Batman: Arkham Asylum

Finally, I could whisper 'I am the Batman' to myself, without having that moment of panic, fearing that someone might have heard me.

There was almost a good solid 15+ years of no good Batman games so went into this with an attitude and HOLY GOOD GAME BATMAN. Beating the shit out of 8 guys like some graceful muscly ballet monster "MUAH"

Established an awful precedent in gaming by having one of the worst combat systems ever that inspired many awful copycats due to the game's financial success. Otherwise, the plot is generic Batman schlock and the "puzzles" are laughably bad. Still, I don't wholly hate this game because it has some tolerable stealth sections that allow you to mess with the ai in creative ways. A shame this game didn't focus on this aspect and expanded on it, which isn't remedied by its crappier sequels.

An unexpected triumph. Nobody anticipated that Rocksteady would hit a home run with this effort that kickstarted arguably the most acclaimed action gaming trilogy of recent years. The Asylum setting does restrict the player to more linear progression unlike it's open world sequels, but the combat system was revolutionary, and the attention to detail and fan service is exceptional. Voice acting is top notch, with Mark Hamill providing another example of why he's one of the best Jokers ever

Feels like almost every action game to follow tried to rip off the combat system from Arkham Asylum and none managed to make it as satisfying.