I would also love a review on Malice from anyone, it would be nice to know what I did right and what I did wrong.

My review of Akari for GuardiaXIV. I felt particularly inclined to read today as I'm mostly just doing chores around the house, as opposed to waiting till Friday to post it, so here goes:

Bio: I feel nitpicky saying this, but when Edenia fell at the hands of Shao Kahn, Kitana was too young to remember it, and Mileena didn't come into the forefront as soon as Outworld and Edenia merged as his daughter. I think perhaps it's the shortly after part that is throwing me off perhaps.

Aside from that, I think the bio is quite unique and it is easy to read and pretty straight forward, it does a good job of explaining how Akari came to be involved, his motives, and his past in a short amount of time.


Fighting style: It sounds very flashing and intriguing, this seciton could benefit from a greater deal of elaboration (i.e. is he defensive, offensive, does he use closed fists, or palm strikes etc.). It doesn't seem like much, but it really helps the reader visualize the style for those who aren't familiar with specific styles or how they might look, especially hybrid combinations.

Costumes: His costumes are unique, setting him apart from the crowd of MK and his Edenian counterparts, though with some similar costume features to them as well such as the gold bracelets.


Special Moves: Some interesting specials present here, like the light sphere mines, but I think there is a lack of specials as one of is special's sole purpose is to set off one of the other specials, I felt that techniqually the four specials were three because of it and he lacked options. I think Akari could benefit from combing that sphere mine attacks into one special move and giving a couple additional specials to give him a more balanced tool set and give him a more unique feel, though you were on the right track by incorporating such a unique special that has not bee seen in MK to my knowledge, sphere minds was a superb idea.

X-ray: Executed well, it incorporates one of his special moves into it and seems to fit his established style, it also a fairly unique X-ray to boot.

Fatalities: The first one utilizes his powers well, but it could be more descriptive and it felt like it was missing that omph to push it further, you're on the right track, but descriptive language really can push an idea further.

The second fatality I like much better and there is more detail than in the first and just like the first it utilizes Akari's light powers, which is great.

Taunts: I never know what to say for this section, but I will say his match intro encapsulates his storyline and the others are pretty standard stuff, solid stuff here.

Ending: This ending was brief, but my word did you make the most of it, superbly done. Akari goes through all these struggles to defeat Shao Kahn for his home realm and for the royalty he loves so much, but ends up murdering one of his most beloved leaders by mistake, it's a great plot twist and a bittersweet ending that was pulled off with grace and intelligence, the hara kiri ending was something interesting as well.


Overall This character has a lot going for him, unique costume, well written ending, X-ray is fresh, he has unique specials such as the sphere mines, his second fatality was pretty good as well.

Akari could benefit for more elaboration in fighting style, a larger array of unique special moves, and it's always important to be careful when it comes to canon parts of the story, though it sounds nitpicky, the canon is important and making sure you're as clear as possible when referencing it.


Akari is another good character that has his strengths, but could use some tweaks to really push him up to a new level, I hope my review was helpful and not too nitpicky, I only do these with the best of intentions, take care

I will try to have a review of Malice posted by Sunday night.

Would you expect the judge's scores to be public?
It's not a terrible idea in principle, but a numerical system would somewhat defeat the purpose of having subsequent rounds. Once a character was judged, the final contenders would be a foregone conclusion. Even if you allowed character tweaks between rounds, it creates a lot of hard work for the judges, the competition runner, and potentially muddys the waters.

If the judge votes weren't revealed, there would at least be some surprise factor involved for people following the contest [as an elimination bracket], but I'm not sure you'd have more than the final cluster of interested readers from the outset, without the extra fun and investment of interactivity.

I like to see people embracing the role of judges, though.
I'm not sure it needs to be a 4-1 weighted split, but I think having a good set of informed and savvy judges who can influence the outcoming of voting is a good way to keep things respectable and honest.

As it's worked out in the end, the judges didn't really overturn all that many crowd votes, and was even put in the surprising situation of being held at a deadlock that was ultimately determined by crowd re-voting. So there's a pretty healthy balance there, all things considered.

Might've been nice to be pulling some quotes from the judges (and voter/reviewers) for somewhere on the bios, though. Maybe after they're eliminated, to avoid influencing the audience vote. [Had hoped to do some such in an MKO print project, but never mind].

Thanks Espio872 for the review. I knew he was somewhat lacking but next year he won't be a rush job.

Cheers dude much appreciated

To Mick-Lucifer:

I wouldn't expect the judges vote to be public until a character was defeated or until someone has one it all. Also on the character scoring sheet you could put a comments section. So when a character was defeated they could know why it happened. It would be more work for the judges but it would also put more thought into the voting process.

I am pretty sure the public vote got muddy by people like me who vote for the character that beat me(not because he wasn't nessecarily the best but because I wanted to lose to the champ), or someone angry over there characters loss and votes against the whole time out of spite. Or the voters who just want there character to win and the copy and paste the vote before them.

A note to everyone requesting reviews, make sure to check not only the main thread, but the fan submission forum and stick around, your reviews will be posted around the dealine I give unless circumstances prevent me from doing so.

p.s. any other reviewers out there, it would be greatly appreciated if you'd throw your hats in to assist,doing reviews is fun and all, but alternative opinions on characters really help the creators get a general idea of things to improve upon and some may notice faults I missed or additionally provide better advice than myself.

Character reviews could possibly be reciprocated as the more feedback someone gets, the better they can work to improve their characters.

I only say this because it would be a huge benefit to all parties involved,



I'm glad my reviews have been generally helpful and well received.

Thanks again guys and gals, you are all glorious.


and @TheBIgMIstake I need to respond to your message, I haven't forgotten:)




You're very welcome sir, if I can I'll post it sooner

Sorry for double posting, but I didn't want to combine all my posts as a big wall of text seemed more confusing.






You're very welcome, I'm glad to be of help

p.s. criticism is the proper spelling, it happens though, no worries.

O I didn't know that, it would explain the nunchuck use.

Shiku isn't a bad name, though I am curious of its origins.

I'm honored to hear you be so curteous with your praise, glad I got the chance to read and contribute:)


Johnny Cage and Liu Kang did have them in Deadly Alliance and Deception respectively, I wouldn't mind seeing them on a new character, but not those two as I like them to be hand to hand reliant as they never were weapon users until those games.

p.s. I know this is really late, but I hope you enjoyed your spirits





You're welcome, still good work for a rush

Epsio, I was wondering if you had gotten a chance to review Kayatsu yet? You said you'd have a review up a while back and I never saw it... Maybe I'm missing it somewhere?

Yeah, sorry hadn't gotten it posted. It was one of those ones I overlooked, but fortunately it's here finally.

My review of Kayatsu Arashi for KnightMysterio

Bio: Well written and nice usage of established characters, I could see Khameleon doing that to subvert the plans of Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn. I love redemption story they are so relatable, even if you’ve never experienced them in life, it‘s inspiring. The bio was well written, easy to follow and blended fiction and non-fiction story elements seamlessly. Her connections to Shang Tsung and Khameleon were very convincing and the overall story and presentation was enjoyable.

Fighting style: a pretty unique style that is absent from MK, it’s nice to see a sumo wrestler character appear, lovely that you put an MK twist to it with her combining her discipline with her Raptor nature. It’s certainly a welcome addition.
Costumes: I love them both and I love that this is a female character that isn’t about looking hot or sexy, she’s about being a powerful and formidable warrior, it’s a nice change of pace to see a female character who fits her described occupation and story, love the design ideas, superb job.
Special moves: An excellent array of sumo moves and only a subtle hint of her Raptor nature, her specials fit her like a glove and her established background, they were described well and she has a pretty diverse tool set, a cool grappler character I wouldn’t mind trying out. Interesting that you went for realism in preventing her special from working on Kenshi
X-ray: A very unique X-ray, described with suitable detail and very befitting of a Sumo.

Fatalities: A nice variety in her finishers, the first is both scary disturbing and unique and the second is rather sadistic and also a fresh and never before seen type of finisher, certainly a crowd pleaser for originality.

Taunts: Excellent show of her reptilian nature and fits her established traits, pretty fitting taunts.

Ending: I really enjoyed this ending and the development Kayatsu gets, she has to deal with the fact that her husband is beyond her reach, but instead of becoming destructive, she helps restore her people and aligns herself with Reptile and Khameleon, Kayatsu’s story comes full circle and the ending was the incing on the cake, another portion that was well written and even included extra details, like how she reacted after defeating Shao Kahn.


Overall: This is a pretty solid characters, there’s nothing really of note that I feel needs to be mentioned in terms of faults, unique X-ray, fatalities, well written bio and ending, fitting specials, fighting style, and an appearance that breaks the mold. I just find myself finding anything to really criticize, nothing of note.
I hope my review is helpful, I wish I had some advice on improvement, but I couldn’t find anything to add to help enhance the character.

Ah yes, so many missed opportunities to continue to bring up dicks. I leave for a day and all the fun is had without me. Where am I to divert my corrupt tendencies now?

Also, @Espio872: Since you seem to be the one cranking out the reviews.... Though I hate to increase the workload, would you mind reviewing my sailor, Annette? I might have already asked this at some point... Hell if I remember. Sometimes I just talk and have no recollection of what was said.

Thank you for the review. I'm very fond of Kayatsu, and am pleased that people like her so far. :D

Wow! I come back here and the damn tourny is nearly over. I wont be joining the next one just to keep everyone happy.

@Ekimaru. Did you get to finish that drawing of Shoulen?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who loves Poison. I wanted to see her/him in SF4 so bad.... now I'm gonna have to get SFxT.

Its kind of sad that its almost over but its been great to see all the talent show here. I'm already itching for the next one, sadly it wont be for a long time. One things for sure Malice wont be making another appearance ;)

Bummer. Malice was hands down my favorite aesthetically designed character and showed promise in her bio.

Definitely had one of the best visual references! Although, I personally would've preferred the pants from one design, with the top half of the other. Stylistically it pushed the boundaries of what is identifiably "MK," but did it in a way that was thoroughly palatable and justified.

Conceptually, I thought it was a bit of a let down.
Veered very much into slash-fic/fan-fic territory with secret love affairs and vaguely 'Mary Sue' sub-plots that ask a bit too much for something that achieves very little. I think the quality and details of the design really cried out for a much stronger characterization, perhaps something grounded in Earthrealm, but a bit more esoteric. Being a bit of a comic book fiend, my mind went to Greg Rucka's illfated Batwoman villain, Alice, who was wrapped up in a world of crime as a religion, and communicated through Lewis Carroll quotes. That's not quite the gimmick I'd expect here, but a flamboyant criminal figure is something that might have been interesting. The design doesn't say Edenia, to me -- or spy. It's very self-induglent and decadent in it's complexity and flourishes. There's certainly a lot of room available to flesh-out the criminal world in MK, beyond Black Dragon feuds and fringe martial arts cults for hire.

I might've liked to see some kind of rethink on the bio side that evened up the quality hemispheres of the character, but it'll be nice to see what you can do moving forward, perhaps in a new direction.

Dammit, man. You have, I think, the best reviews I've seen.

As something ends and withdrawl sits in, some look towards the future to try and relive a similair event.

So, will we see the next tournament around the Christmas holidays or was the waning voter turnout enough to discourage another one of these contests for the foreseeable future?

I tried to I really did but I think I cannot improve him,cuz I like him the way he is sorry to let you down...

You don't have to improve him. Would like to see your style of drawing of him! Even though he is humanoid, some aspect could be exaggerated. Like the forearms and hands due to his shape moulding abilities.

But if you cant draw him then I guess it's fine... I did do your sig and all...

Never mind. I'm being cheeky again.

Despite it waning from the initial 40-50 votes per match, the turnout is still quite high when put up against the older contests. I'll need to think about how I can improve the contest and attract voters during the offseason, but as of this moment my plan is still to open registration for contest 7 around the December holiday season.

Okay I am gonna try again and have it done by the end of this day ..or so I hope

Well it means alot that you said that but I dont think it would be a good idea to re-enter her, I want to keep it fresh and think folk are a little bored of her now. I have an idea for a Earthrealm witch character that i'm toying with who uses mirrors a weapon.
I also want to make a character thats British, not really an important aspect but the british haven't made an appearance in an mk game yet so I would like a little representation ;)