Your Wish List for KI Sequel

General Discussion
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Hello friends,

Today I wanted to start a thread to gather players visions of the future and compile what they would like to see for the next version of Killer Instinct. Although the community may be split on whether they want a Season 4 or a real sequel I think we can agree that a lot of ideas can carry over no matter which one comes to fruition though my particular ideas may better be suited for a sequel. With that being said let me get things started with my wish list.

1 - Ultimates

I think it goes without saying that his has been the most wanted feature since season 1 so undoubtedly this has got to be one of their highest priorities going forward no mater which avenue they choose. Ultra Combos have always been cool but having an additional way to finish off your opponent is always a good thing and just adds to that overall flavor aspect of the game that Killer Instinct is originally known for. My only pet peeve to these are they have to be done right and not too cheesy in terms of animation. Just like characters have their retro costumes I feel Ultimates should come in two flavors, a brand new one for their modern day outfits and the ability to use a retro ultimate like Orchid’s boob flash or Maya using her throwing an Elephant on someone. People love Nostalgia and I’m sure Microsoft and IG would love to make their players happy.

2 - Slow-Motion Ultras

One of my favorite flavor mechanics from KI2 and I was sad that it never made it into this version of the game. Ultra Combos can get pretty repetitive for most folks however having the choice to change how your ultra works sort of amends that a little bit. Just won SCR or an 8Bitbeatdown, show everyone how badass you are and slowly float back to the ground for more dramatic effect.

3 - Slow-Motion Enders

Similar to slow motion ultras, slow-mo enders is what I feel the cinematic ender camera should of been in this game. These just add the little extra umph to your combos and make them feel more impactful; not only this but provide more flashy ways to end combos and gives spectators more of a reason to get hype.

4 - Round Transitions

This is just a small pet peeve of mine but I really wish KI would go back to how the old games handled round transitions which is to start both players in neutral instead of allowing them to move and jump around. Specifically in this version of the game some character get a good advantage around this and would like to see this changed. I always find myself running away at the start of new rounds in this KI because I just want space to play neutral but then I have Sabrewulf dashing faster at me than I can back dash which is pretty annoying.

5 - More Dialogue/Character Interaction

Personally I just couldn’t get enough of KanRa these last two seasons. He was just such a fantastic character lore wise and his voice actor did an amazing job with his delivery. Capitalizing on MS and IG’s great characters is something I think we need to see more of and have an idea to expand their stories and make them feel like real people/characters.

Similar to how Mortal Kombat X has their characters interact with each other in unique ways during their intro’s (which everyone skips anyways) I’d like to see this same type of interaction with KI characters except during loading screens which have to be watched. In the original Killer Instinct arcade characters always had cinematic intro’s during the loading screen and would love to see this again. If there is an Mira/Maya matchup have them talk to each other before the fight. “Is that you sister?” | “Of course, I’m back to take your place.” Of course you can always give players the option to turn of loading dialogue in the game menus.

Here is a decent example

6 - Super Animations

Not all fighting games benefit from having long flashy super animations but I feel Killer Instinct could do it right and would be a perfect fit for them. The closest things we’ve had would probably be Shadow Jago’s Annihilation, or Maya’s pip ender from S2. Things that don’t really slow down the pace of the match but are super flashy ways to spend Meter.

7 - Character Original Moves

Kinda goes without saying that if a sequel does come a lot of characters would have fresh new designs. Given the opportunity I would love for them to take a move from the originals for each character and give them it if they didn’t already have it in this version. For example, allow spinal to turn into a clone of other characters for a short time or allow Jago to use his ghost form (instead of his stupid health gain lol).

8 - Classic Stages

Another little something that players have been asking for but just simply hasn’t made an appearance yet. I would love to see classic stages for all the original 9 Killer Instinct characters from KI1 which are Jago, Orchid, Thunder, Glacius, Spinal, Fulgore, Sabrewulf, Riptor and TJ Combo. I think this is the most fair way to go about it since they are always going to be the main stays of the cast. These would be their new stages in the new game instead of giving them modern stage like we got for them in this game. Stages are just an important as characters and makes the game feel whole.

Here is what some classic stages could look like in the new game
(These were made in UE4 but I’m sure whatever engine they decided to go with would make them look just as good.)


That’s it folks, I’m sure I could go on and on forever but these are things I most want in the future.
Please share your lists :slight_smile:

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My wish for a KI sequel is for it to only come out once this game has run its course.

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Thanks for reading the first 2 sentences of the post :slight_smile:
This is a wishlist for both a sequel or a Season4.
So if you don’t want a sequel then post what you would like to see for this version of the game.

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sounds fun:

  1. Character interactions: you nipped it on the bud but i disagree if it’s JUST talking on interactions, i would like to see SOME interactions be like CVS

i like see some camaraderie fist bumps between aganos and thunder, or fulgore and thunder on a weapon lock, there’s much more interactions that i feel like it can be done

  1. Game modes: i would like to see more games modes, i do like the idea of a “test your luck” mode, or maybe shadow lords (if brought back) can be co-op

  2. Regulated content releases: Do not confuse this with patch updates, i mean like costumes and such, unlock taunts?

  3. More refined training mode: Nuff said

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My wish list for KIS4/Sequel:
LCD stops hijacking people’s topics and creating multiple redundant duplicate topics. MingLee.

Did I do the thing correctly?

@VladKravich I’m having a hard time w my phone finding your thread. Could you link it?

But really, LCD. Topic jockeying instead of joining another identical thread is sorta pompous. You must be great at parties.

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@CrazyLCD Finally someone else who understands KI.

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It was all I cared to read!

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Yeah, here it is:

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As long as the production is top motch, I don’t care what the future holds.

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This thing where you create a new thread to give your own personal take on a topic that’s already in another thread? Any particular reason for it?

Anyways, as to the topic, here’s what I’d like to see out of season 4:

-Classic stages: Four in total, two from the original KI and two from KI2. Let the fans vote on one from KI and one from KI2, and have the devs pick the other two.

-More unique skins: Not recolors, but skins that are a completely new look for each character, but that fit their backstory or current story.

-Improved loading screens: Put a hero art slide show on the checking DLC screen, and overhaul the Fight On screen to give it more of a cinematic character showdown feel.

I’m talking about that brief moment twenty two seconds in with Orchid and Wulf, that pre-match bit. Now, I’m not saying I like it because of nostalgia. I mean, they didn’t do it for KI2 and I think the presentation is worse for it.

But I like this because it’s dark, but it’s also each character looking cool and in a small action of sorts. There’s no background scrolling through and staying there, no hulking 3D character models of different sizes coming in at different times and getting stuck in blinking animations, no spinning KI logo… Just the character videos side by side, with their names below, and the Vs logo.

Now, I get it, there’s more to load on the XB1 KI than on the old arcade KI, so maybe instead of a two second video, it’s a seven second video and the camera can start outside of a character’s stage before panning to them, and the video can always freeze on the character’s face looking cool, so that’s the final image when it stops and you have that last second or two before the first intro loads.

I think this would be cleaner, more stylish, and a cooler way to present the characters pre-match than what we have currently. Honestly, they could even cut stuff from their trailers to use if they don’t want to make fully unique new videos, which brings me to my next point…

-More unique video: The repurposed in game video of characters used in current cutscenes is okay, but it’d be really nice if we could get more completely unique video that helped advance the story along as well.

-Update character hair, faces, animations and retros: As arduous as I’m sure it was to upgrade the stage lighting, this other stuff here has been on many fans wishlists since season one and it’ll never go away.

I get that you want to make new content. We want to consume that new content. But as the people playing the complete experience, a lot of this stuff still sticks out, and it’d be fantastic if this could be the big graphical project season 4.

-Pretransformation Cinder: So no 9th character for season 3 even after the ideas were put out there in the survey. No problem! I’d still like to see Ben in season 4. Maybe ARIA turns on him for being so volatile and now uses a clone of Cinder while reversing the upgrades Ben got, creating a new plot line between him and Ultratech.

-A wise old sage / master / guide: I feel like the good guys could use a leader, a figurehead that advises them and keeps them focused and what not. Whether it’s the little floaty dude from KI Gold training or a new character, it’d be great to see what IG could do with this. Maybe drunken Kung fu? Maybe a style switcher? Maybe he’s like Edge Master from Soul Calibur and he just uses random characters move sets? Maybe he’s an Ichorien in human form and his move set has shades of that power and he fully transforms in instinct? Lots of possibilities!

-New color scheme: Kinda wouldn’t mind seeing just black and silver. Maybe use gold or fire or lightning or rust as an accent where you think it’s needed like on the title screen for example.

-Add secret unlockable stages for Mira and Eyedol: Some people would be over the moon about this.

-Shago and Omen accessories.

-Two new finishing moves: Ultimates for everyone, and then a completely new idea.

-One new special move for the characters on the roster with the smallest number of specials.

-A new instinct mechanic for Wulf that’s more fun and easily accessible by all skill levels.

-Joanna Dark as the one and only guest character.

-A story mode that is much larger on scale, using Shadow Lords, but has multiple cutscenes and unique videos for all characters that actually show not just the progress in the story for that character, but the overall progression of the narrative itself.

Mind you, I’m not asking for a two hour movie. But I would like a coherent story. Maybe matches can be interrupted by events. Maybe you start fighting someone, only to have another character swoop in and eliminate the opponent and start fighting you.

Obviously, guests can be left out unless you want to put Joanna Dark in this world, which I could see making sense. Hell, I see no Perfect Dark 3 coming soon, why not make her a full fledged KI character and announce that she’s not a guest, but a regular character and that this is her 2nd home?

Either way, much like the mural, I’d love to see the story for all characters, as we unlock those bits, go in to a mural and once it’s complete, we can watch the full story of KI. Maybe it’s a half hour of scenes, maybe it’s less. I know some parts will be dubbed over by announcer guy and that’s fine. I’m not looking for MKX story length or even depth. I just want a cohesive narrative that has a beginning, a middle and an end, even if all that end does is set up season 5 or a sequel.

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Would you prefer if they spent money on a bigger story/expanded SL mode or ultimates and/or stages for the “homeless” characters?

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My wish list:

All returning cast from KI1 and KI2. I wouldn’t if the new characters come back and by getting rid of guests you can implement new characters into KI4 to replace them.

Ultimates as finishers right off the bat. (Meaning they need to be implemented with the characters just as with Ultimates next time they release a character)

That’s about it for now. Or at least allow two local players to play to in lobbies.

However I’m not in a hurry to get KI4 out the door or started. If the devs are willing to work a bit more on this current KI I’m up for it.

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I dunno about Gargos and Eyedol though…

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It’s hard to say what could be done without knowing how much money is available and how much each would cost. Granted, I’d like to see all of these, so my arguments against the first two are only in the context of preferring the third.

Personally, and this is just my feeling on it… I wouldn’t mind crossing ultimates off that list. I don’t personally need them. I just want them for others. To me, they’re like fatalities in MK. You see them a few times, and then the novelty wears off and all that effort feels wasted.

Stages would probably go next. I really want stages for Mira and Eyedol, but we do already have a ton of stages already.

So yeah, I’d go with blowing out the story components of SL. I want a full, cohesive narrative that thoroughly utilizes every character.

Now… That said.

What if they could put a little money in to all three?

What if we got ultimates, but they blacked out the screen and we got more or less cinematic versions of regular moves, extensions of them, maybe with some camera tricks, and they only had to create some disintegration animations. Ideal? No. But better than nothing.

Stages… What if Mira’s was a shadow version of Maya’s stage? Takes place at night, a moon and star-filled sky, maybe the trees and the temple catch fire as the match goes on. I get that this would be a lot of changes, but a lot of the original assets remain the same.

For Eyedol, I could see them repurposing Sadira’s stage. Remove the throne, the assassins, the spiders and the bags hanging from the ceiling. Put bones all over the ground. Recolor the left side open air portion to look more like a sunset and have that recoloring reflected throughout the stage. The water flowing on the left side should be colored red. Perhaps replace the throne with a statue of Gargos and Eyedol battling. Perhaps it blows apart during an ultra instead of spidey coming down for a visit.

Again, that would be some significant changes, but the amount of new assets needed would still be a fraction of what would be needed for a full, unique stage. As for Raam and Rash, they’re guests. I don’t need them to have stages.

To compensate for that, maybe they have less unique video, but I still think they can do a good deal with recycled animations and voice overs. They just need a lot more of them with an eye toward creating a full, comprehensive story. Having said that, it’d also be great if we could get at least one final unique video, maybe a minute long or so, that gives a sort of epilogue to the whole thing and opens the door for what’s next.

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That’s pretty much the exact same mindset I have when it comes to all this ultimate talk. Will it make people happy? Yes, of course. But personally I’m really in no rush for them for the same reasons you said.

To me, ultimates are like icing on a cake. Is it good to have? Definitely. But is it an absolute must? Not really. But a lot of people are so used to seeing icing on a cake that when there is a cake that doesn’t have icing, it comes off as off putting.

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I like your idea about the cheap ultimates. Like, fulgore’s ultimate could just be a cinematic version of his devastation beam, along with the opponent disintegrating with a black background around the stage.

Recycled stages should definitely be a thing if we could have a little bit of everything.

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As an old KI player I’m 101% liking everything you wrote here.
I’ll think later if I can add anything else. Cheers

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My wish list? Aganos. That’s all, really.

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Ya know, that’s literally the exact thing I had in mind when I was typing that. Hype beamed to a crisp! :slight_smile:

Jago: Charged mega fire ball disintegration

Wulf: Maybe he uppercuts the opponent and then does a much brighter version of Eclipse

Glacius: Multiple ice lances, but each time it gets redder and redder (or whatever color the opponent bleeds)

Thunder: Call of the Earth, but you get a giant lightning storm that disintegrates opponent

Sadira: Traps opponent in a web, then the spider from her background shows up and drags the opponent back in to the darkness

Orchid: Mega Ichi ni San disintegration

Spinal: Fires ten white skulls that surround the opponent and the start flashing black. They all explode at once in a shower of sparks along with the opponent

Fulgore: Mega hype beam disintegration

TJ Combo: Two vortex cyclones in a row, and then a bigger one for the third, and the opponent doesn’t come back down again

Maya: Three axe kicks knock opponent neck deep in to the ground. She then does her mantis dive and the screen goes black right before she plunges the daggers in to the opponents head.

Kan Ra: summons the ant lion from beneath the opponent, who slowly drags them down in to the sand

Riptor: Throws a few mortars, fire carpet and fire breath. All hit the opponent at once and disintegrates them

Omen: Rapid fires twenty rashokukens at the opponent with each one giving off bigger spark effects until the opponent is disintegrated

Aganos: Creats a wall behind the opponent and one in front of them. He raises his arms and the walls slam together, crushing the opponent

Hisako: She puts her naginata on the ground like she does for Influence, then sucks the opponent toward her like Possession until they impale themselves on the naginata

Cinder: Attaches multiple pyro bombs to the opponent before hitting them with an elongated Inferno. All the bombs go off at once and the opponent disintegrates

ARIA: Does her taunt, only the light comes out red. She the fires an elongated burst of shadow Dissonance until the opponent disintegrates

Kim Wu: Does shadow dragon kick, sending opponent up out of the screen. Fires multiple dragon cannons up in to the air and then you hear the opponent yell before sparks rain down

Tusk: Plants his sword in the ground vertically, blade up and then suplexes opponent on to it

Arbiter: Throws several sticky grenades at opponent and we’ll, you know

Rash: Wicked tongue’s himself up off the screen, then a tongue flies down and pulls the opponent off the screen. Rash comes back down and does his full taunt

Mira: Shadow bloodseekers that keeps going until opponent starts fading away in the cyclone

Gargos: Lifts up opponent and devours them the way he does with his minions

Raam: Devoured by kryll

Eyedol: Lightning storm disintegration

Now obviously more can be done than what’s described, especially as far as camera work goes. Things can be slowed down, I’m sure they could add screams etc. But yeah, I’d be fine with stuff like this if it meant getting more stuff elsewhere.

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My wishlist
-All character return except for Gargos and Eyedol in favor of a new and better boss

  • Characters have 2 supers and 2 instincts that you pick when you pick your character
  • Give some character some of their old moves like Maya’s Arc Kick
  • Loading time decreased
  • An actual story mode but keep shadow lord but without the story
    -Ultimates, No mercies, Humiliations, and Better stage ultras, but be more comedy/less violent to keep the T rating
    -Character interactions Via text box and animations
  • An Water based character, An akuma/Oni Like character, Blanka stile character
  • Air Blocking would be cool
  • Tag Team mode that has local multiplayer and you and your online or local friend can go into team exhibition or team ranked

That is it i don’t need all of these but most would be fine.