Dini Will Not Return For A Third "Batman" Game

[CBR News]

Paul Dini, the fan-favorite comic writer behind "Batman: Arkham Asylum" and "Batman: Arkham City," confirms he will not return for a third installment, explaining why he chose to pursue other projects.


Full article here.

[Test of Strength]

While it does suck, I have faith in Rocksteady to deliver another great game.

Also, the gameplay itself is solid. Could always use some tweaking and improvements will happen as long as the core system isn't tampered with too much.

Those Combat Challenges are like crack.

[Legion_Quest]

Really not sure about this Silver Age JLA prequel game. Sounds a bit.......naff to me

[Just Endless]

To be frank, Dini was not the reason those games were great, the gameplay was.

No idea if the preposterous overuse of the word 'bitch' was Dini's fault, but, uh, that was a problem.

[Simbob4000]

I only played the first one, but the writing was wildly inconsistent between what characters said in-game, the recordings you would find while playing, and the general visual tone of the game; there were times when it was just funny. It's saving grace was the fantastic gameplay, and fluent animation that made the fights look so wonderful.

[Mike Pothier]

I'm sad to see him go, but Dini isn't the only great Batman writer. If they could tap one of DC's heavyweight writers, that would be awesome.

[KurtW95]

Bruce Timm should write the next one.

[Toreador]

I think a natural sequel to Arkham City would be a game adaptation of the story War Games. Gangs and Bat-rouges take over Gotham City and the police, Batman and the Bat-family bring order to the city. You could switch among different members (Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, Huntress, Azreal) for different missions taking back part of the city a piece at a time.

[Disco Pyg]

I think a natural sequel to Arkham City would be a game adaptation of the story War Games. Gangs and Bat-rouges take over Gotham City and the police, Batman and the Bat-family bring order to the city. You could switch among different members (Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, Huntress, Azreal) for different missions taking back part of the city a piece at a time.

You'd get a similar (and, I believe, more interesting) result if they adapted the No Man's Land story. Giving all that was going on during that story there'd be tons of potential for interesting side missions.

[GothamLord]

No idea if the preposterous overuse of the word 'bitch' was Dini's fault, but, uh, that was a problem.

I actually remember an article I read when the game came out talking about that. The issue really came from trying to portray a bunch of low-life thugs, criminals and degenerates running around but still keeping their vocabulary clean enough to avoid the game going from a T-rating up to a M-rating. The end result was sadly the constant use of the same two or three explicates in the sound bits over and over and over and over again. I dont blame Dini at all for voice clips for random thugs.

[Simbob4000]

You'd get a similar (and, I believe, more interesting) result if they adapted the No Man's Land story. Giving all that was going on during that story there'd be tons of potential for interesting side missions.

Would a No Man's Land game really be any different than Batman: Arkham City?

[jloder24]

If we're going to get a JLA game, can we please just get a Marvel Ultimate Alliance-type game? With 50 or so heroes/villians from the JLA's history to choose from for game play, with three or four different looks/costumes for each character? It would out-sell the Arkham games, DC. Make it happen.

[alexd]

I enjoy pretty much everything I have read, seen or played from Dini. I am sure that he will have other projects that we will see.

[Venom]

True Dini's writing didn't comtribute to gameplay, but to me a good storyline is what makes a game after gameplay. Both Arkham games had brilliant storylines, but would they be as great if Dini didn't write them?

[Cyke]

True Dini's writing didn't comtribute to gameplay, but to me a good storyline is what makes a game after gameplay. Both Arkham games had brilliant storylines, but would they be as great if Dini didn't write them?

More often than not, I find myself imagining different storylines than what's happening on the video game screen. Didn't need to do that with Arkham, and that helped greatly with connecting me to Batman. Still, there are other great writers out there, and if they can do even 75% of the job that Dini is known for, I'll be happy.