spoilery so I’ll leave you with that.

As usual I have write-ups planned for each episode. At this point I’m need to finish up the fourth episode and then wait for the 5th to be released. This season started last August so I was able to binge through most of it, but have to wait for the last one which should be out within a month or so. I look forward to seeing another game to its conclusion this year!