I think we can maintain the same cast for now, with some welcomed additions moving forward… what I would suggest is just phasing some characters out of the main storyline here and there, like obviously we need new threats other than Aria, Gargos, Eyedol, Omen … so although they can stay in the game, we can make them fun unlockables… I would also like Shadow Jago to that list, maybe make him a Jago Unlock achievement, same for Kilgore & Shinsako… Or at least give them a nod with skin variations…
I do understand for the story it would be crazy to try to involve the same characters, but as far as in game content, I think everyone should stay, maybe some have been defeated in the story line like Kan-Ra, Spinal & …, some decommissioned such as Aganos & Riptor… Aria reverts back to just AI, and develops new Ultratech warriors to replace the fallen models (before mentioned)… Some character undergo heavy changes in design, with slight gameplay adjustments (Glacius, Cinder, Fulgore, SabreWulf) … Some characters fall back into the background, just making appear4ances here and there in the storyline ( Thunder, Maya, Sadira)…
Guest characters Arbiter, Rash… should never return, and should be replaced by New characters, no guests for next KI
This way there is always the healthy content…
Now for a third iteration, that is when more and more characters could just leave due to death etc…
For a full on sequel? I mean, I guess Tekken does it, where some characters are still on the select screen and playable, but not even mentioned in the story (or if they are, it’s exceedingly brief). Personally, I’ve always seen that as a flaw in Tekken. If you’re going to tell a story AND have all of these characters, then every character should be part of it in some capacity.
I always hated the endings that had nothing to do with any kind of story or that were just there as sort of goofy asides. To me, that crap is pointless. Similarly in Mortal Kombat, I always hated the “what-if” endings in arcade mode where everyone one the tournament and no one won it and you had to wait years for the next game to come out to find out what even happened. I’m really happy they’ve done what they’ve done with the story in the last few games.
Now, I know MS / IG won’t funnel that kind of money and time in to a story mode, but you don’t need cutscenes before and after every fight to provide information, context, and/or story progression. So in that sense, my feeling is that if a character has NOTHING to do with the story and they don’t relate to any characters that do in any meaningful way, then they should take a page out of MK’s playbook and sit a character for a game or two. Let fans pine for them a bit and have them return with a new purpose.
See this sounds good to me. I have no problem with characters getting referenced or hinted at or make cameos in the story and not be on the main roster. MK actually did that with MKX, even though I’d still love for Fujin to be playable lol. I don’t think that a character HAS to be playable to be in the story, but I think that if a character is playable, then they should be in the story. Does that make sense?
Agreed.
I don’t mind if they kill off a character or two, but it should mean something, and it should be permanent. This is an area that I feel MK gets it flat out wrong from a storytelling perspective.
When Liu Kang was killed in the intro for MK:DA, my jaw dropped. I thought it was the coolest, most unexpected turn of events. They just killed off their hero, what would happen now? It made the dual bosses more of a threat, and it immediately hooked me.
Then they brought him back as a freaking zombie in the very next game. Personally, I think they could’ve saved him for Armageddon, where every character had to be in the game, or better yet, even hold him over to MK9, where it actually made sense to have him back again.
So yeah, if they want to do some sort of time altering hijinks to bend over backwards and bring a character back, so be it. But if MS & IG start actually killing characters, I really want it to be story canon which means I don’t want it to be done lightly, with a “no one ever actually dies in our game lolz” mentality, which I think is anathema to a compelling story.
Now, if a character dies in MK’s story, who cares? They can just bring em right back in the next game and explain it away with some half-assed excuse like “oh he’s a zombie now.” Granted, KI could use a zombie, but in more general terms, a story should have meaning and consequences, and if you want to shock someone, you should do it without walking it back right away, if at all.
That’s fair. But as a consumer I’m not sure I could really justify buying 90% the same game over again just so it’s a better platform to sell me additional costumes.
Again, I know I’m the one being difficult here. I just don’t want a “sequel” that amounts to a remaster of the current game.
To be honest I was kinda thinking more like 50%, but, assuming they actually make more games after even the next one, they keep the rosters a revolving door of fresh faces and old favorites so that no favorite character is ever truly gone.
Sadira isn’t that important in the story for the most part. She can easily be killed off imo.
Eagle. He can go both ways. His relationship with Thunder can be an interesting plot point. He doesn’t have that much going for him though and isn’t a huge fan favorite.
Aganos/Kan-Ra are only voted for me because everyone else is so iconic. Kan-Ra can be sealed off while Aganos goes home and becomes a family man.
Bonus: Mira and Maya are both good but I can see one or both of them being killed off or left out of the next game.
I don’t have any objection to bringing the characters back in future games. I just think we need to get out of the habit of having to have EVERY one in EVERY game. You end up with bloated rosters full of characters that aren’t unique or interesting in the context of the game.
Agreed. IMHO having everyone in KI3 was great because the series has been gone so long, but now that everyone has had their time in the sun so to speak I don’t mind a few of them taking a break to get some new faces.
I find myself genuinely wondering if other communities have this irrational hate of guest characters that KI’s (forum) community seems to have.
They’re guests, so no they probably won’t be back. But all of KI’s guests are extremely well done, iconic in their own rights, and play in both interesting and unique ways. I wouldn’t bat an eye to see any of them in a future KI, because they are just that well done.
Same with the bonus/remix characters. People are already counting them out of a hypothetical sequel because of their current status in this game, for all we know if there’s a sequel those characters will become full fledged characters on par with others. That’s what really pisses me off more than anything with this community, they have a lot of love for the game but when it comes to the remix/bonus or guest characters that love seems to run out quick.
I take the approach that someone like Kilgore, an outdated version of a superior killing machine, becomes a story character in the next game instead of playable, serving as a sort of comic relief assistant to the heroes. Omen could evolve into something if they take him in the usurper direction, Shago probably won’t make it back though. I like the character, but it would be a nice development for Jago to rid his evil self and adapt some new tech for the next game.
So yea, you can write characters out of the roster but keep them in the story. And I’d like Rash to be written in to the story as Wrath suggested. Its been a while since the new Battletoads game rumors, and it doesn’t seem like its in the plans any time soon. Might as well add him to our lore and get some use out of a great character.
Who knows, maybe if they manage to keep the Battletoads love alive in KI they might one day make a spin-off game : Battletoads and Killer Instinct: The Ultimate Combo.
From what I can recall of my years on Mortal Kombat Online, the reaction to guest characters was largely negative. Sure, there were some people that love horror movie characters that were over the moon about Freddy, Jason, Predator, etc being in the games they appeared in, so I don’t want to make it seem as though this was a universal opinion by any means, but if I had to guess, I’d say it was probably 70/30 against guests (on the forum, I mean).
As for why I didn’t include them as options, I just assume that if they’ll have guests in a theoretical KI sequel, they’ll pick some new ones, but also because there was a 20 option limit. It’s why I cut the remix characters out as well. Same goes for Gargos and Eyedol.
That said, I do think that there’s a general sentiment on this board (even though I hate to generalize), that if we’re going to eliminate characters from returning, that guests and remixes would go first. So the 20 option limit actually kinda worked out, as it allowed me to cut through characters that I think, rightly or wrongly, are more likely to be chosen not to return.
For what it’s worth, I love the way Gargos and Eyedol play. I also think Shadow Jago’s awesome and if I were writing the next game, I’d have him appear in place of Jago, with the latter perhaps being some sort of story/lore unlockable. Perhaps. Part of me kinda thinks it’d be cool to just have Shago for a game and let Jago get a game off.
So yeah, I don’t have anything against the guests or the remixes. Not that you suggested I did. I just made the poll though, so I thought I’d explain myself a little regardless. I do kinda hope they bring in new guests for the theoretical next game though, as I’m not a huge Gears, Halo or Battletoads guy, but that’s just me. I was happy for the fans that wanted those characters and got them.
Honestly, there is always some negative feedback when it comes to guest characters that don’t further the mythology of the actual game. I don’t remember hearing tons of negative yammering in respect to MK9/MKX as these guest characters were sold separately within their own packs or apart of other packs.
I don’t think people would have been so frustrated with KI’s guest characters if it was THEY who we had to purchase later, versus actual KI related characters (even if they are remixes).
