The level up system
In all of the Arkham games (except possibly origins, I never finished that terrible game) there has been an increasingly large amount of tech available to you. As you earn experience in the game you are allowed to divvy up these points as you please, a pretty standard system that I for one think is outdated. To make the game feel more like a Batman game and less like a standard RPG they should have allowed Batman to level up through his actions, meaning that if you fought with gadgets a lot eventually you would earn higher gadget skills that would be automatically applied. This way there would be more of a fluid experience instead of forcing me to stop giving out free justice to play with a menu. This would also encourage more variety in gameplay, as it stands, if you find something that works for you, it doesn't benefit you to change that approach because if you keep winning fights you can put points on stuff that have nothing to do with what you just did (I can use points I earned by punching people to upgrade the batmobile?).
Choose your Batman
In every Arkham game there is one style Batman fights and that is it, if you play through the game you unlock every gadget and they are the same gadgets everyone else has. There is little to no customizability in terms of how your Batman on your particular game would be different from any other Batman in any other game, and I believe this is a mistake. Instead of the rigid costumes (buy or pre order bonus or just stick with what they give you) I would love to see a process where you build your own Batsuit from available pieces sold to you by Lucius. I would also take a page from Terraria's book (possibly other games) and make there be “vanity” slots. Meaning if you liked the look of a particular pair of bat gauntlets or a particular mask but they weren't up to par stat wise, you could put them on your vanity slot and that's the way you would look and keep stronger armor on your other slot for stats. Building your own batsuit from about fifty different piece options and about six different dies (all would be black but with a slight hue change in the way the light shines off of it) would ensure if your friend who is playing popped over or vice versa they would get a little variety.
This extends itself to fighting style, as there could be heavy light and medium gauntlets, slightly changing your fighting style. My plan for Bat's techniques does not end there though, it is constantly stated that Batman is a master of all known fighting styles, in the games though we could see only one, perhaps small flourishes in other styles. What I want is a move editor similar to WWE wrestling which would allow you to combine different moves from different fighting styles into your own custom combos, a strike from Karate, then a Judo slice combined with a boxing uppercut finished by a muay thai hold which ends in breaking their limb, we get something similar to this already but with no customization, imagine being able to build your own custom combos.
If this is too much, then just a button to press to switch between fighting styles (of which you have about ten but can hotkey three) would be adequate.
Co-op
Being able to play as a variety of bat-family on a second controller complete with their own skill trees and gadgets. This would make the game feel so much more batman, if they have guns, Robin swings by distracting them with a flash of color while you mangle them in stealth and it was your friend distracting them= epic. Bats in the comics usually comes equipped with a sidekick or the justice league, and to only let you access them during certain times and have them be unable to free roam through the city on their own makes them feel like set pieces and not living breathing characters.
Bruce Wayne
Having optional things to do as Bruce Wayne, such as oversee meetings at Wayne Enterprises, or attending parties to keep up appearences, maybe schmooze some information off of people. I would love for there to be a side plotline of corruption within Wayne Enterprises and you have to snuff it out as Bruce, (at least until you find the guy behind it all) by tracking what people are in charge of what project and where missing money is going into. This also folds into my Legend of the Batman category.
Gimme all the gadgets
In the comics (and non playably in the games) Batman has a plane and a submarine/boat as well as the batmobile, but we can't access them in the games other than a cut scene where the plane shows up just to leave without letting you pierce the Gotham skies. It would have been amazing for there to be underwater missions (underwater base?), as well as plane missions where you could maybe dog fight etc.
The Legend of Batman
This is the major one for me, they should have established a semi permanent “fear” meter in addition to the battle fear meter. By this I mean depending on how good you are at being a scary Batman from the very beginning of the game(being stealthy, good use of gadgets, not getting shot etc.) this should affect the overall attitude street criminals take to you. It would be so cool to put Gotham's criminals into such a state of fear that some cower and whimper when they finally get a look at you. Or if your not very good at being stealthy etc. the criminals are emboldened, this would make your actions have more of an effect on the city and increase the sense of a “real” living city that changes based on how you do what you do, and Gotham is best when it feels alive.
Waaaaaay less Riddler trophies
Shiz is just ridiculous.
What do you think? Hit the comments below and give your opinions or your own ideas on how Rocksteady could improve Batman:Arkham Knight.