For me, one thing I've always liked about NetherRealm Studios is that they don't make carbon-copies of their past games, they actually really change things up and try new stuff. The trick with doing something like that though is there are things you're going to get right, and things you're not, it's a gamble, and I respect that they take such gambles.
I don't play the
Injustice franchise, so I can't comment on it, but I love
Mortal Kombat, and I've thoroughly enjoyed each game in the reboot trilogy. Each certainly has its flaws, but also a great many strengths.
Focusing on
Mortal Kombat 11, pre-launch it seemed to me that we were going to get a game that was more timing-based than before, and more foosty/neutral oriented. NetherRealm Studios was clear that this game would be more defensive based than
Mortal Kombat XL, which was all offence, and that this game would be far less combo heavy. I recall it being said that most character's would be around the low to mid 20% damage marks without using any Gauge. When they started to show the Skin and Gear system, that gave me cause for concern, but I took a wait and see approach.
To me, it seems they generally achieved what they wanted to with the above. This is not a combo game, the neutral and footsie element is very important, and timing on things tends to be very strict. Overall, I've enjoyed the game a lot and can't believe how differently it plays from its predecessors.
Story Mode is a lot of fun with a very interesting new antagonist, the roster in the game is excellent and most of the new characters are well done, the game is visually beautiful, and it really feels easy to pick up, but hard to fully master. Having excellent net code out of the box is another massive plus, and as a PC player, the quality of this port over the last one is complete night and day. Overall, I've thoroughly enjoyed and continue to enjoy the game.
My critiques though:
- Some characters seem to break the lower combo damage potential the game was supposed to be set around. I do wish that would be scaled back.
- I find some of the timing on things can be too strict. It's silly to me how often a simple wake up roll doesn't come out.
- The Get Up system in general, being universal, I find adds a bit of blandness to each character, less individuality.
- The Skin and Gear system is far too convoluted. Most characters actually only have about half a dozen skins, there's just eight million palette swaps. Similar for Gear. Mortal Kombat XL had Skins done right.
- Modifiers in Towers in the previous two games were fun, but in Mortal Kombat 11, they're a frustrating chore. They took what was great about the Living Towers and sucked the life out of it faster than Shang takes a soul.
Overall though, I love the game. According to Steam, I've put 259 hours into
Mortal Kombat XL since it launched in 2015. I've already put 220 hours into
Mortal Kombat 11.