Batman: Arkham Trilogy will not come all on one cartridge and will require a download. Such a revelation just might diminish the hype that came with the Arkham Trilogy's initial reveal via the June Nintendo Direct.
Initially leaked by WTT in 2022, Batman: Arkham Trilogy is set to be one of many rereleases that have been issued to the three main Batman: Arkham installments, no doubt due to the franchise's immense success. Billed as containing Batman: Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and Arkham Knight alongside all of their respective DLC packs, it really sounds like one of the best ways to play these games, especially when combined with the Nintendo Switch's portability, which on its own adds plenty of novelty to any port. But like a lot of Switch ports, especially as of late, there will be some compromises made in order to fit three massive games on the hybrid console.
As revealed in the FAQ for the collection, Batman: Arkham Trilogy will be one of multiple Nintendo Switch ports that will require a download to access all the content, even on the physical release. Should one purchase the cartridge version of the game, they will only be able to access Arkham Asylum, and will have to drop by the Nintendo Switch eShop in order to access Arkham City and Arkham Knight. Once that purchase is done, then all three games will be accessible upon inserting the one cartridge.
It was not stated how much space would need to be available for the download to happen, but given that Arkham City and Arkham Knight both boast massive overworld maps and side content, combined with the latter's immense amount of DLC expansions, it would probably be a good idea to invest in some extra storage. Unlike some other Switch ports, the Arkham Trilogy does not appear to be a Cloud release and may not require an internet connection at all times, which does put it a little above those.
None of these compromises were mentioned in the official Nintendo Direct announcement, but in hindsight, it should've been obvious that they would be present. The Nintendo Switch is in its seventh year, running on a chip that was already outdated even in 2017, and only contains 32GB of internal storage (64GB in the OLED model). Nintendo has a unique tactic of compressing larger games to fit and run well on the platform, but has not shared it with third-parties, forcing them to resort to measures like these in order to port their software over. Even looking at the trailer itself, one can see how heavily compromised the graphics are, particularly in Arkham Knight. With rumblings of a Switch console successor coming soon, perhaps Turn Me Up Games could have held off for a bit longer.
Batman: Arkham Trilogy is coming exclusively to the Nintendo Switch in fall 2023.
Source: Warner Bros. Games
