Mortal Kombat 1’s New “Invasions” Mode Revealed

[Dankster Morgan]

A mode like this could add a lot to the game's longevity and value if it's as good as it looks. Once the honeymoon phase is over and you're tired of wifi warrior Scorpions, or you just got ass blasted on kombat league, or just plain burned out with the grindy aspects of improving in a fighting game, this will be a good way to have a mental break and dumb fun, but still earn some fun stuff for the characters you play. Especially with all the MK easter eggs and getting to explore the MK universe. I liked that the Krypt in 11 was Shang's island, I imagine this will take it even further.

 

[kabelfritz]

Thank you for this. I don't speak German, so I'm not catching everything he says, but I wonder...

We've seen that there's three types of currency in Invasions: normal gold/kredits which I presume can be used to buy cosmetics(one can hope), a currency used to buy consumable items, and a third "seasonal kredits" currency that's used to buy special seasonal cosmetics, presumably. Is he saying that you can earn both normal kredits and seasonal kredits by playing online?

he was not clear about that, just spoke generally.

 

[Jynks]

Made this same thread many hours earlier but not one replied to it.. So copying my post about this game mode into this thread to see if anyone knows the answer to my question.

<paste>

I'm very worried about invasion mode.... as it uses the MK11 style "items" mid game...

In MK11, I stopped playing these things pretty quickly, as there was no way to edit the controls for the item use. Meaning I HAD to use pad, and I play on Stick or Hitbox. As I stopped, I have no idea if this was fixed in a patch.

Does anyone know if there is a way to edit the setting to assign a button or a combination of buttons to the function to "use item"?

 

[imMORTAL KOMBATant]

After reading a shit ton of articles about Invasions, the conclusion is:

Ed Boon to IGN: We had done a number of Krypts over the years. We had done a number of Konquest modes. We did that twice. So we really, again, with every game, one of the kind of main goals is, "Let's bring something new to it, something new to the table that players haven't played before."

Ed Boon to GamesRadar: "It has elements of Towers of Time, Konquest, some of our single-player experiences that we've had over the years, Krypt and all that, that we wanted to kind of combine in there.

So they wanted something new players haven't played before so they combined all the modes that they have had before and put it into Invasions. What a genius move! (to be fair, I like the board game view even though the NPCs look ugly AF and the narration with the easter eggs is a cool feature. Messing with stats and buffs to counter challenges sounds tedious on the other hand)

I'll give it a fair shot and put some hours into it to see if it's any fun but I'm not seeing myself grinding this mode unless it has something for my main character(s) that I really want. If we have alternative ways to unlock stuff (which would be a welcome change after Injustice 2 and MK11), I'll only play it when the seasonal content is really interesting. Can't be worse than Towers of Time to be honest.

 

[NeonGroovyGator]

I think how much I'll enjoy this mode will be directly tied to its storytelling and how deep it is. But I like what I've seen so far, it's for sure more fun than towers of time.

I gotta say, I'm gonna miss MK11's krypt a little bit. I had a ton of fun exploring it.

 

[Thingy]

Big fan of fun stuff like this. It was not only the fighting in MK games that kept me coming back for 30 years, it is creative quirky shit like Test Your Might and the other fun mini games. This looks like endless possibilities, and a giant leap forward from the “live towers”.

 

[Thingy]

I gotta say, I'm gonna miss MK11's krypt a little bit. I had a ton of fun exploring it.

Definitely going to miss the Krypt! As flawed as it was, it was fun for a while in every game. The change is good though. This franchise needs the new drapes.

 

[molambo]

9 hours in 6 weeks doesnt sound long but one of the things i didnt liked in the towers where the modifier and it seems to evolve around them Completey.
i think there was even a issue that i couldnt use em on a hitbox so i had to use extra keyboard buttons for them to come out in the first place so that mode
seems to be forcing me to go full keyboard or gamepad when it works as in mk11.

 

[Kasza201]

What do you think about what Hanzo Hasashi did? It's sad for me

 

[subzert]

I have always been a Mortal Kombat fan and I was very excited for Mortal Kombat 1. And now after seeing the Invasion mode my hype for this game just sky rocketed to unparalleled heights. It is going to be an excruciating wait till I get my copy.

 

[Jynks]

9 hours in 6 weeks doesnt sound long but one of the things i didnt liked in the towers where the modifier and it seems to evolve around them Completey.
i think there was even a issue that i couldnt use em on a hitbox so i had to use extra keyboard buttons for them to come out in the first place so that mode
seems to be forcing me to go full keyboard or gamepad when it works as in mk11.

I never liked the modifiers either.. Even the mk9 mega tower thing sucked... The thing is I never really played into them.. I'm keen for invasion so this time I might have the right buffs and shields and stuff going into these crazy fights... Still I'm still hoping they do not over do it.

The real question is if mk1 will allow you to assign a button or button combination for item use, as in mk11 there was no way to do this so unless you used a pad, you couldn't play the towers ... I really hope the command options allow hotbox and stick users to use these items this time.

 

[NHDR]

Looks like you can unlock skins and gear from this mode, so it will have some incentive at least. Solid enough.

 

[Jynks]

Questions

1. Anyone know if levelling up in invasion is per character, or you level one set of stats that effects all characters?
2. When playing invasion, do you only unlocke gear for the person you are playing or the entire cast?

 

[xenogorgeous]

Questions

1. Anyone know if levelling up in invasion is per character, or you level one set of stats that effects all characters?
2. When playing invasion, do you only unlocke gear for the person you are playing or the entire cast?

it seems is per character; yeah, you can change to another character any time, however , each time you evolve and gain points , you can spend with the character you are using , or change for another and spend your points there, but, once applied the points , will be on that character you choose, so, is a individual stats increase, not a global one

same for gear, unlock with the character you are using at the moment when you open the chest , or fill the challenge

it seems this was done purposely , to force an artificial replay value, so, you have to use and play with all characters, a half dozen of time, hehe

 

[Jynks]

Cool. Really glad it is like that then.. good work NRS! I hate the way new gamer kids all want everything instantly. I love that unlocks are there for people that actually play the game and that someone who mains sub has awesome sub stuff that no one else has

 

[The Ultimate]

Questions

1. Anyone know if levelling up in invasion is per character, or you level one set of stats that effects all characters?
2. When playing invasion, do you only unlocke gear for the person you are playing or the entire cast?

1: When you level up, the whole cast levels up. You can auto-distribute stat points or distribute them manually.

2: I believe most missions in Invasions grant you normal Kredits as reward, but there should be specific missions that grant specific character rewards; you seem to unlock a Johnny Cage skin in the Cage Mansion map. However, each character has "mastery levels" which is sort of like profile XP from MKX/11, that you earn XP for by just playing normally(regardless of mode). Leveling up these mastery levels grants you stuff like color palettes and end of round taunts.

 

[Jynks]

3) Does anyone know of they have fixed the problem with the "item" button in invasion mode? In MK11 there was no way to change the button in setting so you could only play on a pad controller.. arcade stick and hitbox users were not able to play many of the towers.

 

[Juxtapose]

3) Does anyone know of they have fixed the problem with the "item" button in invasion mode? In MK11 there was no way to change the button in setting so you could only play on a pad controller.. arcade stick and hitbox users were not able to play many of the towers.

From what we've seen so far, it looks like a Controller with Sticks will still be required.

 

[Jynks]

From what we've seen so far, it looks like a Controller with Sticks will still be required.

that is so fucking stupid.

 

[Juxtapose]

that is so fucking stupid.

Regrettably. We'll see if this is indeed the case in 3 weeks.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Cool. Really glad it is like that then.. good work NRS! I hate the way new gamer kids all want everything instantly. I love that unlocks are there for people that actually play the game and that someone who mains sub has awesome sub stuff that no one else has

I'd rather it be an feat of actual skill that unlocks cool shit. Have it be a 20 win streak on ranked with Sub-Zero only to unlock his special mask instead of showing up at the right time. You talk about how new gamer kids just want free shit but this is literally what that is. In older games like Halo 3 you had to pull of in game feats to get the recon helmet, so if you saw someone with it, it was special. Not everyone got Recon. Way more meaningful than playing against brain dead AI for x amount of hours at the right time like it's a mobile game. The player didn't accomplish anything, it's like filling out a souvenir to get a free double quarter pounder. Like ok ok I'll do this stupid survey for the free sandwich I guess, it's the same thing.Have it be something difficult to accomplish that is always available, so you have something to strive for. That way if the player got the special mask they can actually feel like they did something, and if they saw someone else with it, there would be a mutual respect. The way it is now it's its like oh cool that guy also turned on his PS5 and spent his limited gaming time grinding on invasions instead of learning how to be a better player against real people.

 

[Juxtapose]

I'd rather it be an feat of actual skill that unlocks cool shit. Have it be a 20 win streak on ranked with Sub-Zero only to unlock his special mask instead of showing up at the right time. You talk about how new gamer kids just want free shit but this is literally what that is. In older games like Halo 3 you had to pull of in game feats to get the recon helmet, so if you saw someone with it, it was special. Not everyone got Recon. Way more meaningful than playing against brain dead AI for x amount of hours at the right time like it's a mobile game. The player didn't accomplish anything, it's like filling out a souvenir to get a free double quarter pounder. Like ok ok I'll do this stupid survey for the free sandwich I guess, it's the same thing.Have it be something difficult to accomplish that is always available, so you have something to strive for. That way if the player got the special mask they can actually feel like they did something, and if they saw someone else with it, there would be a mutual respect. The way it is now it's its like oh cool that guy also turned on his PS5 and spent his limited gaming time grinding on invasions instead of learning how to be a better player against real people.

But... I like free burgers...

 

[Dankster Morgan]

But... I like free burgers...

I'm not above a double quarter pounder.

But I feel accomplished when I nail it on the grill and make a meal I can be proud of. I like it when people ask me how I made such a good burger. I'm impressed when someone makes a burger better than one I could make, and I want to learn how to make one that good. And it's something to strive towards.

That's more what I'm getting at.

 

[Juxtapose]

I'm not above a double quarter pounder.

I sadly can't eat McDonald's anymore with my restricted diet. I can and do enjoy A&W (it's different here in Canada than US A&W), and I also enjoy Harvey's. Love grilling my own burgers too, though I get frozen ones from M&M Food Market instead of making them from scratch. Steaks too, though I haven't had much time for grilling this summer and haven't grilled a steak in over a year.

Of course, I do understand what you mean and your analogy.

For myself, I'm the kind of guy where if I'm about to play a new RPG with a host of customization options, I choose the default and immediately get into the game. Customization to me is simply not a big deal/seller at all.

For Mortal Kombat, give me a character's Story Mode and klassic skins to rotate through, and that's all I want. I understand my mentality here is likely in the minority.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

I sadly can't eat McDonald's anymore with my restricted diet. I can and do enjoy A&W (it's different here in Canada than US A&W), and I also enjoy Harvey's. Love grilling my own burgers too, though I get frozen ones from M&M Food Market instead of making them from scratch. Steaks too, though I haven't had much time for grilling this summer and haven't grilled a steak in over a year.

Of course, I do understand what you mean and your analogy.

For myself, I'm the kind of guy where if I'm about to play a new RPG with a host of customization options, I choose the default and immediately get into the game. Customization to me is simply not a big deal/seller at all.

For Mortal Kombat, give me a character's Story Mode and klassic skins to rotate through, and that's all I want. I understand my mentality here is likely in the minority.

Got to grill some steaks dude, it's a lot of fun. And honestly you're better off without McDonalds, even if it hits the spot every once in a while.

I like customization any time it's well implemented. In RPGs where the character models look good I like it. In Baldur's Gate 3, it's almost impossible not to make an abomination of a character, they look like shit, which turns me off from wanting to play it. I like the Halo armor customization and MK11 for most characters as well.

It's not about the customization though in this case, I was responding to the "kids these days" bullshit, when what is in place is literally a participation trophy, so I found it pretty ironic.