The revisionist history is crazy. We literally saw Sonic win the Pro Komp Finals on a well-timed backdash punish. What MKX tournaments were won with spacing and patience?
MKX had the most one-dimensional meta of any MK game to date. You either liked it or you didn’t, which is fine, but to pretend that there aren’t more diverse approaches to MK1 is crazy. Some people win by backdashing on a life lead and baiting mistakes, others by rushdown, etc. Good players are distinguished by whiff punishing, spacing, timing and creativity — not just “doing string into kameo”.
The revisionist history is crazy. We literally saw Sonic win the Pro Komp Finals on a well-timed backdash punish. What MKX tournaments were won with spacing and patience?
MKX had the most one-dimensional meta of any MK game to date. You either liked it or you didn’t, which is fine, but to pretend that there aren’t more diverse approaches to MK1 is crazy. Some people win by backdashing on a life lead and baiting mistakes, others by rushdown, etc. Good players are distinguished by whiff punishing, spacing, timing and creativity — not just “doing string into kameo”.
Little offtopic but apparently some NRS artists started posting their works on artstation last week and there is a Kung-Jin kameo in there...
Do yall think hes scrapped or is he going to be the next kameo ?
Little offtopic but apparently some NRS artists started posting their works on artstation last week and there is a Kung-Jin kameo in there...
Do yall think hes scrapped or is he going to be the next kameo ?
Little offtopic but apparently some NRS artists started posting their works on artstation last week and there is a Kung-Jin kameo in there...
Do yall think hes scrapped or is he going to be the next kameo ?
Woah, nice catch. Hard to tell what this means, the last time I remember an NRS Art Station post being relevant was I think after Injustice 1, when we saw that tattered Ermac design that seemed to influence his MKX look
Woah, nice catch. Hard to tell what this means, the last time I remember an NRS Art Station post being relevant was I think after Injustice 1, when we saw that tattered Ermac design that seemed to influence his MKX look
If Shinnok miss places his eruptions fireballs like he did quite a few times, there is a gap where you can run towards him as the 3rd one will whiff and you can punish him.
To me it looks more that this Bo' Rai Cho have never faced Shinnok before and has no idea to what to look for
This is a really good post, and this is one of the areas where I do pity NRS. I truly believe, that over the last 10 years, NRS has listened closely to what the competitive community (specifically here) have criticized and have tried to course correct each game in a few particular areas. This does apply to the Injustice games as well, and they are a part of this, but since I didn't play them much (didn't play I2 at all really), I can't comment too much on them.
There are quite a few examples, but I'll limit it to two in particular for the sake of brevity.
The first and most important is in regards to gameplay/presentation. When MK9 came I out, I vividly remember NRS being lampooned for the quality of the animations, especially related to dash blocking and how clunky and unnatural all of the movement looked. I remember a nonstop slew of youtube videos blasting NRS for how bad the game looked when played at a high level. When Injustice came out, I believe that a large part of NRS's decision to make the game slower and remove dash blocking was to address these criticism and improve the game's presentation. When that happened, people--myself included--complained that the game felt way too sluggish and demanded more speed. There were also complaints that the combo system was too limited, and many characters followed a particular combo formula.
MKX comes along and NRS has to figure out how to make the game faster without falling back on dash blocking which they were ridiculed for, so they add a run button and big, more freeform combos to address those criticisms. Some of the big gameplay complaints regarding MKX involved the game being too offense-focused, citing a severe lack of neutral gameplay. Now, I can't really speak for I2, but when MK11 came out, NRS once again tried to address the concerns. Gone was the run button and the long, flashy combos, and instead the game took a slower, more neutral-focused approach. I don't think anyone here needs to be reminded about the common MK11 complaints, but the change in speed and combo potential were two big complaints, and once again, I believe NRS tried to course correct with MK1. MK1 is faster than MK11 with dash blocking returning, but not too fast like with MKX's run mechanic. Combos are also much longer, with a bit more freedom of creativity. Now whether or not you think they stuck the landing is up to you, but I think it's hard to deny that MK1's gameplay choices were a direct response to the criticisms received from the previous game.
The next example is thankfully much shorter, but I think it's important. When it came to patching the games, NRS received a lot of criticism during MK9-MKX for being too extreme with their patching. Whether it was overbuffing, overnerfing, or add/removing tools, many people (again, here in particular) were vocal about their disdain for how NRS approached balance patching. Many people, including players that I like and respect, were very vocal about how whenever a new patch would drop, the tier list would shift so dramatically. Many top tiers would fall to the bottom, and many bottom tiers would suddenly rise to the top, throwing things into disarray. The proposed solution was that NRS should do much smaller tweaks that don't dramatically change things so that it doesn't feel like you're playing a whole new game when a new patch drops.
Once again, I don't think anyone here needs me to tell them that now NRS does pretty much the exact opposite with generally very small patches which I see as an attempt to take feedback into consideration. And now, generally (not always, as we've seen with the Cryax nerfs), many of the complaints I see during patch time is that nothing has changed or will change, and that the patches need to be more dramatic in order to change things up and spice up the game after a long enough time with a stagnant meta.
Like I said at the start, I really do pity NRS because I believe that in many aspects of their games, they do try to take our feedback into consideration, but it always ends up being this Goldylocks situation where the current game is too X, and then the following game is too Y in the opposite direction. I'm the last person here who's going to suck up to any company for doing their job, but I definitely wouldn't accuse NRS of not listening to fan feedback across games. It's really important to criticize games, particularly those that you love, but it's also equally important to acknowledge the good aspects, even the well-intentioned onces that miss the mark.
There's no question that NetherRealm Studios does overall listen, within reason, to the fans. No question at all. The thing is, like any other developer today, no matter what they do, people will hate them for "ruining" things
There's no question that NetherRealm Studios does overall listen, within reason, to the fans. No question at all. The thing is, like any other developer today, no matter what they do, people will hate them for "ruining" things
I honestly think that happens because they keep reinventing the wheel and dumping out even the good ideas that have nailed beforehand.
At this point, they just need to compile the good ideas and revamp some others with good twists and bring forth a revisioned system that will be the best one yet.
I honestly think that happens because they keep reinventing the wheel and dumping out even the good ideas that have nailed beforehand.
At this point, they just need to compile the good ideas and revamp some others with good twists and bring forth a revisioned system that will be the best one yet.
But no one can universally agree on what those good ideas were. For everyone that says MKX is peak, you've got just as many people pumping up MK9, and others glazing MK11. All very different games.
And no one really agrees on what approach is best. You're going to alienate some part of your base.
Moreover, MK has been reinventing itself since the old Miday days. MK2 and UMK3 play nothing alike. MK4 and Deadly Alliance play nothing alike. So on and so on. Whether you like it or not, Midway/NRS have always chosen to explore different design space than simply doing the same thing again and again.
Not to say that there's anything wrong with that. Tekken is known for doing that. But MK has never really been a "legacy" game and I'm fine with that.
But no one can universally agree on what those good ideas were. For everyone that says MKX is peak, you've got just as many people pumping up MK9, and others glazing MK11. All very different games.
And no one really agrees on what approach is best. You're going to alienate some part of your base.
Moreover, MK has been reinventing itself since the old Miday days. MK2 and UMK3 play nothing alike. MK4 and Deadly Alliance play nothing alike. So on and so on. Whether you like it or not, Midway/NRS have always chosen to explore different design space than simply doing the same thing again and again.
Not to say that there's anything wrong with that. Tekken is known for doing that. But MK has never really been a "legacy" game and I'm fine with that.
