Johnny2d
Xbl: Johnny2Die
My open letter to NRS about making fatalities fun again:
Part of the magic of MK is the ability to kill your opponent at the end of the round, but what exactly makes the fatality fun? I would argue that the system, along with some of the cinematics from mk9 could use some adjustment to make this magical part of MK more fun for everyone.
1. They should be shocking and fast. They not only need to be gruesome and terrifying, but they need to happen soon enough to catch you off guard for that surprise factor, and fast enough to keep the matches moving to the next one. Murdering the opponent for losing is more fun when its a quick off with their head or spine rip. In MK9 I found myself often thinking, geez I really want to kill this person now, the game told me to finish him... but I'd rather get to the next match quickly, so... uppercut. Sad. Another thing that will help with this is to allow the player to continue to move at the end of the round, and the ability to buffer the fatal so that as soon as we hear FINISH HIM, you can get to your correct spacing and do the fatal. In MK 9 you had to wait for the FINISH HIM, get to your correct spacing, then input the command, all taking time. Let us get right to it, buffering the command out of what ever we were doing before, and its off to the races and off with his head. Every character should have a quick, I killed you now lets move on fatal that can be buffered right away.
2. We do appreciate the bigger over the top cinematic fatalities. These more so cut scene fatals allow for more story telling within the death, more shocking and gruesome setups, and ultimately a bigger reaction from the audience, either a a shocked gasp, or laughs for comedy. If every character got a quick fatal, they could also have a longer over the top one too... best of both worlds. That way you have your 'sick burn' that you could do to someone to really piss them off and rub their face in it. But if this is the direction the fatals are headed, please balance it by giving us the option to kill and kill quickly to move on tot he next match.
3. The feeling of reward from a fatality, comes from it being hard at first. Growing up with MK and learning fatalities on machines in arcades, I can tell you that THE REWARD IS IN THE DIFFICULTY. Having to pay money to play, then having to win to have an attempt, then needing to input the challenging command quickly, is what made them interesting! There is a build up of intensity that happens at the end of the round because of these elements, then the payoff becomes the shock of the murder if input correctly, and it all happens fast. There needs to be a rhythm to it in order for the full enjoyment to unfold. Allowing too much time at the finish him screen interrupts that flow, and causes a moment of 'I don't care what happens anyone can do this', which is unfortunate because this is the magic and mystique of MK. Now, for the casual kid that picks the game up just to see the fatalities, keep the fatality trainer, so they can kill their friends easily, and see all the amazing animations that are made for the game, but in matches, make us work for it.
If you could buffer the inputs from your last move and you could put yourself in position right away after the match, the flow and the rise to that climax would be more interesting. If the player had the option to do a quick fatal to kill them then get to the next match quickly, players will appreciate it. We don't always need a long scene but we still want to kill people! Sometimes you just gotta go ham and murder people in the worst possible way, we need those sick burn, longer cut scene fatalities, we love them, just not all the time. Last, the window for input has to be quick, or the reward isn't there, something given for free has less value. If you make me earn it I will appreciate it more, and even in this generation of 'the kids just want the quick results' I think you'll find that good old fashioned 'having to work for it' still fosters the same results of appreciating it more. Have more faith in gamers that we want the challenge, and with the speed built back into this part of the match, the rhythm of intensity that causes the incredible feeling and reaction will be back the way it needs to be.
Part of the magic of MK is the ability to kill your opponent at the end of the round, but what exactly makes the fatality fun? I would argue that the system, along with some of the cinematics from mk9 could use some adjustment to make this magical part of MK more fun for everyone.
1. They should be shocking and fast. They not only need to be gruesome and terrifying, but they need to happen soon enough to catch you off guard for that surprise factor, and fast enough to keep the matches moving to the next one. Murdering the opponent for losing is more fun when its a quick off with their head or spine rip. In MK9 I found myself often thinking, geez I really want to kill this person now, the game told me to finish him... but I'd rather get to the next match quickly, so... uppercut. Sad. Another thing that will help with this is to allow the player to continue to move at the end of the round, and the ability to buffer the fatal so that as soon as we hear FINISH HIM, you can get to your correct spacing and do the fatal. In MK 9 you had to wait for the FINISH HIM, get to your correct spacing, then input the command, all taking time. Let us get right to it, buffering the command out of what ever we were doing before, and its off to the races and off with his head. Every character should have a quick, I killed you now lets move on fatal that can be buffered right away.
2. We do appreciate the bigger over the top cinematic fatalities. These more so cut scene fatals allow for more story telling within the death, more shocking and gruesome setups, and ultimately a bigger reaction from the audience, either a a shocked gasp, or laughs for comedy. If every character got a quick fatal, they could also have a longer over the top one too... best of both worlds. That way you have your 'sick burn' that you could do to someone to really piss them off and rub their face in it. But if this is the direction the fatals are headed, please balance it by giving us the option to kill and kill quickly to move on tot he next match.
3. The feeling of reward from a fatality, comes from it being hard at first. Growing up with MK and learning fatalities on machines in arcades, I can tell you that THE REWARD IS IN THE DIFFICULTY. Having to pay money to play, then having to win to have an attempt, then needing to input the challenging command quickly, is what made them interesting! There is a build up of intensity that happens at the end of the round because of these elements, then the payoff becomes the shock of the murder if input correctly, and it all happens fast. There needs to be a rhythm to it in order for the full enjoyment to unfold. Allowing too much time at the finish him screen interrupts that flow, and causes a moment of 'I don't care what happens anyone can do this', which is unfortunate because this is the magic and mystique of MK. Now, for the casual kid that picks the game up just to see the fatalities, keep the fatality trainer, so they can kill their friends easily, and see all the amazing animations that are made for the game, but in matches, make us work for it.
If you could buffer the inputs from your last move and you could put yourself in position right away after the match, the flow and the rise to that climax would be more interesting. If the player had the option to do a quick fatal to kill them then get to the next match quickly, players will appreciate it. We don't always need a long scene but we still want to kill people! Sometimes you just gotta go ham and murder people in the worst possible way, we need those sick burn, longer cut scene fatalities, we love them, just not all the time. Last, the window for input has to be quick, or the reward isn't there, something given for free has less value. If you make me earn it I will appreciate it more, and even in this generation of 'the kids just want the quick results' I think you'll find that good old fashioned 'having to work for it' still fosters the same results of appreciating it more. Have more faith in gamers that we want the challenge, and with the speed built back into this part of the match, the rhythm of intensity that causes the incredible feeling and reaction will be back the way it needs to be.
