Ever since I wrapped up LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, I have been waiting to see what franchise TT Games would turn to next. The brick-built blockbuster from a galaxy far, far away felt like the series’ most meaningful regeneration since the dev decided to fold multiple films into one release in The Original Trilogy, and I wanted more.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is more, but it’s also something different. This is a far cry from the Marvel Super Heroes, Incredibles, or whatever Jurassic Park/World tie-in we’ve had of late, but it’s also not quite as ambitious an undertaking as The Skywalker Saga. It’s very slick, very funny, and royally good to play, even if it doesn’t feel wholly revolutionary in the process. The Caped Crusader’s journey to Switch 2 has felt like a long one, but I can rest easy knowing that it’s every bit as charming on the hybrid as it was on other systems back in May. The Bat is well and truly back.
Unlike its space-faring, nine-movie-compiling predecessor, Legacy of the Dark Knight adds a ‘new’ story to the Batman mythos. I use ‘new’ delicately there, because Master Wayne’s eyeliner origins feel like a tale as old as time at this point.
Fortunately, the game knows it. The narrative is effectively an amalgamation of the ‘best bits’ of the last 90 years of Bat media, weaving recognisable scenes from Batman Returns, The Dark Knight Rises, The Batman and more into a veritable smorgasbord of opportunities for nerds like me to click their fingers, point at the screen, and proudly proclaim, “Hey, I get that reference.”
And boy, do those references come thick and fast. In true TT Games fashion, Legacy of the Dark Knight has gags a-plenty, grabbing from all media (Batman-related or not) to land punchlines that regularly had me cackling far more than any Lego game before it. What do Liam Neeson’s Taken speech, American Psycho, and a sketch from Scottish comedian Limmy all have in common? They all get nods in Legacy of the Dark Knight.
The gameplay follows your standard Lego game format. Levels consist of a series of light platforming and puzzle challenges based around the playable characters’ unique gadgets, with a decent amount of combat peppered in there for good measure. There are plenty of stud-filled objects to smash, a five-piece Bat Cave Trophy to collect, and a hidden Red Brick (which unlocks unique costume modifiers) for those who want to see the levels to the fullest, but otherwise, it’s a rather in-and-out jobby.
The standard Lego combat sees a bit of an upgrade this time around, at least. In true Arkham fashion (which is fitting, given that Rocksteady is on co-dev duties here), Gotham’s goons come in various groups that can deal out damage in different ways. You’ll need to learn how to block incoming attacks from bat-wielding enemies, slip behind those holding a shield, concuss big bruisers — you get the picture.
It’s a nice bit of spice, and TT has kept things simple on the controls front — hit ‘Y’ to attack, then ‘X’ or ‘A’ to counter/dodge when prompted — but it falls a little flat in the long run, with most encounters feeling increasingly button-mashy as I hit the later missions. There are some simple stealth mechanics to offer a different approach to head-on combat, but most of these feel like a path to yet more button mashing and frequently result in a punch-up whichever way you play it.
Each of the five playable characters — Batman, Jim Gordon, Catwoman, Robin and Batgirl — comes with their own gadgets and abilities (making the whole thing a hoot in couch co-op), and while it would have been nice to see each bring more personality to combat encounters, at least you never feel required to go back and play the whole game again in Free Play — my biggest hangup of most Lego games.
Where this one really pushes the boat out, however, is in its open-world Gotham City, which serves as both your main hub between missions and an entire game in and of itself, complete with hidden missions, unlockables and collectibles up the wazoo.
It’s nothing new for Lego games. I remember being particularly enamoured with the explorable NYC in Marvel Super Heroes, and The Skywalker Saga beefed things up to open areas on each planet, but the Gotham playground is an absolute blast. There is so much to do. Between all the random crime encounters, Riddler puzzles, missing animals and mini-crime scenes to investigate, I could easily spend hours exploring the city alone, leaving the main story on the sidelines.
I wouldn’t do that, of course — the promise of eventually hearing Matt Berry as Bane is always encouragement enough to push on with the next mission — but my point is, I could.
I’ll admit that it starts to feel excessive, as the game goes on. By the time I reached the last chapter, my map had more pins in it than an acupuncture client, and while it feels great to explore the city, I’m never going to get round to ticking all of these collectibles off the list.
The entire city is navigable by Batmobile (other vehicles are available, but why would I choose anything else?), grappling hook, or glider, and there’s a big Arkham energy to the whole affair. Fast Travel is an option, but I always found myself opting to take the scenic route instead, gliding through coin rings and performing slick parkour moves rather than sitting through a (admittedly, very brief) loading screen.
Having played through the whole thing on PS5 earlier this year, the big open Gotham was my biggest fear heading into the Switch 2 version. Alas, I didn’t need to be too worried, but some trepidation was warranted.
On the whole, the game plays very well, handling the massive expanse of Gotham and more fiddly combat encounters with only the occasional frame drop. There is a good bit of pop-in when speeding through the city, and background textures often appear blurry, having received a notable downgrade from other platforms, but it’s rarely distracting and even less noticeable when playing in Handheld — at least, I was too distracted by some neat HD Rumble implementation at times to notice.
It’s not without its bumps, mind you. Missions with a lot of moving parts contain frequent stutters, and I did encounter one hard crash in the late-game when heading between Gotham boroughs at high speed.
It would be easy to get caught up in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight’s pitfalls and dunk on the repetitive combat and performance, but truthfully, the game is far too fun to warrant too much negativity.
With a frequently hilarious script, endless callbacks, and a cracking open world to explore, TT’s love for the Caped Crusader always manages to shine through. And hey, love like that is infectious.
