The Killer Instinct team is now introducing Combo Assist Mode to the game to try to get more people to play their game. They quoted “How do we get more people playing KI?”
“We asked a lot of players, “what part of fighting games is preventing you from wanting to dig deeper?” What we discovered was that while most people feel pretty confident that they can throw a fireball, almost no one was comfortable with the concept of canceling a normal attack into a special move. And canceling a normal attack into a special move is so core to KI’s combo system that we ask you to do it 3 to 5 times per combo — and quickly!”
They wanted to make people more comfortable to play the game instead of it being a one sided game like how it is now after 2 years since it came out on the Xbox One. This update came at the best time because recently announced that Killer Instinct Season 1 will be available with Games with Gold in January.
Combo Assist Mode is an optional control mode that gives you no-motion cancels. The motion input for a special move serves as part of the startup time for the move when performed from neutral. This is a very important part of how the game is balanced and played. In a combo, however, the motions used for cancels are mostly superficial (especially in KI with no charge moves) and change nothing about how the game would be played.
- If your normal attack makes contact with the opponent on hit or block, and you tap another attack button within the cancel window, you will perform an Assist Opener Special Move. This has all the same negatives on block as doing this normally!
- After an opener, tap an attack again to do an Auto Double. This happens even without Combo Assist Mode on, as we all know.
- After an Auto Double, tap an attack again to do an Assist Linker.
- Ready to end your combo? Hold Forward and press Heavy Punch or Heavy Kick to perform an Assist Ender!
- The timing is identical. The frame data is identical. The only difference is that you perform a couple less motions on the way there.
It is possible to get through an entire Assist Combo without any special cancel motions!
Here is the same combo with Combo Assist on.
