What is your opinion of Season 3?

General Discussion
29

There’s been things I really love about Season 3, and things I wish were rectified.
The Good
-Tusk, Kim Wu, Gargos, and Eyedol all return to complete the classic KI roster! That’s awesome! All of them have been modernized with unique gameplans, sweet new lore, and some of the better retros in the game.

-Mira! An awesome original character with a really fun moveset and absolutely nutty damage, with the added caveat that she has to watch that she doesn’t kill herself with the self harm the med/heavy versions of specials inflict. Plus, she’s wonderfully designed (one of the best default looks in the game, imo) with great accessories and colors. A wonderful addition!

-The music! I think I speak for a lot of us when I say that Atlus Plug and Celldweller were quite the pleasant surprise. The work they’ve done to follow in Mick Gordon’s footsteps has been awesome. From the blistering speed metal of Gargos to the Castlevania vibes Mora gives, from the streets of Chinatown to Covenant civil war, there’s an awesome collection of awesome tunes.

-Shadow Lords! What looks like an awesome addition to gameplay may be a long time coming, but it looks incredible. An awesome mix of Killer Instinct, X-Com, rogue-likes, and test your luck. The multiplayer component is a neat bonus

The Bad
-The lack of stages. I don’t think I’ll ever really get over this. There’s so much potential for awesome level design to back up the lore of these awesome characters. Mira’s was even teased at one point that it would’ve been like something right out of Dark Souls, with massive underground cathedrals and ancient stone architecture. That would’ve been the bee’s knees! Even Rash and General RAAM have potential for awesome battlegrounds. While I’m happy to see a boss stage with The Astral Plane, I still wish with all my heart that we could see more. I’d happily take an extended break from character releases to just focus on more stages. I’m kinda fickle like that, but I’ve seen plenty of posts with similar sentiments.

-The ultra music. While the music has been on point and a lot of the ultra combos look good and have decent rhythms, the actual notes don’t seem to be as powerful as they were with Mick. They don’t have as much depth or lasting impact sound wise by comparison. It just feels like it could use a boost.

-Ultimates. This has been requested by a lot of people for a long time. While it’s not the end of the world, it would garner a metric ton of good will if they made it in. This is another feature I’d be happy to take a break from new characters for. They don’t need to be gory or overlong, just fitting for the character and badass to watch once in a while: The way Shago’s works is perfect, an excellent reward for a Supreme victory.

-Still no KI2/GOLD music in Practice mode. This is more of a personal bugbear since I like a lot of the KI2 music better than their KI1 equivalents, particularly Glacius, Fulgore, and Jago. Plus, it would include the wicked tunes from Kim Wu, Tusk, and Gargos, which were stellar!

The Meh
-The Guests. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the guests. They play well and have plenty of personality, and have a pretty good presentation. They’ve also got some of the coolest accessories in the game, and have certainly helped get the game more attention. It’s just… harder for me to care. There’s not a whole lot of story for me to want to unravel, and 2 of them don’t even have stages. Originally, I never wanted them at all. Now I’m alright with their inclusion, but I feel they’re a bit too plentiful. I think we should be limited to just one more guest in the future. Maybe Joanna Dark, since she’s got history with Rare, but honestly I’m still mostly lukewarm on the whole Guests thing. The ones we have have been really fun to play with and move really well, but something about them just doesn’t click with me the way Sabrewulf or Sadira do.
Honestly having guests kinda feels like fan fiction. I’d prefer to have an original creation that takes influence from other works than to just have the character from that world show up.
Not to disparage the team’s work, since they’ve done more with the guests than I thought possible. I’d just prefer that we limit our guest intake in the future.

-The gwaphics update. Initially impressive, sure. I love a lot of the new lighting. I just don’t notice it much anymore. Props for making the game look better though! I just prefer any new visuals come in the form of accessories, colors, and stages rather than polygons. You know, something that’s still tangible after a few years when the graphics lose their edge. :stuck_out_tongue:

#Overall:
While there’s been a couple of stumbling blocks this season that’ve put a damper on some of my expectations, I still think Season 3 has gone very well. With Shadow Lords in September and Eyedol incoming this Friday, I’m still fairly impressed. Is it perfect? No. This is the first season I think I’ve actually had major objections to what’s happened with the game. However, the good bits have been good enough that I haven’t paid them as much mind.

1 Like
30

How about we wait for season 3 to actually be done?

1 Like
31

They said over and over and over in S2 that they would never do Eyedol because he seemed lame, same with Gargos. Of curse they also said they would never make Shago his own character. This whole season seems lazy and hardly a season. I don’t mind guests characters but 3 is a bit much. for one season. It really feels like this is the last season and they are just waiting for something else… KI2 or something. I am concerned that Shadow mode was never really finished or implemented.

It’s embarrassing to not have stages for everyone, especially since so many stages are pretty weak. Waatching the MK stream on Evo (I hate MK, but it was on) and all I could think was how weak some of our stages are when both SF and MK seem to have more dynamic, bigger seeming stages with food animations… not MInecraft looking snakes like in Maya’s stage.

Once again there seems to be gameplay changes that were done just for the sake of changes. They don’t give things long enough to work out themselves. I like the season plan, but that is no excuse to never have a finished product. Modes like Story and Shadow have to be there on launch, not a year later.

32

If Shadow Lords and that new MP mode is that last that will come with this season then I would be disappointed.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt that they would be able to make up for less stages. So far they haven’t delivered on that.

Good

Mira: Best looking character in the season imo. Cool personality and concept. Only thing I don’t like is her silver blood. They should have madr it look black like the symbiot.

Combo Breakers: The way combo breakers work now add more flow to the game.

Kim Wu Fighting Style: I hate Kim Wu’s looks but her play style is fun albeit completely different from the rest of the cast. Before Kim Wu I would have never relied on Footsies or normals. Kim Wu made me realize that’s important. Too bad her look make me not want to play her often.

Eyedol: Could have looked terriblw but thanks to his colorful palette and unique head design they won me over.

Bad
Three Stages: Nuff said

Lighting: Lighting is still mediocre in fact Maya’s stage makes everyone look like they have a layer of gel on their face. You can tell the lighting is bad by looking at Kim Wus face. In her concept art she is white. In game she is brown. In certain stages she is white and so is her face pic on the health bar in certain stages.

Kim Wu: To this day even announcers make fun of her face. This is Netherrealm level bad. Shame, her playstyle is kind of fun. Looks like she belongs in KOF.

Tusk: Same problem with Kim. Very bland and generic. Both these characters make the “Generic Fighter” statements people make un debatable.

Gargos: Unlike Eyedol Gargos also has no cohesion with the rest of thr cast along with Kim and Tusk. They all look like they belong in KoF. Gargos belongs in a dumpster because he is Garbos.

Guest Characters: Rash gets my seal of approval. The rest are like if MS said “Lets look at our most famous IPs and get C class characters” No one ever said they wanted to play Halo just to play as the Arbiter. Ramm… no just no. They could have easily picked more appealing characters like Jack of Blades, a Brute, or even Skurge but instead they picked the least visually stimulating characters of all time. I roll my eyes everytime I see those characters.

Flip Outs: Feels like am playing MK with 50/50s when a high level player uses them.

Overall there just wasn’t content this season that kept me coming back unlike that last one. Love me some KI forever but I just don’t feel the urge to play it as much as once did.

Why feel frustration of flip outs, characters I don’t like to even see, matchups that get insane, enders that look bootleg, and more when I can feel satisfaction in Overwatch without havibg to put in the effort I do with KI.

33

I think comparisons between seasons are really difficult because the past seasons content remains part of the current seasons game. And I just hate the idea of trying to make some sort of contest between the game and itself.

Overall I think Season 3 has been really great - which will probably surprise no one. I’m extremely happy with Tusk and I will say that he is the first character that has really pulled me away from my Season 1 main, Glacius. I basically mained Glacius from Day 1 and although I tested out some characters like Cinder and Riptor and managed to grind them to level 50, I never seriously considered using them. But I used Tusk to get to Killer after the Rank reset and I would probably consider myself better prepared with him than with Glacius. Sadly, my play time has been low compared to the past, but I’ve also really enjoyed playing and learning Kim Wu. She is a bit of a struggle character, no doubt, but I think she is actually challenging to use in a fun way. When I go into ranked these days I basically flip around between Tusk, Glacius and Kim Wu.

So, looking at the design choices and the direction of S3 I’m really happy with it. They have done some things that don’t interest me very much (The three guest characters, Shadow Lords) but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the quality of the work they have put into them and the cool ideas and execution. There are a lot of rough edges to the game still, so I probably would realistically give the game an 8 or an 8.5. The fan boy in me says 9.

I feel like we are to the point now with Eyedol, and Gargos and Tusk and RAAM where the game really is a crazy and over the top in the sort of spectacular way that the original was. But now that spectacle is driven by cool gameplay concepts and visual effects rather than just graphics.

2 Likes
34

If anyone is interested I made a topic in the feedback forum with all of my thoughts on season 3, it was a huge wall of text so I wanted to spare this thread from having to scroll past it. If you want to check it out, here’s my opinion.

35

I like everything.

No, I’m serious, there hasn’t been a single disappointment this season for me.

I even like Kim Wu’s face. Bite me.

6 Likes
36 
*bites you*
2 Likes
37

Parry into instinct cancel >>>>>>>>>>>65%.

2 Likes
38

That’s my opinion.
season 1 - was encouraging, in spite of everything, the word was hope.
Season 2 - was a joy with excellent original characters.
Season 3 - was extremely disappointing … many guests, too few stages, evil characters made like Tusk, the face of Kim Wu and Gargos … this then! seems a generic demon with a game of Playstation 2 or the classic version was saved … just horrible, oddly enough, watching the trailer Eyedol, I wish it was the beginning of the season, the first character i realy liked.

2 Likes
39

Don’t be a nerd. XD

1 Like
40

Welcome to the forums XD

2 Likes
41

As somone who enjoys Halo I think The Arbiter is immaculate. I love the character. The carbine, the plasma nade, the shield, and the energy sword are all fantastic to see in a fighting game. I think General Raam is the scariest of all the roster too. He looks like evil incarnate and would be cool as a Shadow Lord i think. Tusk also really impressed me. I really like his design and ALL his accessories which is really rare for me, many of the accessories in this game make me facepalm. Like Mira’s for instance. Her Fable set is so sick, but the rest are goofy.

I wasn’t ever rooting for Eyedol, but he is pretty sick too. The split head is so ingenius. I’m surprised taht simple idea didn’t get tossed around more. I’ve certainly had more fun with the game than I’ve ever had and have no intention of putting it aside in any significant way. I want taht Halo Brute.

42

I’ll only agree to the Brute if its Tartarus.

3 Likes
43

And we’ve seen the periodic requests for a kind of Gorilla type character too. Teh reason it makes so much sense to is that Halo 6 is supposed to be very Brute-centric. New Brute vehicles, weapons, and backround info on them as a species. And it looks like Halo Wars has that Brute as the main villain. I think they might even add Marcus Phoenix or his son too.

1 Like
44

This is pretty much exactly how I feel about s3. Raam and arbiter are the low points.
KI characters should have their own stages not guests and even he got the only stage ultra this season.
Dunno why they keep putting ultimates on the survey when there is no intention of including them.
I’m looking forward to shadow lords but on the whole I haven’t played this season as much as the last 2. I’ve maxed out the ki cast but have no will to do the guests especially Raam.
Mira, tusk and Kim are absolute joysatisfaction to watch and play.
God I love mira.
If there is a s4 please no guests and just actual new KI lore characters and maybe a couple more actual shadow lords.

Edit: I feel that guests don’t have as many linkers or openers like the cast. Maybe I mean options. Just something doesn’t click for me.
They captured rashs personality to a tee and arbiter is very impressive but I still find the 3 of them lacking.

45

Magic Archer that is also an Ostrich ninja!

1 Like
46

Pros:

  • The return of all remaining original characters
  • Tusk’s redesign and costumes
  • Rash’s costumes
  • KI’s very first and long-needed vampire character
  • Eyedol’s redesign and reimagined gameplay
  • Gargos’ redesign, costumes and reimagined gameplay
  • The new theme songs made by AP and CD
  • Revamped stages
  • Shadow Lords mode (seems promising)
  • New character select screen UI
  • Double XP Boosters forever (for Ultra Edition buyers)
  • KI Novella
  • Combo Assist (don’t remember if it was introduced in this Season or at the end of S2, so scratch it if it doesn’t apply)

Cons:

  • No proper stage for the majority of the season’s cast
  • More guest characters than original (brand new) ones
  • Character select screen still shows “custom” version of the character first when selected, instead of " default costume" version - this confuses new players to the game, who think the character’s default design corresponds to whichever “custom” version immediately pops up in the screen when they select it (this has happened on local offline play occasions, when introducing the game to new people)
  • Still no improved Training Mode listing input commands on-screen (with option to toggle between them) instead of having to pause and go through the various menus to learn the next move, then rinse, repeat
  • Lighting bugs resulting (possibly) from the fact that while stages were polished, character models were not
  • Still no proper Arcade ladder mode
  • Still no Ultimates (maybe next Season?)
47

I agree.

48

I’m satisfied with this season. There are things which sounded like they were in the pipeline but didn’t pan out – things like integrating Shadows AI into the rest of the game, revamping the Dojo and Practice features, etc – but I’m surely picking up at least one new character once I’ve put the time in (I might already not entirely suck with Gargos, and I’ve been messing around with Mira and RAAM with thoughts of taking them seriously), and I’ve really, really enjoyed what the rebalance did for my S1/2 characters (Jago, Glacius, Fulgore, Riptor…maybe Maya soon?). That to me makes season 3 pretty great.

A few specifics I’d like to remark on:

  • RAAM seemed almost underdeveloped at first, but that was with very little understanding of what I was supposed to be doing with him, especially with RAAM landing almost immediately after the reveal, and the Tender Moments stream not coming until some time after. Right now I think he’s the best guest character, and I’d take him over, say, Kim Wu or Tusk. I think RAAM leaves a bad impression on casual players who just don’t have the knowledge to make him do terrifying things.
  • Based on what we’ve seen thus far, I like new Eyedol. I never explicitly wanted Eyedol to not make it in, but I found myself regularly pushing back against a lot of toxicity from people who insisted that original Eyedol was something unarguably great that the devs should “make work” regardless of what they thought of the character. It seems like they’ve really leaned into the grotesqueness of the concept, which almost makes new Eyedol a parody of the original – which is something I find really entertaining! Nevertheless, I’m glad that many Eyedol fans seem to like this new take on him. However…

…this is pretty much what I was expecting to hear from fans of the original.