One of the most consistent features in adventure games is the existence of collectibles, or a series of hidden objects players have to find to fully complete their experience. Plenty of games have a maddening amount of collectibles, but they are usually optional objectives compared to the main quests or other content you engage with. That being said, one game series does a great job at merging collectibles with gameplay and story ideas, creating an aggravating but satisfying relationship with one of gaming’s most well-known mechanics.
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Any genre can have a “collectible” within it, as the term less refers to objects gathered in mass quantity rather than anything you pursue as an optional group in a game. For example, in GTA IV, you can find the locations of pigeons within the city, even if this process might take forever. Typically, the most memorable collectibles are ones that are easily tracked throughout a game’s playthrough, instead of obtuse goals with no clear end.
Collectibles Should Be As Annoying & Addicting To Track Down As They Were In The Batman: Arkham Games
The Batman: Arkham series has some of the best collectibles ever in the form of Riddler Trophies, which have become infamous in how well hidden they are. The Riddler is one of Batman’s most conniving villains, with his need to prove his intelligence leading to a multitude of collectibles players have the option to hunt down. Oftentimes, a Trophy is agonizing to find, often tucked away in the smallest of spaces you wouldn’t hope to check without extensive backtracking.
Across the four core Batman: Arkham games, there are 1,228 Riddler Trophies to collect, with over 200 in each title. The biggest case of this is Batman: Arkham City, where 400 are in the game’s main campaign and another 40 are scattered within the Catwoman DLC. While this might seem overwhelming for most players, for good reason, there’s something addicting with one-upping the Riddler’s puzzles at every turn. As the series goes on, it gets more and more satisfying to frustrate the Riddler using every tool in Batman’s utility belt.
The Riddler Trophies are both teachers of game mechanics and the sole reason to explore every inch of the meticulous world the Batman: Arkham games create. Although there is an argument to be made about the varying difficulty of finding Trophies across the series, the sheer abundance of these collectibles is always tied to the main story of the game in some way. As a result, players are more incentivized to find every single Trophy, not just for extra dialogue, but for side quest completion.
Riddler Trophies Were Tied To The Game’s Plot While Teaching Players Every Game Mechanic
Having narrative weight behind collectibles turns them from small optional items into goals that players feel like they have to pursue. This not only helps players gain a detailed knowledge of a game’s map, but also encourages exploration whenever a new area is unlocked. This creates a better relationship with the game’s setting, contributing to the largely praised map designs of the Batman: Arkham games. In many ways, despite how annoying they are to find, Riddler Trophies are a great blueprint for integrating collectibles into a more open world.
Riddler Trophies also can act as teaching moments, giving players unique situations to interact with mechanics they may not always use. The Batman: Arkham games give Batman a variety of tools to use, but players can easily get by while only using their fists and maybe a Batarang or two during a fight. Through collectibles, players are forced to engage with every mechanic in unique ways, mostly to solve puzzles tied to the Riddler. Although these can get tedious with the “puzzles” that ask for the Batmobile in Batman: Arkham Knight, a majority of Riddler’s challenges are fun to solve.
Slight Frustration From Hunting Down Every Collectible Needs To Be Balanced By Actual Completion Goals
If the Riddler Trophies were completely optional, almost no player would ever go out of their way to find them all. The frustration tied to these collectibles make some players never find them all even when incentivized, but the constant jabs from the Riddler can add plenty of motivation. The completion goal of seeing the Riddler finally found and defeated by Batman is one of the most satisfying feelings in the Batman: Arkham games. That being said, the pursuit of that goal is one of the main reasons players can tolerate the tedium of hunting for hundreds of collectibles.
Players would want a new Batman game to have collectibles simply because the completion goal for them led to impactful moments. Other games need to have great rewards for including collectibles like Riddler Trophies, whether it’s a unique side quest story beat or the gift of a powerful item, cosmetic, or some other ultra-rare gift. The best action-adventure games can turn collectibles into something players want to pursue completely, even if they have a grind similar to the ones Batman: Arkham established.
What do you think of the collectibles in Batman: Arkham? Leave a comment below or join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!
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