Had to get my B-List Cage kicked in for a bit but I'm back home now lol.
I want to go over these.
-AA's were stronger - Seems the same to me. Characters have good AA in Injustice but some jump attacks were very strong when spaced right. Deathstroke j3, Green Arrow j3, Harley and Batgirl j2, Catwoman j2, Joker j3, Lex j3, WoWo j2. This trend continues in MKX.
-back to block is better - That's pure preference
-there were MUCH better defense options - I don't know about 'MUCH'. The defensive options are the same; backdash, armor, poke, push block. I think backdash is toned down in MKX from Injustice since it requires stamina, you don't always have armor, some characters don't have quick pokes and push block is obviously better in Injustice. I would argue though MKX has the delayed get up system to offset that.
-MUCH better zoning - Agreed
-gameplay strategies and tactics were much more diverse, the game was a lot more balanced in terms of effective playstyles - More diverse yes. Balanced no.
-much less reliant on 50/50's and +on block pressure - What? Injustice is nothing but 50/50's with the exception of throws and Aquaman Trident Rush. There isn't block pressure because that's not part of the game design outside of Batman and maybe Doomsday.
-Wake up game was much better - Debatable and character dependent from game to game. Tell that to Catwoman, Raven, Aquaman, and Batman
-Corner game was much more balanced - Uh I think you're forgetting about Bane, Doomsday, WoWo, Batgirl, and Superman corner ridiculousness
-Much less armor made the neutral stronger and smarter - Really? Cause Doomsday and Killer Frost neutral was honest? Some characters had silly b3~mb moves like Aquaman, Catwoman, Superman Sinestro, ect.
-Block breakers were MUCH more viable - Agreed
-Game speed was more in tune with the FGC, as in you could have both fast paced and slow paced matches. Time outs happened occasionally at all levels of play - As someone who was working at NRS at the time, all you ever heard about is how incredibly slow-paced the game was. Now all of a sudden it was in tune with the FGC? Amazing how that opinion has drastically changed.
-Less corner carrying combos across the cast added more midscreen fights and made the corner feel more like a reward than a "almost every round" occurrence. - Agreed.
So out of all of your gripes about why you like Injustice better than MKX I can probably only give in to about 4 or 5 of them. The rest are your personal preference.
Not gonna mention the points you agreed on for obvious reasons.
-I would say AA's were stronger mainly because you were getting cast wide full combos on reaction with them. Both games have some stupid air normals, like the ones you listed in Injustice vs the Kotal/Lao/Sonya etc Ji's of MKX. A huge difference between the two games was that in Injustice D2's could consistently combo many ji's on reaction, where as in MKX you have to block many Ji's in that "jump distance" or you can get clean and consistent D2's but they give 14% damage instead. So you're best bets AA'ing in MKX is "risky normal that leads to combo or 14% D2" unless you have EX Spin or such, and in Injustice it's "D2 when at proper range for full combo and block when at bad ranges" unless you have EX Raven Lift or such. You don't really "fear" jumping in MKX for the most part, but I played Injustice with Dula and Coach Steve a week ago and within a few games I barely jumped lol. I forgot what that fear of jumping felt like.
-This I agree. Personally I wish MK would get rid of the block button since I'm so used to back blocking in most fighters, but I agree this is pure preference. I can picture someone who plays 90% MK over a long period of time hating back to block so it's purely subjective.
-I guess I would say much better defensive options because of the offensive tools characters have. As in, where guys like Liu have looping block string +pressure, Cage with his cancel +pressure, Erron/QC/etc style 50/50 starters that end + on block, accompanied with the usual MK style of chip damage, faster pace, etc, the defensive options weren't equally beefed up to compensate. They were left "as is" or worse, which in turn creates a bigger gap between offense and defense. In Injustice some character like Flash had insane offense, but then someone like Aquaman had insane defense. Backdashes are only good on some characters and require half a bar of stamina, and like you already said pokes and block breaker were better. I miss the old block breaker more than anything in the game. Having the regular combo break back, delayed WU's, and blockable interactables (though some of them helped you throw them repeatedly for defense) are better defensive tools in MKX, but it doesn't offset the inferiority of defensive tools as a whole in comparison to Injustice and what you had to face.
-This one I have a hard time with. I also agree that it was more diverse, but less balanced. Though I'm of the stance that will accept less balance for more diversity. Give me a Top 8 cast of "All Everything" MMH, "Pressure" Flash/Batgirl/Bane, "Defense/Zoning" Sinestro/Aquaman/Zod" and well rounded Superman with some decent mid tiers and I don't mind having a few useless Cyborg/Arrow/Joker characters at the bottom. The diversity of playstyles available outweighs the level of balance in the game as long as the game isn't
imbalanced.
-Yea MK's on block pressure is clear design. It works for MK but not sure it would have for Inj. Most people didn't have Batgirl/Frost-esque 50/50's standing in front of you like "will I do B2 or B3". The F3 was so slow and reactable that it was fair. Stuff like crossup 50/50's are more of a fighting game in general mechanic so I don't mean those types of mixups, or Bane making you guess between low or CMD Grab, but stuff like string starting 50/50's among so many cast members isn't. I remember many complaints about Injustice having too many 50/50's compared to MK9, but then they amplified it in MKX and no one remembers the original complaints. Someone put a list together in a thread a while back that had all but like 4 characters in the entire game had at least one variation capable of combo starting 50/50's in the neutral. Part of the reason the comeback factor is so big in this game. Unless I'm remembering wrong, I don't think half of the cast had strings that started OH and Low, let alone 90% of the roster. I guess it can be argued as a good thing, but I would argue that less simplistic ways to start a combo when facing each other makes the game better overall.
-Kind of true. I main'd Raven the entire Inj run, and the most difficult thing I experienced was WU's. But I was at least able to make a risky option at times. In MKX if you have no meter you're forced to hold godly chip against some characters or a 50/50. If you have bad WUs the same applies. If I'm Raven with no meter I can block a string or mixup and get my turn, or not block it and get hit. In MKX if I have sucky WU's or no meter I can block a string but lose 10-15% health before I have an option, block a 50/50 string that can be made + by some characters, or get hit into combos. It's like falling off the roof of a house or a building.
-I'll take this one back. Injustice had an equally ridiculous corner game. You're right.
-i wrote out a pretty long section here only to realize towards the end reading what I wrote that you are right. Armor is actually better utilized and more strategic in MKX than in Injustice. Once I was writing it out I realized MKX did the best out of the three games in the armor department. Only wish they would maybe scale WU damage on armor'd WU's but other than that it's as well done as possible. The normals on the other hand should never have turned into long ranged fast advancing safe strings like D'Vorah's F1, Cassie B1, Kotal, Jin, Jax, etc that pretty much have minimal to no risk and high rewards.
-That's funny but you're right. I remember plenty of people saying the game was "too slow". I was one of the few that felt it was better that way and I even defended the non Lex walk speed but was on an island. I can't argue this point to much because I'm probably in the minority still, and I have no idea how they possibly could "slow" the game down given its mechanics so I'm willing to accept this for what it is.
Also, always good discussion when we talk games. Helps bridge the gap between the games and I always come away with something after.
