Asylum, for me, was all about the detective work and setting up the overall story. It was comfortably linear, but open enough to satisfy explorers. It also introduced us to the freeform combat system that we’ve all come to know and love. The story was a bit dull for an opening to the series, but not dull enough to turn me away. The combat and boss battles were the highlight.
City blew me away when I first played it. That opening sequence was pure french kiss, and set up the rest of the story nicely. Just when you think you’re going to be in another linear arena, boom, you’re chucked into the wide open. A lot of people dislike the Assassins Creed approach Rocksteady took, but I liked the variety of side-missions. Again, the combat and boss battles were brilliant.
Then along came Arkham Knight, one of the first games I bought for PS4. And what a fucking game to play. It took the best from both Asylum and City, merged them together, then threw a lot more content into the mix. The story, the combat, the twists, the setting, all of it was perfect. The one part that did annoy me, but only slightly, was the Batmobile segments, particularly the fight against the titular Arkham Knight - but I can forgive that for all the good points about the game.
I never played Arkham VR or Origins.