There is no neutral jump punch, no armor, combos don’t have the same versatility as they do in every other nrs game. Nobody is saying there are no combos lol
NJP, Armor doesn't have anything to do with versitility.
Look it's different than MKX and 9 is that such a bad thing. MK9 was different from X just as every game was different from the last, this is nothing new aside from 1&2. People need to quit expecting MK11 to be anything like MKX, nothing wrong with comparisons but judging the meta based off a game that is completely different is not accurate.
Literally many where saying combos where neutered that it didn't exsist. These replies are not out of the blue. They where very warranted. I have no agenda and was actually someone worried about combos lacking. My fears where put to rest during OST beta.
Evidence of combo diversity and length:
There are long big damage combos and I've seen them being in REO's HoneyBees and K&Ms streams. Krushing blows add depth and versitility. You need to take into account that noone has practice mode right now. No one has the capability to lab stuff up, range of normals, what triggers KBs and which ones pop up he'll most of the pros don't even know thier move list or the frame data this means they can't play neutral properly = you won't see optimal combos.
Scarlet Zoning Character:
16 hit combo from normal string popup
2 bars
46% damage no fatal blow.
Big Combos that's recorded:
That's insain damage and a pretty long combo. BTW I was a regular Cyrax player among many other pockets I cleared 40% midscreen 1 bar with most characters in MKX and I'm telling you even though it's different than MKX the potential and exsistence of long versatile combos is in MK11.
If you are not pulling it off right now that's likely because we lack game knowledge of many aspects of the game. (Not an insult to anyone) even the competitive players lack proper knowledge of MK11.
Subject to change:
This is a OST build that is only partial of the game in all it's glory. Many things will change including normals, special moves, range of moves and speed. For this build they removed Special Cancel on Scorpion's B141 string when it was available in reveal. NRS is testing different things out and has openly addressed this.
"Many aspects of the game are placeholder and will be changed accordingly" - Ed Boon
Game mechanics first impressions:
So far I'm seeing an improvement on many mechanics over the absurdly unbalanced MK9/X (Even though I loved both those games). My boi Cyrax was Broke AF in 9.
My conclusion:
I see it's a wonderful game that has incredible depth. Here are some new features that create both depth and positives in neutral based gameplay forcing players to the no about what they do B4 slapping out random mix-ups for free.
This allows players to focus on Neutral more and other game mechanics. Allows players to play the way they want without being forced to use a specific playstyle to gain meter
Previous games had X-ray which was shit to be frank. Now we have a very strong tools that isn't broke and requires actual thought to put it out there since it can be interrupted at startup. Game changing move.
- Defensive & Offensive meter
Self explanatory, allows you to do more helping defensive players and zoners as well as rushdown.
This forces players to learn thier character in and out while also having to learn more about thier matchups since they need to watch out for moves that KB. It adds depth to combos in a way we have never seen before in mk games. You have to adjust to using other strings based on what you used previously and what you need to do to meet requirements for KB.
I think it also helps characters that normally wouldn't have damage or lengthy combos suddenly have the capability.
This helps fight against strong zoning and rushdown. It rewards players who put in the time to perfect block on reaction and reads. You won't see random casuals landing it consistently which puts additional focus on neutral based gameplay at higher levels since they are worried they will get blown up for throwing unsafe strings that have gaps or spamming the same projectile predictively. This allows counters for both styles of gameplay.
Final Thoughts:
There is so much more to MK11 than I can write here. There is much more to be seen and I'm eagerly waiting to have the full version of the game with at least a month in lab before advocating serious change unless it's something broke viewed by most of the community.
I hope I addressed some of your concerns and if I haven't and you still think combos are lackluster or limited or absent then I hope the massive amount of streams can shed light on that concern so you have a clear understanding one way or the other.