Okay. Just beat the story so I can finally comment on it without fear of reading spoilers.
Direction and characterization wise, it was the best MK story to date. The mocap technology is at its best and the facial expressions are really selling the characters' emotions. The action scenes are amazing, there were some clear fan-service moments which really made me jump from my seat (and I'm almost forty years old).
I really liked the development of certain characters, with Kitana, Liu Kang, Raiden, the Cage family, Kotal, Jade and Baraka standing out. I was especially and pleasantly surprised with how NRS handled my Tarkatan general. Kitana treated him with respect and he acknowledged that, deciding to become something more than a mere lackey of a man he once respected solely because of his power.
But Kitana truly steals the show, imo. She finally decides to earn her birthright and actually does what Kotal struggled for so long. Shao Kahn's 'where was this Kitana all this time' line could may as well be the voice of the player at that point. Very well done.
Raiden and Liu Kang's relationship also gets lots of development, explaining in a way how those two were friends, rivals, enemies, teacher and student in an endless, timeless circle. Raiden decided to give closure to that spiral and Liu Kang rose to the task and accomplished what millennia-old Elder Gods could not.
Those characters helped me realize how other beloved characters of mine had no further development. Sub-Zero served no purpose in this story and could might as well not be there. Old Johnny also had little to do here other than give a 'grow up' speech to his younger counterpart. Jax's betrayal may seemed wtf for some fans, but at least it helped the character get closure to the inner demons and brooding that festered inside him all these years.
It is ironic, that of all the characters that were reunited with past selves and the timeline clusterfuck, the one that is in perfect harmony with past, present and future is none other than the most despicable, back-stabbing asshole in the entire franchise: Kano. Kano immediately hits it off with his counterpart, becoming best buddies and helping each other with no hesitation or second-guessing, effectively turning out to be one of Kronika's best backup plans. Sonya killing two birds with one stone is symbolic: those two (Old Kano/Young Kano) were practically one character.
Kahn vs Kahn: a battle almost all lore fans craved ever since they read the MKX comics and loved the newer Outworld ruler. It delivered, imo.
Kotal got less development here than in MKX, and it is only due to Jade that we learn more about the man, and less about the warlord. And that's ok - it's a good pair, and I enjoyed watching them together. Their chemistry is palpable, making even Kitana question her best friend's intentions (the "Are you my friend, or his consort?!" line was amazing).
Cassie's voice actor was an amazing choice and helped me like the character a lot more than in MKX. In MK11, we get to learn more about Cassie, a more mature Cassie who takes her position seriously and is often tasked with the worst choice a Lawful Good character can make: Love vs Duty. Chapter 1 sells this exceptionally well, and it is later when she half-mutters "How do I say this?" when she must tell her younger mother that she had to deal with old Blade's death just a few hours ago that I was completely sold on the voice actress.
All in all, my favourite MK story mode in terms of fan service and feels.
However, the reset button in the end is something all fans understandably are afraid of, and angry about. All the character development? Gone. Every character in the franchise? Not guaranteed to exist anymore. I am not worried about the latter, because if a character is popular and interesting, he will come back, better designed than ever. And characters which died can easily come back now (Quan Chi, Havik, Hsu Hao, Shao Kahn, etc.)
But in terms of story in THIS particular game, there were some things which made me ask: What was the point? Especially due to the ending. Why did Hanzo die? Just before the ending, I thought I knew - because NRS wanted to make Scorpion a revenant again, but a force of good this time. But the end has a reset button, so it doesn't matter. Hanzo could just as easily have lived and nothing would have changed in the end since history is reset. What was the point of gathering all of Earthrealm and Outworld forces in the final battle? Not only does God Liu blast all the Oni by himself - making the army of the forces of good unnecessary, but before fighting Kronika, the battle is reset, so there was no point in gathering an army in the first place since Kronika was like "lol - REWIND!". The very nature of Kronika made the last few minutes … weird, and a lot of stuff that happens during the story of MK11 turn out to be unnecessary.
In the end, however, I am pleased. Yeah, Noob Saibot didn't do shit and Baraka didn't get a story chapter and a couple of other stuff, but this was the first MK story I played through that didn't make me feel underwhelmed and anxious to see it 'fix' itself every now and then. In MK9, from the moment Sindel kills 90% of the cast, I felt something was off. For every second of MKX after Quan-Chi's death I felt something was off. But in MK11, I didn't feel that. I liked what I saw for the most part, and now I am anxious to see the inevitable reboot of my favorite franchise (along with Resident Evil).
Damn good job, NRS.
