Hey, @developers , I’ve got a question about the fight reels that run in the menus. It’s not exactly the end of the world, and I understand the need to focus on bigger things like balance and Shadow Lords, but…
Why do some characters get to showcase their combos and gameplay, while others only get to show off their intros, outros, or trailer animations?
This has been a point of confusion for me for a while now. It seems some characters get a lot less screen time than others, and others have their time limited to a few frames of facial focus.
I can understand that newer characters haven’t been added to the list yet and probably won’t be in until Shadow Lords/DE launch, so I can wait for Mira, RAAM, Gargos, and Eyedol. Still, I figured I’d throw out a few characters that I feel should get a bit more screen time.
These are based on the idea that these reels in the menu should be showcasing a little tidbit of their gameplay and maybe some of their personality.
-Where’s Shadow Jago? Shago came out as a playable character months before Season 3 started, and he was the final boss of Season 1 story, AND he’s a skin in the game since Day One! With his online popularity (or rather infamy) it seems a little weird to exclude him entirely. He may be a butthead but he deserves a little love, even if it’s on the end of a stick!
-Weirdly I think Jago might be almost entirely excluded. He’s only got the intro when the game first boots up, and the occasional shot of him getting beat up by someone else. He could certainly use some attention.
-For as much as they’ve been hyped up as selling points, our guest buddies Rash and Arbiter don’t get a lot of screen time. They’ve only got their intros, which is a shame because they’ve got some really flashy fighting styles that would definitely be cool to show off in menu!
-Thinking about it, TJ Combo suffers from the same issue as the above characters. Kind of a shame since he’s got those fancy new TJ Combinations! Let’s show 'em off!
-Maybe I should’ve just listed the characters with only one shot. Omrn is left with nothing but a trailer shot. Maybe throw Demonic Despair and some VanDame kicks.
-Sadira is the one with the most limited time to an almost egregious amount. Out of the entire menu reel, she’s only got a few shots, all of them are just dramatic shots of her face looking in the general direction of the camera. I know she’s a pretty girl, but we all know there’s a bit more substance to her style than that! Would be much cooler to show her intro/outro, and maybe some of the combos from her trailer.
-Maya isn’t much better off than Sadira. She’s got some dramatic shots of her face with the addition of a few slow-mo dagger tosses from the trailer and a brief shot of her uppercut. Some footage of her in motion would be far more intriguing!
-Riptor gets a bit of goodness, but mostly just her outro and a throw. Would be nice to see some of her fiery goodness.
-Kim Wu, like Riptor, only has a dragon cannon and her outro. Maybe something more could be good.
-There are a few characters that are limited to their intro and outro only. On this list, we’ve got Hisako, Tusk, Cinder, and it looks like Aganos. Though Aganos has a trailer shot of his face in place of an outro… Still, Hisako and Tusk were both really well received and have some cool gameplay. Plus, Cinder has all those sweet juggles and hot fire! Let’s show 'em off!
Now, there are also some characters I think get shown off pretty well. Glacius, Sabrewulf, Thunder, Spinal, and Fulgore all get some combo footage in which is good.
I will say though, that Orchid, ARIA, and Kan-Ra all seem to have more screen time than anybody else, which is a little weird. I think it’s wise to bump everyone else up to this level of inclusion in the fight reel, otherwise they seem a bit favorites and could use some cropping.
Man, this turned out much longer than expected… 
Well, whatever. Might as well get it all out and in one place.
Again, it’s not the end of the world, but it’d be a pretty cool way to boost presentation. Figured it’d be best to get this out a fee mo the before DE launch so it has better chance of being implemented.