KIC Community Interview With Caleb Laulusa

Welcome to the Killer Instinct Central ‘Community Interview Feature’ where we interview YOU about gaming and Killer Instinct! This week features Caleb Laulusa, so read on for this Killer Instinct fans love for gaming and, of course, KI…

KIC: Tell us a bit about yourself. How long have you been playing video games?
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Caleb: I’ve been playing video games since I was five. Even before that, I would watch my father play Tetris for hours on end.

KIC: Is there any particular video game that led to you picking up gaming as a hobby?
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Caleb: Yes, I would play Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat 2 on Sega Genesis. And I could beat ALL of my friends by spamming fireballs and ice blasts, because I developed the execution pretty early by doing the arcade mode over and over again by myself. But then, one day I asked my dad if he would come and play with me. I won the first few times but then, through trial and error, my dad would find normals that stuffed my specials before they could come out. So even though I knew Liu Kang’s Bicycle Kick and Johnny Cage’s Shadow Kick, I was getting beaten! My little 7-year old brain couldn’t comprehend it. It spurred me on to learn more, to find out why a crouching kick into uppercut was better than the secret moves. And as I learned, it became second-nature to me to find out how to play all sorts of games. How ironic that it’s the learning part of playing games that I enjoyed so much as a kid, right?

KIC: Let’s talk Killer Instinct. What is it about the franchise that makes you a fan?
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Caleb: I’ll be quite honest: Killer Instinct was not a part of my childhood, at ALL. Even though I played quite a few fighters as I grew up, it just never caught my eye. It wasn’t until I saw Maximilian’s response that I thought to check it out. This was back when he made videos on his old potato camera, but I respected his stance and attitude towards fighting games and video games in general so much, that I thought it deserved a look.

What made me a fan, and still continues to hold my interest, is the Combo Breaker/Counter Breaker relationship and what it does for the meta-game happening in a match. It takes the methodology of being two steps ahead of your opponent and fashions a whole network out of it. How it plays with your head is endlessly exciting and oh-so rewarding. There is also very rhythm-heavy reliance in the combo system; the act of performing Opener>Double>Linker>Double>Ender has a rhythm to it that’s character-specific, and as someone who plays a lot of DDR in high school and was raised by two ballroom champion parents, I can easily tune into Killer Instinct with no sweat. I also super-appreciate how the Combo Assist makes the sharp learning curve of that rhythm-based combo system much easier to master so that everyone can play, and still keeps the Combo-Counter Breaker mechanic in play.

Once I learned how the fighting system worked, I knew I had to have it. I bought an Xbox One off a friend of mine who didn’t want it anymore; that was around the time that the Definitive Edition had been announced. I had already felt deprived of playing the game, being forced only to watch and study how the game is played from afar. I bought my copy, and immediately made sure I unlocked Hisako as soon as possible.

KIC: What character is your main and why?

Caleb: Hisako. Her design stands out so much not just KI, but from any other character I’ve seen in a fighter. I love it when a character’s design and static animations can tell you a lot about the character themselves. I’m also a huge sucker for the idea behind the character. Making a horror-motif the central basis for a character’s play style is pretty brilliant. She has all these options for countering enemy attacks in all different situations, and they’re to make her opponents afraid of her, afraid to attack her, which fits right into the horror-motif of her design.

KIC: What is your preferred game mode to play in and why?

Caleb: Preferred? Casual online. Most often played? Shadow Lords, for the unlockable skins.

KIC: How do you feel about guest characters being introduced to the franchise?

Caleb: I like it! Guest characters help bring in extra attention from a fanbase that otherwise might miss out, and as long as there is genuine care and passion put into the art of a character’s transition from one franchise to another, it can turn out fantastically. Case in point: Rash and Arbiter. I will be honest, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about General RAAM…he’s better than just putting Marcus Phoenix in the game, but I think Skorge from Gears of War 2 would have been a far more interesting choice. That said, the potential for more guest characters is great. I’d love to see the reverse happen too; Hisako, Fulgore, Mira Sabrewulf and Spinal would make great guests for other series like Mortal Kombat, Tekken 7 or Street Fighter V.

KIC: The music is one of the things that really defines the franchise. What song is your jam?

Caleb: Maya and TJ Combo’s themes are easily the best in the game. They genuinely get your blood pumping. They are ALL great, but those two (along with the main theme of the game) stand on the shoulder of the other songs. The only ones that I would actually deem to be weak, would be the themes of Riptor, Fulgore, Aganos, RAAM and Glacius.

KIC: Killer Instinct has a wide range of character types including cyborgs, a wolf, aliens, a dinosaur, and more. What character type currently NOT featured in the franchise would you like to see?

Caleb: A ninja would be cool. I’d like to see a mythological creature from the past or another culture being interpreted into the KI world, like a mermaid (sans legs).

KIC: What would you want and expect from a brand new Killer Instinct?

Caleb:

• Tag team Shadow mode! You could take your two characters from the Shadow Lab and use them in a tag team battle against other people’s teams. You could tag normally with a button, hold the button down to have your other character do an attack into the battle, or do a motion with the button to spend one bar of meter to have the character do a Shadow Attack into the fight.
• I would sincerely hope that the DLC practice being done in seasons 2 and 3 would be maintained. I loved having a character trailer released to amp up the excitement of each new character. Hopefully the same team would be involved too!
• I don’t need a big fully-animated story mode, I actually like the current style of the animatics. But I would give every character more of them, not just at the beginning and end of their Arcade mode.
• If Mick Gordon and the team for Season 2’s character themes aren’t involved with a new KI, I would immediately lose interest.
• Ultra Combos, Instinct Cancels, Ultimates, it all has to come back.
• Guest characters from other series and franchises, even ones that aren’t fighting games

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Bonus Questions…

KIC: Favorite Console?
Caleb: PS2.

KIC: Favorite Game?
Caleb: Devil May Cry 3, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Deadly Premonition, Skullgirls, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Soul Reaver,

KIC: Favorite Game Genre?
Caleb: Action.

KIC: Favorite Gaming Musician?
Caleb: Koji Kondo, Noriko Matsueda, Mick Gordon, Hideki Naganuma, Akira Yamaoka, Grant Kirkhope.

KIC: Favorite Game Studio?
Caleb: Platinum, Arc System Works, Sucker Punch, Capcom, Netherealm

Thank you Caleb for your participation in this interview! You can learn more about Caleb via Twitter and challenge in Killer Instinct at Gamertag thatsamoanguy.