Much of what makes this confrontation so enjoyable is that the player is led to believe Batman will confront the Joker and his crew in similar fashion to the ending of Arkham Asylum. Instead came a brilliant reveal that Clayface had been impersonating the Joker the whole game. The first part of the confrontation is nothing special, what really makes this such an enjoyable confrontations is Batman using Talia's sword (or katana, but we'll just say sword) to defeat Clayface. Up until this point in both Arkham games Batman had only ever used his fists or his gadgets to deal with enemies. So to see him wielding a sword was not only a welcome change but immensely satisfying; something about slicing through pieces of frozen clay just screams epic. The change of scenery from the theatre to the Lazarus Pit and having to divert attention between Clayface and the walking moulds of clay kept the confrontation fresh and provided a greater challenge as the player could not settle into a pattern of attacks. Again the sword was a big plus, being able to attack and counter with the sword was brilliant, even the sound of it being swung was epic. The first time I defeated Clayface I didn't recall much of the fight, largely due to the major event of the Joker's death that followed it, but having replayed it I realise what an improvement it was on the first game's final boss. The Titan Joker in Arkham Asylum was arguably the worst boss, so to end Arkham City with something unexpected and less typical proved a good move on Rocksteady's part.
