kabelfritz
Master
Let me do this thread as a more casual view on MKX - this is not about gameplay, but the developement of its story and characters. Obviously it has major spoilers everywhere.
I will start with my conclusion: it is a good MK, but in its core a bit too light-hearted for my taste.
1. I think its best to talk about characters first
Old characters: i think NRS did a really good job on most of the old characters. Their personalities shine and develope well during the story.
On the positive side you have Raiden as the god full of human mistakes, the super-cool developement of scorpion and sub-zero, their way back from the netherrealm, their personal and clan relation as well as their ways as warriors, the even-more-fierce-as-before special forces jax and sonya, the well-aged Johnny Cage and the hated dad kenshi, who all play their roles very well.
Mileena is probably the most improved character, hungry for power but too insane to rule, quan chi is as manipulative as always, shinnok is super-arrogant, but a villain with a point you can understand and even sympathize with. Kano Plays his role as major criminal very well.
On the "meh" side, i see Reptile and Ermac, who are not as jobby as in MK9, but still are not that much more than jobbers, even though they have their own opinion sometimes. Liu Kang and Kung Lao are ok, its cool they were kept revenants, and there is also some background exploration in the raiden chapter. Better jobbers, like Ermac and Reptile.
The bad: Sadly, Kitana is the jobbiest of jobbers in this game. i like how they kept some good guys revenants, but kitana really only shows when one of the new good guys needs a beating. Kitana has such a huge backstory and potential, but sadly nothing of it is touched in MKX.
I have mixed feelings about the new characters that i will share right now:
On the positive side, i will start with D'Vorah. This Character is pure gold: From a freak race, with a free mind, Outworlds main advisor and executioner, a super-patient traitor and an agent of the "evil". Then comes Kotal Kahn, the charismatic and surprisingly honrable emperor of outworld, who gets driven into paranoia and wrong decisions by the multiple wars going on. Cassie Cage is also a very cool character, with her "modern world" flavour but cocky and disrespectful attitude and for simply being the offspring of such an unlikely couple as Johnny and Sonya.
On the "meh" side, i have erron black and ferra/torr. they both have super-cool designs, but are ashamingly underexplored as personalites. especially erron black had potential with his common history with shang tsung and past in outworld.
Then there is the bad side and one of my main complaints with the game: Kung Jin, Takeda, Jacqui briggs. first of all, none of them has an outstanding design, neither in looks nor in powers . Then i'm asking: There are billions of people in earthrealm. But by pure chance the offspring of the old MK fighters are also the new ones?? Ok, there are special powers in certain bloodlines which makes it likely, but jacqui doesnt have that point. But my main gripe are the personalities: cassie does well as the cocky modern kid with parent issues, but why does she need three clones? Imo NRS has left a lot of potential on the ground here, and even created new stuff they probably wanna get rid off at some point. No offense if you like these chars, its just my personal opinion.
Unplayable characters:
While i think the "kids" section has been overdone, there are some chars in the story for which i have no idea why they dont have a spot on the roster. Obviously Fujin is one of them. I feel like he has more story parts than some playable characters, also he was highly requested. Then there is Baraka. He has a couple of scenes and is one of Mileenas main allies, also he has a unique design, i think he would have deserved a spot on the roster. The cyborg section has been left all empty. Rain also is a big thing in the story mode, i guess he should have had a spot, but i dont really understand why an edenian (also tanya) teams up with mileena. Sindel and Smoke (sry, "Enenra") are honorable mentions which are just fine to leave out for one game imo, their time will come again.
2. The Story
First off, i think the story is really good and as i want it to be in mortal kombat. It has a lot of elements: The Outworld civil war, Outworld/Earthrealm politics, the 2 wars versus Shinnok and the Netherrealm, betrayal, the rise and fall of characters, the Sub/scorp rivalry, an evil you can sympthize with ("the elder gods are frauds who destroyed the one being"), flashbacks to the past, multidimensional characters, consistency and a bit of humor. I could go on, as said, its really good.
My main gripe with it is that the whole "new special force squad rescues the world" thing is a bit too hollywood for my taste. And then there is the point that the main heroes to destroy Shinnok are basically joke characters (Johnny and Cassie). Both things make the game a bit too light-hearted for my taste.
3. Conclusion
I think MKX is a good MK lore-wise, but there are things that stop it from being amazing. These are the three Cassie clone personalites in the special forces squad, the hollywood-like approach to an amazing story foundation and the fact that the main heroes are joke characters. A minor issue is that some story chars feel like they should be playable.
I will start with my conclusion: it is a good MK, but in its core a bit too light-hearted for my taste.
1. I think its best to talk about characters first
Old characters: i think NRS did a really good job on most of the old characters. Their personalities shine and develope well during the story.
On the positive side you have Raiden as the god full of human mistakes, the super-cool developement of scorpion and sub-zero, their way back from the netherrealm, their personal and clan relation as well as their ways as warriors, the even-more-fierce-as-before special forces jax and sonya, the well-aged Johnny Cage and the hated dad kenshi, who all play their roles very well.
Mileena is probably the most improved character, hungry for power but too insane to rule, quan chi is as manipulative as always, shinnok is super-arrogant, but a villain with a point you can understand and even sympathize with. Kano Plays his role as major criminal very well.
On the "meh" side, i see Reptile and Ermac, who are not as jobby as in MK9, but still are not that much more than jobbers, even though they have their own opinion sometimes. Liu Kang and Kung Lao are ok, its cool they were kept revenants, and there is also some background exploration in the raiden chapter. Better jobbers, like Ermac and Reptile.
The bad: Sadly, Kitana is the jobbiest of jobbers in this game. i like how they kept some good guys revenants, but kitana really only shows when one of the new good guys needs a beating. Kitana has such a huge backstory and potential, but sadly nothing of it is touched in MKX.
I have mixed feelings about the new characters that i will share right now:
On the positive side, i will start with D'Vorah. This Character is pure gold: From a freak race, with a free mind, Outworlds main advisor and executioner, a super-patient traitor and an agent of the "evil". Then comes Kotal Kahn, the charismatic and surprisingly honrable emperor of outworld, who gets driven into paranoia and wrong decisions by the multiple wars going on. Cassie Cage is also a very cool character, with her "modern world" flavour but cocky and disrespectful attitude and for simply being the offspring of such an unlikely couple as Johnny and Sonya.
On the "meh" side, i have erron black and ferra/torr. they both have super-cool designs, but are ashamingly underexplored as personalites. especially erron black had potential with his common history with shang tsung and past in outworld.
Then there is the bad side and one of my main complaints with the game: Kung Jin, Takeda, Jacqui briggs. first of all, none of them has an outstanding design, neither in looks nor in powers . Then i'm asking: There are billions of people in earthrealm. But by pure chance the offspring of the old MK fighters are also the new ones?? Ok, there are special powers in certain bloodlines which makes it likely, but jacqui doesnt have that point. But my main gripe are the personalities: cassie does well as the cocky modern kid with parent issues, but why does she need three clones? Imo NRS has left a lot of potential on the ground here, and even created new stuff they probably wanna get rid off at some point. No offense if you like these chars, its just my personal opinion.
Unplayable characters:
While i think the "kids" section has been overdone, there are some chars in the story for which i have no idea why they dont have a spot on the roster. Obviously Fujin is one of them. I feel like he has more story parts than some playable characters, also he was highly requested. Then there is Baraka. He has a couple of scenes and is one of Mileenas main allies, also he has a unique design, i think he would have deserved a spot on the roster. The cyborg section has been left all empty. Rain also is a big thing in the story mode, i guess he should have had a spot, but i dont really understand why an edenian (also tanya) teams up with mileena. Sindel and Smoke (sry, "Enenra") are honorable mentions which are just fine to leave out for one game imo, their time will come again.
2. The Story
First off, i think the story is really good and as i want it to be in mortal kombat. It has a lot of elements: The Outworld civil war, Outworld/Earthrealm politics, the 2 wars versus Shinnok and the Netherrealm, betrayal, the rise and fall of characters, the Sub/scorp rivalry, an evil you can sympthize with ("the elder gods are frauds who destroyed the one being"), flashbacks to the past, multidimensional characters, consistency and a bit of humor. I could go on, as said, its really good.
My main gripe with it is that the whole "new special force squad rescues the world" thing is a bit too hollywood for my taste. And then there is the point that the main heroes to destroy Shinnok are basically joke characters (Johnny and Cassie). Both things make the game a bit too light-hearted for my taste.
3. Conclusion
I think MKX is a good MK lore-wise, but there are things that stop it from being amazing. These are the three Cassie clone personalites in the special forces squad, the hollywood-like approach to an amazing story foundation and the fact that the main heroes are joke characters. A minor issue is that some story chars feel like they should be playable.
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