Shadow Lords Feedback Thread

Game Suggestions & Feedback
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I figured instead of making a “my thoughts on Shadow Lords” thread, this can be one for everyone who watched yesterday’s stream to give their thoughts on KI’s brand new mode releasing on September 20th. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more once the beta comes out, because I believe (don’t quote me on it) that Rukari said those who get access to it are free to stream it.

There’s a VOD here:

https://beam.pro/microsoftstudios

And also a textual breakdown here:

It’ll be a little hard to make judgement, of course, seeing as the mode isn’t here yet, but I still want to contribute and I’m sure others do too.

So, for my thoughts, I’ll just do it in a list format.

What I Like

Story: This is probably something that only I really care about, but I really do like the fact that Shadow Lords seems to have a lot in terms of story. There’s unlockable files that give you background, and a LOT of them, it looks like. 240 for all characters, it looks like (barring probably the guests?), and more for the story-related items in Shadow Lords (they unlocked a file on the Flesh of Gargos, for example). I LOVE the fact that there’s so much plot, because that gives me a reason to play Shadow Lords more than once…and even then, there’s more than that. Also, before moving on, let me just say that I can’t wait to hear Kan-Ra’s new voice lines in full. What can I say? It’s the little things.

Unlocks/Replayability: There’s definitely a lot of Shadow Lords content to earn. Mimic skins, the aforementioned story files, plenty of items that’ll come in handy for the multiplayer mode, and the Astral Plane! When IG said they weren’t making Shadow Lords a “one and done” sort of gamemode, they weren’t kidding. And it’s only going to get larger as characters get released, too! Eyedol is an expansion pack, and assuming we’re going beyond Season 3, he’s only the beginning of SL expansions.

Random Events: One of my favorite games of all time is Persona 3, an RPG where, in the earliest levels, chance can either make you super strong ahead of time or mess you up and make you reload your save file. I like the risk/reward aspects of Shadow Lords! I want to be frustrated when I play, but I also want to get an amazing RNG roll that gives me something I desperately need. I like that characters can get ticked at the actions of others and refuse to work together; that’s also another awesome story thing. I hope that there’s a lot of events, and it seems like there is!

What I Think Can Be Improved

Character Access For Free-to-Play People: Before you accuse me of begging for free characters, I’m gonna warn you right now: I have all the Ultra Editions, so zip it! That being said, I think people should still be able to play characters that they don’t own in Shadow Lords, if it’s possible techwise. It’s not a serious mode, it doesn’t seem that easy to get other characters on your team (or at least the specific character you want), and I don’t think you’re going to gain any real experience by fighting intentionally OP AI enemies. And I don’t mean “make everyone free” in Shadow Lords, but if you get an event that lets you add Hisako to your team, but it won’t let you play as her because you don’t own her, I think that’s silly. What if the free character becomes somebody who’s heavily disadvantageous when teamed with Jago? That means a player is going to have to wait another week for a character that may or may not get along with Jago.

Challenge: On the Shadow Lords stream, Gargos was taken down each time. Mind you, this was with what I’m sure is a ton of playthroughs and a ton of bought items since it was a dev account, and even then Gargos still defeated 2 characters with all his buffs. Not to mention that you don’t HAVE to start out with all your previous items if you don’t want. I still fear that Shadow Lords might get to a point where you’re too OP to have fun anymore?

Again, I can’t judge this fully, since I haven’t touched it myself. This might just be me having fear. You can also run different team comps to give you a challenge, too…I dunno. I guess all I’m saying is that I don’t want Shadow Lords to become the “once you get all your stuff you just grind for unlocks” mode, especially since we might have to wait a while for an expansion after Eyedol. (which also might not be true!) Is it possible to use online Shadows as your opponents? I think fighting a Shadow with buffs would be a solid challenge, especially if they’re REALLY good. Just a thought!

Astral Gem Grind?: Can’t judge on this fully, either, but I hope it’s not too much of a pain to get Astral Gems. Obviously, you can’t get too many, because you still need a reason for people to buy KI Gold, but I hope it doesn’t take forever to get to the really good packs. Once again, I personally am not worried about this, since I have 21k KI Gold stocked up ready to use, but it’s a concern for others who hop into KI for the first time and check out this big mode.

I’ll add more to this later, and I’ll be happy to discuss other peoples thoughts.

So, everyone else:

What do you think of Shadow Lords so far?

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I pretty much agree with everything you’ve said.

Especially on the challenge. They fought Gargos, Godlike difficulty, all buffs on, and beat him. Granted, it took them their whole team, but still. Not to mention that James was playing SUPER panicky, doing a whole bunch of opener enders and getting stabbed by minions 3 times in a row. I’m not going to try to compare myself to the devs and say because I’m so much better this’ll be a snap for me. But that part of the stream admittedly raised an eyebrow.

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I think its too early for me to say anything more than what I covered in the other thread, definitely need to play it to really make an informed opinion. That said, some things I’d like to respond to.

That’s one of the buffs being unlocked as a dossier, which was one of my nitpicks. Those feel like things that should already be available for reading when you start the mode. Its nice that they have some story behind them though.

I’m excited by this. These could be nifty little free/$5 things that could interest people between seasons or even during. They could do some backstories, some season linking stories…

This too, I like. Its a simple thing but just the chance of them leaving or joining your team, as if by their own choice, is remarkable thing.

You got me thinking there, that would be pretty lame. I wonder if the mode incorporates the DLC check before starting your playthrough and blocks certain characters from showing up if you don’t own them.

We know there’s going to be a multiplayer mode where you can use the stuff you unlock with SL, though it would be nice to have a version with Shadows to fight against as well. The devs did respond to the possibly of integrating Shadow A.I into other modes with a “maybe” in the Textual Stream so…

It definitely is going to be. Maybe we get Gem Boost Weekends or Packs to purchase in the future?

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Kappa?

Lol I am huge fan of story/lore. I love random little details like that. I am going to eat this up and try and discover everything lol

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Well, it’s a relief to know I’m not the only one! :smiley:

@SonicDolphin117: Well, part of that is also because KI’s AI isn’t the hardest to fight. It only really gets hard once they get to Kyle, and even then they’re just cheating at that point. Fighting game AI isn’t easy, so I’ll give them a little leeway there. But that’s exactly why I’d like to see a Dev/pro player Gargos shadow work as his AI when you get to him as a boss. That way you couldn’t just find some sort of exploit to beat him, which I’m sure people will do.

@DoobyDude23:

I think it tells you what each buff does when you fight a herald or Gargos himself. If it doesn’t, it totally should. If Gargos is gonna be cheap when I first start playing Shadow Lords, I wanna know HOW he’s gonna be cheap! (Alternatively, I guess I could compile some info from what we already know.)

You have to be online to play Shadow Lords, I think, so retrieving Shadow Data shouldn’t be impossible. Maybe having some sort of special AI for him as part of the update?

On the matter of Gems, considering the fact that Double XP weekends are a little less helpful to those who have Season 3, a “gem boost” weekend would definitely be great and give people a reason to play Shadow Lords even moreso than before!

Also, random thoughts that are more minor nitpicks or requests:

  • Rash didn’t say anything to Gargos when fighting him during the stream, and I don’t think Arbiter did either at E3. I know the guests aren’t canon, but I think a little trashtalk from them would be super nice!
  • I think the “skipping day after day” in a row feature is something that should stay after you’ve beaten Shadow Lords once, or at least some sort of option to skip to Gargos’ battle right away. I know people like Max probably want to see how far they can get using X character with X buffs/items, and having to go through a whole run of Shadow Lords to do it seems frustrating.

By the way: thanks for answering my questions on the stream, @TempusChaoti and @rukizzel!

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I wish the Mimics looked cooler. Right now they’re basically just Hulk colors for the characters with a smoke effect. I was hoping for a type of skin that makes them look (and maybe even sound) more unique and artificial. Maybe make their skin look crystalline or something and put their voices through a processor? I dunno.

I also hope they find a way to improve the load times when entering fights. I think they’re a bit too long and will shoot the pacing in the foot and consequently dull the experience.

I really like the idea of this mode, and I hope they execute it in a polished manner.

Yeah, non-canon guest characters are an ample opportunity for some humor.

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It would be cool if we could unlock old/ alternate moves for our characters in shadow lords like the lightning strike for Thunder or the pip charge for Fulgore and stuff like that.

It would also be cool If there were missions where you fought the minions instead of a character. You would start on the far left side of the stage and a portal that spawns minions would be on the far right side. They could use the same tech that lets you combo a tank chest to attack the portal. Maybe it could even spawn a mimic or omen but that might not be feasible.

Shadow Lords is looking great so far, keep it up!

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