Suicide Squad: KTJL's 'Psyched Up' Mechanic Is a Double…

Summary

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's "Psyched Up" mechanic encourages players to experiment with diverse playstyles, adding longevity to the game and introducing them to characters they might otherwise overlook.
Despite its downsides, the "Psyched Up" mechanic may prove helpful in strengthening characters for future content with its significant bonuses.

The following contains story and gameplay spoilers for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a live-service action-adventure game from Rocksteady Studios and the spiritual successor to the beloved Batman: Arkham series. Currently, it features four playable characters, but the developer plans to bring more into the fray as the game's story continues, and more content is added in the future. Even with its connection to the Batman: Arkham series, however, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League remains a different animal altogether in its brand-new approach to combat, premise, and characters.

As a live-service game featuring multiple playable characters, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is full of a myriad of mechanics, setting it miles apart from its Batman: Arkham predecessors. Among those mechanics is "Psyched Up," which grants players significant bonuses to defense and damage, ability recharge rate, and XP gained when they use a specific character for a mission. However, despite its obvious benefits, there are still some unfortunate downsides to the "Psyched Up" mechanic.

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By Max Borman

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's "Psyched Up" Mechanic Has Its Ups and Downs

"Psyched Up" Encourages Players to Experiment With Diverse Playstyles

It's safe to say that "Psyched Up" thoroughly accomplishes what is its most likely intended purpose: to encourage players to experiment with diverse playstyles. Each character in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League comes with its own playstyle, and they are all drastically different in terms of traversal mechanics and usable weapons. As such, "Psyched Up" urges players to use each character by occasionally appearing as a mission modifier.

On the one hand, "Psyched Up" increases the longevity of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League by urging its players to continue playing the game, even after they feel they've mastered one of its playable characters. Each time they take advantage of "Psyched Up," they are likely introduced to a character they aren't familiar with and may very well find it appealing enough to use long-term.

However, despite all the good that "Psyched Up" attempts to contribute to the game, it still comes with some disadvantages.

"Psyched Up" Puts Unnecessary Pressure on Players and Makes Some Fights More Difficult

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's "Psyched Up" feature can be seen as beneficial from a certain standpoint, but another perspective sees it as putting unnecessary pressure on players. Although switching to another character to gain the bonuses from "Psyched Up" is entirely optional and completely up to the player, it can be difficult to ignore the appeal of bonus XP for reaching max level in Kill the Justice League, which is arguably the mechanic's best feature. This may put an unwanted burden on players to play the game a certain way, rather than encouraging them to be free with their choices.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's "Psyched Up" feature can be seen as beneficial from a certain standpoint, but another perspective sees it as putting unnecessary pressure on players.

Another downside of benefiting from the "Psyched Up" bonus is that it can put players at a disadvantage in the game's more challenging fights. Almost all of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's boss battles allow players to partake of "Psyched Up" bonuses by featuring a different character as the star of that fight from a narrative point of view. Captain Boomerang, for example, is the "Psyched Up" villain in the fight against Flash. Unfortunately, unpracticed Captain Boomerang players may in turn find themselves struggling to get through the battle at the cost of wanting it to be narratively immersive.

The answer to the downsides of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's "Psyched Up" mechanic may be as simple as not switching characters, but that added XP boost is always a lingering thought. That being said, the mechanic may prove over time to be one of the game's most helpful features as players continue strengthening their characters for future content, especially considering the significant bonuses it offers.

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Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

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Released: February 2, 2024

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Play as the Suicide Squad to take down the World’s Greatest DC Super Heroes, The Justice League. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, is a genre-defying, action-adventure third-person shooter from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series.

Featuring an original narrative set within an expansive open-world city of Metropolis, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League puts the four DC Super-Villains on a collision course with an invading alien force and DC Super Heroes who are now laser-focused on destroying the city they once vowed to protect. All the while, the Suicide Squad must be mindful of the lethal explosives implanted in their heads that could go off at the first sign of defiance.

Each squad member has their own unique moveset with enhanced traversal abilities to freely explore the dynamic open-world of Metropolis, along with a variety of weapons to customize, and skills to master.