The best Batman game since the Arkham trilogy.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight had no business being this good.
After Gotham Knights stumbled and Suicide Squad flopped, the idea of a LEGO game stepping up as the best Batman experience since the Arkham Knight trilogy felt absurd. And yet here we are.
TT Games has built something that pulls from 86 years of Batman history, six distinct film and television eras, and the Rocksteady Arkham combat blueprint we all love, and somehow makes it feel like a single, coherent game. I spent over 30 hours with it chasing the platinum, and besides hating the collectible grind, I had way so much more fun than I would've expected.
Gameplay: Is this an Arkham mod?
Batman fans will find plenty to cherish about the early game acts
The combat and overall gameplay is the headline for me. TT Games lifted the freeflow system from the Arkham games, complete with counters, evades, and environmental takedowns, and it translates surprisingly well into brick form. The timing windows feel fair, the visual feedback is clean, and chaining together long combo strings against a room full of goons is just as satisfying here as it was in Arkham City.
But at the same time, the game still offers you that same stealth path the Arkham titles were known for as well, and our stealth takedowns guide covers takedown types and how to chain them for bonus studs and the 100-takedown trophy.
The gameplay loop outside of combat was very smooth too. Gliding across the city or driving around in the Batmobile never gets boring with plenty of crime and side quests to tend to. Gotham opens up quickly, with access to the second island arriving within the first chapter, and the density of side content between those early areas alone is enough to justify the 20+ hours you'll find yourself sinking into this.
Where it falls short is in the repetition of the puzzle designs. Some recurring puzzles feel like they were designed just for the sake of hitting a certain total number, particularly the compound analysis sequences where you match LEGO-built elements in a molecule. They break up the pacing without adding much. And the Cluemaster puzzle rooms were my least favorite part about the game, with glitches that occasionally soft-lock your character as you move things around the room.
The character variety and needing to utilize different skills from each of them as you move around Gotham was super fun, although admittedly I mostly roamed alongside Nightwing for most of the game.
Graphics and audio: Gotham's back baby
Everything from iconic car chases to street crime never misses a beat
Gotham looks great in LEGO form. Dark, wet streets, gothic architecture across each of the six eras which have their own distinct visual identities. The voice work is strong across the board, the background music was such a nostalgic treat, and the banter between Batman, Nightwing, and Jim Gordon lands consistently (shoutout to Bane towards the end as well). It is perhaps slightly less funny than the earlier LEGO Batman games, which leaned further into absurdism, but the trade-off is a tone that actually supports the story being told.
I can't emphasize enough how immersive the overall experience is as you're pulled into a gritty Gotham despite everything being built by LEGO bricks.
Story: Every story… in one?
I almost jumped out of my seat when they recreated this iconic Joker moment
Legacy of the Dark Knight isn't an adaptation of any single Batman property. Instead, TT Games remixed the movies, animated series, comics, and Arkham games into one original origin story that follows Bruce from Crime Alley through his training under Ra's al Ghul, his early days as Batman, and eventually to a League of Shadows Gotham defended alongside Nightwing and Batgirl.
The story weaving is surprisingly good. You will instantly recognize scenes, dialogue beats, and entire character dynamics from specific eras, but none of it is a direct recreation. It's more like someone dumped every Batman LEGO set on the floor and built something new from the pile. The result keeps you guessing even if you know the source material cold.
The main story runs 10 to 12 hours if you ignore side content, and the second half does feel rushed compared to the careful construction of the first few chapters. The shift from Dick Grayson to Nightwing happens fast enough that players without comic background might miss why the dynamic between him and Batman suddenly turns tense. The emotional beats are there if you know where to look, but the game doesn't always slow down long enough to let them land.
That said, the villain roster is excellent, and the boss encounters are creative. Facing off against Batman's rogues gallery across six different tonal registers gives each villain a slightly different flavor, and the game is smart enough to let the humor breathe in the right moments without undercutting the darker chapters.
Verdict
WHERE IS SHE?!
I platinumed the game. That's the short version which means it's definitely worth your time and is a lot of fun.
The longer version is that Legacy of the Dark Knight is much more than "just" another LEGO game, and a legitimate contender for the best Batman game since Arkham Knight. The combat is satisfying, exploring Gotham is tons of fun, and the story does something genuinely clever with 86 years of source material combined into one storyline.
Under 15 hours of main content is thin at full price, and the glitches in the Cluemaster rooms might get on your nerves here and there, but if you're looking for a solid game to scratch that Batman itch, I couldn't recommend this game more. There are easily 30 hours of content here for completionists, and the gameplay loop holds up across that runtime better than most open-world games manage.
If you're a Batman fan who felt let down by the last few years of DC games, this one's for you.
Check out the full LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight guides for help with collectibles, trophies, and anything else the game throws at you.