Killer Instinct is launching with six characters! Yeah baby . . . wait. What?
That’s right, Double Helix is launching the much anticipated Killer Instinct with only six characters, those being Jago (free to play), Sabrewulf, Glacius, Thunder, Sadira and Orchid. Along with the six available at launch, two additional characters will come at a later date.
OK, there’s not the full fleshed out roster that games like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Tekken have, but that’s OK--at least for me it is. I’m cool with it because the six characters are completely different. There are no pallet swaps with some altered moves here and there. They all require different playing styles. With massive roster games, like Street Figher, there are groups of characters that are the basically same style. There are the standard characters like Ken and Ryu. There are the distance characters like Sagat and Dhalsim. There are the close-up characters like T. Hawk and Zangief. Blanka and Guile are the chargers. In Killer Instinct for the Xbox One, we’re getting one character for each playing style, so that all of the playing styles are covered.
Jago is what I consider the standard character. He can play close, middle and far. There’s the distance character, Glacius. He’s a character you use to keep the opponent at a distance. Sadira is the high flyer. She bounces all over the screen and attacks with quickness, much in the same vein as Cammy from Street Fighter. Sabrewulf and Thunder are the charges. Not much is known about Orchid yet, but judging from her past, she’s the female version of the standard character.
While I can understand why people may be upset with the small roster, I do not see it as a big deal. Double Helix has all of the playing styles covered. They are focusing most of their energy now on balancing the game and tweaking the mechanics based on user feedback and play testing. Some have suggested they hold the game back until there are more characters; I say, “Why?” There are enough characters and nuances to keep even the most ardent fighting game fan busy for quite a while. This also gives players the time to really get to know the characters, rather than just knowing a few moves and supers for 30+ characters.
Don’t forget, those massive rosters are built from years and years of releases. Most of them have been set in stone for quite a long time. With Double Helix, it’s been almost 18 years since Killer Instinct was last seen, and we can’t expect to have the massive rosters which grace games that have been made every other year, practically spanning decades. It’s just illogical to expect such a large roster from Killer Instinct on the Xbox One.
From what I’ve seen, the guys at Double Helix are taking this game seriously, and are determined to make one of the best fighters we’ve ever played. I hope they accomplish it and I think they will.
That’s right, Double Helix is launching the much anticipated Killer Instinct with only six characters, those being Jago (free to play), Sabrewulf, Glacius, Thunder, Sadira and Orchid. Along with the six available at launch, two additional characters will come at a later date.
OK, there’s not the full fleshed out roster that games like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Tekken have, but that’s OK--at least for me it is. I’m cool with it because the six characters are completely different. There are no pallet swaps with some altered moves here and there. They all require different playing styles. With massive roster games, like Street Figher, there are groups of characters that are the basically same style. There are the standard characters like Ken and Ryu. There are the distance characters like Sagat and Dhalsim. There are the close-up characters like T. Hawk and Zangief. Blanka and Guile are the chargers. In Killer Instinct for the Xbox One, we’re getting one character for each playing style, so that all of the playing styles are covered.
Jago is what I consider the standard character. He can play close, middle and far. There’s the distance character, Glacius. He’s a character you use to keep the opponent at a distance. Sadira is the high flyer. She bounces all over the screen and attacks with quickness, much in the same vein as Cammy from Street Fighter. Sabrewulf and Thunder are the charges. Not much is known about Orchid yet, but judging from her past, she’s the female version of the standard character.
While I can understand why people may be upset with the small roster, I do not see it as a big deal. Double Helix has all of the playing styles covered. They are focusing most of their energy now on balancing the game and tweaking the mechanics based on user feedback and play testing. Some have suggested they hold the game back until there are more characters; I say, “Why?” There are enough characters and nuances to keep even the most ardent fighting game fan busy for quite a while. This also gives players the time to really get to know the characters, rather than just knowing a few moves and supers for 30+ characters.
Don’t forget, those massive rosters are built from years and years of releases. Most of them have been set in stone for quite a long time. With Double Helix, it’s been almost 18 years since Killer Instinct was last seen, and we can’t expect to have the massive rosters which grace games that have been made every other year, practically spanning decades. It’s just illogical to expect such a large roster from Killer Instinct on the Xbox One.
From what I’ve seen, the guys at Double Helix are taking this game seriously, and are determined to make one of the best fighters we’ve ever played. I hope they accomplish it and I think they will.
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