What's new

A Trip Down Memory Lane with NRS Games and its Balance

xKhaoTik

The Ignore Button Is Free
It's been 6 years since NRS gave us their first game (from that studio). In those 6 years, we've received 4 games from them, and boy what a ride has it been lol.

I wanted to talk about the balance from then to now and how much BETTER it has gotten.

In 2011, MK9 came out. You literally couldn't compete unless you had a top 10 character on your side, and even with that, you most likely needed a top 5 character to win. The top 5 in that game was widely considered to be Kabal, Kenshi, Cyrax, Sonya and Freddy, with Kabal being in a tier of his own. Hella lopsided MUs with 7-3s, 8-2s, and even a potential 10-0. Very unbalanced, yet fun game and still loved by many to this day.

In 2013, IGAU came out. There were a bit more viable characters in this game and we even saw a non top tier character win a major (Hawkgirl). But with that, the top 5 were still very dominant in the game. Not quite sure if this was solidified but MMH, Aqua, Batgirl, Flash and Bane were in talks a lot, with MMH widely accepted as the best in the game. 7-3s across the bored but not as bad as MK9.

In 2015, MKX came out. The balance in this game was MUCH better compared to the others, and we saw a lot of characters placing and winning tournaments, from "low tier goro" to Alien. In the earlier days, there were some pretty dominant characters like Raiden, Tanya and Alien, but NRS changed all that and the last version of the game was one of NRS' most balanced piece of work yet. I don't even remember if a top 5 was set in stone but characters that were in that conversation were Kitana, Mileena, Shinnok, Scorpion and Jacqui. While those characters were indeed strong, they pale in comparison to what the original game was, and compared to the other top tiers in other NRS games. Were there 7-3s?

Finally, this year in 2017, we got I2. We've seen almost every character in some type of placing. We have sonic fox winning with captain cold who was considered to be a bad character. The dominant characters in the first game aren't as dominate in this game. It feels like just about everyone can compete. There isn't a top 5 yet but characters like Batman, Harley, Arrow, Starfire and Superman are in the mix. HARLEY AND ARROW. Those 2 characters being considered top 5 show how balanced this game is. I can think of a few 7-3s but the game is still young and that may change.




Basically, I just wanted to take time and appreciate NRS for their hard work over he years because we can clearly see how much it's paid off. Look at the top 5 in MK9, then look at the potential top 5 in this game and think about how big of a difference that is in terms of balance and gameplay. A little tweaks can still be done here and there but overall, it's a huge step in the right direction.

Thank you NRS for giving us such a great game. Looking forward to the next games to come.
































Buff Ivy
 

Wigy

There it is...
Mk9 gameplay with injustice 2 balance pls.

I dont think a really well balanced game wouldnt have 7-3's they are just sometimes a biproduct of character design.

Its just shit when u have jade vs kenshi when theres literally no tool they have to compete. Like the ONLY way they'll win is if kenshi makes a lot of mistakes.
 
Last edited:

Laos_boy

Meow Hoes
Mk9 was fun to watch the level of play during MLG and Evo 2013 was amazing. The characters weren't boring either like watching pigs spacing with Kenshi, reos execution with kabals, DJT slow paced cyrax and PLs crazy ass Lao.

Injustice had great diversity. You had almost every character place top 8. Except Nightwing (9th) and joker (top 16? Grr?) Eventhough we saw the same 3 characters win the last 6-7 months of the game.

That's what made the game so fun to watch.

You'd never see that in MKX (due to large amounts of money on the line and the easy mode of the top tier) I don't blame them tho. The variation system was pretty meh for balance. The game finally came to a decent place during the last months of the game.

Injustice 2 has money and easy top tiers. BUT. The characters are way more well balanced and the gap between characters are smaller and I'm glad. It is the most balanced NRS game
 
i disagree with alot of the Injustice 2. This game is VERY counterpick heavy. Almost no one who does decent in tourneys mains one character. Most have 2 to 6 because how well characters counter each other. There are so many very hard MUs in this game but they appear to be present for nearly every character except for the best characters. I dislike how the game is currently balanced tbh. I feel that every character should have a fair chance to win when matched up against another
 

Shaka

Tier Whore.
I don't hate this game at all. Just think it feels weird as a fighter somehow. But I'm sure it's just not my cup of tea. Enjoy it if you like it. I still play mkx. Best nrs game since the first 3.
Then go play it, you being negative towards the game doesn't help anyone.
I think this game is amazing btw.
MKX only offensive play was rewarded but in this game all archetypes are viable.
 
Then go play it, you being negative towards the game doesn't help anyone.
I think this game is amazing btw.
MKX only offensive play was rewarded but in this game all archetypes are viable.
I guess I was used to MKX and was just disappointed with this game. But yea I should probably just stop saying how I feel about injustice then. I'm glad you like this game, then play it. Meanwhile I'll keep dreaming of mk11 coming out soon. (Although I know it's not).
 

myri

Time Warrior
Injustice 2 is near perfect balance wise in my opinion at this point in time. I don't think any character is complete trash (not even Swamp Thing. Depending on what happens with the DLC characters NRS only need make small changes from here on out if at all.
 

EMPRESS_SunFire

Regina George of discord
Yes! I love the balance of this game so far, I like how they don't even touch characters they consider completely balanced.

And there has been just one patch, which makes it all better! Top tiers in this game are completely fair to be top tiers in this version (Black Adam, Aquaman Batman and Catwoman were a bit busted pre-patch tbh but that was pretty much it)
 

M.D.

Spammer. Crouch walk hater.
In 2011, MK9 came out. You literally couldn't compete....

because BROKEN KUNG LAO CRAP DAY1 insta teleport 3 MID +5 invincible spin 21LOWHAT PIECEOFSHIT.


In 2013, IGAU came out. .... Bane were in talks a lot .........

GIVE ME DOUBLE PUNCH BACK


In 2015, MKX came out. .......

No mention of A-list. Because he wasn't top tier. And got nerfed for nothing. Good we agree on this.


Finally, this year in 2017, we got I2. ........ We have sonic fox winning with captain cold who was considered to be a bad character. ............





















Buff CAPTAIN COLD
 

TyCarter35

Bonafide Jax scrub
It feels like this happened yesterday. Real talk tho NRS has truly come a long way. I think we also need to mention the fact that NRS in Injustice 2 this time around decided not to drop 92918491 patches in the first month of IJ2 like they did with other games and taking the time to let the meta develope is another important thing that we should acknowledge NRS for doing
 

Eddy Wang

Skarlet scientist
Another perspective might be interesting looking at:
MK9:
Game had a really bland practice mode, insane blockstuns, jump attacks extremely powerfull almost impossible to trip guard punish, input bug and P1 advantage, terrible netcode

Injustice: P1 advantage gone, training mode has improved, net still terrible, balance improved slightly, disjointed hitbox introduced, in game frame data added, backdashes added with invincibility

MKX: down the lifespan of the game netcode got improved, backdashes added with less invincibility, binded down to a stamina system, recovery moves on jump attacks added, and balanced down the line, reversal punishes, training mode improved greatly with a bunch of new features, punish indicators, final version of the game pretty damn balanced. (Legacy support for sticks)

I2: Balancing philosophy taking heavily in account during the creation of the game, legacy build up, insane balanced game, training mode carried over with a few adjustments, NRS finally address input issues and now we have precise commands options even on alternate controls (legacy support for sticks)

MK11: soon baby.


So NRS has been in growth ever since and they did some amazing things, surely it took them years to fix some of these issues, if you look at MK9 and I2, you will see how insane the amount of bugs we had to deal with in the game, and how I2 is now, any game NRS does on top of what they build in their engine is going to be super polished balanced aside. And i'm glad that we as community worked toward this goal, this is insane.

The next MK its going to be off the fucking charts, i want to be part of it, can i get a QA job NRS?
 

TurboTaco

Mexican street vendor
I think the reason the games are getting better balanced is they're not rushing out patches anymore. They're letting the game develop naturally a bit more rather than making reactionary patches and hot fixes.
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
i disagree with alot of the Injustice 2. This game is VERY counterpick heavy. Almost no one who does decent in tourneys mains one character. Most have 2 to 6 because how well characters counter each other. There are so many very hard MUs in this game but they appear to be present for nearly every character except for the best characters. I dislike how the game is currently balanced tbh. I feel that every character should have a fair chance to win when matched up against another
This is because every character has a weakness. This is how balance is supposed to work.

Having an alt to cover certain MUs is perfectly normal in fighting games.

And let's be honest.. No one is playing 6 characters except Sonic. Most people play a main character for 90% of their matches, with a secondary on deck in case things go south.
 
Last edited:
This is because every character has a weakness. This is how balance is supposed to work.

Having an alt to cover certain MUs is perfectly normal in fighting games.

And let's be honest.. No one is playing 6 characters except Sonic. Most people play a main character for 90% of their matches, with a secondary on deck in case things go south.
Characters shouldn't have one weakness only exploitable by certain characters. That's not balance. The games shouldn't be decided before they are played. There are plenty of players who use 3+ characters in tournament
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
Characters shouldn't have one weakness only exploitable by certain characters. That's not balance. The games shouldn't be decided before they are played. There are plenty of players who use 3+ characters in tournament
Every fighting game has its difficult matchups. If your character doesn't have any difficult MUs, they're probably incredibly strong, which means they are creating difficult matchups for other characters.