Why are NRS games looked down upon by high level FGC players?

[Kiss the Missile]

I don't even think it's other communities that hate on our games. Most of the hate you see for MK9 / INJ1 / MKX / INJ2 / MK11 nowadays is from the members inside our own NRS community. It seems like it's been this way for the longest. It's usually been more about "choosing a side" with an NRS game you like the most, and then bashing the other ones you don't like.

"Nobody hates Mortal Kombat more than Mortal Kombat fans"

 

[chud_munson]

The biggest consistent criticism I've heard is the dial-a-combo system. It feels clunky for lots of people coming from other fighters. I played SF as a kid (was never good at it) and got a sense of what FGs felt like. Years later I played MKX and could not understand why I just simply couldn't do anything. It felt like I was trying to fumble my way through a sentence in a foreign language that I know like 6 words in. It was weird that if I pressed some magic buttons, a combo happens, but if I trade a button out with a different button, my character throws out a half punch and then just stands there looking confused. Now that I'm used to it I don't mind it and it gives the games a unique feel, but at first it felt too much like I was pre-programming my character to do canned animations rather than "becoming" my character.

 

[craftycheese]

Mostly because these people play a different game and mk isn't their game. Other reasons are the short lifespan and isn't as globally played like Tekken or SF are. That really it. If it were about broken characters or mechanics or whatnot, no fighting game would ever be popular

 

[CorneliusBrutus]

It also doesn't have the same international competition as the other games. It's decent in europe, but SF and Tekken still dominate when it comes to worldwide players.

Definitely a part of this is the gore and graphic nature of MK. MK11 wasn't even released in Japan due to content. There's always the worry that if that part of MK were toned down for more widespread release, would certain segments of the community feel like it strayed too far from the franchise's roots? Hard to project.

 

[TyCarter35]

Too short of a lifespan is generally a big contributing factor when it only goes on for a good two years worth of "tech", matchups and patches along with other things. Also NRS when it first started with MK9 had a poor reputation with awful balancing up until a little past halfway through MKX with glaring issues like Armored Launchers, characters having frame data that is too good and the crazy gap between even top and mid tier characters and constant patching oh and the inconsistent hurtboxes and shit like player 1 advantage from MK9. Although NRS has seem to have sorted out most of those issues, they have to break the 2 year life cycle if it wants to break that reputation and most importantly, let MK11 be supported for like a good 3-4 maybe even 5 years considering Injustice doesn't rlly have a clear direction and take a few years to create a different game and focus on MK11

 

[deathblooms2k4]

I'm really surprised, I suspected this thread would be full of personal complaints as to why people don't like MK based on their own anecdotal experiences. A fair amount of people seem to get the big picture. People are tribal by nature. SF4 Fans are loyal to capcom and the street fighters series, other games feel threatening to their tribe so they crap on them because they are afraid of change and afraid that their game might lose popularity to them.

X game is for casuals
X game is just guessing
X game has no footsies
X game is for weebs
X game has terrible balance
X game has too much sexuality

These are all subjective arguments based on people feeling the need to be defensive about the franchise they like.

The sad part is it works and a lot of great games get overlooked because of the fanboism.

The nice thing about NRS games is they may not bring the numbers competitively but they sell units like no other, so if you like them they aren't going anywhere.

 

[GLoRToR]

1. Tiers:
Game balance, in general, is iffy in NRS games. Injustice2 has taken a step in the right direction. MK11 is weird right now, but it hasn't been patched yet.

2. Compelling Absolutes:
In more respected fighting games there aren't one-button characters with iWin button moves. NRS has a reputation for allowing that and the community has this tendency to turn a blind eye to ridiculousness in order to protect some arbitrary nonsensical agenda rather than worry about the game's health when such low risk high reward mechanics exist.

3. Perceived Toxicity:
Now I know that every pvp community has it, but when I talk to people from other communities, not necessarily top player just people in general, they seem to remember something bad that happened in one nrs venue or another.

4. Short Game Lifespan and the reputation thereof
There have been 5 nrs games in the span of 2 Soul Caliburs, for example.
A very strong underlying sense of "why learn this game when it will be nowhere in 2 years' time and besides, it's full of imbalanced ridiculous nonsense" tends to deter people from playing these games.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

I feel like there isn't a ton of hate from other communities at least from my scene its mostly just some within our FGC who also play other fighters. We have several top players who also do very well in other titles like: Sonic, Justin, TekkenMaster and others so its not so much others thinking less of us because they can see we do well in other fighters too.

What I feel keeps others away in the long run is things like:

1. Fuck Neutral tools like a run button, Dash Cancels and moves like scorpions teleport, or now our unreactable fatal blows.
2. Slot of players don't like commuting to a block button. I feel like trigger to block is one of the best things about MK games since you can't auto guard or just abuse back input moves.

3. The moves are much slower than other fighters MK is more like a 3D fighter in 2D platform because other 2D's are like 3f pokes while we average 7f and in MK11 this was exaggerated being even slower (20f mids).

4. Each game has only really lasted 2 years always replaced by Injustice/Mortal Kombat. Ustead if doing this they should support thier latest game for 5+ years and work on and improve it both by balancing, bug fixing and working on the netcode and even adding new features to keep it alive.

Mostly I feel this is just drama from our own members who hate certain things about the games.

 

[DixieFlatline78]

As someone who attempted to play multiple NRS games competitively and quickly dropped them all in favor of games like Street Fighter and Tekken: The games are typically poorly animated, poorly balanced, janky, have obnoxious coin flip metas and outrageously one-sided matchups, terrible patch cycles that either let broken mechanics fester or completely revamp the meta on a month to month basis, silly mechanics like armored launchers and 100% safe reversals, a general lack of depth, sometimes embarrassing costume design, I could seriously go on and on.

The community is also known for making excuses and endlessly complaining about game balance, but suggesting changes that ultimately put them in line with the top tiers. If everyone got what they wanted during the first year of MKX, every character would've been a busted-ass, completely safe 50/50 machine that shits damage.

MK11 is WAYYYYYY better than anything NRS has ever put out. It's the first time an NRS game has felt like something other than a light novelty, and it seems like they're experimenting a bit more with the base mechanics of fighting games. This game isn't even perfect either: Most of the roster feels pretty limited in terms of player expression, the variations are typically between one that fleshes out the character's kit and one that just adds on extra stuff to an incomplete character, the custom moves are all over the place so you can't just start slotting those in to the competitive game, and the hit boxes are a travesty.

But it's actually pretty fun to play. Maybe the best western fighting game in several years. I have a lot of fun playing it and I hope the inevitable balance patch just improves it instead of torching the meta, which was what turned me off to MKX initially

 

[Tanya-Fan-28]

Is this even a thing?

 

[Under_The_Mayo]

I don't even think it's other communities that hate on our games. Most of the hate you see for MK9 / INJ1 / MKX / INJ2 / MK11 nowadays is from the members inside our own NRS community. It seems like it's been this way for the longest. It's usually been more about "choosing a side" with an NRS game you like the most, and then bashing the other ones you don't like.

This should have 1,000 likes. Our own community is the one on here, game after game, praying for it to die.

I'm sure NRS hate from outside communities started for whatever reasons they have. Now, I think it's because players from those scenes think they can come into our game and win, and time after time they get BLOWN UP.

 

[MKF30]

I think there's a fine line between "being disappointed with a game" and flat out "hating" it. This can really be said about any FGC.

 

[Badboy Takuma]

NRS games are the best quality fighters out there ever since MKX came out. Best story mode, best netcode, best designed characters all of the other fighting games are looking at what NRS does next to copy them.

From a competitive point of view the FGC was mostly founded on Street fighter which has a lot more emphasis on spacing. SF and MK are played completely different. I personally dislike the glorified SF games because its just simple stuff like trying to land a d1 or d3 or a d4 into a 3 string combo or ultra that does like 30% damage.

LMFAO
this post is a complete failure smh.

 

[Badboy Takuma]

This should have 1,000 likes. Our own community is the one on here, game after game, praying for it to die.

I'm sure NRS hate from outside communities started for whatever reasons they have. Now, I think it's because players from those scenes think they can come into our game and win, and time after time they get BLOWN UP.

what reo posted has nothing to do with the topic. players from other communitys within the fgc dont give a fuck about what nrs players think about their own games lul.
it does not make sense at all.

here is the thing:
mk's "bad reputation" has to do with older mk games. the "3d mk era" those horrible trash games are to blame.
tbh nowadays this is not really an issue anymore.

 

[MashiroTamigi]

SF is on the competitive train since turbo. NRS started to take it seriously just with MK9 and still has a long way to go. I totally understand how a pro that played fighting games since the beginning can't take Mk too seriously, it's not only a case of different gameplay, but where you want to invest your time. The topic is similar to Bio dropping kano: for a pro player it's a job, and problems that kasuals like me can see from just playing the game (wiffing, hitboxes, balance) are only more and more evident at those levels and can literally fuck up your income. It's not like other games are perfect, but they are more solid and reliable cause they are dominating the scene since the beginning. Still MK11 is trying to change something, yet i feel that NRS is missing his tekken 7 or sf4.

 

[QueenOmega]

whatever you say man, i love MK games and i played competitively both sf and mk. I think its you the one that needs to get your blindfold and see the things the way they are. And we are talking about competitive scenes, not about casuals gaming, so things like whiffing issues and balancing patches play a big role. there's nothing wrong with liking NRS games, they are my favorite games, but you need to understand that we are in the minority.

i've been in japan for 4 months and spoke with a lot of people that played fighting games. Noone knew about mk, i know theres a lot pf censorship going on there, but even the gaijin players thought they suck. Tekken 7 has seen people winning with Panda, SF and even smash had upsets with low tiers in the biggest stages. You are never going to see that in NRS.

i didn't say, about mk9, it was going to be perfect. I said brilliant, which is a different concept, i think you are the one that needs reading glasses before posting.

That's because Japan is the most xenophobic nation in the world, and they don't bother considering anything non-japanese worthy. That, and people tend to lick their balls, so it reinforces their arrogance.

 

[MKF30]

I wouldn't fret too much over other FGC. SF5 was not a great game especially on release compared to other SF's. I seem to recall Tekken 6 I think getting some harsh feedback from their fanbase unless it was Tekken 5(forget which one) of saying it was "too casually made" or something of that nature. The last few MVC games were average at best and forgotten quickly compared to MVC2 days. And Evo NRS games have had respectable numbers, especially past few years and this year. MK may not be at the top but who cares? It sure as hell ain't at the bottom either so....

 

[B. Shazzy]

lul nrs players

 

[MagicMan357]

the old games were fun and the newer ones since mk9 werent perfect but the got better, its more of its history. My issue is the NRs community itself makes no fucking sense.

 

[ismael4790]

I think the fact that they still haven't decided to go legacy is a factor.

In legacy games, the knowledge of players carries over from an installment of the franchise to the next one and so on. Veterany and time invested is more rewarded, the mechanics and the meta have time to settle and get polished and the feeling of new bullshit disappears, resulting in a more balanced experience.

Nrs, at least until now, seems to prefer changing everything from one game to another. This gives variety of course, but definitely hurts the balance since they don't fully use the knowledge from past mistakes. They just love making new mistakes. Everything is reseted every 2 years. I think that's one of the reasons why nrs games will never be taken as serious competitively as sagas like Tekken or Street Fighter, which build on previous games to create a much more robust experience. Less fresh? Maybe. But more balanced.

 

[NothingPersonal]

You mean by those who don't play them or if they do, lose badly? Well, there's your answer.

 

[SinkFla]

I think the fact that they still haven't decided to go legacy is a factor.

In legacy games, the knowledge of players carries over from an installment of the franchise to the next one and so on. Veterany and time invested is more rewarded, the mechanics and the meta have time to settle and get polished and the feeling of new bullshit disappears, resulting in a more balanced experience.

Nrs, at least until now, seems to prefer changing everything from one game to another. This gives variety of course, but definitely hurts the balance since they don't fully use the knowledge from past mistakes. They just love making new mistakes. Everything is reseted every 2 years. I think that's one of the reasons why nrs games will never be taken as serious competitively as sagas like Tekken or Street Fighter, which build on previous games to create a much more robust experience. Less fresh? Maybe. But more balanced.

Eh I actually prefer that they make changes to characters yet still bring over some if not most of their arsenal. Keeps gameplay fresh IMO but yeah you do run the risk of creating unbalanced BS (which is going to happen regardless). I liked that in Injustice 2 they transitioned legacy characters over quite similarly to their I1 counterparts. There's a few outliers though. I do hate the reset every 2 years. It's like they are now of the mindset "DON'T PATCH, LET BALANCE MARINATE" yet they refuse to let their games do the same. I don't like SFV but I do think it's cool how long they have been releasing new content/characters.

 

[CrazyFingers]

I'm going to keep it real rn, the people who mostly look down at NRS games are NRS players as of late. Players from other scenes seem to either really enjoy the game, or respect it as it is.

 

[ismael4790]

I do hate the reset every 2 years. It's like they are now of the mindset "DON'T PATCH, LET BALANCE MARINATE" yet they refuse to let their games do the same. I don't like SFV but I do think it's cool how long they have been releasing new content/characters.

Absolutely this. Fgs are a complex genre, with a lot of depth to explore. The titles should be supported for quite a long time. Damn, half of mkx wasn't even fleshed out before people moved on to the next hot sauce.

 

[NaCl man]

Nobody looks down on nrs games because nobody cares. Top players have their own game to worry about. Mk is not released in japan/Korea so the top players from there wont play it.