My two cents.
Variations were nice and all. I like them, TBH. They make games more fun. "We both play Scorpion, but I play Inferno, and he plays Hellfire." You can get two different play styles from one character. And sometimes, one Variation.
However, the variations tend to follow the same guidelines, and pretty much do the same thing. Let's take one character, say... Mileena.
Variation 1 is the gimmicky one, where the character gets some kind of new move or ability their playstyle revolves around, or their moves are replaced all together. (unstoppable, grandmaster, hi tech, inferno, kenjutsu, mournful, etc.) For our character, this is Ravenous.
Variation 2 is the easy mode one, where the character either has extended kombos/reach or powerful projectiles, usually this one resembles their MK9 status, but not always(heavy weapons, full auto, cryomancer, balanced, ninjitsu, thunder god, slasher, etc.) For our character, this is Piercing.
Variation 3 is the wildcard, where the character gains a new set of moves that completely changes their battle plan, either introducing movement or changing from pressure to anti pressure and vice versa (hellfire, unbreakable, relentless, displacer, possessed, etc.) For our character, this is Ethereal.
Anyways, back to what I was saying. The Variation system is okay, but it kinda fails to deal with balancing. The variations kinda added on an extra layer of balancing to the game, something which NRS did not handle well. And while MK9 was the last game they made that was with one character, and that's it, it was a step in the right direction. It was messy, it has holes, but it was one good step. Certain characters were overpowered,but everyone below them seemed alright. The other 94% of the cast was okay, weren't broken or anything. Except Sheeva, she was Beta.
Then MKX. Oh my. While the OP characters don't shine so brightly, the lower ones do. Kenshi was buffed and pushed in the right direction, while others still have to fight it out. My problem isn't with tiers, but the balancing behind them. Raiden is high up, maybe at a 100/100 in viability, but Kitana at maybe a 50/100 in viability. Then there's a problem. And the thing is, it shouldn't be hard to make characters kinda sorta good. There are useless moves, unsafe specials, slow startups, and disgusting recovery all over Kitana. Which sucks because she talks so much shit in her intros but can't back it up.
Any who. With Variation, there are, according to NRS and befuddled fans, 72 characters to balance out and make fair. 78 now, and soon, 84, and maybe 96, if NRS wants to please fans yet make money at the same time. (That's a fantastic deal!)
So, 78. Well, you know how each character has that
best Variation that you always see played and is always online? That's my focus now.
Anywho, we all know that we have them. Inferno, Outlaw, Bojutsu, Piercing, Master of Souls, Ronin, and Summoner. Thunder God will be my best thing for this. If they are lucky, they might have two good ones.
Quan Chi - Sorcerer and Summoner
Cassie Cage - Brawler and Hollywood (I hear Spec is bad, and I can't see how it's good)
Kung Lao - Buzzsaw and Tempest
Kung Jin - Bojutsu and Ancestral
See how lucky?
But if you're an absolute boss, all three of your variations are useful.
Kano
Tanya
D'Vorah (You might not see it, but I main her, and I can do good damage and keep my opponent guessing with all three.)
Kenshi's only here because I could see where you could use Kenjutsu. I can see the appeal. So he has three viable variations, fantastic hair, and a bubble butt. No fair.
And lastly, we have the useless variations. You know, the ones NRS just threw on because they needed three variations.
Kitana - Assassin and Mournful
Both feel like the follow the pattern above. Royal Storm is the middle ground, Assassin in the gimmicky one, and Mournful is the Wildcard. There is no real reason to touch Assassin to me. It just has the Sharpen, which is barely useful, and the Dash, which doesn't even have really long lasting armor, which would make it useful. Mournful just feels like they said, "Fuck you Jade, no DLC spot 4 u!" All we'll have of Jade is Dragon Naginata and Mournful.
Kung Jin - Shaolin
The chakram is pretty useless, it works like most other projectiles, and the Up Lunge isn't enough to me. This would be the Wildcard Variation, the one added on for no real reason other than to have 3 Variations.
Mileena - Ethereal
You knew it was coming. The teleports aren't truly useful. If she had some other special moves in this Variation, like some grabs or some launchers, maybe a stun move, this could be useful, but no. Even if the teleports were way faster and she could combo off of them, that would be something. Wildcard/No Ideas.
Reptile - Nimble
If there is a use for this, tell me, cause I don't see it. Not to mention the snake is hideous.
Jason - Unstoppable
You are revived. And you no longer have that Breaker. Cool.
Wildcard/Useless
Raiden - Master of Storms
No one is going into those traps. That trailer lied to you, no one will purposely jump into them. Their zoning will just have to be on fleek. Not to mention this is represented with EX lightning ball. I guess, if you got a read you could combo with it, but that's a maybe.
Wildcard/No ideas
Takeda - Lasher
Takeda in general is a meter hungry character, so all of his Variations barely scrape viability, but Lasher fell short. Takeda is another graphed character.
Gimmicky - Shirai Ryu
Easy Mode - Lasher
Wildcard - Ronin
Ronin is probably the best Variation. I think so, close range, and long range? Yah! But Lasher was just given some more whip moves and called a day. No.
Easy Mode/Add-on
Erron Black - Gunslinger
What is the point of this Variation? While it is more viable than others, with the Stance and money shot, I can barely take it seriously. It is more viable, I will give it that, but it kinda seems useless to me. They could have improved on his hand to hand skills in this one, or zoning, who cares.
Anywho, if they would take out the Variation system, that would avoid any balancing issues that might be upsetting the game as it is. There are so many useless Variations that you sometimes forget about them. Like, I sometimes forget the name of his Spectral Variation. I confuse Gunslinger and Marksman, but maybe that's
@SonicFox5000's fault.
Anyway, what do you think? Are Variations good or Nah? And should they return?
