Another year, another NRS fight game to frustrate me
TBF, and just quickly, I do think the core gameplay is very good. I like the pace of the game very much. I do think some things could be tightend up. the defence/recovery options are very fussy, evading juggles is particularly tight. Dividing them between the left and right triggers is annoying. I don't get that at all.
Fatal blows is kinda annoying, frankly. You know the opponent is going to mash his magic win button and it still gets you. Yawn. Ok, whatever. Krushing blows is ok, but tough to use properly. Flawless blocking is just too difficult to be reliable. Especially into the reversal.
Now let's get into it. There are two things I really H A T E about this game.
The variation system. Specifically, what on earth was the point of allowing players to create their own builds? I think it's actually a really good idea. Something really inventive and allows players to personalise their character. Brilliant. But then they go and fuck it up by only allowing two prescribed variations in ranked play. Now you might say "just play kasual", sure, but that's not really an answer. Also if you're even halfway interested in ranked play you are going to stick with those variations in order to master them. Rendering the whole system bafflingly pointless.
If the answer is that some varisations will be broken, then let people play and find out. Or, you know, you could have playtested the game (which clearly didn't happen, eg the grind). This is such a mistake it really spoils part of the game. Varisations were rubbish in MKX given that each varisation was ultimately very lacking. Here you have much more flexibility and control, so why take that away? Can we even assume the official variations are balanced?
Second thing, obviously, is the grind. It is awful. It just sucks. Specifically the modifiers. I hate the fights in towers of time that make use of stupid modifiers. Making the screen go dark for upwards of FIVE seconds? Having the AI get assists that cool down almost instantly, spammed across the entire match. Assists that do full combos and sometimes ignore what you throw at them. Your modifiers the AI will ignore when it suits it, btw. That's assuming you have the correct konsumable. All of those exist solely to pad a single player mode and introduce a grind.
The Krypt. In a word: awful. I get what they were trying to do with this game, and on paper it works. I don't mind the gameplay loop conceptually. But the execution is dreadful. Running around the Krypt over and over is not fun. It's tedious. Having to recharge random chests is not fun, it's tedious. I don't enjoy the traps at all. The camera is horrible. The economy is a joke. Souls and hearts are so hard to come by compared to what you will need it just makes no sense. The random rubbish. Ugh. The ridiculous hidden requirements for things you have no idea even exist.
I get what they were shooting for: they want you to play this over the course of months or even years (they'll be lucky). But in truth people want to get the content for their favourite characters ASAP. Maybe that's unreasonable. But when you need to grind up your gear - and each piece requires a separate grind
per slot (never mind the slot that's, bizarrely, currently locked) you see what a counter producrtive chore it is. That's not including the RNG factor that may or may not give you koinsumables and augments you can use.
The whole thing is so overcooked it's like eating a flaming turd. It could easily be fixed, but it won't be. Either the devs and/or the publisher have a vested interest in keeping things as much as they are as possible. Don't expect real change. It's just fortunate that the gmaeplay where it counts is solid
