I kinda don't understand why you're being jumped on so much. These opinions sound pretty similar to ideas many had when the game was first revealed back at E3. I just think most of us now see that what's come from the game isn't just a 1 way street of Takign an idea and changing it, but actually taking an idea and evolving it, which I personally find to be much more respectful in this case.
Better for a new post:
This really pisses me off: Why change it for hipster BS like "Solid", "Extreme" etc?
Because this game isn't just designed for KI heads, but for fighter fans. It's not as if the old game wasn't designed like this either; there just wasn't so much established talk. Now that we're YEARS deeper in, and what was a sudden fad then is now well established and developed, we can draw from things, rather than make them up.
Announcer = Street Fighter style. Also, the announcer accentuates first word (combo type) as well as the word (combo). Original KI - only the "combo type" would be accentuated. Ex: BRUTAL "coMbO". New KI "EXTREMEEEEEEE" "COMBOOOOOO" LIKE WTF? We get it.
Yeah, it was awesome how he sounded like he lost interest before! ;-) You forget to mention how the "combo" is only added on to completed combos now, yet the name is said along if you drop the combo's end.
The big complaint was that the game lacked character voice reactions, and thus they added more. I like the sound mix now; It doesn't sound as cheap and hokey as using the old sound effects would, and it sounds more like a fight between characters than something that's trying to be as campy as MK, or more "serious" like Street Fighter's attack sounds.
Also, what Mick Gordon has done with "Musical Ultras" is so much better than any of the sound ideas in the old KI, while feeling like it built off the most memorable aspect of old ultras; the rhythm given when listening to the hit tempo build up. The fact that the hit sound effects and climax melodies are so well done on a per-stage basis is something most other modern fighters wouldn't dare to put so much time into. It's great new KI not only got to notice it, but expand upon it, and then come up with something fresh out of it, as well.
-------------Combo sequence + effects:
Particle/special effects galore in new KI (hard to keep up with what's going on in the combo sequence). Almost every move has some effect in the new KI:
That's a good thing. The effects help illustrate the motion, strength, and uniqueness of each move. Not like old KI's blood didn't try and do the same. This is a higher level of presentation than what old KI offered. I can't really see how it's annoying and confusing, because they compliment the moves, not obstruct them.
Animation delay/time freeze while in a combo (umph punch clue) in the new KI - same as ultra street fighter IV. A no no for old fanatics of KI.
I've always been a fan of hitstop to some degree, because it SELLS impact and pain. I loved the way this worked back in the old NES Double Dragon games, or the 3D Zelda's. I wouldn't call this a no-no as an old KI fan; if anything, the constant motion of the old stuff looks like the animator just didn't do as good a job selling the worth of each blow.
Away from the style, and more to the gameplay, having clear moments of weight and stop also probably really helps the online play, as well, and works good with the 3D engines motions. KI's netcode is often praised, and much of that is probably due to the fact that it's gameplay has a little pause and stun built in, that is the same offline as it is online.
KI in my opinion has always been about smooth combo animations that are SEAMLESS and CONTINUOUS. The linkers in the combo sequence have no delay nor a visual/audio clue - the "umph"
A lot of this smoothness and appeal gets lost with all the particles going around as well as the delays that I mentioned - it's hard to define them but it's the same in Street Fighter IV. Like copied from SFIV - there is no hiding it.
Smooth... as in instantly going to another motion without any build up or anticipation? Naaa. this is just them working with what they had.
Anything KI apes from SF (or the loads of other fighters people fail to mention) is all to it's betterment; KI's first 2 games obviously wanted to borrow mechanics from other games, but their implementation wasn't anyway near as refined or polished as the games that outlived them. Now KI has the help of not only more seasoned returning devs that were there when the games were made, but also people who played more hours in fighters over the years than would have even been possible back then, at the genesis of the genre.
Any real fan of KI should be happy the game has been updated to the times so much. They could have simply played this as an HD skinned nostalgia project, but all the time they've put into modernizing but respecting the old feel shows that they trust this more as a long time project, rather than as a nostalgic cash grab.
--------------------Character Design:
Jago: Dude was never that buffed. Missed the mark with him as a Ninja.
Look at his new design. It's as much "monk" as "American bastardization of Ninja" as the old design, just with a more clear cut visualization of what makes sense with the concept. The "buff" part really shouldn't matter. He's a character that should look impressive in a game that's all about the making the characters the most eye-catching, memorable aspect. The weight and presence given to his new design feels much more substantial than the "me too power ranger's extra!" feel given off by his old design, now.
Chief Thunder: Another character that they missed the mark on - looks more like T-Hawk of SFIV than the original Chief Thunder of KI. Too buffed. Too top heavy. In the original KI he was also top heavy but had a very thin waist line to compensate, as well as a very open leg stance.
I'm one of those who love the new Thunder, as a person who held old Thunder and Glacius as his favorite characters in KI1. Old Thunder looked like a Todd McFarlane / Rob Liefeld tribute character that missed the mark on being more than a product of the time. The new Thunder looks like a matured fighter that still remains impressive years later, even if he's not build just like all the younger people in the game. On the old KI forums, I described how this made him feel something like Terry Bogard VS Kyo Kusanagi in the KOF world; he might not be the main young protagonist, but he offers a more matured, seasoned look that still says "I could be a main star", which I think is worlds better than the old design.
Spinal: WTF did they do to his shield? A squid? really - now he's pirate too? The dude had more a resemblance of a great Mongolian warrior (eastern warrior) than just another pirate.
Again, furthering the lore. Old Spinal had chant-infused music, had aspects that could be seen as Mongolian or Viking like, and was an obvious tribute to Jason and the Argonauts skeletons. He encompasses all of that now, but with more unique flair, and much stronger realization on giving a visual return to the loaded lore. And his accessories and classic costume do a very good job at letting you push him in the direction of whatever inspiration you see for him; Viking, Knight, Samurai, Roman Warrior, have at it! Only 1 of his shields is the "living shield" variety, he has tons more to choose from.
========Summary.
All in all I am sure I could find more of the small things that when pooled together make a difference in what made RARE's KI original. The little things made it stand out from other fighters at the time, as well as from the new crop of modern fighters. I think the new game tried to capture the hipster audience too much. The new dev team also copied from other fighters where there was NO NEED to copy and as a result lost some of its originality, and original fanfare IMO. Notwithstanding the game is very barebones when it comes to character selection as well as the omission of a Final boss fighter (Eyedol, Gargos).
From all the impressions the core of the new game is good enough. When it comes to paying homage to its predecessors, they missed the mark on some things - some of it by design - not necessarily smart design. I don't think anyone that played the original KI's and its trutly a fan would see the omissions/changes I mentioned as minor - since they are key differentiators of KI from other fighters.
The new gameplay just... respects the fact that it's no longer the early/mid 90s, and we've had 1000s of fighters since then. KI2 tried to do this, but I don't think the designers were up to the task, proven by the lukewarm reception to the game.
New KI loses no originality. If anything, it gains it in the fact that it's a "2 way control" fighter full of combo-breaks, without the overwhelming strength of counters seen in DOA. It takes the strong counter / reversal systems that have been cultivated in modern 2D and 3D fighters, and makes them a centerpiece, rather than a single character specific feature. It's done an amazingly good job at this, making it one of the best "new" fighter properties produced in recent years, and (to me) probably the most legit western-made fighter this side of Skullgirls. I've played this KI more than I've probably played any of the last decade's worth of MK games, combined. Mostly due to the fact that it manages to feel like a "real" fighting game after all the fancy animations are out they way.
When I first played KI, I was the best fighter player among my friends. I spent more time with them than anyone I knew, hunted down arcades, begged to go to them whenever I could, and for a brief time, KI 2 was THE game I'd want to play (especially due to limited available locations.) But since then, with the intro of online play, I was introduced to a level of depth and dedication to fighters much beyond what I knew then.
Thank Goodness new KI grew up with me! I've tried to go back to KI 1 and 2 thanks to the ultra editions (finally getting to legit-own the arcade editions is so good), and I get little similar to the feel I get from going back to, say, KoF 95, Fatal Fury 2, or Samurai Shodown II. They feel more like relics that haven't aged as well, since they were not as strong a products as their other similarly-timed contemporaries. KI 2 is much more of a modern product, and I do appreciate some of this, but the nuance of it's gameplay is unrefined; it feels like it was a "super" or "turbo" version away from becoming truly solid, a chance it sadly never had.
On top of all this, new KI is doing surprisingly well with the dev-issues it has. IG isn't the perfect replacement for DH, yet they have some strengths that outclass what DH did. All of this could lead to dev woes that give us a severely hampered, stopped-before-it's-time mess of a product. But instead, we get something that is ultimately very solid and fun, that has minor issues, compared to what COULD be. A game that was once a "me too!" is now trying to be a trendsetter in multiple ways. And isn't that one of the best things that could happen to a series that could have easily been forgotten?
