well thats very very very disappointing
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I have never been able to beat anything higher than Medium AI in Killer Instinct, no matter what mode or character match up I’m playing.
I always considered that fact to mean I was generally terrible at the game, but as I’ve got more and more Ranked experience and reached Killer in both S2 and S3, I get the feeling that you can be good at the game without being good AGAINST the game.
Shadow Lords looks like it will be a lot of fun, and I like the random aspects to it. I’m a fan of the XCOM games, and of “roguelikes,” so it’s pretty awesome to see a single player mode which combines elements of these games with sort-of-RPG elements. I’m also extremely excited about the fact that it will likely be easy to add additional Guardians, Consumables, etc over time, meaning this mode can just get bigger and bigger. Remember, too, that we don’t know what we will be able to unlock for the rest of the game through Shadow Lords; maybe that will include things like additional Colors, Accessories, or even costumes.
@wurlbfree1981 I think you’re completely missing the point of this mode, though; it’s Season 3’s Story mode, and the FIRST story mode to allow all three seasons’ worth of characters to play in it. It adds lots of replayability to single player, and is a new experience. A new way to play KI. There’s supposed to be a new multiplayer mode next month, keep an eye out for that. Lots of possibilities, I would imagine.
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[quote=“Iago407, post:345, topic:6945”]
-1. Do you get any sort of penalty for losing all three characters? What happens to the world?[/quote]
Game over.
[Quote]
-2. How is the season three story woven in to this mode? Is it all text boxes? Are any parts cinematic or narrated like in season 2? Are there special matches for rivals or anything along those lines?[/quote]
It’s both text and cinematics and yes there are special events.
[quote]
-3. Without asking for specifics and excluding the sky stage, which I’m assuming you unlock by beating Gargos (it looks beautiful btw!), will we be able to unlock anything else in this mode that we can use in other modes?[/quote]
Maybe…
[quote]
-4. Can you tell us what shadow fragments are for? Are they a type of food or currency?[/quote]
Many things in the game have multiple uses, depending on how you want to play.
[quote]
-5. Is there anything else you might want to tell us about the mode that the guys didn’t have time to touch on in the video? I’m really curious to learn more![/quote]
We’ll be having more sessions with the game soon so you can learn more.
[quote]
-6. Can you switch up your team members mid-run through and does that have an effect on the story or anything along those lines?[/quote]
Heh.
Yes, generally you progress the story of your captain, but there’s benefit to different characters being in a party – i.e. going all Ultratech isn’t necessarily a great idea.
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I guess my Fulgore, Spinal and Riptor is out then. 
Oh I didn’t say you couldn’t do it. It just may make other things harder.
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Don’t take this the wrong way - I hear what you are saying and I don’t expect everyone to like every aspect of the game. I’m personally just lukewarm on the idea because I don’t really have room in my life to grind against AI and repeatedly run at an impossible boss fight while leveling my character. But no fewer than three people have made comments like “this over stages?!!!” Accepting that this may not be something that interests you personally, does anyone really think for one second that 20% more stages in a fighting game is going to bring more people to the game than a highly involved single player mode like this? Going from 25 to 27 characters? You may want more stages, and you can find lots of people on the forums who do. But no one is buying (or not buying) the game based on whether or not Mira gets a stage. Shadow Lords is a meaty, single player mode for the game. It’s clearly the way things are moving, in fits and starts, for the genre. I don’t anticipate that I’m going to get a lot out of it, but I am not the only person playing KI. If some people get really into this, and throw money at KI gold to defeat Gargos over and over, that can’t be anything but good for the game in the long run. This mode is good for KI, for it’s future and for it’s continued support from the developers.
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Question: will playing this mode still level up my character?
Explaining: I still haven’t reached level 50 with any character, but decided to grind my way on Survival mode, since i don’t play online. Does SL also allow me to level up any character, and therefore unlock accessories and colors, without having to spend KI Gold?
I’ll say this. From the discussion I’ve had, you’re half right, though in terms of who might provide the “voiceover” you’re in a sense looking in the wrong place. But I can’t really say much partly because I’m not directly involved in the discussions.
I did have an idea, though of course it’s a pipe dream that is likely to never see the light of day, but I’ll put it here anyway.
The Shadow Lords App
The idea would be you use this whilst you have the game open, via an IPhone/Android Phone/PC (This is partially viable thanks to the lack of necessity for dual monitor setups for those using screen readers). It would pretty much take the dynamic information from the game and send it through the same methods as the Xbox app on windows 10 can sync progress etc. It would jsut relay it so that you could look at the items, buffs, dialogue etc on a separate screen with the built in accessibility featuresof the device in question.
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Yeah, I think one of the issues with Shadow Lords is to us KI veterans that have done without an expansive single player, fighting the AI doesn’t seem too appealing. I know myself I’ve grinded survival enough to know a good deal of the ins and outs of how the AI reacts and responds to situarions to know it’s nowhere near as intuitive as playing against real people. Personally if for no other reason I don’t know if I will enjoy Shadow Lords or not.
Did you ever beat Boss Shadow Jago? Very difficult!
I mainly run the AI on Very Hard…and I never go below Hard or Veteran. But Im not going to lie it is cheap as hell and reads your moves. As soon as you try to make a move it will throw you. You cant do a shadow move as an opener… you will get thrown! lol
But it would be awesome to have the option for Shadow lab AI to replace the regular AI… maybe it would just pick randomly from different Shadow tiers. Like 50 SP, 100SP, 250 SP, and 500SP.
Just out of curiosity… Can you expand upon that answer above? Do you have to start over at the beginning? I’m assuming you don’t lose any loot or items (I believe someone mentioned that on the stream). If you’d rather wait for another stream to talk about it, no problem. Also, really glad there will be more streams on this. Thanks!
Either way, thanks a TON for answering my questions, Adam! Really appreciate it, and I’m now even more excited about this mode than before I asked them. Didn’t think that was possible. 
This really feels like the type of single player mode I’ve been waiting for in a fighting game.
As much as I enjoy the cinematics in the recent Mortal Kombat games, it always feels like “watch a cinema, fight. Watch a cinema, fight. Repeat.” There isn’t a ton of variety in there. This mode, as I 've seen it, has a massive amount of variety, player interaction and control, from the items, the assists, the player choice, the wagering, the buffs, and so much more…
Really, I can’t thank you enough. You guys have really outdone yourselves. I don’t mean to heap too much praise on for something I haven’t even tried out myself yet, but everything looks so great, from the design choices to the Vs screen, the layout, the gameplay changes. As someone that loves a meaty single player mode as well as continuous single player modes like survival… This really makes me happy.
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Yeah you nailed it. a big emphasis on the mode is all about the choices you make as you prepare for your ultimate confrontation with Gargos. We’ve all had enough with the expected cinema, fight, repeat. too
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Truth, really wanted TRIALS or more characters. Its, just when u say we didn’t add so we could put this on the game it’s like really even asked for this feature. I’m older I don’t have any time to grind against AI just like u said. I get 10 to 15 hours a week on the if that so it’s a feature that holds no value. FOR ME, I’m not knocking u or anyone else ijs… what I’m saying is @big bad Andy if I had a choice between this TRIALS or non guest stages it wouldn’t b option A my dude! It’s not a big deal I see this just like I saw shadow lab, just another mode I won’t use but to each his own.
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i honestly think having a cinema form like season 2 and the netherrealm games are a way better and interesting way for a story mode, like i loved how season 2 did the story…in my opinion
Me too, bro so quick question to get story mode on s3 I have to play thru SL? I HOPE NOT if so I’ll be watchin the cut scenes on yt.
I dunno man. I loved the story mode in MK9, but after a while, in MKX I started to lose interest a bit. It felt repetitive. It also felt like the fighting was just stuck in there between cinemas. There’s no consequences for losing. Just keep trying and once you win, you get the next cinema, then the next, then the next. Like I was just waiting for the next moment to jump in.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s a great mode and I’d MUCH rather have this than just trying to assume things based on arcade “what-if” endings, but it felt rather passive, and I say that as someone that’s loved MK since day 1 and really enjoys and appreciates the lore.
Personally, I just like this method more (from what I’ve seen of it anyways) because there’s more player interaction, more choices, much more variety… In truth, we don’t really know how much story we’ll get. I can’t imagine it’ll be a small amount.
Plus, Adam already said that there would be a mixture of text and cinemas, so it’s not like they’re abandoning the season 2 method of storytelling entirely. If anything, it sounds like we may be getting more story this time around, but we’ll have to wait and see on that.
Anyways, to each his own. I think it sounds great, but you and @wurlbfree1981 don’t seem sold on it. Can’t please everyone, I guess. Hope you both wind up trying it and liking it, for your sakes.
Yeah, I liked S2 as well, but how many times did you replay the same story? This looks like a much more single player immersive experience. Maybe I’m biased because most of my friends don’t play KI, but this really appeals to me.
Is there any cutscenes? All I see is the prologue.
I don’t know if this counts as discussing “leaked” content anymore since the mode was shown off at E3 (if so let me know and ill edit all of this out immediately) but I saw a video where a guy who accidentally had access to the mode fought a " Mimic Fulgore "…and it looked AWESOME!!! Is there any chance we will get the mimic skins/colors for us to play in other modes? It was a black/green Fulgore with Omen’s shadow/smoke effects making up his arms and legs…I would more than happy to cough up some KI gold for those skins/colors 
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No I was never sold on it but I far from offended by its presence in the game but I won’t try it myself I just don’t have time tbh. And although I prefer s2s approach once I saw the ending I wanted I never played it again I never beat any s1 characters myself I choose put that time towards lobby or ranked so I’m not the best litmus test subject anyway.