In this hard-boiled version of the Batverse, the characters were gritty, tough and more realistic.
2012, Tim Knight, "The Dark Knight Rises", Amaze, 3 August 2012, Edition 5, page 117 (approx.):
So overall in my mind at least this is a great film, the best of the trilogy by far, and even though they say it is the end of this perticular[sic] storyline arc, I hope it isn't the end of Christopher Nolan's Batverse, as I would be one very sad person…
It's a ballsy move to reject fan-favourite and mainstream recognisable elements of the Batverse such as Robin and The Joker, but fingers crossed Beware the Batman will finally return Bruce Wayne's animated shenanigans to the heights of the early 1990s.
2014, Jack Mills, "Heroes and Villains", The Lancer (Belleville East High School, Belleville, Illinois), Volume 6, Issue 6, 21 March 2014, page 8:
Even though it changes up the canon of the Batverse, they[sic] changes do make sense and fit properly.