Hey everyone. Keits here, Lead Combat Designer on KI Seasons 2 and 3 at Iron Galaxy Studios. I know you are all starving for information about Shadow Jago, so we wanted to take a few minutes to give you an update on how things are going.
I’m not experienced enough to have a good understanding based on this info, but Shadow Jago seems like he might be extremely strong. 15% increased walk speed sounds huge, and the meter gain, recapture and tether stuff also sound very powerful.
I hope this means he will also do less damage and build potential damage slower than Jago does, but it’s also far too soon to tell. Hopefully more detailed information, video, and @Infilament 's inevitable input will help to put this information into better perspective for us low enders.
This is pretty damn interesting. They seem to have changed his uppercut with the sword, but does he still spin around and hit multiple times like the guys mentioned at EVO? Also, they changed his Crouching HP and Standing close LK. Crouching Heavy is something I’m on the fence about because Jago’s Cr. HP is a fantastic anti-air. Will this new move be useful in comparison? We don’t know. Also, the throw changing in an instant sword launcher…I can’t tell whether that’s going to be beneficial either. Jago’s throw has two great things about it: a) it’s shadow cancelable and b) it’s a hard knockdown. How will Shago’s new throw compare? Last thing that changed from EVO is that the surge version of the slide is no longer unsafe. Sounds a bit ridiculous if you ask me.
Everything else sounds intriguing to say the least. Increased walk speed? That should keep him in the “footsies master” standard that Jago sets. Close LK being a fakeout for the push kick? Well, that’s going to piss off people look for shadow counters (just like Cinder’s fission…yup, this’ll be fun). The overhead kick being cancelable out of ANY normal? That sounds deadly, though if the overhead kick launches instead of acting as a grounded opener then it shouldn’t be too bad. Shadow divekick being a recapture might help counterbalance that, though from how the devs describe the divekick move it may be hard to actually catch someone out of the air with it.
The fireballs are where I’m getting very curious. His fireballs must be SUPER fast if the slowest one is Jago’s fastest. While that will cause him to loss some wakeup traps and setups, it will definitely help with zoning people out. Though when you guys said you could fire more than one on screen at a time outside the surge version…aren’t the fireballs going to be fast enough that they will pass the screen before you can even throw another one? Or was the recovery on his fireball throw shortened? I was also say that the shadow version throwing 5 fireballs instead of one giant will definitely be interesting to test the uses of.
His instinct…well I can’t say it’s not creative, but how useful will this be? He’ll be able to throw out moves like a maniac and annoy his opponent at the same time, but when he does that pose to restore stocks to both players, a patient opponent could use that meter at the perfect time to punish him BIG if he gets reckless.
Overall, I’m excited to try this guy out, if anything just to see what new tech people can find.
Sounds like a great addition. Some things I notice
Cancelable normal xx overhead kick will be huge in neutral, time to learn how to block!
Shadow Jago definitely appears to suffer a bit more from close range vs. his non-corrupted counter part. I like this change to help make him more diverse. Unless his divekick and light fireball are safe, definitely sounds like you will have to approach cautiously. From this alone makes facing Aganos that much harder.
I wonder if the divekick will act like Spinal’s or more like the twins from Street Fighter; where going for the knees makes it more safe.
I really like how you kept the meter the focus on the instinct, very nice and unique definitely.
People saying we are going to see less Jago are wrong. Shadow Jago is now so different than Jago that the transition between both will need serious adjustment. So I think Shago gonna get new players from ALL the other characters, not just from Jago.
Being a Jago player is not more useful for Shago than being a good Fulgore player.
Conclusion: Shago is so unique he has to be treted as an entirely new char.
You may be right. We’ll see how he turns out. I, myself, never touched Jago, but I admit I will definitely try him out to see if I can add him to my roster.
I am curious how the Tether would work for Fulgore. Seems really good though. A free bar? How would it work if the opponent has full meter? They don’t gain anything and you do? Sounds powerful.
Jago got turned into Shago! Who can stop him before it’s too late? Kim-Wu appears at end of trailer! Shago might come out around October now as well as his trailer and here’s hoping this prediction comes true! Also his sword DP!?.. WOW.