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lobfcanti · 5 years

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Kill la kill IF the game’s 1st month is a comedy sketch. (updated 9/6/2019)

This is a briefing on the events around the comedy that has been launch of the Kill la kill IF the game and the game’s Nintendo Switch version’s North American Region life so far since it was release a little over a month ago. I will share some of my thoughts about the title throughout as well. Kill la kill if the game (KLK IF) launched July 26th 2019 to not to particularly stellar views, many praising it’s 1 to 1 visual adaption of the source anime, but found the overall the game was lacking of content with only a minor changes in the retelling of the events of the series with gaps in-between for characters not present, or not yet present in the game. While many commented on the core system of combat in the game was nicely designed but bound to become repetitive over time, this is actually where the game bares any true relevance for people interested. For an Arena Fighter, KLK IF manages to do a lot with what little it has. A lot of publisher, ArcSys’ sensibilities from their original fighting game franchises found their way into this Aplus developed title. The 10 individual characters (8 and 2 variants w/ new move sets of the central characters Satsuki and Ryuko) play uniquely, there is clear checks and balances to attack options, a low execution floor, but a system that forces attentiveness while giving a lot of freedom- It is easily one of the best (I’d say currently the best) of the Arena fighter subgenre. While announced over a year ago with 1st gameplay footage revealed July 2018, the game received little western coverage to boost anticipation or advertising leading up to the launch. Myself having only known the game was due to release a few weeks before its launch. The game was featured frequently on ArcSys’ weekly web broadcast and much of the information about the title was released there and eventually a compiled trailer of all that was to be expected from the final product was put up on the company’s official youtube.

youtube

Pre-order DLC Junketsu color costumes, and Planned DLC characters FightClub Mako and Mikisugi x Tsumugu DTR were also revealed as the final bit of info before launch. When the game finally arrived on July 26th, there were gleeful reports of people receiving their standard and special edition copies but with it the first fit of confusion. Japan’s special edition had received more in-box content than the western variants, the first print pin was never confirmed for and later not provided to the west (though it was advertise in the English specific info trailer) and PS4 physical pre-orders of the standard or special editions did not at all receive the Junketsu color variants for all the characters like the PS4 digital owners received, and the Junketsu colors were exclusive solely to the PS4 version of the game. Post launch, the second of the game was met with a 1.01 patch which had made notably changes to character move sets (for the better) and some balance changes. PS4 received this patch promptly while the NA switch and PC patches were delayed. EU switch users had received the patch as expected. We were also informed that they will not be tolerating any streaming of the story, making an official announcement about it a few days later.

The following day after the official story stream prohibition, we received news that a new patch for all platforms was available. This was great news because not only was 1.00 the oldest build of at this point, it was crippled by connectivity issue reports. Ranking matchmaking was near impossible on Switch. Players organized to join matchmaking at the same time to find each other and to no avail in most cases. Player match rooms even suffered, some were unable to join rooms even with matching restrictions and lobby sizes are only fitted to 2 players. Odd number groups couldn’t simply play matches together in a loser rotates out fashion. Then we got word of what was hopefully a patch to fix it:

But to all switch users’ dismay, we still would have to wait. At this point numerous people had emailed ArcSys America for any word on the 1.01 patch for Switch- which was met with prompt replies explaining the team was taking in bug reports and the like, and are working on the switch patch deployment. This was then shared with us after a few days:

A week since the release of the 1.02 patch, it seemed like while Aplus dropped the ball somewhere, but they were genuinely trying. I just hoped the line of communication stayed open. I knew nothing of them also working on another title, “Damascus Gear: Operation Osaka”, that was due to be released August 26th 2019. I would have been a little more sympathetic with that knowledge then. But after the absolute silence for the next 2 weeks to then see this, It felt like a big ask to expect anyone to be very understanding:

I can’t believe we got an announcement about a pending announcement of something everyone else already had. Mind you even EU switch players at least had 1.01! We’d have love to just have that to hold us over by widen the player pool. The bare minimum was all we were asking for at this point. People in the discord I frequent to for the game aren’t hopeful of any progress at this point. The other consoles players are antsy to know when the promised for summer DLC for Mako was actually coming out too. A week from the last update, we get this tweet:

The patch was finally approved and ensured to us! You can imagine the excitement and then disbelief when I attempted to update on the promised date and my switch stating that I was on the latest version. While still on 1.00! I took to twitter to see if I had attempted too early and the patch would be up later. I was met with this announcement:

I hadn’t seen this the night before when it was posted which at the time was approximately 6 hrs before the patch was supposed to go live. Absolute disbelief was expressed in many of the replies. We were now a full month without a single update while PS4 and PC were enjoying the game as intended, if people were even still playing it. Then 3 days later.

I and others were glad to see such a quick finalization of a patch date compared to the past weeks of waiting. And one that was soon! But we were cautiously optimistic. I and a regular from the discord joked about being in the clear once Sept. 1st came, but we had to be past the approx. 3 hrs until mark to ensure they wouldn’t pull out. And the patch finally came. At 5pm PST/8pm EST September 1st, we finally received our patch.

I booted up to game to enjoy my new Nui dash cancel tech, and then I and a few members in the discord noticed something peculiar.

If you can’t see what is wrong here, one of our Top player’s, CatFight, puts it best with this tweet:

More than a month late. And we got the “bare minimum”. We got patch 1.01, the July 27th/Day 2 patch. Giving Arc and A+ the benefit of the doubt, we attempted to update twice in a row, we tested to see if the patch notes paired up, we tested to see if the Nui infinite jump time scam was still present (it is.) and we confirmed that we were in fact on 1.01 and not 1.02 like our home menus were showing us.

So NA is now on the same patch as the EU base strengthening our already good as dead player pool unless somehow they actually got the 1.02? Who knows.

So given what this game had to face at launch:

Dropping the same day as Fire Emblem: Three houses

the skepticism of the sub-genre

An M rating

A lack of single player and overall content with a $60 price tag

Based on a property that hasn’t been used for roughly 5 yrs

The lack of advertising before Summer 2019

Misinformation/inequality on physical bonus items

Only one platform getting pre-order incentives, and only if you brought the game digitally

Then coupled with the post-launch issues:

Streamability marred by its story mode stream ban

Story mode being the main focal point of content outside of PvP

Story mode being mandatory to unlock the online PvP and the full roster of characters (they were later just given to you immediately in patch 1.01, funny right?)

Broken matchmaking for ranked killing online for the switch and PC almost immediately

You needing to find people to play match with and lobbies only being to accommodate 2 players at a time + no spectator mode

These same issues with ranking and general connectivity reportedly advancing onto PS4, where it garnered most of its sales. Even after recieving the 1.02 patch on the intended release day

Delays for patches on both switch and PC

Then later, Japan getting 1.02 on all platforms with little hiccups, then PC and PS4 being 1.02 in all regions while the switch in NA (Stuck on 1.00) and EU (Stuck on 1.01) went unsupported for an entire month after the initial patch role out.

The lack of communication and misinformation fed to the NA rep from the dev team

There still being content unreleased for all regions in the form of DLC (now officially confirmed for end of September and End of October, Mako being the most sought out character being in October. This is two months after the initial promise)

I can’t with good conscious suggest that anyone should buy this game. On any console.

I truly think it is a great fighter. It really puts forth intention and technique in what feels like a swamp full of button mashy arena fighters. I think the artistic direction is perfect and gameplay well executed. But I cannot praised the utter lack of transparency behind the issue of why we had a defective product for more than a month. There is hindsight on how telling might have been when the PS4 version of the title had a demo out the first week of July, and the Switch’s demo version was released only 2 days before the game’s launch. The switch release needed more time in the oven. And it is inexcusably that we are not on a patch that we already know to exists and having been told that we would receive it. I insist that people in the year of 2019, in a post-Fallout 76 and Anthem world asks the questions if they see fit when it comes to the handling of the product they purchased from game companies. Do not harass or threaten, simply ask. Ask for transparency and I beg developers to please provide it. And don’t throw your PR under the bus feeding them estimation you can’t follow through on! Update (9/6/2019): on September 6th 2019 at approximately 1pm EST - ArcSys US released a patch and DLC time frame estimation update. It is shown here that the switch version development time frame was has a notable delay of 2 months. While PS4 and PC would get ver.1.03 with balance changes and the DTR DLC in September and Mako in October, Switch will not receive 1.02 or 1.03 will get all the September content as 1.10 in November. Mako is now set for December on the Switch.

#kill la kill #kill la kill if the game #kill la kill if

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