Apr 18, 2026 Saturday 06:40:23 PM CDT
Installed the game just now from Steam.
Going to play for a while and then get something to eat.
Apr 18, 2026 Saturday 09:41:12 PM CDT
Okay, I am about to start playing now.
The game has some technical issues. I found a YouTube video with a fix. It freezes when running in DX11 mode.
Access the following file:D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Batman Arkham Origins\SinglePlayer\BMGame\Config\BmEngine.ini
Add or edit the options to the following:
AllowD3D10=True
AllowD3D11=False
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtCbJ0B7IF8
Going to take a break for the night. Will play more tomorrow morning.
Apr 19, 2026 Sunday 04:44:42 PM CDT
Migrated a lot of content from the old blog and wrote a review of RoboCop: Rogue City. Going to play some more now.
The fight with Killer Croc was pretty good.
Not a huge fan of the UI. I wish it were more customizable. I need to look into that. Going to take a short break and maybe play more later tonight.
Apr 24, 2026 Friday 07:18:33 PM CDT
Another session about to begin.
I wanted to spend more time playing and less time on other things, so here we go.
Navigating using the map feels super clunky. I don’t like it.
The rumors about technical issues are real. The sound just disappeared — I can’t hear any in-game audio, though menu audio still works.
The overall quality seems noticeably lower than Arkham City.
There’s a bug that makes Batman tiny in size and hard-locks the game. So dumb.
Done for now. Going to render some videos and get some sleep. Will make a plan for tomorrow. I have a lot of work to finish.
This game definitely feels like it was made by a B-tier studio. Noticeably lesser in quality compared to Arkham City.
Apr 25, 2026 Saturday 09:43:23 AM CDT
Time for another session.
Menu navigation is clearly designed for a controller. Very annoying with keyboard and mouse.
Taking a short break to work on the website.
Apr 25, 2026 Saturday 04:15:10 PM CDT
Another session.
The fight with Deathstroke was annoying and caused another crash.
Apr 25, 2026 Saturday 05:30:44 PM CDT
Updated the website. Going to give the game another try.
Finished the fight. It was annoying but okay overall.
The game hard-locked because I couldn’t exit a room — pressing Space wouldn’t open the door. Restarting fixed it. I have a feeling these bugs might block progress at some point.
Taking a little break. Total playtime is now 4.8 hours.
Apr 25, 2026 Saturday 07:46:29 PM CDT
Played some more. There’s a bug where Batman becomes tiny and can’t reach doors or items. Restarting the game is required again. The game is fun, but I’m not sure if I want to continue dealing with these issues.
Apr 26, 2026 Sunday 10:16:01 AM CDT
Going to play more.
My computer crashed (unrelated to the game — first time in a long while). It happened while moving the VM window.
About to start now.
I actually like the story. This is the first appearance of the Joker in the Batman series, and they handled it very well. Very cool.
I think I know how this game ends. It basically sets up the beginning of Arkham Asylum. Funny how I still remember that after all these years. I played the demo back in 2007, I think.
Apr 26, 2026 Sunday 12:18:42 PM CDT
Playing more.
The Copperhead section where Batman moves slowly was pretty boring.
I think I broke the boss fight by killing her outside the designated zone. This is so boring. Taking a break.
Apr 26, 2026 Sunday 01:52:22 PM CDT
Giving it another go.
Done with the fight. Taking a break.
Apr 26, 2026 Sunday 04:13:22 PM CDT
One more round. Reached the hotel with Joker in the penthouse. Going to update some website content and play more later this evening.
Apr 26, 2026 Sunday 06:33:02 PM CDT
Another quick session. Might not get a chance to play again for a week.
Friday, May 1, 2026, 6:51 PM CDT
Time to play some more. Finished all my work stuff. Planning to just relax and game tonight.
Friday, May 1, 2026, 9:05 PM CDT — Took a little break after getting a phone call from family.
Saturday, May 2, 2026, 12:29 PM CDT
Spent the whole morning redesigning the homepage. I’m done with that now. No more layout or deployment changes — I’ll stick with what I have. Time to play games.
Last night I finished the big fight with Bane. He still isn’t fully defeated. Going to play now.
Saturday, May 2, 2026, 1:45 PM CDT
Taking a short break. Made a lot of progress.
Saturday, May 2, 2026, 5:40 PM CDT
There’s a broken passage in the sewers under the GCPD. You’re supposed to go through a tunnel but it’s impassable.
Saturday, May 2, 2026, 6:56 PM CDT
Taking another little break.
Saturday, May 2, 2026, 7:27 PM CDT
Playing for a bit more.
Saturday, May 2, 2026, 8:24 PM CDT
I think I’m done for the day. Will resume tomorrow. Played quite a bit, but the technical issues are still annoying.
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 8:43 AM CDT
Changing the format of the diary a bit. The first entry of the day will stay as the header, and subsequent entries will be normal. Going to play some more now.
Also had to enable VSync to fix some technical and game-breaking issues. Maybe I should lock the frame rate to 60 FPS. I don’t think the game was made for modern machines.
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 9:30 AM CDT
Finished the Firefly boss fight. It was interesting. I wish the game didn’t force you to play in such a specific way — it could have been much better.
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 11:21 AM CDT
Edited some videos. Going to play more now. I’m glad I’ve narrowed down a good workflow for content creation.
Traversal puzzles are getting boring, especially the ones where you have to use glue pellets to create a raft and pull yourself across. They add nothing to the gameplay.
Got stuck in the Blackgate Prison sewers (because every game needs a sewer level). Found the exact solution on a YouTube video.
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 12:27 PM CDT
Taking a little break. I think I’m pretty close to finishing the game. I’ll also finish my Red Dead Redemption 2 review and do meal prep for the week. Might wrap up the game this evening.
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 12:45 PM CDT
Decided to play for a bit.
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 1:39 PM CDT
The Bane fight in Blackgate Prison is super boring. Taking a break.
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 3:29 PM CDT
About to attempt that annoying boss fight again. Wish I could skip it. Least fun part of the game. The developers had one specific way they wanted you to defeat the enemy and that’s the only way it works. No creativity required — they did all the thinking for you.
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 3:55:00 PM
Finished the game. The final Bane fight was dumb, but the Joker fight was interesting. I don’t think the ending of this game lines up exactly with the beginning of Arkham Asylum. Overall, I enjoyed it. I’ll back up the saves and uninstall the game. On to the next one!