So now that Shadow Lords has been out and people have had a chance to play it, do you feel that not having 8 new stages in season 3 was worth it? Which do you prefer?
- Shadow Lords
- Stages for all Season 3 characters
0 voters
New single player mode that I can always replay and unlock things vs 4 stages that would fade to the background for me when Iām fighting someone, yeah I know which I prefer more.
4 Likes
I might be in the minority but SL does nothing for me. Iāll play through it to unlock the Astral Plane stage and never touch it again. Looking at loading screens 50% of my time and altering the gameplay for my characters really isnāt my thing.
I wouldāve much preferred more unique stages, personally.
Shadow lords, 100Ć times better than 4 stages
1 Like
Thatās your opinion and youāre entitled to it 
@OregonPacifist This poll question is not a fair question. The question implies that the Shadow Lords mode is the sole reason we donāt have more stages, when that is objectively not the case.
For the question to be more accurate, you should add in the fact that S3 brought with it:
- a new PC port of the game with cross-play
- the new Shadow Lords mode
- the coming āNew Multiplayer modeā
- and whatever other new S3 ābells and whistlesā that Iām forgetting at the moment (that possibly took away from stage development)
ā¦and that those things too were prioritized over more stages.
Remember too, that stages and music are the most expensive part of KI other than the characters themselves, so literally any other addition to KI ātakes awayā resources form adding more āthingsā in KI.
2 Likes
Same as you
To soon for me to tell. Although Iām not going to lie Iām quite enjoying SL losses and all.
Sure, there were other things that came along with Season 3, but to think that Shadow Lords wasnāt the number 1 reason why we donāt have more new stages is naive. I believe it to be a fair poll. Without SL, all of that dev time could have gone into more stages.
Between SL and the PC port, I think the PC port was probably the ā#1 reasonā why more stuff wasnāt added into S3.
In S2 they added the rivals mode and the Shadow Lab all while rolling out new stages and characters monthly. Adding one new mode in S3 IMO most likely didnāt break the budget.
Of course though, this is all just speculation.
Edit: @OregonPacifist I just rmembered the reason MS gave for there only being 3 stages, the fact that all the stages got new lighting.
http://www.ultra-combo.com/killer-instinct-season-3-graphics-shine-brighter/
Neither the new Shadow Lord mode, or the PC port, really had anything to do with it according to MS.
1 Like
I want more stages so we can have more location variety in SL lol
Shadow Lords is not remotely interesting to me. Donāt need a tacked on story mode in a fighter, especially when it replaces stages and other things that are fundamentals. But, SL will sell to casuals. And thatās the bottom line.
Iām having a blast with Shadow Lords because there is always something new to explore each playthrough. If Iām going to be completely honest, I donāt really care about stages. Now donāt get me wrong, it would be cool if the rest of the cast got there own stages, but in the end theyāre honesty just cosmetics to me. They had nothing to my gameplay besides having a new place to fight on and once Iāve seen them enough times, Iām not going to care for them anymore and just focus purely on my match. Unlike in Shadow Lords where itās always a new experience and makes some interesting changes to my gameplay.
Whether you agree or disagree with me, I think Shadow Lords was worth it.
New mode offers far more to more people. Stage wise im more triggered that Arbiter got one over Mira though
No.
You are āblamingā the wrong thing as to why you donāt have more stages.
I wish every character would get his own stage, but I am fine with only 4 stages.
For me personally, guests characters due being āguestā, do not deserve their own stages.
That makes only 2 characters worth a stage, homeless. Real fack up was giving Arbiter a stage, but leaving Mira without one.
If we be really stubborn though, we could squeeze Eyedol on Astral Plane too, that makes only Mira in desperate need of a stage.
This is doable with community fund.
Nowhere in the article you posted does it explain the new lighting system as the lack of new stages in season 3. The new lighting system and PC port were complete before season 3 launched. Stages are typically developed simultaneously with fighters, of which half of them launched after the start of season 3.
Season 2 had major system changes, new characters, stages, a revamped story mode and increased resolution.
Shadow Lords undoubtably took more time and effort to develop than the season 2 story mode so I still see it as the number 1 reason we donāt have 8 new stagesā¦ and the Astral Plane stage looks really quickly thrown together compared to the rest of the stages.
It is whatever man.
It is a shell game, as since the new lighting was outlined and we learned that there would be only 3 stages, people have been trying to attribute blame to āwhy there are only 3 stages.ā Above Rukizzel said that the lighting was one of the reasons, but there was more in store. The PC port was apparently one, the lighting, Shadow Lords, the new multiplayer mode, and everything else all contributed.
If you want to continue to find a #1 culprit, who am I to stand in your way.
Canāt we just let this go? Itās been 6 months and weāre still complaining about this? Not only that, but we got a 4th stage! No "thank you"s for that I guess.
Just enjoy what you have and quit whining. They know we want more stages. If they can give us more, they will. Iām glad they gave casuals some single player goal to chase after. Otherwise, there would be no reason for casuals to stick with the game, besides self-encouragement.
And Iād rather the game grow than satisfy my own want for a pretty background to fight on.
6 Likes
I deeply enjoy Shadow Lordsā¦
Am I a casual brah?
2 Likes