What went so right?

ITS THE FREAKING BAT

it was unique and refreshing
...was

>>384835946
It wasn't open world.

>>384835946
a perfect storm of great atmosphere, a fresh-at-the-time combat system, entertaining story, well done nostalgia pandering while still being its own thing, excellent voice performances, and 3D Metroidvania.

>>384836124
It was linear but with plenty of branching paths and secrets.

Metroid style level setup
Fun gameplay mechanics (taking out rooms of scared guys)
Interesting fighting mechanic that was new at the time
Devs genuinely understood the appeal of the character
Licensed game that actually had a lot of effort put into it

>>384835946
All the characters look like action figures and it looks really cool.

It's a 10/10 video game.

>>384835946
atmosphere and world design. It was the first time players actually felt like Batman in a comic book world.

>>384835946
>good atmosphere
>great pacing (never a dull moment, well, except the Croc's lair)
>good, fresh combat
>made you feel like a badass but still vulnerable if you get caught off guard
>those god-tier sections where you need to pick enemies one by one and seeing them panic as they know that Bat's going to fuck their shit up any moment now
>Hamill's Joker
>Comic book feel all around
it will never be topped and is the pinnacle of cape-vidya