Okay TC, let's talk. For starters, I don't think the reason this game is receiving as much ire as it is has as much to do with it being an Xbox One title than you think it does. Are there fans here that shit on it because its an Xbox game? Sure, but when we go outside of this enclosed enclave, there just isn't that much interest in this game right now. There are a lot of reasons we can point to for this but let's start with some of the obvious ones.
1. Bad Messaging - Look, there is no denying that MS & DH have allowed misinformation to just permeate all coverage of this game. From the get go, they just never really commit to what the business model for the game would be, and have dodged concrete answers since E3. There are people who think its a retail game, but there is no product listing for it at retailers. There are people who think it is entirely F2P, but don't understand what exactly they would be paying for. I know they cleared it up this week, but clearing it up now doesn't meant that most people got their first look at this title within the first two months, scratched their heads and walked away. First impressions are everything.
Now, lets be fair - fighting games aren't a genre that see this kind of business model, and it is a new concept fans and casuals will have to get used to. But, MS should've known that. They should've had the foresight to see that this could be something that would confuse consumers, and to get their messaging regarding their business model settled even before they announced the game. After all, I doubt they made the game with a $60 model in mind and converted it a few weeks ago.
2. Time is Everything - You're a massive KI fan - I understand and respect that; I have a bit of nostalgia regarding this series as well. But as you said in the TC ( and I don't know where you got this from if its true) but if DH has only been working on this game for 10 months, that is a frighteningly short amount of time, particularly for a studio that is pulling double duty (Strider - Capcom). What we're getting at launch is a tiny initial roster of 6 characters, no story mode, and an incredibly short amount of time for bug fixing and balance testing.
There was another fighting game that came out at budget price with a paltry roster that floundered, and that game had some SOLID fighting mechanics - Skullgirls. Skullgirls, over a year later, is finally getting some new characters, and hopefully the community for this game grows as a result, but there is a strong chance that it won't ever hit the same level as an Arc Systemworks, SNK, ror Capcom fighting game. Characters are the lifeblood of a fighting game as well as their greatest chance at hitting big with a wider audience. Each character appeals to different people in different ways. The fewer characters you have, the greater chance you have at not interesting people with particular tastes.
3. Half-Baked Mechanics - Full disclosure; i'm a huge fighting game fan. Went to EVO this year in Vegas, meet some friends out there from within the industry (Shout out to S-Kill :P ) and watching KI during the finals on day 3 made me realize just how AWFUL the mechanics governing the game are. The combo breaker system allows you to negate the damage of a combo? No resource associated with actually pulling off a combo breaker? Really low-damage on hits to make the game super accessible?
Okay, that last part can be updated with a balance patch, but those earlier mechanics are just silly. If I get my opponent in a combo, i'd like to think it was because I outsmarted or exposed a weakness in my opponent. If all of the damage in a combo I am doing can be negated with two button presses, why would I do combos? And sticking to a footsie game would be viable, except single hits do shit damage in that game. Several of the matches at EVO resulted in timeouts. And let me remind you, an overabundance of timeouts at the competitive level is a result of something being broken in the mechanics. Timeouts kill all hype and momentum in a competitive game, and was one of the major reasons Street Fighter X Tekken never acquired a large competitive following, despite them patching and fixing their issues many months later.
This post is intended for the OP. If he reads it fine, if anyone else finds it interesting, great. I'd give you a TL;DR but it covers a lot of ground.
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