My thoughts on Killer Instinct 3.....
- NRS and well ALL Fighting Games should rip off the new KI Model
IMO the Pay2Play model for KI is so simple, yet in its own way revolutionary. Having a free game with minimal characters and then continual DLC additional characters split into "seasons" and each season having core mechanical adjustments as well as balance patches along with new story modes is GENIUS.
I'm a huge NRS fan. MK and to a lesser extent Injustice (despite my avatar and addiction to collecting DC Comics) is my jam. Though one thing I have always complained about is something that seams good in theory, but in practice is one of the most limiting factors in NRS games getting serious recognition as competitive games.
That "thing" is the way NRS games release completely new versions every few years and abandon the older versions. There is just no way to build a player base on that, or for TOs to really be able to get behind and support a NRS game beyond the initial rush caused on the year it was released.
KI has worked out a way to make drastic mechanical changes to their game but keep a single line of continuity for the players. KI Season 1, is still in peoples hearts KI Season 3, but it is kind of like Street Fighter 4 vs Ultra.. in many ways it is a new game.
Eventually KI will have to start KI2, but the idea of continual character expansions to keep player interest and the collecting of the game under a single banner along with the free "demo" to get people hooked.. Seriously it is so good and ALL games should basically copy this model imo.
- KI is super fun to play but boring as hell to watch
I do not know about you guys, but KI is awesome to play. It is a seriously fun game, but imo it is boring as hell to watch. I do not think there is a fighting game (besides the Smash type ones) that is less interesting for spectators. I'm talking here about pure spectators not people into the scene and people that actually play. I'm not sure exactly what the problem is here, I think it is in the way the combo system works and stuff, but it is the most anti-hype, mess of colours lameness ever for viewers. I watch most majors and have small parties were we set up the projector drink and chat and have a BBQ, many non-gamers (wives and boyfriends or w/e) come along, and unlike anything (apart form smash) KI is the game that everyone is saying "wtf is going on?" This lack of visual storytelling in the game is a huge problem for spectators imo. I mean I play the game and I get where they are coming from. It bores me as well, and I know what is happening.
- NRS need to look at KI's imaginative approach to character design
KI has some out here characters. Huge monsters like Aganos and Gargos and strange ones like Aria and Miria with truly unique mechanisms to the character itself. Now because of how crazy the KI characters are there defiantly is some problems. Omen, Gargos and the like have some legit problems. Still the point is that KI is experimenting and really pushing the envelope of what is done in that game.
MK should have this kind of creative characters in them. The Fantasy / SciFi setting should mean we get crazy interesting characters. The problem is that we don't not in the last 2 games, not really. We need more stuff like "Motaro" and "Onaga". Alien was really exciting to me as NRS was experimenting with what I thought to be a more animal roster slot, though it ended up being a guy in a suit really. Even so, this is the direction that NRS should be looking at for SOME (not all of course) of the roster. Some really cool interesting characters with cool ability, kind of like KI is doing.
I see things like Eyedol, a awesome huge undead monster with its head split in two, that has to "stances" one for each side of his brain and the other player can knock out one head but not the other and you have attacks that hit yourself in mod combo to wake up your heads or knock them out and I think... This guys should be a MK character.
This, in my eyes, if KIs biggest problem and why I'll not be on board at least for this generation. I can not afford two consoles and despite what PC purists think, PCs are massively expensive. A new series 10 Nvidia or equivalent Radeon is like nearly or more than a full console. Now I get it that a PC plays so many games, but that is the choice you need to make.
Do I buy a Xbone + Stick for one game, or do I spend double to triple on a PC that has one 3rd the longevity before I need to spend more to upgrade? The answer for me.... fuck that. I'll stick with PS4 and put more money in my children's school fund.
This to me is KI's biggest problem. The Xbone, PC connection.
