10 Ways Rocksteady Should Have Made Batman: Arkham Knight

6. Give Scarecrow A Real Motive And Overall Purpose

What was Scarecrow's role in AK - what was his purpose? "To envelop Gotham in fear toxin", right? Well, yes, but why? Why does he want to do anything to Batman, other than just for the sake of it?

We never know, as outside of revenge for being bested in Asylum, the only reason he's even in the story is to facilitate one particular level when the bombs go off, and we're treated to a really cool-looking version of Gotham as its engulfed in smog. Then it's over... and things go back to normal. His final act of gassing the hell out of Batman in person is reminiscent of his first appearance from the animated TV series, which is neat as a callback, but ends up not fulfilling the potential of yet another main villain from the game's advertising.

The many aspects of how Joker invades Bruce's psyche would've fit far more comfortably around constant exposure to Fear Toxin, to the point where it then leaves Bruce in a fractured mental state. In fact, there's every possibility this was the original plan, before "More Joker!" was tagged onto all the initial feedback forms. The game's ending is a mix of the two, with Scarecrow's toxin facilitating more appearances by the Joker, only to see Bats thwart the latter in a first-person sequence before stopping Scarecrow in a cutscene.

It's pretty clear that a game focussed entirely on Scarecrow capitalising on Bruce's emotions following the death of Joker would've been much more compelling. Scarecrow would therefore have been Bruce's ultimate mental test, whilst the Knight would've been the physical side of that coin, together providing one hell of a final encounter that would've combined dream sequences with brutal hand-to-hand fights as you alternate fighting them both.