How the Joker Season Misses the Mark in Suicide Squad: KTJL

The excitement surrounding Rocksteady’s “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” was like waiting for a long-lost yet cherished buddy to return, if you’re anything like me. Hearts were pounding just at the thought of returning to the Arkhamverse, but with a new twist.

But as we have learned, reunions are not always happy times. Unfortunately, the Joker season of the game hasn’t done anything to revitalize the title. Shall we cut through the confusion?

The Joker season promised us a continuation of a story that, to put it kindly, left everyone on the edge of their seats from the very beginning. But what we saw instead was a blank so huge that it could as well have been the black emptiness of space. A mound of grinding, a plot continuation that was, well, nonexistent, and a gap in material. This time around, Rocksteady, a studio renowned for its masterful storytelling, appeared to have fallen short.

The first hiccup came with the unlocking mechanism for our beloved Joker.

We were supposed to work our way up to Season Rank 35 in order to catch a peek of the clown prince of crime, in contrast to the treatment other games give their new characters. A duty that not only necessitated going over previously published material again, but did it so effortlessly that it deprived us of any sense of difficulty or enthusiasm. The addition of a new rank, apart from the standard mastery or battle pass ranks, seems more like a tiresome obstacle than a novel feature.

The lack of new objectives at launch was a gut punch, as if the grind wasn’t depressing enough. The ‘Strongholds’ mission type is still unmet, so players are forced to fight the same Incursions under a different enemy label. Without any uniqueness or surprise, even the Brainiac boss fight—a opportunity for the game to redeem itself—turned out to be a rehashed Green Lantern encounter.

Joker sitting on stairs — Photo by Daniel Lincoln on Unsplash

The Joker’s story content is perhaps the most baffling aspect.

There were only two examples of what was referred to as’story content’: a short rescue cutscene and a motion comic at the start of the season. It felt like an enormously significant opportunity was lost as there was no meaningful interaction between the Joker and Harley or any Joker-related story missions.

Joker’s incorporation into the game doesn’t fare any better after it is enabled. Although his character is well-designed, he doesn’t offer any novel gaming elements. The missions’ repetitious nature—especially now that the Joker is involved—does little to address the general problem of a lack of material. Players were left wondering what may have been when the promise of new opponents proved to be just that—a promise.

The community’s response has been swift and unforgiving.

There is broad agreement that this was not the game’s necessary rebirth, ranging from charges of a cynical money grab to regrets about the wasted potential of a team as renowned as Rocksteady. The irony that the Joker, a figure that is associated with anarchy and inventiveness, is introduced into a game that is characterized by monotony and a dearth of material is not missed on its players.

The game’s present direction is evident in Rocksteady’s choice to keep Joker behind a grind and the lack of new content at the start of the season. ‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League”s future is severely hampered by this direction, which is disheartening as well as disappointing.

The Joker season offered a chance to make amends and breathe new vitality into a game that had struggled from the start. Rather, we received a case study on lost possibilities and a lesson in how to handle a live service game poorly. Only small updates or future commitments would not be sufficient to close the glaring gap between what was promised and what was delivered.

The ‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’ Joker season is a powerful reminder of the difficulties that the video game industry is now facing. The core elements of what makes gaming compelling—engaging storytelling, creative gameplay, and real surprises—seem to be slipping into the background as the competition to profit from well-known IPs and the appeal of live service models intensifies. As gamers, we hope that this will act as a wake-up call for the industry as a whole, not just for Rocksteady. We wait, we observe, and we speculate about what might have been.