#playing as kano in the krypt is fucking fire

[techno-syndrome]

[saigontimemd]

Some Thoughts on Mortal Kombat 11

Putting it under the cut because story spoilers

First off, I loved the singleplayer mode. NRS has been improving on the singleplayer every iteration, and I feel like MK11′s narrative is the strongest yet. They’ve cut out the last traces of MK9′s ‘fighting for fighting’s sake’ contrivances, and they’ve fully cashed in on the awkward attempts at ensemble fight sequences that they tried in MKX. Also, no QTEs this time around. There are so many fantastic moments, moments with actual emotional heft - something I always wanted from a Mortal Kombat game (or hell, any fighting game) - and even genuine surprise.

- Sonya finally killing Kano after all these years, and while he’s in MAXIMUM SMUG mode - Baraka gets a semi-redemption arc and he (and the Tarkatans ) joins the good guys too (also: lady Tarkatans CUTE while still being as spiky as the guys) - The entire Old Scorpion/Young Scorpion sequence - Literally everything between the two Johnny Cages - Kitana KHAN - Raiden finally breaking the cycle and overcoming the darkness within himself - FIRE GOD LIU KANG (also we really need an HD remake/sequel to Shaolin Monks because Liu Kang/Kung Lao bants is A++) - an ending that is 100% optimistic/noblebright for the future of the series

And these were just the really big moments. There’s so much to love, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Unfortunately, there IS one big problem with the campaign, or three, rather: the new fighters aren’t even remotely interesting. The Kollector is a komplete joke with no actual motivation beyond greed, Cetrion should have had a bigger role (and also a last-minute face turn), and Garas...actually, Garas was alright. He works really well as a ‘you shall not pass’ kind of henchman.

Secondly, the kustomization. I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I love being able to change the look of characters so much. On the other hand, the mechanical elements - selecting special moves and so forth - I’m less hot on, if only because they’re not as organized as well as I’d like them to be. For example: I’m a Noob Saibot main, and the last time I played him was MK9 (obviously). But his default moveset is slightly different in MK11, so I want to be able to just select ‘MK9 moveset’ from the options rather than try to compare the two eras’ special moves until I figure it out. That’s fairly minor, tbh, because they’re all available from the start - which is more than I can say about the kosmetic items.

Let me say that I haven’t been hit as hard by the Krypt grind as a lot of people because I’ve spent a lot of time tweaking the AI settings and letting them grind for me in the Tower of Time while I do other things. It’s not the most sporting thing, but the current Krypt/Kurrency system is fucking ridiculous, so I don’t feel bad about it. But for people who ARE putting in the hours to manually grind, I definitely sympathize. If I’m as frustrated with it playing the way I do, I can only imagine how mad people are who are doing it the hard way.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about the aforementioned Tower of Time; partly because NRS has said that fixes for the difficulty and grind are already coming, partly because I’m still pissed. Most of the fights have been fair, some of them are real horseshit.

Lastly, the gripes, because I always have those.

- I have nothing against Ronda Rousey but PLEASE bring back Tricia Helfer as Sonya Blade in the next game please please please - Several conspicuously missing characters; I accept that you can only have so many characters in a fighting game at launch, but the absence of two of the ‘main four’ from MKX is really strange. With all the time-fuckery going on, it’s hard to imagine Kung Jin and Takeda Takahashi not being in the thick of it. On that note, where the actual hell is Reptile? - Although MK11 takes place 2(?) years after MKX, several of the characters (especially Cassie and Jacqui) look younger than their MKX versions, which is kind of unsettling. I know that NRS has never been huge on keeping characters looking consistent from one game to the next (hell, just look at the changes from one game to the next:

But the age-reduction thing is just weird. - Also, while I’m complaining about Cassie Cage, where the FUCK is her MKX undercut/stealthsuit look or Jacqui’s cornrows for that matter? If NRS can basically render every outfit Sub-Zero has ever worn, there’s no reason why those ain’t in.

And that about sums it up. Overall I’m really enjoying MK11 and I highly recommend it, even if you just rent it over the weekend to play through the story!