MK12 Speculation

[Trustful_Whale]

I feel like he was genuine.

Genuinely touched. Trying to literally demand respect from strangers over the internet because he's taking advantage of whatever insider friend he most likely had.
There's really nothing cool or respectable about what he was trying to do, just sad. Whether his information was good or not is irrelevant.

Leakers aren't people to be revered, they are to be laughed at.

 

[mattteo]

If you look at it like that, then yes. But who of us does.not want to learn more? We could just stay away. And yet...we ask and click and search.

 

[Juxtapose]

Wild theory.

MK12 goes back to being a 3D fighter and that’s why it’s taken so long time to work on.

If it goes 3D, I'll likely pass on the game.

 

[Trustful_Whale]

Why would making it 3D take longer?

 

[xWildx]

Game opens with a montage of MK9-11. The camera then zooms out of Raiden’s eye. He’s aboard the Nethership to Shang Tsung’s island. Liu Kang and Kitana have sent him a message about what happens if he stays on this path.

Boom. Series rebooted but unrebooted. Give me back the sibling relationship of Kitana and Mileena, an actually scary Shao Kahn, and a Sindel that doesn’t make me gag.

 

[Marlow]

Why would making it 3D take longer?

I assume a lot of the gameplay code and assets would need to be reworked to a 3D engine? They wouldn’t be able to recycle or reuse as much from prior games.

 

[Trustful_Whale]

I assume a lot of the gameplay code and assets would need to be reworked to a 3D engine? They wouldn’t be able to recycle or reuse as much from prior games.

iirc they've now switched to Unreal 5 for this game so whatever they do is going to come with a learning curve, but I don't see their actual workload being all that different if they were to switch to 3D arena.
I can't pretend to know how they hooked things up in MK11 but it's possible they had to start from scratch regardless.

 

[Marlow]

Two things I’m curious if they change are Meter gain and Breakaway. I’m in the extreme minority but I actually liked Breakaway, at least the theory around it, but they clearly need to tweak it.

I also liked having meter based on a timer, but I’d be fine going back to a more classic meter system.

 

[Hara-Killer]

Two things I’m curious if they change are Meter gain and Breakaway. I’m in the extreme minority but I actually liked Breakaway, at least the theory around it, but they clearly need to tweak it.

I also liked having meter based on a timer, but I’d be fine going back to a more classic meter system.

if they keep the breakaway then make it like injustice 2

 

[Arqwart]

If it goes 3D, I'll likely pass on the game.

Have no expectation they'd bother going back into the 3D space considering how the 3D-era went and it not being their shtick, but just in case: same. Not my cup of tea. Have tried 3D-era MK, Tekken, and Soul Calibur. Not a fan of any of them in the slightest.

To chime in on the meter situation some have touched on, I'm gunna be controversial and say that I loved the split meter. Could remove the regenerating aspect and I'd be down with that (more similar to 9/X, especially reintroducing First Hit Bonus). I think the split meter has a ton of room for growth so it'd be a shame to see it replaced with the old standard, boring, easily responsible for most balance issues in 9/X meter system. Some ideas so yall can see what I mean on split meter:

1. Remove regeneration. Reintroduce First Hit Bonus. Make taking damage add to defensive meter, make dealing damage / hitting on block add to offensive meter.
   1. Still split 2/2. Could make it to where the first bar regenerates, but you have to manually build to the second one. Maybe just defensive bar regenerates up to the first. Lots of options to define game flow.
2. Certain specials can be defensively amplified, others offensively amplified, a select few can do both at once.
   1. Defensive amplifications can add things like armor, defensive buffs after use (think IJGAU Grundy), healing / leech on damage (think MK11 Skarlet), further knockback, greater distance on blinks / teleports, temporary debuffs to enemy's offense on hit, etc.
   2. Offensive amplifications can add the standard things like damage, additional hits, juggling, safe(er) on block; but can also add things like longer knockdown timer for oki, bleed bonus damage after (like certain MK11 KBs), temporary debuffs to enemy's defense on hit, etc.
   3. Moves where you can amplify via both could have unique properties when spending both bars. Maybe a parry that only works on mids/overheads can now parry lows and grabs too. Maybe a delayed trap attack no longer goes away when you're hit or block when it's arming.
3. Some situations could introduce temporary meter regen akin to wall break in Guilty Gear Strive. Losing a round could grant a few seconds of defensive meter regen at the next round start. Landing a super / X-ray / Fatal Blow could grant offensive meter regen for a few seconds. Getting hit by an opponent's breaker could grant offensive meter regen for a few seconds. Landing a KB could grant one bar's regen depending on the KB type.
4. Combo Breakers (breakaway begone.. please) could be similar to the 3D-era days where you have tokens but also include scaling cost. You still have a limited # of them for a match (4 total), but also have the stipulation of needing the prerequisite defensive meter to use. First breaker could be free, second breaker costs 1 defensive bar, third and fourth breakers cost 2 defensive bars each. No more past that (you should be 100% dead by that point anyway).

The world is NRS' oyster with split offensive/defensive meter. Super cool idea that's quite unique against other games' usual meter systems.

 

[Marlow]

if they keep the breakaway then make it like injustice 2

I think they could fix it if they just:

1. Give characters more variable combo routes so that when to break was more ambiguous
2. Give each character a viable armor breaker in order to call out and punish a breakaway on read
3. Make sure characters have viable unbreakable options, which kind of goes along with #1
4. Make the penalty for the defender higher with a longer knockdown time to eliminate getting punished for doing a combo.

There are ways to keep breakaway and make it interesting.

 

[mattteo]

If it goes 3D, I'll likely pass on the game.

I understand this, but I appreciate the 3D era. The correct way is keeping it 2D because that is better for gameplay, but otherwise import all the things from the 3D era: story, konquest, spundtracks, stage fatalities, characters

 

[Trustful_Whale]

I think they could fix it if they just:

1. Give characters more variable combo routes so that when to break was more ambiguous
2. Give each character a viable armor breaker in order to call out and punish a breakaway on read
3. Make sure characters have viable unbreakable options, which kind of goes along with #1
4. Make the penalty for the defender higher with a longer knockdown time to eliminate getting punished for doing a combo.

There are ways to keep breakaway and make it interesting.

Kinda blows my mind they never forced a delayed wakeup after breakaway or even longer. I'm positive that alone would have solved a lot of negative feedback for the mechanic.

I understand this, but I appreciate the 3D era. The correct way is keeping it 2D because that is better for gameplay, but otherwise import all the things from the 3D era: story, konquest, spundtracks, stage fatalities, characters

I think Konquest has a great chance at returning, personally.

 

[theotherguy]

Still split 2/2. Could make it to where the first bar regenerates, but you have to manually build to the second one. Maybe just defensive bar regenerates up to the first. Lots of options to define game flow.

That's an interesting idea, although will still lead to aggressive characters building meter more quickly. But also does force you to play more aggressively if you want that extra meter. With some thought behind it there's no reason they couldn't make it work.

I like the optimism people have about the 4 year life cycle, but I don't think it's because they are overhauling anything. I think it's more to do with all the restructuring going on at WB. They probably started and stopped on 2 other projects between MK11 and MK12 due to all of the changes in the company.

Fair speculation, and no doubt the restructuring/covid has had it's impact.

I'm basing my mine on a tweet(?) that MK mobile was using UE4/5, so the company has some time to figure some things out before moving it over to the mainline series.

 

[Sugarwatermixlegit]

Nothing that anybody hasn’t said before but:
Breakaway. Gone. Outta here. Please. Breakers from 9 and X weren’t broken so don’t fix them

Meter coming back on its own also sucked. Granted this was probably more noticeable because breakers were dumb, but either way I don’t see why working for your meter is such a bad idea.

Super moves are fine, I liked X-Rays, but please for the love of god just tie them to meter again. They should be a huge risk huge reward kind of thing, not a built in comeback system. I get they wanted the animations to be seen in game more probably, but it was a momentum killer for me. At the very least, just make it so if you miss, it’s gone.

I don’t see the point in asking for fatalities to go away because that will literally never happen, they’re the entire reason this franchise is a franchise to begin with, but at least make it so you can only do them at the end of the set. Winning your first game when you still have potentially two more til it’s over does not call for a thirty second cutscene.

 

[Arqwart]

That's an interesting idea, although will still lead to aggressive characters building meter more quickly. But also does force you to play more aggressively if you want that extra meter. With some thought behind it there's no reason they couldn't make it work.

That's the thing, though. The core design issue in the past for meter was that meter build disparity meant characters who struggled on meter got no offense OR defense. An MK9 Sheeva isn't just dying inside trying to dodge those Kabal projectiles, she's also absolutely screwed on getting access to good damage, armored moves, and breakers while the Kabal is drowning in meter to do with as he pleases. Splitting meter between offense / defense, especially if defensive meter isn't gained when on the offense, means the meter disparity issue becomes a lot more nuanced. Giga offensive blockstring / mixup characters and turbo zoning characters may be able to access more offensive meter to do more pressure, mixups, juggles, zoning etc.; but they aren't also building up defense at the same time in a world with split offense / defense meters. The single meter bar being the end all be all for both offense and defense has always been my biggest gripe in the NRS era and is why MK11's split meter system is so cool to me. TONS of potential to break this balance issue.

 

[xXRagingFlameXx]

My Wishlist - I'll probably edit this to add more as I think of new things.

No Microtransactions - Why were Time Krystals even a thing? Why was there a time limited shop to begin with?

Less Special Forces Characters - I find them boring and redundant. Why do we have Sonya & Johnny if we have Cassie. Why do we have Jax when we have Jacqui? That's 3 slots that could be opened up for infinitely more interesting characters like Havik, Ermac, or Smoke.

Chaosrealm & Orderrealm - We need to spice things up. Bring in Hotaru & Darrius. Introduce a new Chaosrealm character along with Havik. We've spent so much time with Outworld & Earthrealm in the current timeline, that we haven't even scratched the surface of all that the Mortal Kombat universe has to offer.

Keep the MK11 Gear System - I hated Injustice 2's lootbox mechanic with a deep passion, and I hated that you couldn't have EVERY piece of gear in ur character's inventory. So I was absolutely thrilled with how MK11 did things. You can see every single piece of gear & how to unlock it. Of course, it'd be cool to have even more customization, and some gear pieces were absolutely pointless (Looking at you, Noob Saibot's shadow...) so it'd be neat if we could somehow mix in Injustice's level of customization with MK11's gear system. If that makes sense. Or at the very least, give us more skins. We essentially would have 1 unique skin with 9 recolors. So there's only really like 6 unique skins. And then you have Skarlet who had 3 of the same skin with various pieces missing like her goggles or a piece of fabric. It felt lazy.

No More Variation Abilities - We can keep the "Variation" loadouts for intros, victories, cosmetics, etc. But no more abilities. I do like the idea that you can make these characters play how YOU want them to. But not when it just makes the characters feel empty and like there's something missing. Like, Sub-Zero's Ground Freeze being banned in competitive play. And I can't even describe how much it pissed me off that I couldn't have all of Rain's classic moves in a single variation...

Towers of Time - Having a mode strictly for offline play is great, especially when you can let the AI grind through the towers and unlock cosmetics for you. (This is probably one of the best additions. Although the grind should be removed period, it helps when you can simply let the AI grind for you.) I honestly don't think there's anything I'd change about it. Some of the AI + modifiers could be insanely annoying though...I'd tone that down a bit. But I loved the holiday events. Hate time exclusive gear and skins though.

Krypt - More fun Krypt adventuring, less grindy timewasting. The MK11 Krypt was fun. Exploring iconic stages, characters making cameo appearances. It was fun! However, the grind, was not. I like the puzzles, the traps, the stealthing around giant spiders, etc. But the notorious 50 fatality per character head grind was...without a doubt...a choice. Luckily, I participated in the great Krypt head exploit...but others weren't so lucky. Let's not do that again.

 

[Demon_0]

Keep the MK11 Gear System - I hated Injustice 2's lootbox mechanic with a deep passion, and I hated that you couldn't have EVERY piece of gear in ur character's inventory. So I was absolutely thrilled with how MK11 did things. You can see every single piece of gear & how to unlock it. Of course, it'd be cool to have even more customization, and some gear pieces were absolutely pointless (Looking at you, Noob Saibot's shadow...) so it'd be neat if we could somehow mix in Injustice's level of customization with MK11's gear system. If that makes sense. Or at the very least, give us more skins. We essentially would have 1 unique skin with 9 recolors. So there's only really like 6 unique skins. And then you have Skarlet who had 3 of the same skin with various pieces missing like her goggles or a piece of fabric. It felt lazy.

Lots of people don't want gear to return and I honestly don't blame them because it was so f*cked up to get them in MK11.

I want gear to return in a more extensive way since I'm a big fan of character customization. Just get rid of the ridiculous grind. No one wants to grind/wait for months to get the sh*t they want.

 

[Art Lean]

I want gear to return in a more extensive way since I'm a big fan of character customization. Just get rid of the ridiculous grind. No one wants to grind/wait for months to get the sh*t they want.

Totally agree on both the posts above. I loved having all the customisable options, but hated the grind (though to a small degree at least felt I had a reason to play MK11 for so long, still don't lke the way it was done). I still have a few bits I want yet are locked away that I can't get (mainly some KL gear), and have simply given up caring about, since after 4 years enough's enough. So I don't want to go through that again. And let’s not even start on the disgraceful act that was Golden Krypt events and having to monitor a personal Twitter account every week for a 1 day chance to get classic gear that everyone wants badly? Absolutely disgusting.

Just as @xXRagingFlameXx said, no more pointless gear either, crap like Jacqui's batteries, Noob's shadow's belts, Kabal's gas canisters etc. needs to go. Make it all visually obvious things that are rewarding to unlock and make clear evident changes to the character; head and facial wear, hair, footwear etc.

Also, there is a WEALTH of MK gear and costumes across the world of multimedia; you've got 11 mainline games, 3 mainline spinoffs, 3 live action movies, 2 live action series, incredible live action adverts, 4 animated movies, an animated series, stacks of comic series, and loads of other things I've undoubtedly forgotten, so utilising the gear and costumes that those productions displayed should be the first source of origin for all our choices rather than lots of ugly new ones they've made up. I want to be able to fully recreate Sub Zero from MK21, Kano from MK95, Mileena from MK Annihilation, Shao Kahn from Conquest and the MK2 advert etc.

AND OH MY GOD PLEASE DON'T HAVE GEAR CHANGE INTO RANDOM CLASHING COLOURS WHEN APPLIED TO CERTAIN SKINS!!!! Was no one checking that for quality control?

 

[Trustful_Whale]

Hope they don't drop the ball on the soundtrack this time.

 

[Hara-Killer]

Hope they don't drop the ball on the soundtrack this time.

hmm not that is important but ....dunno if Another Rap/Trap song for the reveal trailer would fit ,but its almost 90% sure its gonna be like mkx and mk11 vibe.

 

[Vslayer]

The only thing he was right was kp2 and half of Aftermath 1's summary. Everything else is wrong.

Aftermath 2: Wrong.
KP3: Wrong.
Injustice 3 before MK12: Wrong.
Didn't leak the Snow Blind animation film.
Didn't leak MK Onslaught.
MK12 Announcement at the 2022 TGA: Wrong.
MK12 Announcement in 2023 January: Wrong.

He definitely had a solid contact at some point, but he hasn't been correct about a single thing after KP2.

Yeah he got a lot of things wrong man, which I mean can be because they had to cut some stuff out or he had early scripts and what not. But if he wasn't aware of the changes then is he really that good of an insider source.

 

[Pizza]

Hope they don't drop the ball on the soundtrack this time.

The last time Mortal Kombat had a good, interesting soundtrack was probably MK Deception

 

[mattteo]

The last time Mortal Kombat had a good, interesting soundtrack was probably MK Deception

Armageddon had the best soundtrack.

 

[Marlow]

What genre of music should MK12 have? More like a movie score, or a mix of genre’s? Should each character have their own theme?