The year is off to a great start in terms of blockbuster releases, but Rocksteady’s upcomingSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguemight end up falling into one of 2023’s most controversial gaming trends. Already, 2023 has seen a handful of games draw criticism for their writing, especially when it comes to banter between characters. Games likeForspoken, and most recently,Atomic Heart, have become infamous for their dialogue, and from the most recent trailers forSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the game has the potential to struggle with its writing as well.
While not a dealbreaker for every player, irritating or repetitive banter between characters can often break the game’s immersion and disrupt its gameplay. BothForspokenandAtomic Heartsuffer from this type of dialogue, resulting in range of reviews for the games that depend on how much the player could look past the characters' chatter. As a squad-based game, it’s highly likely thatSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguewill feature a good deal of banter between its four playable characters, and the quality and frequency of the writing could make or break the experience for some.
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In all of their various media incarnations, the common theme amongSuicide Squadappearanceshave been their twisted sense of humor. This sets the stage forSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueto have some fantastic comedic moments in its character interactions, however, this potential could be a double-edged sword if dialogue is not managed carefully. As likely as it is to include clever quips and jokes that hit, there is an equal possibility that jokes could fall flat or banter could be overdone.
Historically, Rocksteady games have featured excellent writing and acting, with legends like Mark Hamill and the lateKevin Conroyportraying the Joker and Batman in theBatman: Arkhamseries, respectively. AlthoughSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguefeatures a solid voice cast, including the final performance from Conroy, this doesn’t necessarily equate to enjoyable dialogue, as even the strongest cast can succumb to a poorly written script or over-reliance on snarky quips and cheap laughs. While the trailers for the game don’t instill a lot of confidence about the quality of its character banter, the infrequency of these voice lines in game may mitigate their impact.
The playable characters featured inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueare already prone to high levels of snark, withHarley Quinnin particular having the potential to become grating on players after hearing her speak for too long. The game could help balance out its banter issues by giving characters equal speaking opportunities to differentiate dialogue between the antics of Harley and Captain Boomerang, and a straight man like Deadshot. Although, the game would need to avoid falling into action-hero tropes for Deadshot’s dialogue as well.
It’s also possibleSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguecould break the banter curse that seems to be plaguing games in 2023. A game like 2021’sMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxyis a great example of engaging banter that aids in character development and creates humorous moments rather than annoying players and distracting from the gameplay. At this point, it’s hard to tell which way the dialogue forSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguewill lean, but for fans already burnt out by the dialogue ofForspokenandAtomic Heart, getting a game that does character banter right would be quite welcome.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguelaunches on June 22, 2025 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
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