Season 2 of Killer instinct sees a new dev at the helm of Mircosoft’s killer fighter. Iron Galaxies is now the team that has to build upon the great job Double Helix has done. So what’s new in Season 2? Well, everything.
Evolve or Die. Make your choice.
Killer Instinct Season 2’s story is pretty basic. You go to the arcade mode, pick your character and here is what has changed. While the original arcade mode showed a bio of the character and had Three different ending depending on who you did or did not combo this game adds a bit more narrative. Now you get an intro explaining some of the history and motivations of the characters. once that is done player will have to fight a set number of computer controlled opponents. In between every fight while loading the game will give a small bit of text explaining the plot a bit further and what’s going on. After a few fights, players will be treated to a cut scene explaining the final or rival battle. And when’s everything is said and done you will get an ending cut scene. It’s nothing overly special but it does manage to convey a narrative that runs in the background. Completing specific objectives will unlock the cut scenes to see at will and unlock a part of the mural that shows all the season 2 characters. While season 1 characters don’t get this story upgrade they do get a mural for players to complete. If all endings are unlocked for a specific character, players are awarded with usually large amount of EXP. Killer instinct’s story is goofy but the small additions added to the story mode do make it a bit better. Even if the narrator doesn’t fit the whole Killer instinct attitude.
In between fights these screens give you context as to the what, where, who and why.
C C C-COUNTER BREAKER.
Iron galaxies shows their creative genius really in the gameplay section. New mechanics have been added like Areal Recaptures allowing you to combo-break in the air and a few other new mechanics. The most impressive thing about season 2 is its additional characters. While fan-favorites are back like Riptor and Cinder the newcomers really steal the show. Killer instinct season 2 is the most has by far the most creative and unique characters in any fighting game ever. While the newest additions look like they really fit in well with the old they all have insane mechanics that have to be seen to be believed. the boss character has three smaller life-bars and can swap bodies, a ghost girl that embodies the horror the character it’s based on by giving her the ability to counter moves effectively making players scared to attack her. It’s some of the most insane stuff ever done in a competitively balanced fighting game and considering the first games fun but very basic and unbalanced history is astonishing. Another cool new feature is the Shadow Labs. In the shadow labs you can create a Shadow characters which you have to fight against three times in order for them to absorb and learn your play style. It’s the basic principle of Amiibo’s but done to an insane new level. Offensive players will have offensive shadows that will mimic their play style going even as far as to taunt, teabag and even take distance when the actual player would do it. It’s something really impressive. The ranked system has gotten an overhaul too. Aching more to something like league Of Legends in that players play ten matches and based on that performance they get dropped into either bronze, silver, gold or killer ranking. While you can’t drop a rank you can climb up a rank by beating other players. Losing will result in loosing points but you will never drop a tier. It’s a good new mechanic getting players to try and climb that ladder and improve until the tiers reset in a month. The credit system is completely removed in favor for unlocking stuff by leveling up yourself and your character. It takes a lot of time to level up and if the player really wants that specific costume they will either have to play tons of hours or take the easy route and buy credit with micro-transaction. This is easily the only bad new thing about season 2 but a lot of players will just ignore this and keep playing to unlock everything. Ultras are also back but not for all stages so while they’re cool they aren’t used so much.
Characters that are giant and can make stages smaller versus characters with multiple life bars is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Ultra-tech age.
Iron galaxies decide to bring a new menu UI with the new season and while it doesn’t look as generic and red replace it with a High-tech inspired grid setting that while way better has a bit too much of the purple and red hues. Still, it’s nice to see the same game not only changed a lot of the mechanics but also the menus. A new announcer is added and the character select screen is now a filled screen instead of scrolling to complement the change in size. Th new stages look great and Mick Gordon is back to deliver is divine sounds to the new stages. The music is almost literally divine and is a succeeds in every way to season one’s great tracks. In addition to the new character and stages Iron Galaxy added News colors and costume parts to the season one cast and while all the new parts are new just recolors of the old parts it’s a great addition to make your character even more personal and give the old characters a new flavor.
The design of the UI is greatly improved.
Closing note:
Season 2 of Killer Instinct improves on every level and even if it’s technically an upgrade to the base game like Turbo or Ultra are to Street Fighter it almost feels like a sequel. The new characters are some of the best design and mechanics wise in any fighting game. the music is nothing short of godlike and the new UI looks better. Almost everything is improved on the base game and people who loved the base game will adore Season 2. Let’s hope season 3 improves even more on this amazing game.
9.5/10
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