Shang Tsung's Shapeshifting

[RoninLoganX]

I have been reading how people are doubting that ST would be in the game because his Shapeshifting gimmick and the kustom variations system aren't compatible. That got me thinking, what if instead of shifting into his opponent, we could have him shift into characters not on the roster.
Not sure if it would be feasible, but it would be freaking awesome, in my opinion.
Thoughts?

 

[thesacrifist]

Shapeshifting and kustom variations go hand in hand. One selectable move for each character - easy. Shang Tsung with pocket whatever is good against what Shang struggles with - perfect!

 

[Johnny Based Cage]

How are those things not compatible? Literally do the same exact thing they did with Shinnok except he also visually morphs into the character when he performs their move. Done.

 

[Braindead]

What if he can shape shift into his own other variations on command

 

[Johnny Based Cage]

What if he can shape shift into his own other variations on command

It wouldn’t be shapeshifting? Lol

 

[RoninLoganX]

How are those things not compatible? Literally do the same exact thing they did with Shinnok except he also visually morphs into the character when he performs their move. Done.

I don't know. It's just what I've been seeing people say. I don't personally believe that to be the case, I just had a cool idea regarding if it was.

 

[Braindead]

It wouldn’t be shapeshifting? Lol

Let me dream about switching variations on the fly dammit

 

[STB Sgt Reed]

His ability can make sense with the variation system.

Make him have NO variations and his soul steal move allows him to switch into 2 other characters via certain inputs. Thus, giving him the illusion of 3 different variations (Shang, Ermac, and Reptile for example).

 

[VSC_Supreme]

What if he has a custom move for each character he can shape into? Might be a little too strong tho. Shang God tier counter pick.

 

[stokedAF]

Yeah I agree. His main variation should obviously be his sorcery but I think 1 or 2 of his variations should be dead warriors that have never been on the roster. Thousands of souls to choose from. He would be like 3 different characters but he is thousands of characters, that’s why he’s cool.

 

[RoninLoganX]

Yeah I agree. His main variation should obviously be his sorcery but I think 1 or 2 of his variations should be dead warriors that have never been on the roster. Thousands of souls to choose from. He would be like 3 different characters but he is thousands of characters, that’s why he’s cool.

Really like this idea.

One of them could be Art Lean

 

[stokedAF]

Really like this idea.

One of them could be Art Lean

I just watched that recently, poor guy had no idea what he got himself into.

But yeah it would also work with custom variations. If a certain special move is tied to a certain soul variation then Shang would just shift automatically to perform the move, no need for inputs. It might be a little jarring to see Shang morph every 2 seconds but I think it would look cool.

 

[RoninLoganX]

I just watched that recently, poor guy had no idea what he got himself into.

In the novelization, he was actually the strongest of the Earthrealm warriors. Got to face Goro because he had the most victories of the EW by that point. Makes me wish they had brought him into the game canon alongside everything else they took from the movie.

 

[stokedAF]

In the novelization, he was actually the strongest of the Earthrealm warriors. Got to face Goro because he had the most victories of the EW by that point. Makes me wish they had brought him into the game canon alongside everything else they took from the movie.

Oh ok lol. In the movie he had a static expression of disbelief. He did run up to Goro and throw blows though, I give him that.

 

[Cassie Cyrus]

His three main shapeshifts could be: Goro, Ermac and Mileena lol

 

[Pterodactyl]

I think you guys are over thinking this.

The man has other moves besides shapeshift.

Shapeshift would be a universal special and all of his other stuff would be variation changeable.


OR, you can play around with it a bit.

-Move variant 1: turns into the opponent for a short amount of time with a damage buff, like in 9
-Move variant 2: changes into a soulsiphon and damages enemy while giving him a respectable amount of HP regen.
-Move variant 3: works like Shinnok’s imposter where he steals a specific universal special move from the opponent.


But again, what’ll probably happen is that it’ll be a standard move that works like it did in 9. Nothing about the variation system changes this. He just turns into that character with that variation. The game has to load them in anyway, not like it’s doing any extra work, which was why in 9 he could only turn into the person he was fighting.

 

[Chuckyscookie]

To make things easier, he could also just get the base moves that the character has without customization when transforming into anyone.That way he would be kinda weaker than the opponent but at the same time it would be easier for Shang Players to learn each respective transformation.

 

[Madog32]

To make things easier, he could also just get the base moves that the character has without customization when transforming into anyone.That way he would be kinda weaker than the opponent but at the same time it would be easier for Shang Players to learn each respective transformation.

This. I'd imagine he would transform and only use the base moves from that character. Maybe while still having access to his own base moves (minus the already-used shapeshift).

I'm excited to see what they do with him, if he makes it

 

[aj1701]

I don't see why his ss couldn't just copy whatever your opponent had exactly. Why would variations be a problem?

 

[TurboTaco]

He should just swap into what ever variation the other person has picked, I don't see how its a problem.

 

[Skedar70]

Maybe they can make him morph into different characters for his combo string animations. His variation moves may be shapeshifting to another character and performing their move. Some variations moves may allow him to morph into sub zero for an instant to throw an ice ball then immediately morph back. The MK9 version was kind of lame.

 

[RoninLoganX]

I don't see why his ss couldn't just copy whatever your opponent had exactly. Why would variations be a problem?

The reasonings I've seen have been that it might be too much extra work to implement or problematic to program. Personally, I believe in NRS's ability to make it work, I just thought if they couldn't or wanted to try something new with him they could have him shift into the souls he's consumed.

 

[chrisisnice]

Some of the suggestions are a little convoluted...

Why not just have him morph in to the variationless form of the opponent?

Simples.

 

[Kratilim]

Morphing to any character at will is probably not doable technically. You'd have to load the base version of every character in each fight. Thats waaaay to much memory, trust me. If he morphs at all, it would be into his opponent or into a predetermined character.

 

[RoninLoganX]

Morphing to any character at will is probably not doable technically. You'd have to load the base version of every character in each fight. Thats waaaay to much memory, trust me. If he morphs at all, it would be into his opponent or into a predetermined character.

This lines up with what I heard from others. That's why I thought a cool solution would be to have him shift into NPCs, perhaps those whose Souls he has taken.