Rathalos
Play Monster Hunter!
Over the course of this year and the road to evo tournament season I have come to realize that I kinda prefer to actually watch fighting games then actually play them, due to a variety of reasons, big one being I suck at them, and 10 years of practice hasn't gotten me that far.
People often wonder why SF4 and marvel get more views in streams the MK, well a simple reason is there always a joy to watch, even low level play can be somewhat enjoyable. This isn't the case for MK, at low level play the game looks like janky ass, and even at the highest level there are still luls where the players are jumping around like jackass's fishing for jump in punches or whiffing dialed combos, or playing hop scotch in the corner because of stupid collision detection. I know presentation shouldn't come over gameplay balance or mechanics, but I think it needs to be taken into consideration for the next game, Esports are growing and for a game to be popular it needs to not be janky as fuck looking.
Some simple ideas that are kinda poorly thought out in my sleep deprived state.
Hitbox bullshit.One of the biggest are the hitboxes and the 3d collision detection, not much to say that already hasn't been echoed a million times over, but the stuff that can happen in the corner is obnoxious, it can be a gamble for both players to go anywhere near it because of how easy it is to walk over a downed opponent, or someone flying randomly over you after a hit. Also in some stages they just need to put markers in the background to show where there corners actually are.
Non stop jumping.Jumping is too good in this game, those jump in punches are way too powerful. I would like to see them toned down a bit, make them useful, but not so good that it leads to awkward situations where people are leap frogging over each other fishing for good hits. I think the crossup pressure should still exist in the game, but be character specific, so its not a amazing strat for every single character and jump ins dominate matches.
Hit sparks. I think most of you will hate this idea, but I think hitsparks would be a good edition to the game. Not super flashy hit sparks from marvel or an anime game, but blood red sparks that explode into blood drops on hit, and smaller grey sparks when you hit someone blocking. This would do two things, one, make it easier for others to tell whats going on, and two, help hide awkward collision detection on certain moves. Obviously still have an option for regular blood.
Character damage. An option to turn it off, its ugly as fuck, my god why is there no toggle, there's no damage in story mode, I don't understand.
Finishing him. Big complaint is how long fatalities take and how you can't turn them off with out kombat kodes. I think it would be a neat idea if by default they were off, but on the last round when you kill your opponent there is some slow motion of them falling down(kinda like every other fighting game) and during this time if you press all 4 attack buttons it goes into the finish him stance, this way you can ignore it in most matches, but in awesome matches where you really hate someone you can still have the option to do it, which you wouldn't if it was just a straight toggle. Also bring back mercy, that was cool.
Comeback potential. Coming back in this game is hard as fuck, any little bit of damage will kill you, you can not defend yourself because of the chip on normals.
Now personally I like chip on normals, its an interesting mechanic, but I would like some way to defend against it, for a cost. There are honestly a lot of ways to go about doing it, from having a barrier gauge like BB, or just frame blocks, but a very simple way to do it would be a special block state, holding back well blocking, doing so will prevent you from taking chip, BUT instead you will take the damage as meter drain. Allows a player to keep himself alive for a bit longer, but still promotes super aggressive play. Also have the block state have a special animation, like sub-zero freezes his arms, ermac makes a glowing bubble around himself, scorpion blocks with his swords, stuff like that. Everybody loves a good comeback, there nice and hype, and almost impossible in this game.
Dial a combos, hit confirms, and doing 3 hit combos to the air. One thing I am still not sure of is the weird way MK does its dialed combos, I don't mean the strings, I like those and they should stay, I mean how you actually dial in your entire combo before it actually hits, I know it can create a nice risk reward mechanic, but honestly I just don't like it, its not fun to do, and it also leads to lots of janky moments where people are attacking nothing and are stuck in animations, it looks stupid as fuck. This is something I don't see them ever changing, but I would like someone from NRS to explain why they go this route. I would just like normal hit confirms and having to do your attacks on reaction.
Sound design. This game basically has no music, its there but its low as hell, and there is no announcer during the fight. It makes the game feel kinda bland really. Its one of my biggest pet peeves with the game, going from SF or marvel to this, its almost jarring. Game needs quan chi or shao khan to announcing whats happening in the match, from someone using a breaker, to a sick combo, a throw break, anything. Little things like that just add to the hype and make it overall more enjoyable.
Trading and the double KO. I don't really mind how the trading in this game works, how one person randomly has priority, its mostly fair and it works, but the negative is you can never have a double KO. those are fun and I would like them in, not a huge deal though.
Most of these ideas are poorly thought out and I wouldn't defend them, just the random thoughts of a drunk and tired stream monster who wants to see the game franchise grow as much as possible. It showed well at evo, better then most thought it would, but if it wants to hang with the capcom games, I think its going to have to conform more towards fighting game traditions. Well its unique mechanics can be neat, they have the side effect of making the game kinda unappealing to watch to the majority.
I have a feeling I will regret posting this tomorrow when I am less drunk.
People often wonder why SF4 and marvel get more views in streams the MK, well a simple reason is there always a joy to watch, even low level play can be somewhat enjoyable. This isn't the case for MK, at low level play the game looks like janky ass, and even at the highest level there are still luls where the players are jumping around like jackass's fishing for jump in punches or whiffing dialed combos, or playing hop scotch in the corner because of stupid collision detection. I know presentation shouldn't come over gameplay balance or mechanics, but I think it needs to be taken into consideration for the next game, Esports are growing and for a game to be popular it needs to not be janky as fuck looking.
Some simple ideas that are kinda poorly thought out in my sleep deprived state.
Hitbox bullshit.One of the biggest are the hitboxes and the 3d collision detection, not much to say that already hasn't been echoed a million times over, but the stuff that can happen in the corner is obnoxious, it can be a gamble for both players to go anywhere near it because of how easy it is to walk over a downed opponent, or someone flying randomly over you after a hit. Also in some stages they just need to put markers in the background to show where there corners actually are.
Non stop jumping.Jumping is too good in this game, those jump in punches are way too powerful. I would like to see them toned down a bit, make them useful, but not so good that it leads to awkward situations where people are leap frogging over each other fishing for good hits. I think the crossup pressure should still exist in the game, but be character specific, so its not a amazing strat for every single character and jump ins dominate matches.
Hit sparks. I think most of you will hate this idea, but I think hitsparks would be a good edition to the game. Not super flashy hit sparks from marvel or an anime game, but blood red sparks that explode into blood drops on hit, and smaller grey sparks when you hit someone blocking. This would do two things, one, make it easier for others to tell whats going on, and two, help hide awkward collision detection on certain moves. Obviously still have an option for regular blood.
Character damage. An option to turn it off, its ugly as fuck, my god why is there no toggle, there's no damage in story mode, I don't understand.
Finishing him. Big complaint is how long fatalities take and how you can't turn them off with out kombat kodes. I think it would be a neat idea if by default they were off, but on the last round when you kill your opponent there is some slow motion of them falling down(kinda like every other fighting game) and during this time if you press all 4 attack buttons it goes into the finish him stance, this way you can ignore it in most matches, but in awesome matches where you really hate someone you can still have the option to do it, which you wouldn't if it was just a straight toggle. Also bring back mercy, that was cool.
Comeback potential. Coming back in this game is hard as fuck, any little bit of damage will kill you, you can not defend yourself because of the chip on normals.
Now personally I like chip on normals, its an interesting mechanic, but I would like some way to defend against it, for a cost. There are honestly a lot of ways to go about doing it, from having a barrier gauge like BB, or just frame blocks, but a very simple way to do it would be a special block state, holding back well blocking, doing so will prevent you from taking chip, BUT instead you will take the damage as meter drain. Allows a player to keep himself alive for a bit longer, but still promotes super aggressive play. Also have the block state have a special animation, like sub-zero freezes his arms, ermac makes a glowing bubble around himself, scorpion blocks with his swords, stuff like that. Everybody loves a good comeback, there nice and hype, and almost impossible in this game.
Dial a combos, hit confirms, and doing 3 hit combos to the air. One thing I am still not sure of is the weird way MK does its dialed combos, I don't mean the strings, I like those and they should stay, I mean how you actually dial in your entire combo before it actually hits, I know it can create a nice risk reward mechanic, but honestly I just don't like it, its not fun to do, and it also leads to lots of janky moments where people are attacking nothing and are stuck in animations, it looks stupid as fuck. This is something I don't see them ever changing, but I would like someone from NRS to explain why they go this route. I would just like normal hit confirms and having to do your attacks on reaction.
Sound design. This game basically has no music, its there but its low as hell, and there is no announcer during the fight. It makes the game feel kinda bland really. Its one of my biggest pet peeves with the game, going from SF or marvel to this, its almost jarring. Game needs quan chi or shao khan to announcing whats happening in the match, from someone using a breaker, to a sick combo, a throw break, anything. Little things like that just add to the hype and make it overall more enjoyable.
Trading and the double KO. I don't really mind how the trading in this game works, how one person randomly has priority, its mostly fair and it works, but the negative is you can never have a double KO. those are fun and I would like them in, not a huge deal though.
Most of these ideas are poorly thought out and I wouldn't defend them, just the random thoughts of a drunk and tired stream monster who wants to see the game franchise grow as much as possible. It showed well at evo, better then most thought it would, but if it wants to hang with the capcom games, I think its going to have to conform more towards fighting game traditions. Well its unique mechanics can be neat, they have the side effect of making the game kinda unappealing to watch to the majority.
I have a feeling I will regret posting this tomorrow when I am less drunk.
