Just got back to the stream, so I’ll jot down more thoughts:
Saberwulf’s stage looks good.
As does Glacius’s.
1 Like
You can actually see… THINGS in the background on Glacius’ stage now lol
5 Likes
Edited.
They’re wrapping it up right now…
I cannot believe how much better glacius’s stage looked in the stream. Also, Arbiter is hands down my personal favorite S3 character so far. I think he is one of the most complicated & tricky character yet (which is why I’m loving him).
Also, He made Aganos look normal sized.
Arbiter: “I have faced the flood and silenced truth. I will quell your peacemaker and douse your chunks”
The stream quality wasn’t too great for me, so I wasn’t really able to observe the new lighting as closely as I’d have liked. Same for the new shadow effects. I am glad to hear they are still being worked on though, not because I think the effect is bad, but because so far I still prefer the original version. The new one looks better on some moves than others. Particularly when the character is moving more I tend to think it looks better. Can’t quite pin a reason.
As for gameplay, of course Arbiter is amazing. They made him fun and unique (as expected of a KI character!) and really kept the Halo feel about him (not only in his character and gameplay but stage as well) just as they did with Rash. Lots of crazy shenanigans with this guy, which is just tons of fun to watch and no doubt to play as I’m sure! Great work on him, to everyone involved!
One thing I couldn’t help but wonder though is why his sword stab is ok but Hisako’s isn’t? I understood the vague reasoning behind Fulgore’s, but with Arbiter he’s pretty undeniably stabbing through them, more brutally than Hisako’s would look, so I’m a bit curious about that. Could we possibly have her’s changed?
Bummed we didn’t get to see the Rash matchup, or any of the accessories. But I wasn’t expecting much outside of Arby. 
As far as Arbiter goes:
He’s definitely interesting. Looks like a lot of his play comes from buttons more than specials, which is really neat. He’s got good pokes and unique projectiles. Interested to see how he works out in our hands.
Couldn’t help but root for my Wulf in that fight, since it looked like he’s the underdog in the Arby matchup.
Wasn’t Spinal’s stage more green before? Couldn’t we get a bit of that back, like in the clouds or something? It still looks good but it feels weird.
Hopefully there’s more work being done on the new Shadow VFX. On some moves they looked great, on others they looked really goofy.
Can’t wait to finally see the select screen, accessories, and all the other stuff that will come with the finished UI.
Fingers crossed that we see more Tusk soon.
Why arbiter have a parry?? In halo you are a parry? really…
1 Like
New stage lightning looks fantastic. I honestly like the purple shadows, but I do feel they need more uh.. UMPH… they lack the showmanship of the originals.
1 Like
Yea there’s definitely something missing there… I like it too but still doesn’t feel right.. Like I said, I can’t quite place why, so I guess it’s not really helpful feedback 
the stages look wow. i laughed from joy. thanks
2 Likes
Gotta love the new re-lighting on Spinal’s and Aganos’ stages 
3 Likes
1.) The lighting is gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. Great job, guys!
2.) Arbiter plays like a Halo character in Killer Instinct. I have no idea how you did that.
3.) The s3 character changes seem to really work well.
4.) I would recommend a counter on the gun. No way casual fans will be able to keep track of their ammo.
5.) I do miss the eerie green glow on Spinal’s stage, but the fires in the foreground are great. Maybe an uneasy green hue in the background?
6.) The shadows aren’t working for me. I’m sorry, because I know how much effort must have gone into them. Please give us a toggle!
7.) The music so far seems incredible. Worthy successors to Mick. I still am unsure on how the characters without stages will work.
1 Like
I don’t necessarily think they need to make it a digital counter, but the bright blue looks like it blends in too well on some of the stages they showed. Maybe that should have a different color, or have the color selectable in the UI customization area?
@TheKeits can you share a bit more with us regarding the Overshield mechanics, like how much damage it absorbs, etc? From the stream and the IGN demo footage, I’m a little concerned that it might be too powerful considering how often he can trigger it - if it was a mechanic that just triggered during Instinct (and remained after until removed) I think it would be really solid, but I’m a bit concerned about the fact that he can activate what appears to be a pretty chunky amount of additional health at least six times or so.
Maybe it really doesn’t absorb as much as I’m thinking, but it seems like a HUGE bonus for a single bar; granted the bar might be better used for damage in a combo, but I guess I’m concerned about the potential of a keep-shields-up-forever style of play.
Best one has to be Glacius’ stage though.
Well its been stated he has 18 bullets, not hard to keep track of if you’re paying attention. Color may be an issue though as @xSkeletalx mentioned, it was pretty hard to see at times.
Would your average player(especially the casual lot) know to keep count and manage to do so while engaging an opponent?
Not immediately, no. But its part of learning the character. And once the ammo runs out you get his command normals instead.
Like I said, the color needs to be changed to make it more easier to see at a glance, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with how its displayed.
AND this is all in the context of seeing it in videos which is quite different from seeing it in game in a match, so my judgments are based on partial info.