Mortal Kombat 11

I was just joking around. No aggression this time.

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@Iago407 the superpowered ninja theme does not begin with MK. It was there all the previous decades in all the asian films. The first fighting games used characters that corresponded to film or comic heroes.
Jax and Kano are not fully humans. They are mixed. They are more than simple humans. And again i am not against humans with superpowers, as long as they are not ordinary people. They must be unique at something. Sonya is a bad design. How did she get her projectile? Isnt she a general? Do generals throw fireballs or is there any such lore. It is different about liu kang and ninjas because east asia curries a legacy of magical martial arts that didnt just jumped of nowhere.
Guile is a wrong design as it matters his projectile, he could have a lazer-like projectile instead. Deejay also. His projectile is only to balance him. Orchid doesnt have projectiles but she has the cat which is connected to jago because she is his sister. So they are not simple humans. TJ does not have crazy moves. He is an overpowered human with his dna altered by ultratech. The only simple human in KI is Maya and her projectiles are not fireballs, they are her daggers.

I liked the variations because they didnt exist before. It was a different era. People hadnt seen much of games so palette swaps were acceptable. Like ken and ryu. But making palette swaped characters today is bad. (Not to mention that they are selling colours saperately, and in injustice you had to pay 10€ to change the outfit without changing the stats).
The lighting in KI was difficult because the characters are not part of the enviroment. They are a different layer. So for every change of the stage they should also change the lights of the characters. That problem doesnt exist in neatherealm games. The characters are part of the enviroment. So changing to universal light adapts to its every aspect, which it makes it easy to have the day/night, weather variations.

Ah, I was talking about actual ninjas. I didn’t realize what type of lore you were referencing.

Well okay, they have cybernetic implants, but in MK2, Jax was fully human and he still had a projectile.

The same way Jax did, I suppose? I think part of the reason why Armageddon even happened was because there were too many mortals with too much power. I can’t recall for sure, but I believe that’s canon. They’ve never explained where most characters “get” their powers from. Just saying “Sub Zero is a ninja and ninjas can have super powers” is kind of a weak explanation.

So instead of providing a weak explanation, they provide none. Again, Guile and Dee Jay… Totally normal characters in SF, but they have super powers. Games are riddled with examples like this. You might not think that’s okay or to your preference, but that’s just fighting games, man. At some point, you need to stop applying your own logic to what makes sense and what doesn’t and just go with it. We’re talking about a series in MK that has multiple realms, demons, sorcerers, ninjas, gods, etc… The idea that some having powers makes sense while others don’t seems a bit pointless, don’t you think?

Orchid’s powers are not connected to Jago’s, if I recall correctly.

He can charge at someone without moving his legs from across the screen and punch them. You don’t call that a crazy move? His DNA wasn’t altered. He was given cybernetic implants in his arms. I don’t think that would allow him to do the stuff that he does.

Is this true? This doesn’t sound right, but I could be mistaken.

Either way man, I think you’re REALLY splitting hairs here. The fact that you have to bend over backwards to rationalize some characters moves while disregard others should tell you that you’re looking too far in to this. Fighting game characters have special moves, super moves, moves that no ordinary human can do. From fireballs to dragon punches to charging fists to fire cat transformations to flying in tot he air and immediately dropping down on to opponents with your daggers. It’s ALL cut from the same cloth. You can either accept that, or you can pick apart each character and have a strong opinion about who should have special moves, which moves are acceptable for humans, mixed humans, ninjas, monks, etc all you want, but you’re really only ruining the immersion for yourself. MK is a game where characters can do things that no ordinary human, general or not, can do. Same goes with Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, Tekken and pretty much every other fighting game out there. That’s the genre.

I don’t know what else to tell you but to suggest that you enjoy the game for what they are and not for what you think they should be, because honestly man, your paramaters for how reality should be in these games don’t really match up with the lore of the games. You can either immerse yourself in that lore and enjoy the ride, or do what you’re doing now, which I can’t imagine is all that fun for you.

Man i dont mind characters having superpowers. Just give me an explanation an make the character design to fit to that explanation. That happened with KI. So i want it from the game after KI.
If you want to create a native ametican with karate moves do it. But give an explanation to that. This is how you make a universe. You define the relationships. If anything pops up out of nowhere it creates confusion and ultimately indicates bad treatment of the game. It makes it shallow.
I know that you can enjoy it the same way but still it will be fragmented.
There is no FG lore that excuses such treatment. There are only good and bad decisions. Thinking reasonably makes a better environment. Even more in MK the greatest reason is gore, and that is a shallow decision for any game.
Anyway anyone enjoys different things so ok. Lets see what the game will be.

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Cover art revealed:

That’s… A LOT… of yellow…

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But KI doesn’t explain all of its characters abilities. TJ can move all the way across the screen without moving his feet, blue light is flying from his fist (after his Ultratech implants were removed, which is why he has the scars on his arms). There’s no explanation for that. It’s just “video games.” Do Maya’s daggers give her the power to leap ten feet in the air, change direction, and dive down on to an opponent? Do they allow her to do these crazy spinning kicks? Does Thunder simply being Native American mean getting struck by lightning and turning in to a flock of crows makes sense?

I like that KI explains the lore that gives some characters to do certain things, but it doesn’t explain everything, nor should it. I think when you’re getting in to explaining why characters have the moves they have, unless it’s organically revealed, you’re just getting in to the tall grass.

I mean, they explained Cage’s green aura on MKX, and a lot of the characters, for your purposes, fall under the safer categories for characters to have super powers, but for the ones that don’t, and the one’s whose powers aren’t explicitly talked about from a lore perspective, well… I don’t think that makes it bad writing. Not every facet of a fighting game needs to be explained and again, the parameters you’re putting on who needs explanations and who don’t seem totally arbitrary.

But no one’s confused though. No one’s asking why Sonya can throw energy rings. Just you. I don’t think glossing over things like this make the lore for the story shallow, I think they just choose to focus on aspects that are more germane to the story they’re trying to tell. In going through MKX’s story mode again, I really enjoy how Sonya and Johnny interact. I like how they were in the past how that contrasts with the present. I like that two fighting game characters got divorced. To me, stuff like that, details like that, and how Cassie is caught between them… That’s interesting territory and relatively new territory for a fighting game of all things to be sifting through. I’m not watching that while thinking “this is okay, but it’d be more immersed in this world if I knew how Sonya threw those energy rings.”

It’d be like saying Mario’s a normal guy, but he goes to this magical place, grabs a leaf and all of a sudden he can fly using a raccoon tail? What is it about this raccoon tail that makes him fly? What is the lore behind this leaf and the powers it provides? Sure, you can just disregard that by saying the mushroom kingdom is a magic place, but if you do that, then you have to do that for Mortal Kombat as well, since it’s already been established in Armageddon that there are too many powerful mortals in the world and it’s unbalanced things. It’s why Blaze was awakened in the first place, if I recall correctly. The world isn’t as it should be.

So to me, you build a world with the characters, their relationships to each other, their subplots and the main plotline. You tell a story with them. You can get down in to the minutia if you want and sometimes that’s good for the lore, but not having some of that doesn’t really mean it falls short. Or at least it shouldn’t. If you feel differently though, no problem. I’m just saying that in this genre, you’re kinda setting yourself up to be disappointed. MK’s storytelling does a LOT really well, but it’s not without its shortcomings. I can see that this is one of those for you, but hopefully you’ll be able to look past what’s not there and simply enjoy what is. :slight_smile:

Is it bad that my first reaction as “good lord, Scorpion AGAIN?” It looks cool, and yeah… VERY yellow. I think it’ll grow on me.

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That’s pretty much everyone else’s reaction as well.

I’m not a fan, but to be honest, I don’t really care either. It’s just the cover art. I’m getting the game digitally.

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Yeah, Scorpion seems like a bit of an odd choice to have yet again, but that’s fine. He’s basically their mascot so I guess it makes sense. Kinda hoped they’d go for more of a gold theme, but I’ll get used to the eye-popping yellow lol.

Hey have you tried going back to Mortal Kombat Online yet? I know you used to frequent the site before. I must say, the overall vibe seems much more relaxed than when I used to go there, which is nice. The new look for the site is also pretty solid. Funny thing though, a few nights ago, I went to post a comment and instead of a white box popping down for me to fill with my many words, there was just a black space. It’s been that way for about five days now. Can’t post any new topics or comment on any threads, either on desktop or on my iphone. I’ve tweeted at MKO’s twitter handle three times and I’ve received no response. Strange… Guess they’re still working out the kinks?

Either way, it’s a nice place to discuss MK. Much nicer than it was before, at least in my estimation. Wasn’t sure if you’d tried it out yet or what kind of experience you’d had if you’d made any attempt yet. Just curious.

Mortal Kombat Watersports edition~

I am surprised at the contrast, I expected another grimdark boxart like MKX and IJ2. I will admit though I still find it interesting, though for different reasons of course.

On a side note, how do you think they’ll handle the complete edition boxart after all is said and done? Will they put a different character on the box like MKXL, or make the same art but golden like Injustice 2 Legendary Edition? I’m honestly more interested in that since it’s clear they will change the box for the later release.

I guess they will throw raiden on the box art.

Kano, Reptile, Skarlet, Tanya, Kung Lao, and Sub Zero are the characters I enjoy the most and hope are in the game. Unfortunately I dont think Kano is going to make it nor is Skarlet.

I made a quick edit of the cover art:

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sub-Zero will never get the axe as far as I know. My guess if your right on the first one, because maybe there might be some meaning behind scorpion and Raiden fighting.

So they’re using Scorpion again? That means once MK 11.5 comes out, Sub Zero will be on it again too lol

wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

I’m buying all games digitally so…this one will get a pass.

Anyone remember these?

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In recent games Johnny Cage has been explicitly stated to be descended by “warriors bred for the gods by a Mediterranean cult”

Sonya’s “fireballs” have a laser sound effect, making it likly she fires tehm from some sort of wrist gadget.

Have you even played 9 or X?

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There is a difference between the presentation of a move and an out of place move. Maya’s leap is a kick super wow performed. Its mobility corresponds to maya’s skills as a very skilled hunter. An amazon. Same TJ , his move are punches, not fireballs. He is a boxer or an ideal form of a boxer. Thunders moves reflect an ideal native american warrior. He is connected with elements of nature.
What is johnny cage? Why does he have fireballs? Saying because of FGs is just an excuse for his bad design. He basically is just the pretty boy of the soap opera. Same sonya. She is the girl. Bad choices for fighting games.
What do you mean noone is asking for these things? A good developer asks for these things. That is why they do no exist in good games. NRS doesnt even try to have a reason. Not even a no reason. The characters are created shallow. I could think that they do not respect their own product, but judge from the quantity of the game i would say that they have the will but they are off FG mood.

https://goo.gl/images/8mBoNt look at sabrewulf. How he animates. He reflects his madness. His “wulfness”.His adrenaline. His moves are bites, claws and everything insired from a werewulf story. Good design. They put effort on his design.
If you see the MK characters they are dead. They have no way to move. They have no reason to move in a way. Because they are fast made. And the worst thing is that they make a whole movie for the story. A whatever story, people appearing and dying.
Ok i dont want to talk about it anymore. I hope they could listen. Peace.