Saw this video on my YouTube feed and I figured this called for a great opportunity to come together and rejoice about your first memories with KI, personal impact and your overall journey.
You don’t have to follow these, but just describe why you love/like/hate KI.
I’ll get things going.
First Memories
My very first memory of Killer Instinct was when I was a wee boy. I remember watching my brothers play the original Killer Instinct on the SNES. My middle brother was incredibly good at it, he would spend so much time during the summers when we stayed at our grandparents house just learning these unique mechanics. He was only two years older than me so as a kid, he was figuring out things without understanding why they worked. He fought hard to make it to Eyedol as Spinal where I would just watch him lose and lose until he would finally magically attain victory! This was perhaps my first feeling of being hyped.
I could never much get into the game because I didn’t understand and I just lost because I was simply awful. I also preferred Dark Rift and other single-player games. Though when me and my brother played, it was fun having a mirror match with Spinal and on rare occasions playing his Spinal with my Jago. Nonetheless, I enjoyed watching my brother play this MK clone, lol.
Personal Impact
The first time I noticed KI to a point where I wanted to play was when it was announced at E3, I was super excited because it was a game from my childhood making this huge comeback. I was already tired of MK9 and SF, so I was looking for another fighting game to casually play. I immediately ran to my brother and told him, to my surprise, he was fairly unimpressed. It was kind of a hit to the gut because I really wanted him to pick it up and relive our childhood together. He never did.
Though, my oldest brother, who was the owner of the SNES and on occasion would play the Original Killer Instinct with Sabrewulf made his approach to the new installment. He purchased an Xbox on day one and picked up KI. I would see him playing it day in and day out almost like an addiction. I often mocked him for playing so much, not knowing my fate when I would eventually come to play it myself. As much as I wanted it, I knew the Xbox on launch would pose problems similar to how most consoles had hardware issues at launch. Moreover, I despised the direction Xbox was heading in. A year later, the main issues were addressed and I gladly purchased an Xbox with Assassins Creed Unity bundled (more like a pile of poo bundled with an Xbox).
I played KI at the launch of Season 2 so much, that I finally understood why my brother was hooked. I was strictly casual and enjoyed the music, atmosphere and characters. Jago was immediately my main as his similarity to Ryu rang best with me. I did play Spinal for nostalgia sake and will often go back to him even now. Once I decided to take the game seriously, I completed the dojo, played one last match of single-player on the second to last hardest difficulty and headed to ranked.
First match online
Overall Journey
Boy, I started off weak from the video above. I learned so many bad habits and forced this narrow mindset on myself which has proven to be detrimental to my overall skill-level in this game. I was apart of the forums before the overhaul, I don’t think many knew me but I went by AngryToaster and was quite a troll, sorry. Once we migrated here, I asked for help on Maya and someone who I consider my Master, @TheNinjaOstrich showed me some of the coolest and worthwhile tech. I was like, “wooooooah” I will never be good. With his training I eventually got great, at least to my own standards considering this was my first competitive take at fighting games. @STORM179 helped me restore my broken confidence and gave me the tough love to understand what I did was wrong and this is why. @Dayv0 showed me that even the greatest threats could be tamed with patience and solid reads. @ItzTymeToDul always pushed me to be at my best no matter the day because how close our matches came down. One mistake and it could easily mean the match for either of us, this cemented my understanding of minimizing my mistakes. @DarkLrdChuckles Showed me why I hate Sadira. To the many other forums I met helped me value matchups and improved my knowledge, it has been amazing.
I guess I’m “retired,” lol. I never much quit KI competitively, but I was too critical on myself for the mistakes I made all too often. Essentially, competitiveness took away the reasons I loved KI because of my mentality and anxiety barrier. Though, I very much enjoy friendly sets with friends. I enjoy the single-player and have recently given more attention to the Shadow Labs.
Overall, I love KI because the game is amazing, it is updated constantly and the characters are simply fun. The developers actually talk to us and explain themselves when they don’t have to, providing feedback, comments and meaningful insight. Finally, the community is something I consider part of my family now. What started as three brothers bonding over a game, in time grew to making a family with people from all over the world. Thank you all for this wonderful experience.
This is why I love Killer Instinct.
Oldest brother, random dude, me, middle brother.