Shadow Lords Impressions Thread

Shadow Lords
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Alrighty, that was weird not being able to jump. Will have to check my replay more specifically, but did I have a debuff against me when I faced Gargos that prevents jumping?
Compared to the last two of my fighters, Jago felt covered in molasses. Inputs felt like mush and I wouldn’t jump when I felt I should have.

Now;
Took me, it looks like, just over 2hrs to learn the basics of the mode on easy, take on the Omens but couldn’t heal and lose. The difficulty of the fights scales from minimal to OMG! against Gargos. And he had only 1 buff I couldn’t prevent. Something to smooth out?

In spite of the difficulty spike, not having “my” team likely is the reason I had such little health at the end.

It was funny to realize how I could have exploited/spammed ARIA’s shotgun knee, for possible MUCH better results. You can see that just before I GAME OVER :slight_smile:

I dunno about Wu being a free fighter for first time players, even if you can return with others in another play. Orchid just learns easier than Wu… More forgiving/less punishable?

Admittedly, the story elements are “the Princess Bride” invoking more than “Fight Club” as far immersion and wow factor. I’ve got questions and don’t want the story stopped, but I’m confused and just sitting there, not on the edge of my seat, leaning forward, trying to see and listen to every detail.
I’m satisfied and sleepy at the end… Not “HOLY CRAP THAT WAS AWESOME LET’S DO THAT AGAIN!”

Will see what a second playthrough is like. As a gamer looking for some casual fun, it doesn’t really scratch that itch as a mode.
As someone that has always loved KI, flaws, cheese and all, it fits right in there. But that’s just it, it fits, it doesn’t elevate. (this is knowing, it’s all rough at the moment).

Would gladly answer a questionnaire where specific input is needed.

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I suspect you’ll find a second run more interesting, especially if you have a team of three you want to play.

I enjoyed my first run, but I don’t play Jago or Fulgore, and since I didn’t happen to get a chance to replace either of them I felt like they were holding me back a bit.

Subsequent runs with characters I’m more familiar with have been more fun.

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So after about two weeks of heavy gameplay I would like to put a little more feedback into the mode.

  • I feel the reward in crafting materials is a little unbalanced. I understand that rarity has a big play into how many you get based on the mission chance, but with beating gargos you get anywhere from 20 - 40 Epic crafting materials. I have well over the 1000 for Epic and about half of that for some of the common and rare materials. So I am able to craft the best items and have to be careful about some of the lesser ones.

  • The rate at which RNG decides when I should get a dossier. I am currently sitting at 46% completion rate with heavy amounts of hours sunk in over two weeks. There are some characters who have about half of their dossiers collected and others who do not have a single one. I know this mode is supposed to be extensive and replayable, but the grind for lore seems a bit much.

  • I am a bit concerned with the use Ki gold option to purchase what you want. I have accumulated 51,000 gems over countless playthroughs. If someone has the money they can essentially pay to win when the multiplayer addition comes up. Granted I still know this game is very skilled based, but I feel that having the best things right off the bat because it is affordable to you, might be problematic.

  • The price for the best deal pack in gems is priced a bit too high for what the rate of gaining materials is set at. Especially when what you get is RNG based.

  • I have come across Guardian specific packs in the emporium. While I like the idea of getting the specific Guardian only, I would like to see the tiers placed a little higher for the cost.

  • The mission variety is a little boring. I find myself always deciding not to exchange materials because every new day I will have another opportunity to do so. Hopefully come the release there will be a few more placed in the rotation.

  • Character specific and questline missions are placed too far apart. I can get up to day 9 and not have anything exciting come up. Just the same 2 or 3 mimic problems with nothing keeping me invested in my decision making process. Hoping that the next day brings something exciting.

  • I would like to see missions associated with how long you have prevented Gargos from appearing. There is no reason for me to keep completing missions after I have removed all the buffs, but if I knew there was something waiting for me on day whatever, I would feel more compelled to stay invested in that play through.

I’m sorry if this seems lengthy or if anything has been repeated. The Completionist in me has me playing this mode non stop and the suggestions above are minor. I am loving this mode and thanks again for the early access.

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Well I finally made it to Gargos. He didnt even hit me! I removed his buffs but of course he has the 1 buff you cant control? It didnt help him because I annihilated him with no consumables or any buff like that. I just combo’d him a few times and then double ultrad him. DONE!

The omens and Gargos were too easy. I had it on the middle difficulty.

I felt the overall game took too long to reach Gargos. It was fun, but its wasnt like OMG I cant wait to give it another go. I got the Gargos stage and until there are more un-lockable’s for in game like skins or Player icons…I dont see my self returning too soon.

I have been playing a lot of KI so Im kinda burnt out after 2 out of town tournaments in 3 weeks plus Shadow Lords… so will see. Maybe after 9-20 Ill give it another go with a different team. Probably try on Godlike difficulty next time.

Overall I do like the mode and Im impressed with the amount of new and different ideas it has brought to the game. I would enjoy a regular arcade ladder in the game as well though for those that just want more simplicity.
For example my 6 year old son wants to play " the new story mode"…but there is no way he could play Shadow lords as it is way to difficult on reading text, missions, crafting consumables, buying guardian packs, feeding guardians, ect… its just not possible for a young kid to play Shadow Lords correctly. He could do an arcade ladder and it would be the highlight of his day! But SLs Ifeel is too much for a 6 yr old kid.

Looking forward to the new changes and updates tot he mode. Great job!

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I do wonder if there will be awesome things like new accessories or colors other than the odd green hulk skin characters.

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One change I would like to see is an option to spend astral gems on crafting material, for when you need just a few more nano-fibers for that melatonin nanobot

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Did anyone else have the problem of shadow lords freezing constantly? Because I playing shadow lords it froze one me 3 times by the third time I had to reset my system and when I was about to play shadow lords for the third time it said that my team failed and I had to start all over again I was so ■■■■■■ off.

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I’ve played through Shadow Lords once so far and there are a few things that I like, and a few things I really don’t enjoy that much. I’ll list the things I enjoy and don’t enjoy below;

Pro’s

  • Kan-Ra’s Emporium is really good. I enjoy this quite a bit and his dialogue is mostly good as well
  • The background music in Shadow Lords is enjoyable. Makes me chill out a bit before a fight to be honest (I don’t mind this at all)
  • The Shadow Lords interface is MOSTLY intuitive and easy to use and well thought out (aside from having a few clunky loading issues)
  • The dossiers and dialogue text before fights is a good addition and while we’re likely never going to get cinematics like MKX, having written dialogue and additional unlockable lore is better than nothing.
  • The buffs and item unlockables is a great idea and I’m really looking forward to seeing this expand with the full release and future updates. This has a tonne of potential to change gameplay and keep things fresh

Con’s

  • I really dislike the look of the mimics. They’re all Hulk versions (minus the muscles & including a lot of farts). These look admittedly rushed. I would have loved seeing them look like Omen with the semi translucent look and glowy bits instead of looking like a Hulk version of a character with poo smells

  • The loading screens between content is very clunky and slow. It sounds like this has been noted by several dozen other people here but it is particularly concerning when you’re getting into a fight with multiple characters for a single fight. You’re given several loading screens between victories and then loadings screens to load up the next character. There has to be a better and more fluid way of doing this. Is it difficult to implement a ‘jump in’ mechanic? IE, you defeat one of the two characters you’re versing and once they drop, the other jumps in to continue the fight with you?

  • The cut scenes. This was my biggest gripe in both previous seasons. The ones in Shadow Lords are better and I understand it is costly to work on cut scenes to the quality of MKX as I mentioned above but they still feel a bit cheesy. Would prefer more grit over cheese.

I suppose I’ll add more to this thread when I play through a couple more times. Thanks for reading

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I really don’t have a long bullet-point list of things, but one thing that I have that bothers me is tenancies in the AI. Like for example, it seems like anything above L2 AI, if you’re trading hits back & forth after you get to about 25% of your red life bar the AI, no matter what the situation is, will read everything you do perfectly to assure your defeat…& I mean like MK2 bad perfect countering. I was playing a Spinal earlier today, was already on my red bar when I started and was doing a fair job of wearing him down. But them he made a few good hits on me that knocked me down past that cut-off point, and no matter what I did I whiffed while he did some crazy neutral jumping/sliding crap he hadn’t done the rest of the match.

& yes I know that the AI has been a problem since day 1, but it really puts it on display when you’re playing a 2-3 on 1 match. I mean the Fulgore test mission is virtually unplayable…and if it is, it’s certainly not fun.

Oh, & I beat Gargos on Godlike, all 4 buffs removed, his freebie was heart, & I did it using Fulgore only with a free shadow moves consumable and fractured ward.

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Congrats!

I had to beat him on godlike with 2 buffs left and his Heart freebee, but it took me 3 characters, got lucky in the end cause my final character had only a little health left. Does feel good, don’t it :grin:

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Yup. Using Fulgore with free shadow moves for 15 sec I Hyper Beamed him to hell and back. It felt pretty good.

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Omen+free shadow moves= 2 demonic despairs

Kill Gargos with 2 combos.

Feel like Marvel xD

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MVC2
Iron Man, War Machine, & Cable Vs final boss
1 triple hyper combo= win.

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I used one demonic despair, then couldnt get another one in on him for his second healthbar, got fulgore, screwed up (which is ironic since he’s my main…) then managed to beat him down and command grab him to infinity and beyond with Hisako…

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I will bet money that Fulgore’s beam will get nerfed in the SL mode. I can use the beam with 2 buffs, and beat gargos on godlike with all 5 of his buffs. I beat him with just 4 hit total. 2 hits per bar. He drops before my 15 sec potion expires.

If these potions are in the MP versions, then get ready to see 98% Fulgore

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I believe there are frame stutters due to the Operating System, not the game.

I have noticed across multiple games where as I am playing, my framerates drop (or even pause) but my resolution generally does not fluctuate.
When I record it and play it back, the DVR seems to have received a much smoother framerate than what was experienced.

I really should use my Smartglass to lower everything to minimal and up it to max and see if that is what the OS is getting tripped up on, but my playtime is limited, so I play when I can, calibrate even less :slight_smile:

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Yeah! We’ve discussed that. Not at launch, but potentially after.

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Has there also been talk of selling crafting material & consumables? Or maybe being able to buy astral energy for my little pet snake?

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Yoo the SL changes are lit! Lol thanks for the textual stream and for actually communicating with the community. Can’t wait to receive my definitive edition in the mail on Tuesday! :smile:

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Was there textual stream? ■■■■…I missed it!
Going to hunt for archives