Female Sektor and Cyrax explained by Ed Boon

The excitement of Kombat Pack 2 also comes with some twists of what we may have been expecting or hoping for. We're getting Sektor and Cyrax, but with the timeline change of MK1, both characters will be female. Ed explained this change and it honestly should be no surprise to any MK fan.

"We have this kind of balance we're trying to do with this game," begun Boon. "It's like, bring characters back that players want to see, but also don't just repeat the same things with them."

GameStop got with Ed Boon recently... check out the video to hear more.

Credit: EventHubs

 

Just in general, I do think from a writing standpoint Fighting Games are difficult to write for.

 

Just in general, I do think from a writing standpoint Fighting Games are difficult to write for.

Not really. If they didn't do charater specific chapters for good characters only it'd be a lot easier. The story is great în mk, but is limited by this factor alone a lot.

 

Not really. If they didn't do charater specific chapters for good characters only it'd be a lot easier. The story is great în mk, but is limited by this factor alone a lot.

I think part of the problem though is there's too many characters to try and write into a 2-4 hour story. The more characters you add, you either have to lengthen the story, or you cut down the amount of time spent per character.

The other problem I feel like is how do you handle stakes and character deaths? If you kill off characters in the story, then you either leave out them of the next game, or you have to write in some reason for them to come back (time travel, zombie, multi-verse, was only mostly dead, all the comic book tropes).

Not saying writing for Fighting Games is impossible, just that it poses some unique hurdles compared to writing for an action-adventure game, or a FPS, or compared to a movie or graphic novel.

 

I think part of the problem though is there's too many characters to try and write into a 2-4 hour story. The more characters you add, you either have to lengthen the story, or you cut down the amount of time spent per character.

The other problem I feel like is how do you handle stakes and character deaths? If you kill off characters in the story, then you either leave out them of the next game, or you have to write in some reason for them to come back (time travel, zombie, multi-verse, was only mostly dead, all the comic book tropes).

Not saying writing for Fighting Games is impossible, just that it poses some unique hurdles compared to writing for an action-adventure game, or a FPS, or compared to a movie or graphic novel.

I think part of the problem here is that being ambitious in writing is NOT the point of a fighting game, so while I can think of several ways fighting games could adapt their story mode to work with or around the large cast, no one is going to bother because not enough people really care.

I do hope that some day an indie game tries something different with their story mode and manages to set a new standard, but there's 0 way any big game would take a gamble on that, especially after the SFV fiasco.

Still, as long as they are following the formulas they've been using, it's going to be at best mediocre because yeah it's very hard to have real stakes and non contrived plots.

 

This whole "no, we need to change things for the sake of change, even if nobody asks for the changes, because...we just have to, ok?" mindset isn't healthy for the franchise.

It's not, "because they have to," it's because they want to.

I think people forget how old this franchise is and from an artistic perspective, it's completely reasonable to want to try different things with established characters.

 

I don't mind the genderswap, I just hate the Ironman shit

Boon has been tired of MK for years. I think that's why he's so quick to keep changing shit and mixing around established things, he's bored with it all. It's time for him to move on. Let someone who loves Mortal Kombat take the reigns again

No matter who takes the reigns, the story will never be the same as what we had in the 90's. They've changed character motivations and such countless times.

Take Scorpion, for example. In MK1, he wanted to kill Sub Zero. In MK2, he was Sub Zero's protector. In MK4, he was back to wanting to kill Sub Zero until he found out that Quan Chi was the actual reason for his family and clan's death; which was a retcon from MK1-2.

Unless we do another reboot, a story can only move forward, not backwards.

 

It's not, "because they have to," it's because they want to.

I think people forget how old this franchise is and from an artistic perspective, it's completely reasonable to want to try different things with established characters.

Personally I'm sad they didn't use MK9's surprisingly elegant reboot to actually diverge meaningfully and we're instead, AGAIN, going through MK1. MK1-3 have a shockingly cohesive plot thread with multiple characters and interesting stakes. I wish they could've found a way to continue that, and MKX feels like the material is there, but the writing isn't. You could finally shift the status quo from "Oh shit shao khan/shang" to someone else, and yet we pretty much wound up back at square one after some extra steps.

In short, it's frustrating to watch them try something new so they can do something old, and then not even do it well, because yes I do expect the cybrogs to be good now and that's lame as hell.

 

I don't even think we need to bring any politics into this at all.

At the end of the day, NRS have given us a bunch of new characters baring the same names as the characters we know. Sektor and Cyrax are just the icing on the cake, but they've taken all the cool stuff away from half the cast and made them completely different characters for no reason.

To me, it's literally the same as if they were to put Superman in a Spiderman outfit in Injustice 3 and have him thwipping around Metropolis and say "Hey guys, Superman is back! It's still the same Superman you know and love but he's slightly different in this timeline just because"

That's a pretty ass example and not at all what they've done.

Take Reptile, for example. He's still Zatarran, he still does lizard shit, he's just not a minion anymore. The vast majority of Reptile's backstory from MK2-Deception was him being a lacky or following characters(like Nitara) because he had nothing else going on.

Putting Superman in Spiderman's suit isn't remotely the same thing. That's a pretty fundamental change.

 

Personally I'm sad they didn't use MK9's surprisingly elegant reboot to actually diverge meaningfully and we're instead, AGAIN, going through MK1. MK1-3 have a shockingly cohesive plot thread with multiple characters and interesting stakes. I wish they could've found a way to continue that, and MKX feels like the material is there, but the writing isn't. You could finally shift the status quo from "Oh shit shao khan/shang" to someone else, and yet we pretty much wound up back at square one after some extra steps.

In short, it's frustrating to watch them try something new so they can do something old, and then not even do it well, because yes I do expect the cybrogs to be good now and that's lame as hell.

MK9 was over 10 years ago.

They actually did diverge pretty heavily after MK9. There was no Dragon King, no Deadly Alliance, no Armageddon.

Instead, you had Shinnok's invasion, the rise of Kronika and her plot to create a New Era, etc.

 

No matter who takes the reigns, the story will never be the same as what we had in the 90's. They've changed character motivations and such countless times.

Take Scorpion, for example. In MK1, he wanted to kill Sub Zero. In MK2, he was Sub Zero's protector. In MK4, he was back to wanting to kill Sub Zero until he found out that Quan Chi was the actual reason for his family and clan's death; which was a retcon from MK1-2.

Unless we do another reboot, a story can only move forward, not backwards.

I'm not asking to go back, I'm asking for consistency

 

I'm not asking to go back, I'm asking for consistency

It's about as consistent as any other fighting game story.

For comparison, how many times has M. Bison died? And wasn't his last death supposed to totally and for real this time stick?

And he came back as a horse-riding Dark Souls boss.

It's fine.

 

Just in general, I do think from a writing standpoint Fighting Games are difficult to write for.

Im inclined to disagree but never understood why there aren't good stories. Like just write an amazing fighting action film, for which there are lots, but you take control for the fight.

 

MK9 was over 10 years ago.

They actually did diverge pretty heavily after MK9. There was no Dragon King, no Deadly Alliance, no Armageddon.

Instead, you had Shinnok's invasion, the rise of Kronika and her plot to create a New Era, etc.

I'm aware it's old, but I think they wasted the opportunity. The Dragon King/DA/Armageddon plot line was mostly a trash fire, so it was a good call to ditch it or heavily rework it if they were going to do it. What sucked was watching them take a decent start of the reboot, and then wind up at Kronika, which was an excuse for another reboot, which then still feels like the "PG" version of MK1

 

I'm aware it's old, but I think they wasted the opportunity. The Dragon King/DA/Armageddon plot line was mostly a trash fire, so it was a good call to ditch it or heavily rework it if they were going to do it. What sucked was watching them take a decent start of the reboot, and then wind up at Kronika, which was an excuse for another reboot, which then still feels like the "PG" version of MK1

"PG" version of MK?

My brother in christ, a tarkatan was melted alive in a pit of acid in Aftermath. In MK1, Shang Tsung has a still-living, bloody flesh-man just chilling in his lab.

Sindel fucking dies, Shao kills a fuck-ton of Umgadi. There's definitely violence and gore in the game.

Bear in mind, before MKvsDC they didn't have a real cinematic story mode in MK, except for MK4's ending cutscenes and those weren't exactly NC-17 levels of gore.

The reality of the Midway Era and the idea of it in people's minds simply aren't the same. In all reality, MK is gorier and more violent now than it ever was back then. Simply compare any Fatality in MK1 to say, Quan Chi stretching someone's neck in Deadly Alliance. It's not even close.

 

Im inclined to disagree but never understood why there aren't good stories. Like just write an amazing fighting action film, for which there are lots, but you take control for the fight.

Most amazing fighting action films only have 1 protagonist to follow throughout the movie, and usually only a couple main antagonists, at best. Usually the number of important characters is fairly minimal.

Contrast that to a fighting video game, where the writers are expected to somehow work 12-18 characters into a storyline, it becomes harder to tell a cohesive story with enough screen time to write a satisfying arc and character growth.

The movie also only really needs to concern itself with the future viability of a couple characters if they want it to be a franchise, compared to a fighting game where again, it's somewhat problematic if you wind up killing off half the cast.


It's why fighting games typically make for terrible movies (Street Fighter is a great case study), and why (IMO) it's hard for Fighting Game story modes to hold up to good films.

 

It's about as consistent as any other fighting game story.

For comparison, how many times has M. Bison died? And wasn't his last death supposed to totally and for real this time stick?

And he came back as a horse-riding Dark Souls boss.

It's fine.

I. . . . . . Don't care.

I'm just asking for consistency. Just because it sucks now doesn't mean it has to suck forever

 

If they want better writing, then I think it would work better to have just 2-3 playable characters that make up the majority of the story, with the other characters all being NPCs. Have some actual main characters, and just have fewer characters in the story overall.

 

Honestly they should just do a Guilty Gear story where it's just cutscenes and no gameplay. This removes pointless fights like Jax beating up Johnny in the Deadpool because he asked if he and Sonya were dating

 

I. . . . . . Don't care.

I'm just asking for consistency. Just because it sucks now doesn't mean it has to suck forever

Again, it's about as consistent as any other fighting game story line. Saying you don't care doesn't engage with that point, and I question whether you understood my example or not.

Thinking that it sucks is a perfectly valid feeling, but that has nothing to do with consistency. If anything, if it "sucked forever" that would make it more consistent, not less.

Consistency does not automatically mean "Good," or, "Something I would like."

 

Honestly they should just do a Guilty Gear story where it's just cutscenes and no gameplay. This removes pointless fights like Jax beating up Johnny in the Deadpool because he asked if he and Sonya were dating

That plot point happened ten years ago.

I swear you guys have some Mandela effect type shit going on where you think the stories of NRS games never did anything different past MK9.

A lot of people need some media literacy courses.

 

Honestly they should just do a Guilty Gear story where it's just cutscenes and no gameplay. This removes pointless fights like Jax beating up Johnny in the Deadpool because he asked if he and Sonya were dating

I don't know if I wanna sit there and just watch cutscenes but I wouldn't mind ditching the chapter system where 12 heroes need to have reasons to fight 4 times in a row and the villains just go around being jobbers.

 

Again, it's about as consistent as any other fighting game story line. Saying you don't care doesn't engage with that point, and I question whether you understood my example or not.

Thinking that it sucks is a perfectly valid feeling, but that has nothing to do with consistency. If anything, if it "sucked forever" that would make it more consistent, not less.

Consistency does not automatically mean "Good," or, "Something I would like."

My man, you are not understanding me. I just want consistency in the story, as in stop changing shit around. Good or bad, just let it be. Kabal was a villain turned hero in MK9, then he was retconned to be a hero turned villain in 11. Shit like that, knock it off. Have somebody who actually cares about these characters write them.

MK9 Sindel was brainwashed to be evil. MK11 just kidding she's evil by nature. MK1 just kidding she's kind by nature. "Liu Kang made her kind" if Liu Kang could just force people to be kind, he would have forced Quan Chi, Shang and Shao to be good boys too.

 

My man, you are not understanding me. I just want consistency in the story, as in stop changing shit around. Good or bad, just let it be. Kabal was a villain turned hero in MK9, then he was retconned to be a hero turned villain in 11. Shit like that, knock it off. Have somebody who actually cares about these characters write them.

MK9 Sindel was brainwashed to be evil. MK11 just kidding she's evil by nature. MK1 just kidding she's kind by nature. "Liu Kang made her kind" if Liu Kang could just force people to be kind, he would have forced Quan Chi, Shang and Shao to be good boys too.

Where in the story does it say that, "Liu Kang made her kind?" Is there a quote or scene that establishes that?

Also her being different in MK11 and MK1 makes complete sense; these are completely different timelines.

Retcons and inconsistencies are super common in all fighting game stories. It happens constantly in Street Fighter, it happens in Tekken, Guilty Gear/BlazBlue are balls of tangled yarn that need companion pieces to even approach making sense.

You're speaking as if this is new to MK, which it isn't.

MK 1-4 Scorpion: He hates Sub Zero and wants to kill him. Whoops, he wants to protect Sub Zero. Nevermind he wants to kill Sub Zero again in MK4.

Did the people writing Scorpion in those games not care about the character?

It was always like this, you were just too young to notice it.

 

Where in the story does it say that, "Liu Kang made her kind?" Is there a quote or scene that establishes that?

Also her being different in MK11 and MK1 makes complete sense; these are completely different timelines.

Retcons and inconsistencies are super common in all fighting game stories. It happens constantly in Street Fighter, it happens in Tekken, Guilty Gear/BlazBlue are balls of tangled yarn that need companion pieces to even approach making sense.

You're speaking as if this is new to MK, which it isn't.

MK 1-4 Scorpion: He hates Sub Zero and wants to kill him. Whoops, he wants to protect Sub Zero. Nevermind he wants to kill Sub Zero again in MK4.

Did the people writing Scorpion in those games not care about the character?

It was always like this, you were just too young to notice it.

Aight bro you got it lol

 

Honestly they should just do a Guilty Gear story where it's just cutscenes and no gameplay. This removes pointless fights like Jax beating up Johnny in the Deadpool because he asked if he and Sonya were dating

So a movie? It's not really a video game then seems pointless