The x-ray’s may look good (the first time), but they are really boring as ■■■■ and take waaaaaaaaay to long, and you keep using them to compare lvl4 finishers quality wise…
If X-rays taught me one thing its that visual quality doesnt mean ■■■■ if its boring. The lvl4 enders look flashy, but also quick and simple and I like them ‘for’ it.
I do think they need to work on the rough edges a bit though.
I feel the opposite. I think the new enders are boring and painful to watch. They look poorly implemented and I usually go for level 4 enders with Shago so it’s going to be more annoying having to see that multiple times in a match. The transition in and out of the ender is to sudden. There is little emphasis placed on the moves at times and more on your own character. That last thing I want to see is more of the rough edges of KI and on stream it was terrible to look at a close up of Orchid doing a buster ender with her knee on the opponents chest instead of coming into direct contact with the opponents jaw. It ruins the illusion that the combat is fluid.
At the very least they could have just dimmed the arena around the opponent instead of making it all black. It would have been a nod at old KI games that would have the stage dim down. Also get rid of the colorful fog. The fog is just so out of place I don’t even care if it’s part of the lore.
There are talks on the threads that the new enders need work. Not all of them look good they say. The thing is, all the enders looked good before this new one. It’s just so inconsistent.
This right here is what is being removed from the game and I will miss it dearly. I know this isn’t how current enders look but this looks a lot more cinematic and professional than the new enders.
Please IG, do what OP said.
Adding on to what I think: Making it exclusive to lvl 4 shadow enders would solve the issue completely. The effect would still stay fresh for those of us who play the game for more than 5 hours. It would also encourage, or discourage, players to go for the ender depending on if they like the effect. This would basically give us the option to use it or not. Options are good IG, just consider it.
I want that effect on ALL ENDERS.
it makes them special.
Shadow Enders could get an even more beautiful effect.
I love how IG took the aria instinct aesthetic and applied it to in game mechanics.
BRAVO IG keep it in
Just don’t perform the ender if you don’t want to see it.
Oh god no. My eyes would bleed playing this game.
Making it happen only on shadow lvl 4 enders would resolve a number of problems. For example, lvl 4 cinder burnout ender, its like “whoa a big friggin effect and the dude shoots fire out of his hands, this is gonna do at least a billion percent. 28% 
” Besides, the freeze frame of the shadow could be used to make the dark fog effect settle in a bit more smoothly. It would probably make sense in the story since if you use the shadow power to deal such a devastating strike, its like you are the power of Gargos and kind of enter his SHADOW REALM or something hype like that.
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll leave it to @BlitzedKraig for further comment!
JFYI, there’s no slowdown at all. The timing remains exactly the same as the old non-camera enders.
Does anyone know if yesterdays stream has been or will be put on YouTube? I’m dying to see these new ender animations but I was at work all day and missed the stream.
Shadow enders are, in the whole, considerably less dynamic than your average level 4 ender. That’s why they chose level 4’s over shadow cashouts - there’s a lot more opportunity for interesting camera cuts and movement when it’s not just a single move that hits 5 times. To be honest, I think that’s probably why the DP enders (Jago’s, Orchid’s) looked as off as they did.
I am on the whole pretty ambivalent about the effect. It takes the same amount of time as a normal level 4 so that’s fine, but the cuts on certain enders just don’t look that good. I’m hoping they can touch them up and smooth them out before release.
I think they have potential to be super hype and are probably good for the casual players/spectators, but I really want them all to look good. There’s a weird inconsistency to them now that just wouldn’t be good to release with.
I believe a dev on stream said they wanted to ‘play up’ lvl 4 enders. I say by all means, play them up. But please not in the way of the current build. Blacking out the screen and having a choppy camera angle for EVERY lvl 4 just feels very misplaced.
Look at the gif above of Jago’s lvl 4 fireball ender from the trailer. If this kind of smooth, dynamic, impactful camera work was done on every lvl 4 I would be ecstatic, and I believe the majority of players would agree. It looks high quality and very cinematic without visually interrupting the match. The current effect from the most recent build is very jarring and looks terribly out of place. It also doesn’t make sense to have the screen go dark, no shadow meter is being used. If the argument for the screen going black is “The stage isn’t meant to be viewed from that angle” Then just don’t use such an extreme angle.
If this effect MUST be in the game (I’d prefer it not be in at all) it makes sense for it to only be restricted to lvl 5 when you actually use Shadow Meter for an ender as suggested by the OP. It won’t happen as frequently during a match, but would still be an option for those who like the effect, and would act as something of a ‘build up’ for the most damaging ender in the game. It just doesn’t make sense for this effect to be applied to every lvl 4 ender. Also, I think the stage just going dim rather than completely blacked out would look much better aesthetically.
Well on this one guys, I really like the effect and I have to agree with @STORM179. I think it’s great for spectator hype and I don’t think it will disrupt game-play too jarringly because the timing is exactly the same, just from a different perspective. It’s not like you can actually break a level 4 ender anyway. I think that it just needs a little fine tuning, not nearly as much as the new shadow effects required. Btw, I am so happy that the shadow effects are looking much better than when they were first revealed.
I don’t really know what to say about these new cinematic enders. I love that we get new camera angles to watch the character models closely but right now the effect looks unfinished. Obviously the effect has to be smoother. Also I’d wish there was a way to not have to darken the whole stage when it happens. Maybe use an angle that does not show unfinished parts of the stage?
Only ONE slight problem: some shadow enders can be used as set ups. That MIGHT be an issue for some characters.
Really like OP’s suggestion. Nice way to solve the problem of Level 4 enders looking more special than “Level 5” shadow enders.
Speaking of angles…I really wish The Pinnacle’s Stage Ultra could be updated to reflect the beautiful angles we saw in Aria’s Trailer. I was disappointed when the actual stage ultra during Season 2 did not live up to it’s own hype.
Wow I don’t remember this at all, but dang this effect is really cool but subtle at the same time.
It actually goes back to one of my comments in another thread on the same topic about how slow-motion can make things really cool; especially seeing how it was used back in KI2.
I think the effect should be made as annoyingly intrusive as possible only play on level 1 and 2 enders. Maybe that’ll persuade people to go for longer combos instead of one chance break into set up.
I agree. I wouldn’t mind a little more “Umph” to the regular level 4 enders.
I added a small suggestion to the end of the OP concerning this.
Why do people think that the screen going dark has to do with shadow energy? Shago does not use shadow meter for annihilation or his ultimate. The purple ink effects indicate shadow energy now as far as I understand. Also, Keits explained in the chat why they can’t use the cinematic camera with shadow enders.
It’s the aggregation of everything that makes it look bad. The dark background not only sucks you out of the moment, but it also brings to attention just how choppy the camera angles and ender animations are.
This is addresses all those issues while delivering the impact and oomph that I believe you’re looking for: