Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Including One…

Summary

The Batman: Arkham series had memorable villains that were distinct in character and faithful to the comics, leading to satisfying side quests and boss fights.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League may introduce new villains while paying homage to the past, and The Riddler's inclusion would evoke nostalgia but could become tedious for players in another lengthy side quest.
If Suicide Squad goes all-in on The Riddler for collectibles, it risks alienating players and recreating the lengthy post-game grind of Arkham City and Arkham Knight. If featured, a better approach would be to make him an additional boss, not tied to collectibles.

One of the biggest highlights of the Batman: Arkham series was its vast collection of iconic Batman villains. Across a total of four games, Batman: Arkham delivered some of the most popular iterations of Batman's rogue's gallery, with each one having a completely distinct character, and each appearance feeling exceptionally faithful to the source material. It also helped that many of Batman: Arkham's villains were given satisfying side quests and boss fights, and hopefully that's a trend that continues through to Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

While Brainiac will apparently be the big bad of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League alongside his cohort of turned heroes, it seems fairly likely that the game will contain at least a handful of side villains to fight as well, with this being another large open-world title. But with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League encompassing the whole DC universe this time around, there's much more room for Rocksteady to experiment with its villains, though that might not stop the developer from paying homage to its past games by bringing some classic foes back - and there's one Batman: Arkham villain in particular that could be fairly divisive in Suicide Squad: The Riddler.

Riddler's Inclusion in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Would be a Double-Edged Sword

One of Batman's most iconic foes, The Riddler has appeared in every single Batman: Arkham game, for both better and for worse. In Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Riddler appeared as a disembodied voice over Batman's radio, encouraging him to solve a few puzzles and collect a handful of trophies, all of which felt fairly rewarding to complete.

Then Arkham City took a gigantic leap forward, bringing an eye-watering total of 440 Riddler challenges to the game. And while these were fun to collect for a while and really made great use of Arkham City's open-world, they got infamously tedious. Though there were less Riddler challenges in Arkham Knight, races were added, and the sheer size of the map made it take just as long as Arkham City, though at least players were rewarded with a fun boss fight at the end.

If Riddler appeared in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, in a similar role to his past appearances, it might end up being a bit of a double-edged sword. If the Riddler was introduced in Suicide Squad, it would likely evoke an immediate feeling of nostalgia for long-time Batman and Rocksteady fans, being one of the core parts of what made the Arkham trilogy so memorable. This big hit of nostalgia would probably last for a good while, sticking around while players grab a trophy or two and solve a few simple riddles, but the longer that side quest drags on, the more that nostalgia will start to wear off and the more annoying the Riddler will become.

According to some recent rumors, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will apparently feature a map twice the size of Batman: Arkham Knight's Gotham. If that's true, then that's a lot of real estate for The Riddler to work with, and a lot of potential hiding spots for trophies. If Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League decides to go all-in on The Riddler once again for its collectibles, then it could easily end up putting players off collectible-hunting altogether, very quickly evoking memories of Arkham City and Arkham Knight's lengthy post-game trophy grind. The best possible implementation of the Riddler in Suicide Squad would be simply as an additional boss that players need to face, not tied to any collectibles or 50-hour grind.