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Kittlesen talks about MK11 story ideas that could've been ...

I don't know about anyone else but I felt that the civil war part of MKX's story was the best part of it so much so it should have very well been the plot of most if not the whole story.
Absolutely was. Sadly, I consider Mortal Kombat X's story to be the lesser of the trilogy's seeing as how it has actual plot holes. I don't mean continuity errors or retcons, but actual plot holes of things never properly explained.

Overall, the entire trilogy's story isn't anything spectacular (but it is fun), people praise Mortal Kombat (2011)'s because of nostalgia. It has a host of continuity issues that no one ever seems to acknowledge or care about.
 

Courante

Give all to another and save yourself
Mk11 story was awful, meandering, unnecessarily up it's own ass. Time travel, revenant, hourglass and resets. Just uuuggggh.
Aftermath didnt even go anywhere new. They spent the entire DLC to do what they already wanted to do in the original story: reset the timeline. Again.
Pls just get back to basics.
 

Afumba

Noob
Mk11 story was awful, meandering, unnecessarily up it's own ass. Time travel, revenant, hourglass and resets. Just uuuggggh.
Aftermath didnt even go anywhere new. They spent the entire DLC to do what they already wanted to do in the original story: reset the timeline. Again.
Pls just get back to basics.
Yes lol... they spend the entire DLC doing the exact same thing they did in the original story. "Get the crown, get an army, attack the Fort", only difference is that there is an evil ending.

While i think Aftermath was better than the original story (which isnt hard) its mostly cuz Shang was amazing. Sindel and Shao were also nice except of their lack of brain...

The final part in particular.... Sindel and Shao are some of the most powerful cunning and evil guys there are and you(=NRS) honestly want to make me believe they trusted Shang Tsung to use the most powerful object in their service? No contingencies or anything? Ofc Shang is not gonna use these godly powers to kill us but instead will for sure stay our lil lapdoggy... its ridiculiusly stupid.

Its like they have some sort of negative writers contest... only bad ideas goes, get fired for good one lol
 
Yup, 3D era was so much better written and it’s funny watching people defend and praise mk9’s story but trash 11.
Personally, I think the 3D era is the worst story telling of the franchise by far. Those three games are considered the low point for the franchise for a reason (multiple reasons).

I think the original trilogy has the best story, then the current reboot trilogy, then the 3D era trilogy. Mortal Kombat Gold and Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe aren't anything great either.
 

Kiss the Missile

Red Messiah
Personally, I think the 3D era is the worst story telling of the franchise by far. Those three games are considered the low point for the franchise for a reason (multiple reasons).
I'd disagree with that. Some of the most interesting aspects of MK's story came from the 3d era. One Being, Onaga being Outworld's original ruler, Chaos Realm, Dark Raiden, Deadly Alliance etc.

I personally can't stand the psuedo Avengers shit they're doing now. Everything has to be a cataclysmic universe ending event. First Earthrealm was at risk, then Earthrealm and Outworld were at risk, next all of time itself was at risk, and after that all of time itself was at risk again, and if the leaks are true then all of time itself will be at risk once more. The shit is mindnumbing at this point, and not in a good way. MK9 started off amazing, but it fell apart when they started rushing into the Invasion/MK3 arc. Its been downhill from there
 

Nickolaidas

Agent of Chaosrealm
MK9 started off amazing, but it fell apart when they started rushing into the Invasion/MK3 arc. Its been downhill from there
Sounds like you preferred MK when it was little more than a tournament - a 'less is more' approach. Which I find myself agreeing with in many stories. Not everything has to be a world-ending event.

But I find your statements a little contradictory, considering that Deception was about the subjugation of all realms and Armageddon was basically the MK Apocalypse. How exactly were the stakes any lower than MKX and MK11?
 

Pizza

Thrill Kill


The Onaga tournament sounds awesome. I don't see it happening, sadly. Because MK is now Avengers.

A proper tournament arc could give a moment for every character to shine. It could have meaningful deaths, rivalries, alliances. Obviously there could be many sides sending their best warriors to compete: Earthrrealm, Outworld, Edenia, Chaosrrealm, Netherrealm, Seido. There could even be competition within those realms, like Shokans trying to prove they're better than Tarkatans, Zaterrans, etc.

Sadly Mortal Kombat is too far from something like that.
 
Personally, I think the 3D era is the worst story telling of the franchise by far. Those three games are considered the low point for the franchise for a reason (multiple reasons).

I think the original trilogy has the best story, then the current reboot trilogy, then the 3D era trilogy. Mortal Kombat Gold and Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe aren't anything great either.
Well it’s not just my personal opinion, MK fandom in general who’ve been around since the beginning have much respect and adoration for Vogel and how the lore was treated and expanded upon post MK Trilogy.
 

Kiss the Missile

Red Messiah
But I find your statements a little contradictory, considering that Deception was about the subjugation of all realms and Armageddon was basically the MK Apocalypse. How exactly were the stakes any lower than MKX and MK11?
I hate Armageddon, thats why I didn't even mention it.

Deception had the large scale story, but the way Deception's story was presented also allowed every character to have some sort of growth. They weren't just jerking off offscreen until it was time for their next jobbing scene. Noob Saibot was making moves on his own terms, Kabal became the leader of the Black Dragon, Ermac helped in saving Earthrealm's warriors. You don't get those personal developments in these new story modes. If you aren't top billing, you're stagnant.
 
Sounds like you preferred MK when it was little more than a tournament - a 'less is more' approach. Which I find myself agreeing with in many stories. Not everything has to be a world-ending event.

But I find your statements a little contradictory, considering that Deception was about the subjugation of all realms and Armageddon was basically the MK Apocalypse. How exactly were the stakes any lower than MKX and MK11?
^Bingo. And yes, less is more tends to work better, and not just in fighting game stories.

Well it’s not just my personal opinion, MK fandom in general who’ve been around since the beginning have much respect and adoration for Vogel and how the lore was treated and expanded upon post MK Trilogy.
As someone who's been a fan of the franchise and games since Mortal Kombat first launched in 1992, I've seen the complete opposite opinion from MKFandom. People acknowledge the 3D era lore and such because it is canon, but it's still considered a low point for the series.

I hate Armageddon, thats why I didn't even mention it.

Deception had the large scale story, but the way Deception's story was presented also allowed every character to have some sort of growth. They weren't just jerking off offscreen until it was time for their next jobbing scene. Noob Saibot was making moves on his own terms, Kabal became the leader of the Black Dragon, Ermac helped in saving Earthrealm's warriors. You don't get those personal developments in these new story modes. If you aren't top billing, you're stagnant.
One thing Mortal Kombat: Deception did that was interesting was it's Konquest Mode as well as many Arcade Ladder endings proved canon. Much of what you referenced is not actually seen in Konquest Mode, but through other in-game lore.

For the current reboot trilogy, they're formula is more rigid (for better or worse):

  • Story Mode is canon only
  • You will play as (roughly) fourteen characters, and they have to be from the Forces of Light, Neutral, or characters we do knot yet know are with the Forces of Darkness (i.e. D'Vorah).
  • The player character will always win.
 
  • Story Mode is canon only
  • You will play as (roughly) fourteen characters, and they have to be from the Forces of Light, Neutral, or characters we do knot yet know are with the Forces of Darkness (i.e. D'Vorah).
  • The player character will always win.
[/QUOTE]

I forgot to mention they broke bullet number 2 for "Aftermath," of course. It'll be interesting to see if they continue with the same general Story Mode formula for future titles, if they allow Forces of Darkness characters to be played in main-game Story Modes, or if they go back to Good/neutral characters only.
 
As someone who's been a fan of the franchise and games since Mortal Kombat first launched in 1992, I've seen the complete opposite opinion from MKFandom. People acknowledge the 3D era lore and such because it is canon, but it's still considered a low point for the series.
The complete opposite has to be an exaggeration. People don’t just acknowledge the 3D era lore, they love it. I’ve never seen anyone completely blast it or have even anything negative to say about it. The only thing it was a low point to most is 3d gameplay, new comers / roster. Lore and atmosphere, even things like menu music is considered best or up there with MK2/3. I really think you’re confused.
 
The complete opposite has to be an exaggeration. People don’t just acknowledge the 3D era lore, they love it. I’ve never seen anyone completely blast it or have even anything negative to say about it. The only thing it was a low point to most is 3d gameplay, new comers / roster. Lore and atmosphere, even things like menu music is considered best or up there with MK2/3. I really think you’re confused.
No exaggeration at all. It seems we've simply had very different experiences in the reactions we've seen.

One thing I have noticed, and this is not a hard and fast rule but a generalization I've seen be rather accurate time and time again is: those who grew up with the original trilogy love it and loathe the 3D era on pretty much all counts. Those who grew up with the 3D era love that and hold it as the cream of the crop, though they typically don't have a dislike of the original trilogy outside of it being "old."

It's an interesting show of how nostalgia works and colours perceptions, and why media is subjective.

I miss when Raiden had some asshole moments
According to many, Raiden is still a ragging ahole.
 
No exaggeration at all. It seems we've simply had very different experiences in the reactions we've seen.

One thing I have noticed, and this is not a hard and fast rule but a generalization I've seen be rather accurate time and time again is: those who grew up with the original trilogy love it and loathe the 3D era on pretty much all counts. Those who grew up with the 3D era love that and hold it as the cream of the crop, though they typically don't have a dislike of the original trilogy outside of it being "old."

It's an interesting show of how nostalgia works and colours perceptions, and why media is subjective.



According to many, Raiden is still a ragging ahole.
Fair enough. I’ve found actually that people who were there from day one tend to hold trilogy in high regard yet hypocritically don’t acknowledge the flaws they do see in 3d era’s lore. There’s those like myself who love both and think story telling DA and Deception are best of the series, while most acknowledge it’s good but for nostalgic reasons and certain characters or plot lines prefer trilogy, which I understand, I mean Hsu Hao, Kobra, really... and lastly there are of course those who dislike the 3d era altogether and just lump the story and lore in with the rest. But I’ve yet to see anyone say DA or Deception story and lore was bad.
 

Pizza

Thrill Kill
According to many, Raiden is still a ragging ahole.
I don't know... I don't think so?

He's more of a "wise but incompetent god" rather than an actual jerk. I don't see him being sarcastic (Defenders of the Realm) or sassy (MK movie), not even an asshole like in MK1. He's just acting all wise, he doesn't have any humour, lots of things fly over his head and he relies all the time on the Elder Gods.

He caused tragedy and loses, but I don't think it was intentional at all.
 
The strength in MK4-MKD was more in it fleshing out character backstories and motivations but the strength of MK Trilogy was its main boss and story path which were simple enough to work. MK4 was simple too but also weak, much of it is spent fussing about who has Shinnok's Amulet and the Boss himself is no patch on Shao Kahn or Shang Tsung.

MK5 on the other hand had a lot of backstory but it was kept as stuff you learn from character tutorials, the real story was just about going to Outworld to defeat the Deadly Alliance. It's not flashy and you only learn about the end result in Deception's intro but I think it's one of the better post trilogy stories.

But what about the rest? Well strap yourselves in for a long read.

-MK6 has Onaga, who was hinted at in DA, return to rule Outworld again. You must stop him or he'll merge all the 6 realms together using the special Kamidogu. If he succeeds he will awaken the One Being and unmake reality because all of the realms are fragments of this Beings consciousness. (I was going to harp on Shujinko's Konquest but ultimately that part doesn't matter. It's just there for backstory.)
-MK7 is my least favorite because it's about a dumb hokey prophecy about beating Blaze, a previously mysterious background/secret character who is now a mindless boss-sized powerboost for anybody that beats him and saves all the realms from Armageddon. I'm not even getting into Konquest, mostly because it might not be canon.
-MK9 used timetravel to reboot itself and try to play it simple, but mashing all 3 games into one story mode along with "He must win" timeline changes led to idiotic moments. Didn't help that established canon like Mileena's backstory and who resurrects Sindel got changed.
-MKX: See MK4 but now add the introduction of the Kombat Kids, Quan and the Revenants, and Mileena vs Kotal. Shinnok the final boss only shows up at the beginning and the end because he got sucked into his own amulet. Leaving the comic for later but this is a mess.
-MK11: This one is honestly not that bad. Kronika is a crappy final boss but the goal is simple, defeat her minions, retrieve her crown, come together and beat her before she restarts history.
-MK11 Aftermath: OH BOY... turns out you needed Kronika's tiara to make a new timeline so lets send Shang Tsung, Fujin and Nightwolf back in time so they can get the crown. Oh but wouldn't you know it? They're sent back too late. So now they gotta resurrect Sindel (who was evil the whole time) to beat Cetrion to get the crown needed to fix time. But even once they have the crown we have to redo the final act again for some reason so we can have Sindel and Shao beat Kitana's Unified Outworld and so Shang can betray everyone and fight Fire God Liu who shows up near the end and you get to choose who wins.

It's all too much. MKX's Komic is just as complicated with Kamidogu, Blood Magic and Outworld Civil War but I think what made it work for the most part isn't kittelsens writing but that it's in a comic format, free of having to be told within a set amount of time.
You shove too much in an ingame story and it just gets bloated.

Aftermath gave me a mild headache just trying to recall what the plot was and wondering why they didn't deliver the crown to Liu once Fujin/Raiden had their hands on it. And for the rumors about a second DLC story? Oof, thanks but no thanks.

The only reason I like Fire God Liu's New Era is for the small hope we can go back to a simple tournament story set in the past. Hell that's what I wanted after MKX when we all thought it was going to be Heroic Outworld vs Dark Raiden's Invasion.
 

trufenix

bye felicia
Everybody says MK11s story is drivel, but still ate it up, watched it from start to finish, then checked out every story mode ending on youtube for extra bits of canon to argue about.
 
nobody ever gives the mk writers credit for being the only writers in the business to spark this level of insane fanboy rhetoric.
You don't remember Mass Effect 3 Indoctrination Theory? It's not exactly hard to get your fans questioning the logic, plot holes and direction of a story.

Especially if the story sucks.
 
I don't know... I don't think so?

He's more of a "wise but incompetent god" rather than an actual jerk. I don't see him being sarcastic (Defenders of the Realm) or sassy (MK movie), not even an asshole like in MK1. He's just acting all wise, he doesn't have any humour, lots of things fly over his head and he relies all the time on the Elder Gods.

He caused tragedy and loses, but I don't think it was intentional at all.
I see people call him an ahole and actually hate on him because he got everyone killed. As if that was his intention all along...

Everybody says MK11s story is drivel, but still ate it up, watched it from start to finish, then checked out every story mode ending on youtube for extra bits of canon to argue about.
I liked it. It was fun, and I thought Kronika was a great antagonist .

You don't remember Mass Effect 3 Indoctrination Theory? It's not exactly hard to get your fans questioning the logic, plot holes and direction of a story.

Especially if the story sucks.
That was a cool theory, even if it was all fake. People freaked way too hard on that game's ending though. The trilogy, and it's story, are still one of the best game stories ever done in my opinion.
 

trufenix

bye felicia
You don't remember Mass Effect 3 Indoctrination Theory? It's not exactly hard to get your fans questioning the logic, plot holes and direction of a story.

Especially if the story sucks.
Moved that goal post all the way over to the RPG genre just to miss the mark, anyway. ME3 had a great story, it just had a shit ending.