I caught wind of the news that Xbox will be at Gamescom next month, and that they’re going to be showing off plenty of great stuff that’s coming our way soon.
“That’s all fine and dandy, but what does that have to do with US?!” you may ask. Well, you may remember that Rash crashed Gamescom 2015 to announce Season 3, and that he’d be swinging his way to our Xbox Ones shortly. (Wasn’t that amazing?!)
We haven’t heard about anything concrete planned for Killer Instinct after August, and I’m holding out hope that Gamescom will bring news of Season 4 along with it. I can’t help but to wonder if the @developers are planning a trip to Germany soon…
I think it’s complete rubbish that people want Killer Instinct to be “finished.” Let’s keep adding onto this thing forever- or at least until the Xbox One is replaced by its eventual successor.
Nothing turns me off to games, (fighting games in particular), than sequels that are essentially a copy/paste of all of the moves and characters, but NOW with “shiny new visuals!” If you resold me 90-100% of the current KI (characters with exact-same movesets) in a “new” KI sequel for the Xbox One, I’d be incredibly disappointed. Why?
Smash Bros. Melee was a REALLY fun game, but all Smash games afterward are a barrel of “meh” to me, because they’re the same game, but with shiny new stages, a handful of new items, and some new characters that don’t interest me. If a game does nothing new with its narrative or mechanics, especially after playing the crap out of the version I fell in love with, I’m bored to tears and I can’t play it anymore.
Other examples off the top of my head include the Soul Calibur series (Loved 2, bought 4 and it felt like the same game, but with Yoda), Mario Party, and Animal Crossing. Why do series like Halo and Gears of War feel fresh and new with each sequel? Because the story and mechanics evolve with each addition. That’s also why I love BOTH KI Classic & KI2; they’re the same series, but every character was revamped for the new platform, and as a nice bonus, they advanced the story with Gargos, Tusk, Maya, Kim, time travel, etc. It’d be a crap-ton of work to revamp all of the current KI cast for a sequel that would please me, but it would also be a waste when we have a spectacular platform of a fighting game that we can keep expanding upon.
Killer Instinct was the reason I bought an Xbox One on launch day, and I play it nearly every day, but a copy/paste sequel, no matter how gorgeous, wouldn’t feel like KI. Knowing that KI is getting a 4K visual upgrade and a steady stream of content gives me hope for the future, and above all else, I don’t want the story to end anytime soon- I want an entire fourth season of new freaks, weirdos, and monsters to expand the lore of KI. I want a new chapter that introduces fresh-faces of creepy creatures and bloodthirsty beasts, and to get a glimpse at the new terror that will step in to take the “Big-Bad” gap that Gargos once filled. The fight’s not over, and I’m with the @Developers with the mantra they’ve been chanting for years: We’ll keep supporting Killer Instinct as long as you guys keep playing.
Just got to point out that this is not true. I regularly jump between gears ultimate, 3, and 4 trying to finish out the seriously achievements and if it weren’t for the graphics I’d forget which one I’m playing at the time.
I’m more talking about the single player aspects of the games have different and attention-grabbing characters, missions, and stories to tell. For me, the multiplayer aspect of most games is secondary, and that’s why Gears stays fun for me. I’m shooting my chainsaw gun the same way in each game, but as the story progresses, I’m given new reasons to care about the planet and its inhabitants.
-Zenek
PS. Good luck with the seriously’s- That’s some dedication/madness you’ve got there!
People have valid reasons for not wanting a s4. A full sequel is what I want as this current build is very buggy and will remain that way. Each time a new character came a slew of bugs followed. Ig can’t ever truly fix everything. So move on. Either way of they announce something ki related it likely won’t be at s4. Ig is at work on a large scale new ip and I talked to keits at CEO and he said there’s 1 or 2 more patches after 3.8. That’s it. If an s4 happens I wouldn’t hold my breath on it being announced at gamescom.
it would be awesome, a new season 4, with a lot of recycled characters like shinsako, and kilgore, what about a shadow aganos? or a shadow shadow jago?
no please…
leaving jokes aside, dont get we wrong i love ki and i kinda like kilgore and shinsako but i’d rather to see new characters with a new moveset by far. IG should take a breath, if they keep launching seasons, in next ki they are going to be running out of ideas.
i just hope community survives as long as we can like mvc3 or sf5, but it seems pretty hard
If a full sequel comes, I’d like it to start out with the game the way it is currently, minus any bugs they find along the way of course. From there, gradually introduce changes in an engine that they can tweak as needed given changes and suggestions provided by the community, including direct speech synthesis API support for accessibility to those without sight.
While MS showed more on a lot of previously announced first party games, they didn’t actually have a ton of new first party stuff to talk about at E3, so maybe they were saving some of this stuff for Gamescom? If that’s the case, I’m really hoping that KI Season 4 is high on their list of stuff to show off, as I know it’s at the top of my personal wish list!
This is an interesting point. While some games do a good job of differentiating a sequel from the previous game, some certainly don’t, and I think that there are several fighting game franchises that can fall in to this trap.
Virtua Fighter routinely added a few characters and a mode or two for each sequel, souped up the graphics, and called it a day. Now, I’m sure a lot more went in to the game than that. New moves, new balancing, new stages, etc. But the core of the game was almost always 90% the same as it was in the last game, at least from what I noticed.
Would it have been so bad if they simply took one of those games and kept adding characters, stages and perhaps a few modes over time? I don’t think so. So why is it bad for KI to do this?
To be fair, most fighting game sequels add a mechanic or two here and their for their sequels, even if some of them can be a bit gimmicky. Tekken 7 would be a good example of this (to me).
I don’t think it’s just that Halo and Gears have new stories, I think it’s also that the campaign is entirely new and they advance their lore. Now, could they theoretically add a new campaign to an existing game as DLC? Probably. But they also tend to do a lot more with other modes to at least make me think that a full fledged sequel is more practical.
Agree 100%. Personally, I’d like them to put together a massive mission bubble within Shadow Lords that allows you to play through stories for all of the characters using dossiers, cut scenes with recycled animations, new cut scenes, etc. Really go all out. Maybe matches get interrupted by events.
Maybe there’s a tournament held for some story reason. Whatever the case may be, it’d be awesome to have a coherent story that involves every character, plotlines that involve alliances (unlikely and likely), betrayal, romance, greed, etc and fleshes out the characters backstories, motivations, changes over time, etc. Maybe once you’ve acquired everything, you complete a puzzle that can be placed in to a view able movie where you see everything play out in canonical order.
Then, if they decide to do a 5th season, they can add on to this mode and expand the puzzle and evolve the story further. If Shadow Lords can be iterated on, why not the story?
I really hope they keep going!
Okay, we don’t agree on everything, I guess. But that’s okay! We all have our own taste, so it’s all good. I’d personally love to see an MMA grappler, a wily old sage, a lovecraftian sea creature, a gorgon, a djinn, an Ultratech suit / agent, Joanna Dark and a returning Ichorien as a good guy boss to battle with Gargos and the bad guys, etc.
So what would you want then? A full retail release sequel or start over with a new season one?
I’m assuming the seasonal model is less of an investment for MS, as they likely have to dole out less money at a given time. Would they actually give a niche game in a niche genre the full AAA funding treatment up front?
Personally, I find the seasonal model to be more effective in allowing me to digest each character one at a time without overwhelming me. I also find that I stay more engaged with the game when there’s such a long content drip, as opposed to a full game that comes out with a ton of stuff in it and then maybe a few DLC characters down the road and then it’s done. But that’s just me. Obviously, I used to function just fine with the old way, but KI has kind of converted me, not sure about you.
If they decide to start over with season one, wouldn’t a new game have the same issues that this one has over time? Just curious.
Obviously, I’m not saying your reasons aren’t valid and you’re absolutely entitled to your opinion. I guess I’m just curious as to what you’d want them to do instead of continuing to iterate on this game and how practical you think your desired path to new KI would be.
I know you were joking, but to be fair, Shin Hisako and Kilgore weren’t part of any season. Up through season 3, each character in every season was exceedingly unique except for Shago in season one and Omen in season two, so it’s not like wanting a new season would mean tons more recycled character anyways.
Depends on if Microsoft has them rush the game again. Ki was created in less than a year by people who had never made a fighting game before since they wanted it ready for the one’s launch. If they give ig more time than they did double helix or whoever they put to work on a new game it wouldn’t matter if it was the seasonal model again or not. Ig is working on a rushed code that they didn’t create. The seasonal model isn’t the issue.
To my knowledge Xbox isn’t having a conference at Gamescom just like last year, so i’m not expecting an announcement even though i’d love S4 to be officially unveiled.
I was against Season 4, but looking at current state of fighing games’ market, I think KI could hold decently with S4 being 4 new chars + QoL improvements.
29 character is enough. there are no more character to add tot his version of the game. Even if a new season added 6-9 character that would loose the spotlight and hype just due to there are already 29 characters
New Sequel for me! ( As long as Omen is involved Im down!)
True, but if you look at the schedule IG’s had to run on since the start of season two, I mean… They had a limited amount of time to pick up the ball and run with it, and their schedule to get content out in season 2 seemed rather grueling when looking at it from the outside. I tend to doubt that season 3’s content pipeline was all that much easier for them to navigate time-wise.
So would it be fairly safe to assume that a new KI game done in the seasonal model would be just as demanding? If that’s the case, then would you still want it done that way?
Personally, as far as seasons go, while I love that it gives me time to learn each character one by one, I can’t say I’d be super hyped at the idea of starting this game over from scratch just to have something that may be less buggy, but also end up being just as buggy down the line given the time constraints that both DH and IG have dealt with. But that’s just me.
I certainly don’t fault you for having that opinion, but when you say that there are no more characters to add to this version of the game, I’m kinda confused. Are you saying that there are new characters you’d want to see in a sequel, but not in this game? Why couldn’t new characters just be in this game? Why do we need a new game?
As far as new characters in this game, I’d personally like to see an MMA grappler / wrestler type, a wily old sage, a gorgon, a djinn, a lovecraftian inspired character… There’s still lots of stuff I wouldn’t mind seeing.
What does there being 29 characters already have to do with new characters? Why would that effect the new characters’ ability to hold the spotlight?
Again, I’m not faulting you for having an opinion and you’re absolutely entitled to it. I’m just curious as to why these reasons you give compel you to want a new game when, to me at least, new characters and new seasons are always fun and hype and what not, and it’s not like they can’t add new characters or come up with new character ideas for this game.
Just curious.
Also, and maybe this is more off topic, but you say that 29 characters is enough. If we get a new game, how many characters do you cut, which characters do you cut, and how many would you add in order to help justify an abandonment of an iterative seasonal model in favor of a full fledged sequel? Again, just wondering.
We dont need 9 new character to this game. The more you add the less likely they are going to be a fresh archetype. Then we start getting into REMIX territory…oh…that’s already started to happen here
More characters = more balance issues and match up issues. Keep it light, keep it lean.
Yes new character may replace some of the staple characters from KI 2013 or keep the base and replace the guests and remix for fresh lore characters.
Cut
Rash, Raam, Arbiter, Shinksako, Kilgore (ughh I really like him too) Gargos
Keep the rest and replace these 6 with new characters. Maybe cut some more big names…or NOT.
But 29 is enough…30 would be fine…but I dont think 38 characters would be a good for this game right now. Its loosing its luster…we need something NEW and HYPE.
It could still be a season release like you said to keep things trickling and exciting for a longer period.
Nine seems like a lot, I agree. I wouldn’t mind adding another five or six though. 35 is a nice round number, or curvy, or whatever.
Theoretically. But Eagle feels fresh to me and he’s the 29th character. I trust IG to come up with new ideas. Also, I mean, if IG has to come up with new character for a sequel, it’s not like they won’t have to be new ideas, even if they do end up being characters that replace old characters. If they come up with a character that feels an awful lot like Gargos, for example, KI fans are going to notice it and they won’t be pleased, regardless of whether Gargos is in the sequel or not.
I almost wonder if the remixes were more of a lower effort / budget way of giving us some more characters. If anything, we can say that Kilgore and Shin Hisako don’t play like Fulgore and Hisako, so that might be an indication that IG’s not exactly hurting for new character ideas. So why can’t they put new characters in this game instead of having to wait for a sequel?
True, but isn’t one of the advantages to having a model that can be constantly iterated on the fact that they can constantly iterate on it and tweak the balance? This KI is pretty widely known for how well balanced it is and it’s not like that happened overnight or in a patch or two.
So doesn’t it stand to reason that even if they added more characters, they’d still be able to keep the balance, even if they have to take a few cracks at it to get it right?
Those are the exact characters I thought of too, though I also put Eyedol on my list since his lore beef is more with Gargos. So that would be seven characters for me. We’d then be replacing them with seven new characters? I dunno. Doesn’t seem to me like an awesome trade off. Get a completely new game, lose some cool characters (I love the way Gargos and Eyedol play), just to add characters that bring us up to the current number we already have in this game?
Personally, I think it’s more losing its luster because they abandoned the seasonal model after season 3. Now it’s just become a sort of straight DLC venture and that tends to generate far less hype then having something to announce like a season or a new game. I think season’s 2 and 3 both generated hype, and I think season 4 might as well, especially for Steam owners just getting in to the game. At least in theory.
Thing about that though, and this is just me… If they keep the seasonal model and just start over, I mean… What’s the point? What’s the advantage of starting over with 6-8 characters versus adding 6-8 new characters to the current game? The hype of an announcement? New graphics?
Again, for me, there’s a trade off there. On one side is hype (which I don’t personally need but maybe MS or the FGC might), new graphics, and reinterpretations / redesigns of existing characters that they wouldn’t be able to do in this game.
On the other side, we lose everything we’ve done in this current game since it wouldn’t carry over to a new game, we lose all but the few characters that the new season one would launch with, and we’re back to playing with a small roster and waiting years for them to bring back characters that might or might not return that I actually enjoy.
Sure, KI 2013 doesn’t cease to exist just because a sequel comes along, and I’d have to think that KI will get a sequel at some point, but if new seasonal announcements always tend to generate some hype and they could probably tweak the graphics the way they did with the stage relighting, what are the real advantages to scrapping everything they’ve built up with this game and starting over again with a tiny roster of characters for a year or so until the next season comes along?
Again, I’m not asking you to justify your opinion to me and I’m sorry if I come off like I’m down on what you think. I’m not, at all, I swear! I’m just trying to figure out where you’re coming from so I understand your perspective since I’m currently more a fan of adding to the current game that I’ve enjoyed so much and put so many hours in to. That’s all.
the trade off is a new base game with better graphics, better customization, better load times, better mechanics, better Ultimate’s, better everything.
It happens…sequels are being made every day… and KI will have a sequel…but when? I have no idea…but I dont think right now we need 6 new characters. the last 3 new characters didnt spark much interest in the community…why would 6 more?
I didnt put Eyedol on the list because he is one of my favs LOL… its a tough decision and maybe it doesnt need to cut any one except guests and remix… but If there are more characters Id personally rather them be in a new base game with better everything for everyone.
Fair enough. I won’t keep pressing you on it. I was just picking your brain, so sorry if I came off like I was trying to disprove your opinion or whatever.
Sequels do tend to do things better for the most part, though I don’t know how much of a lock better customization, better load times, better mechanics and better ultimates would be given that they’d probably have a similar budget, but who knows. Maybe building their own game from the ground up would help mitigate some of the issues with this one? Who knows. I wouldn’t say that’s a lock either.
To be fair, two of those three were remixes. I think that more people were interested in Eagle, but maybe I’m mistaken. Still, I really do think there’s something to the idea of abandoning the seasonal model and just going with this steady, reliable, unremarkable DLC route. There’s really no way to put out a huge, hype generating announcement when you’re only talking about one character or some colors or whatever. I mean, it’s not like they were going to put Eagle on the big screen at E3 just to say “look, KI has a new character.” Ya know?
But a new season? I could see a new season being announced at an event and I could see that generating hype. So to me, those are two different things, which is why I personally hope they don’t just leave the seasonal model behind entirely, but who knows, maybe they have. They’ve said it before, but they’ve also been slightly vague at times on this “post season 3” period.
I dunno, if you’re talking about subtracting five or six characters and adding five or six more, is that really so different than just not subtracting five or six characters from this game and adding five or six more? I know you don’t get the better everything for everyone, but again, nothing’s guaranteed to be better given the budget and we’d be talking about having to wait for years while characters slowly trickle out again. That seems like an awful lot just to not have the character count go up above 30 or whatever.
I’d love it if they could tune the graphics in this game the way other long term games have done over the years. I still think that they could polish this game up in general. Add more stuff, correct some stuff, and keep it going for a while, as it’s intended to be an iterative model, but that’s just me. I don’t see a huge advantage to scrapping one iterative model in favor of another, but again, that’s just me. Thanks for explaining your perspective, man! If you have more to add, feel free, I just didn’t want to keep buggin you about it and maybe this might be too off topic.
To circle back, I do hope that we see KI at Gamescom and if it’s Season 4, I’d be over the moon. Happy as could be. But if they announce a new KI game and it’s just a logo at this point or whatever? I’d be happy with that too. More KI is never a bad thing, after all!
But that’s okay! We all have our own taste, so it’s all good. I’d personally love to see an MMA grappler, a wily old sage, a lovecraftian sea creature, a gorgon, a djinn, an Ultratech suit / agent, Joanna Dark and a returning Ichorien as a good guy boss to battle with Gargos and the bad guys, etc.