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Get the comic book mentality into place, people. Or call them graphic novels - I intend no disrespect in terming them comic books. Today we're thinking in particular of one character in particular (or rather his domain), the Dark Knight. How to get Batman into a respectable game in any form, let alone an RPG, may at first seem a Herculean task insurmountable by the foolish market forces that would drive its development. But the ingredients are present; the execution merely depends upon time and effort being available in sufficient quantities.
Batman is primarily associated with being a solo crime fighter, but he has a respectable group of allies to call upon for keeping Gotham City in order. Robin immediately comes to mind, though there have been about five different people to wear Robin's attire and some of them are dead (an exact number of dead is difficult to say for certain given the hush-hush nature of future plotlines). Nightwing, Oracle, Huntress, Catwoman, Batgirl, Black Canary, possibly even Tarantula are all viable characters for filling out the player's side of a Batman title's roster. While an action-RPG is probably the best fit given Batman's reputation, it need not be the only method available.
So how could Batman's character be translated into an RPG effectively? Levels, per se, probably would not work: having Batman start weak makes little sense. New techniques and equipment for the utility belt, however, would work pretty well. Batman can't reasonably be expected to get much stronger than he is, so let his arsenal increase. Or take the route of some extraordinary phenomenon affecting him to allow more usual RPG rules to apply, though this is a risky endeavor.
Certainly the makings of a worthy story using the Batman character's universe are present, partly thanks to a fine rogue's gallery of villains in Gotham. Joker, Penguin, Clayface, Bane, Scarecrow, Zsasz, Ventriloquist, Mad Hatter, Riddler, Amygdala, Zeus, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Croc, and Abbatoir all come to mind in thinking of the foes Batman has to take on - and there are others I'm not about to list just for fear of monotony. In the field of villains Batman has been granted quite a range of opponents, and making use of them is a natural maneuver on the part of a prospective developer. Though Jack Nicholson probably cannot be enticed into a vocal for the Joker :( .
The major obstacle here has to be Batman's checkered past in the video game world. I liked the Genesis's game based on the first Batman movie - as a child. Whether I would like it now is very open to question. I didn't like the Genesis Batman Returns even as a child. The Adventures of Batman & Robin on SNES is alright, but control is kind of mushy. I have no other firsthand experience with Batman games, but the grapevine tells me Batman Begins is one of the greatest turds in video game releases. Massive work is necessary to ensure that mediocrity does not instantly befall a Batman RPG - but it could be done! Though hope doubtless springs eternal once more.
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