Has NRS silenced the Mortal Kombat 1 critics?

[Vulgar]

I’d argue more it’s in western games. Also to be fair it’s not just gaming. It’s Hollywood as well.

I haven’t noticed (at least ime) these complaints with tekken, few with street fighter if any, and none with resident evil. It’s become a war. That’s why it’s called the culture wars.

The thing is though woke is definitely a thing. The genderswaps in MK1 for instance alone are ridiculous for example, but then we (the people on the other side) are called ridiculous for calling it out.

There is almost a creatives vs business thing in the mix of it as well. Creatives 9 times out of 10 lean very liberal and in doing so shove elements in their games that reflect that. However at large EVERYONE plays these games and I’d wager to say the majority (at least of the US) is not super liberal. We’re a mixed bag in the States and so when you gender and race swap characters that people really know and love (this is less so the case with less prominent characters) well then the creatives are throwing fuel on the fire, but they don’t care because they’d rather watch the world burn than admit maybe not everyone wants their message in a game that’s supposed to be an escape at the end of the day.

This post shows a huge, huge misunderstanding of media literacy.

The vast, VAST majority of media you consumed, including shit you watched as a kid, had some kind of underlying message to it.

These things are called "themes" and everything from Die Hard to Beowulf has them.

 

[Marlow]

few with street fighter if any

IDK there was the whole flap about R. Mika and her animation being changed because it showed too much cheek or something, and I feel like there's always pushback about whether they gave Cammy too much clothing.

The thing is though woke is definitely a thing. The genderswaps in MK1 for instance alone are ridiculous for example, but then we (the people on the other side) are called ridiculous for calling it out.

I don't think it is though. Gender swap isn't a new thing, it's done in movies, shows, comics, musicals, books all the time. If it's done in a lazy way, it's a problem, but that's true of creating in general.

 

[Marlow]

but they don’t care because they’d rather watch the world burn than admit maybe not everyone wants their message in a game that’s supposed to be an escape at the end of the day.

I did think it was odd when MK1 spent so much time promoting campaign finance reform and pushing for a national consumption tax.

 

[Vulgar]

I did think it was odd when MK1 spent so much time promoting campaign finance reform and pushing for a national consumption tax.

That bit where Liu Kang looked at the player and said, "The only thing that will truly save the Realms is to seize the means of production from the private owners of capital" really shook me.

Remember when games were just games? Like Pong?

 

[Marlow]

Let's not pretend that Space Invaders isn't a stealth Stand Your Ground laws campaign. This things cuts to both sides of the aisle.

 

[Trickywizard]

I'm not asking for censorship or an echo chamber - but literally every time we have a thread like this, something about how NRS has ruined MK by "going woke" comes up, its absolutely exhausting. Maybe its because you have literally nothing else to talk about, because you haven't played the game.

The conversation can be kept polite, but it almost always isn't. Some few people are able to walk the line and express why they're sad/frustrated that their favorite character has been changed in some "fundamental" way - but for many more, the conversation veers in a much worse direction.

We're still waiting on @Trickywizard to explain why Sonic is a "piece of shit scumbag" because "if you know you know" doesn't really cut it - bro could have just not said anything at all; and I could go back and quote some terrible things said about 16bit and others as well.

I don’t give a fuck

 

[ImpostorOak]

This whole site is just making fun of each other from behind screens. A few of the OH so holy members here are just always looking for attention and a fight. It's sad. No one can post an opinion they don't agree with without actual personal attacks or denegration.

I'm a left leaning guy myself, but this is childish as fuck.

 

[Liquid Swordsman]

No, they've called the new Doom game woke because it offered accessibility options and difficulty sliders.

Woke simply means, "anything that isn't his, white, or straight and anything I don't personally like."

They're very fragile people.

Shaft
Foxy Brown
Jackie Brown
Beverly Hills Cop
Predator
Creed
The latest Bad Boys movie
I can probably go on from here.

Nobody was complaining about these movies being woke or had lack of white leading actors because these movies were made using original ideas or original characters that just happened to work and it became generally appreciated by the audiences.

The issue is when companies prioritize race or sex orientation over making a good product. And as a result, the product suffers. The same can be said with the gender swapping or altering a character that can fuck up the character in a lot of ways. That's why people are fed up with woke.

 

[Vulgar]

Shaft
Foxy Brown
Jackie Brown
Beverly Hills Cop
Predator
Creed
The latest Bad Boys movie
I can probably go on from here.

Nobody was complaining about these movies being woke or had lack of white leading actors because these movies were made using original ideas or original characters that just happened to work and it became generally appreciated by the audiences.

The issue is when companies prioritize race or sex orientation over making a good product. And as a result, the product suffers. The same can be said with the gender swapping or altering a character that can fuck up the character in a lot of ways. That's why people are fed up with woke.

You know, this narrative was more believable in the early 2010's than it is now, where anti-woke grifters call a multi-Grammy award winning, Pulitzer Prize winning rapper performing at the Superbowl half time show as, "DEI."

 

[CrimsonShadow]

The genderswaps in MK1 for instance alone are ridiculous for example, but then we (the people on the other side) are called ridiculous for calling it out.

It's really not that big of a deal, in game where the whole timelime is flipflopped and lots of things aren't what they were.

I'm amazed that people can't get over it and just move on.

 

[Vulgar]

I think it's interesting that there are posters here well known for lobbing the same personal attacks and childish insults to people they disagree with(or want a beef set with) that then go on decry others using.

I can't imagine the cognitive dissonance for someone - anyone - to say that this site is a, "circle jerk" and that it, "gives incel," and in the same breath act above all the petty mud-slinging that goes on here.

Nor can I understand why such a person - any person - would stick around. You'd think they'd simply join discords for games they actually like.

I was hoping people would talk about that character usage image I posted here. I mean we just had a major tournament.

But ah, there I go, assuming these posters care about the competitive scene.

My bad.

 

[Subby Z]

You know, this narrative was more believable in the early 2010's than it is now, where anti-woke grifters call a multi-Grammy award winning, Pulitzer Prize winning rapper performing at the Superbowl half time show as, "DEI."

The thing is though those awards have lost lots of credibility because the awards can either be bought or the boards/judges are ideologically captured themselves so nobody really gives a fuck about those things anymore.

Look at Cowboy Carter winning album of the year.lol. Ummm that shit is just a joke and that’s just one example. Beyonce in general hasn’t been relevant in years. She has a rabbid fanbase but outside of them nobody gives a fuck about her. Her time in the sun has passed, but Oh of course let’s give her album of the year and let her have a shocked look on her face.

Back to the discussion at hand you can swap race of characters and it makes sense.

Like Kuai Liang for example (since he’s my fave). In a lot of his appearances he was straight up white. He first appeared as Chinese in MK2 bit lots of people don’t remember that from his ending and so they remember his appearances in MK3. DA, or X. So when they had him appear as Chinese in 11 it made sense and that’s because it fits.

Then take Nick Fury. He is fully a side character and one that not many people know about outside of comic fans. Samuel L Jackson arguably brought fans to Nick Fury and that’s great.

Then there’s something like Little Mermaid for instance though. While that movie did end up making money it still wasn’t an outright success and that’s because people loved the Ariel they knew.Then they race swapped her and caught backlash and arguably damaged Halle Bailey’s career in the process tbh. It just didn’t work.

People at large love discussing casting because they want to find someone who perfectly fits the role. You can’t even do that anymore though because Hollywood (and the games industry apparently) has become obsessed with not casting these characters even remotely accurately.

 

[Subby Z]

It's really not that big of a deal, in game where the whole timelime is flipflopped and lots of things aren't what they were.

I'm amazed that people can't get over it and just move on.

Maybe to you it’s not and that’s fine, but ask yourself why did they feel the need to erase everything we knew in MK11 for this ass timeline if not to be able to change whatever the fuck they want though? Then people just buy into it and say well you can play the past games.

Except you can’t in a lot of cases. That shit is stuck on old systems and we haven’t been given remakes.

Oh or how about this? Sweet Baby Inc (yes I know this has been discussed to death) was rumored to be involved with MK1. I for one wonder if they received feedback from Sweet Baby in MK11.

Because let’s look here. MKX clearly continued from MK9 right? Like the narrative fit. It contined from the ending of MK9.

Then MKX left us with an ending which hinted towards a team up of Dark Raiden and Liu Kang. Only for that shit to be totally thrown out in MK11 for Kronika (a girl boss herself) and then we reset everything in Mk1 with Liu Kang’s milquetoast timeline.

Idk something seems fishy there.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

Ok look. This is a place to discuss the game. And the gameplay.

It's not a place to air your grievances about actors being the "wrong race" in movies. Or who won what music award.

Please stop derailing threads with this nonsense, when there are plenty of better places to do it. X, Instagram, whatever. Just not here.

 

[Jynks]

Even the Might Keith has weighed in on this lol (general, not MK spesific)

 

[Subby Z]

Ok look. This is a place to discuss the game. And the gameplay.

It's not a place to air your grievances about actors being the "wrong race" in movies. Or who won what music award.

Please stop derailing threads with this nonsense, when there are plenty of better places to do it. X, Instagram, whatever. Just not here.

Cool discussion ended then (only because I know you can nuke it anyway)

Notice though how you try to downplay or cast someone as a racist though. I never said Ariel was the wrong race. I love Halle Bailey actually and listen to her music. Beautiful voice. She wasn’t Ariel though and the lukewarm reception to that movie shows others felt the same. You guys can be mad at everyone for not seeing her as Ariel but that doesn’t make them racists. It just means they wanted something closer to the animated version.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

Cool discussion ended then (only because I know you can nuke it anyway)

Notice though how you try to downplay or cast someone as a racist though. I never said Ariel was the wrong race. I love Halle Bailey actually and listen to her music. Beautiful voice. She wasn’t Ariel though and the lukewarm reception to that movie shows others felt the same. You guys can be mad at everyone for not seeing her as Ariel but that doesn’t make them racists. It just means they wanted something closer to the animated version.

I didn't call you racist. It's just not the topic, and it goes nowhere every time, and just derails the conversation about actual gameplay.

 

[Jynks]

ask yourself why did they feel the need to erase everything we knew in MK11 for this ass timeline

again, this is already bee covered in this thread... but I suspect it was juts to clear house... people have been complaining about the convoluted mess that MK story mode was in for ages, and MKx was no different. The problem with making a continual story, is that a story has to have stakes.. and unless you go for a children’s cartoon stylee thing where there is no death and no "change" it can get very messy for a game like MK. No Kano player gives a shit if Kano is killed in the story mode, they still want to play them. This lead to those undead things, recons, and all sorts of stuff as they have tried to have their cake and eat it as well. The timeline rests is so they can still have a game with all the characters people love. NRS has been gett8ing more and more silly and crazy tryingto bend over backwards to make everything fit this ever growing crazy ball of complexity.

I suspect that the MK1 timeline is a "clean slate" type thing. Just wipe away all that forced narrative and start at a blank point.. then move on. That is all it was... to get rid of all that stuff and get back to basics.

I would bet that MK2 and for the forseeable future will continue form MK1. Kronos said "The new era begins" for a reason.

 

[Liquid Swordsman]

I agree with you on this topic, but why do you keep mentioning it?

You already know where 85% of all users on this website stand on this issue (and various others if you read the politics thread several years ago).

You will never convince them and they will never convince you, so baiting people to respond seems pointless and unnecessary.

Besides, this thread revolves around gameplay and the improvements that NRS has made.

I would stay away from the social issues.

Why stay away from something that's already been known to be one of the reasons of the game's downfall?

Is he really baiting or is it that most people here just can't handle facts?

 

[Subby Z]

again, this is already bee covered in this thread... but I suspect it was juts to clear house... people have been complaining about the convoluted mess that MK story mode was in for ages, and MKx was no different. The problem with making a continual story, is that a story has to have stakes.. and unless you go for a children’s cartoon stylee thing where there is no death and no "change" it can get very messy for a game like MK. No Kano player gives a shit if Kano is killed in the story mode, they still want to play them. This lead to those undead things, recons, and all sorts of stuff as they have tried to have their cake and eat it as well. The timeline rests is so they can still have a game with all the characters people love. NRS has been gett8ing more and more silly and crazy tryingto bend over backwards to make everything fit this ever growing crazy ball of complexity.

I suspect that the MK1 timeline is a "clean slate" type thing. Just wipe away all that forced narrative and start at a blank point.. then move on. That is all it was... to get rid of all that stuff and get back to basics.

I would bet that MK2 and for the forseeable future will continue form MK1. Kronos said "The new era begins" for a reason.

Then why not just actually reboot it?

At this point MK is 30 years old haha.

There are gaps in the old lore they could fill in modern day and obviously (whether admitted or not) the trilogy cast is always going to be their money makers. So this decision to halfass reboot again makes zero sense to me.

MK11 even had a perfect wrap up ending for all of this nonsense. Then they rebooted but didn’t.

I’m in the crowd that says MK needs a true blue reboot though and take it fucking slow.

Take it slow as hell. Stop massively aging everyone because clearly there are characters that are more popular than others.

A true MK reboot could tell the story of the original Mortal Kombat in one game (with the cast of MK 1 and 2) and add new characters who we maybe never saw compete in the first tournament.

 

[Kiss the Missile]

They kinda wrote themselves into an embarrassing corner with MK1. They just couldn't leave the time shit alone. Liu Kang gives up his time powers, and within the same game gets them back and apparently is permanent now, somehow. They had the opportunity to close all other timelines, and chose not to.

They rebooted the game in MK9
Rebooted it again in MK11, rebooted it again in MK11's dlc ending
It'll be a fucking joke if they rewrite the timeline already.

 

[just_2swift]

I just want Lao to have secondary anti air spin launcher with DF1

 

[Trickywizard]

I just want Lao to have secondary anti air spin launcher with DF1

Try Mileena, Lao just isn’t your style no mo.

 

[ImpostorOak]

My pp 8====D
Ur pp 8=D

 

[Subby Z]

They kinda wrote themselves into an embarrassing corner with MK1. They just couldn't leave the time shit alone. Liu Kang gives up his time powers, and within the same game gets them back and apparently is permanent now, somehow. They had the opportunity to close all other timelines, and chose not to.

They rebooted the game in MK9
Rebooted it again in MK11, rebooted it again in MK11's dlc ending
It'll be a fucking joke if they rewrite the timeline already.

That’s why I’ve suggested MK needs a break. Nobody wants to hear that but it does. WB will never let that happen either because they’re struggling.

I think they should keep MK alive maybe through animated movies or maybe even a live action MK show.

Possibly a fire and ice game (I think a narrative set around MK 4 with Hanzo and Kuai could be perfect). That could fill the gap for a while.

Then in like 5/6 years we get an ACTUAL reboot of this shit.