Arcade Mode Really Defensive?

The AI isnt really good in the sense that it isnt cheap. Even on easy when you get to the last 2 characters, any mistake you make they hit you with massive combos. Playing real players you have human error. With some fighting game AI, there is no nuance.
And why is it always Orchid? lol.

 

I know I'm kinda late to reply to all this... but yes!

It's insanely frustrating, I'm not a good player by any means but have still always had a thing for Killer Instinct...

Still have my Nintendo 64 hooked up and was playing KI on it once in a while before KI 2013 came out...

Then I went as far as to preorder an Xbox from abroad because it wasn't gonna be released here to begin with (still isn't)... all because of KI...

I have been insanely happy with everything that the new KI has had to offer and was looking insanely much forward to every update.

That was until I tried Arcade Mode... I wanna have fun when playing, not get frustrated.

Believe me I'm all about games not being child friendly and way too easy, but if you wanna attract all the casuals as they've said from the start was like their entire plan with KI, I would say you're doing a pretty bad job...

Everything is awesome... easy to learn basics. Harder advanced stuff for the hardcore people. And the never ending mind games with the really good players... all this is amazing! A game casuals can actually figure out and have fun with without being scared
away... that is until they try arcade.

EVERYTHING gets blocked, and when they don't block you, and you actually get a combo started they combo break you within 7-10 hits so you'll never get any real damage in... and then for some reason I've noticed Fulgore can just throw me no matter what attack
I try on him, and he even always tech my throws to... he's so cheap it hurts.

I'm not a guy to get frustrated with games easily, but this did it, and only my stubbornness got me through and haven't played arcade mode since, and barely touched the game because I don't wanna get my love for KI ruined

YEAH! Make the harder difficulties hard, but at least from Noob to Medium it should be doable for a normal average gamer without too much frustration.

 

Let me tell you, they really amped up the AI for this one.

Here's the deal: your opponent learns your play style in Arcade mode and will catch you off guard if you constantly use a redundant set of moves. I hate learning, but I love video games (preferably with a not so steep learning curve) so learning to play
this one was pretty nerve racking.

Opponent blocking constantly at the edge of the arena? Throw them. If this happens again, they'll likely be ready for you to try to throw them. Next time sweep them and you'll be more likely to catch them off guard.

Opponent blocking like a ***? Step back and wait for them to advance ready to block, be careful because even on easy mode this game uses reactive programming and will immediately blitz you with a monster combo if you suddenly attack before they do. If
you block an attempt at a shadow move, that's your opening. Again, if you try this a second time immediately after the AI will likely have another shadow move saved and used it as a counter to obliterate you for getting complacent.

Playing on easy mode, I repeat EASY MODE, as Orchid I was getting obliterated by Spinal and Sadira. All other opponents were cake, even Fulgore. With them I could just mercilessly spam combo openers until they eventually cracked. With Spinal and Sadira,
I had to get clever and (I can't emphasize this enough) VERY lucky with my play style. They're both damn near impossible to break through when they go on a blocking binge, and Sadira's stationary webbing that drains your health if you're caught in it is just
obscene to put it mildly.

I don't even want to try medium mode on Arcade. It took a Hell of a lot just to get through easy mode.

 

Lord Crisp said it best. It's clearly a problem when playing Arcade mode on "Noob" setting and the AI still wipes the floor with you in less than 15 seconds....and this is the first character you fight.

If the AI is going to be so cheap even on the "easiest" setting, then don't bother with difficulty settings at all; just remove them and have a one-size-fits-all difficulty level.

Unlocking a palette-swap character and arena is not worth the insane frustration trying to battle an AI that pretty much cheats to the point it might as well just shut your controller off on you.

Video games should be fun, enjoyable, and challenging; not aggravating, frustrating, and annoying.

 

I have improved greatly since my last post mastering combos and getting at least 30-80% damage with all of the characters, I've learned many of the typical play-styles of most of the characters from other players - being able to make proper reads on them
as a result, and knowing when and which combo breakers to perform as well as countering those with counter breakers of my own. So the mind game is in place. However, this is all for multiplayer and even then, it's only gotten me to rank 7 out of 40. I still
have to work on manuals though as good Jago players who use them destroy me on a regular basis (I can easily do them with Spinal though, so that's a plus). Despite all of this improvement, I still can't do very well on Arcade mode. It's still frustratingly
hard. Survival, at least, I can mop the floor with them most of the time. Arcade, though, is still a monster on a wholly different level.

 

Strange thing.

Playthrough on Normal by Thunder with less than 20 losses.

But recently done it by Orchid, and had 61 (!!!) losses to Saberwolf (fifth opp), and 117 losses (!!!!!!!) to Sadira (seventh). After this 29 losses to Fulgore looks like normal.

95% of my attacks were blocked. Every combo against me was pretty unblockable and take almost 50% of my lifemeter!

 

Yeah arcade mode is super hard on this game. I hope they update it and make it a bit more balanced. Fair enough have the harder difficulties super hard, but medium is way too difficult at the moment. I've even heard of people having troubles with the easy
mode. Still, one of the best fighting games I've played in a while