No Scorpion on the roster? What is this, MK3?
In all seriousness, they must really be keeping his role a secret until the final release, it seems.
So here’s my thoughts on the demo:
Who I enjoyed using, in order of most to least:
Li Mei was honestly the character I gravitated to the most in the demo and it wasn’t all that close. The lantern pop ups, the enhanced projectile pulling opponents back toward you… She was just a lot of fun to use even if I wasn’t particularly great at perfecting any combos. Still, while some were fun on the ground, some were fun with a kameo, and some didn’t do much for me, she felt fun in every phase of the game. Maybe it’s because she’s been gone a while, but she felt fresh and I could absolutely see myself maining her next month.
Liu Kang has a a bit more flash in his game, which is nice. I like that he seemingly got what I guess you could call Raiden’s teleport and that you can use it as a popup to extend combos. Feels like he’s going to be the all-around menace that he’s been for a while now and I’ll be somewhat surprised if he’s not hovering near the top of the tier list when all is said and done.
Johnny Cage… The star meter is kinda fun and lends itself to the fact that they seemingly want him to be the ultimate troll character lol. I still think removing the green aura from all of his moves and replacing it with this sort of ash/ember whatever is a downgrade but I guess they’re revamping his “Mediterranean cult” power origin, possibly? Either way, he’s pretty easy to have fun with like has been in the last three games. I dislike the subtractions a little more than the additions (not having a projectile is just weird for him lol) but it’s nice to see them taking chances with established characters.
Sub Zero feels like he has a lot of fun stuff IMO. Sure, he’s not great at getting opponents up in the air and his move list doesn’t feel super fresh or risky, but overall I like what they did here. I’m not sure if I’ll use him all that much, but enhanced clone is pretty fun. I kinda get the feeling he’ll need to be paired with the right kameo to really unlock his potential, but maybe that was just my scrubby playing. He’s fun tbh.
Kenshi was kinda where the dropoff from awesome to fun to just okay kinda came in. Don’t get me wrong, he has a LOT of potential, but his archetype is pretty difficult, at least as far as I’m concerned. It’s a compelling archetype (puppet) and it’s cool to see in an MK game, but it’s going to take a lot of getting used to. For me, there really wasn’t a lot of fun in trying this out against the computer and certainly not against other people. After some practice though, I think he could be awesome.
Kitana though… Boy I dunno… A LOT of her moves were fan-based, and while they have some flash to them, they look pretty similar. Her princess pirouette seems kinda dull, but maybe I just need to see it in combos? The also randonly gave her Sonya’s arc kick special from MK9 and renamed it Square Wave. Strange choice. Her normals and strings all looked pretty “eh” though I do like her head over heels string and her flipping out air string is okay. Barely ever saw anyone using her online.
Overall gameplay thoughts are kinda mixed at this point. I think the kameo system will take a lot of getting used to. I had whole rounds where I simply forget they existed and even when I remembered, it always felt like a chore to have to call them out at the exact right time to continue a combo or zone zone someone out. There was just not that many moments where I felt like I should call them as opposed to just using what my own character had, especially given the cooldown factor.
On the plus side, I do love the aerial combos and I’m really glad they’re back. I’m sure once I see more of what can be done with characters, both with and without kameos, I’ll be more hyped on the current design choices. I saw some people doing combos that looked really fun, but I also saw people doing combos that honestly looked boring and overly long to the point where I almost wondered if NRS even meant for some of this stuff to make it into the game. We’ll see though. I know a lot of fans wanted longer combos and a greater variety of combo pathways after MK11 and I think we’ll get that. I’m just slightly worried that longer combos won’t exactly equate to combos that are fun to both do and watch as they’re happening to you. We’ll see.
As far as the aesthetics go… I still can’t help but feel like the graphics are somehow a downgrade from MK11. The clothing all looks better on everone, but the faces and the textures… I dunno. Maybe I’m just looking through nostalgia goggles (which seems unlikely) but it feels like MK1’s characters look more cartoony and almost rubbery? Like their skin has absolutely no texture to it whatsoever. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s an old build. Who knows.
On the bright side, I really liked the Tea House stage. I also really dug the music, and it’s been a while since I’ve said that about an MK game. Once I turned the sound effects, voices and ambience down to about 30-40% and left the music at 100%, I actually really dug it.
Oh, and one last gameplay thing… MK11 amplify was on the right bumper/R1. Now enhancing moves is on the right trigger/R2. Anyone think this feels awkward AF? There’s just something different about clicking a button than depressing a trigger or a button with more give to it. I dunno. Maybe that’s why my timing was so terrible on combos. Yeah… That’s it… lol
Curious what everyone else thought. On the whole, I did enjoy my time with it (far more than this breakdown indicated). Li Mei was a ton of fun and I’m eager to learn more about incorporating kameos and actually gettin into the habit of using them and getting comfortable with them. Can’t wait to play the whole game (and also can’t wait to see what gets revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live tomorrow afternoon).
Any guesses for the two reveals Boon mentioned? I’m going to go with Reiko and Sindel 
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For people who have played the game, do fatal blows work the same way they did in MK11, or are they back to being tied to a separate meter?
We got Sindel and Shao Kahn (I can’t call him General Shao, it just doesn’t sound right in the mouth). Plus it looks like Sindel isn’t evil this time! That’s nice!
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Ngl, they could’ve come up with a better name than “General Shao”.
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So general Shao and Sindel are here
So that’s
1: Shao
2: Sindel
3: Reiko
So I don’t even know if Jax and Sonya are even in this one. Jade, Nitara, and another character are all that’s left. Assuming they might even show up.
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Are we sure Reiko was confirmed? I’ve been watching the trailers as they come out and I haven’t seen him anywhere. Plus I remember people really hating him. He could just be an NPC or Kameo as well. Previous mk’s have had plenty of characters that are just NPCs in the story.
My bet is Sonya, Jax, and Kano will come with some sort of Aftermath style story based expansion that focuses mostly on the Special Forces.
Jade, Nitara, and Kai are all solid bets for the rest imo.
Perhaps he could be an NPC, although they have given him a new look which implies his chances are still high. I heard no mention of Kai anywhere.
Nitara I’m sure is all but confirmed. Same for Jade.
But with only what? four slots left I don’t even know for sure.
There was an unidentified black monk standing behind Liu Kand in one of the trailers I’m pretty sure. So some people think that guy might be Kai.
I just don’t know why they’d do Reiko when nobody likes him.
I like him okay but as for Kai
You mean this one.
I know Ed Boon did a tweet circling this guy. Oddly enough I dont see his trademark stripes.
Maybe this was before that? or maybe there’s not enough there. Its the only way I can identify him is with the stripes.
WCS (worse Case scenario) he may be a Kameo Fighter. That’d be a shame though.
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Again, regarding Reiko.
Granted he could just only be a Kameo, but I’d much rather prefer he’d become a playable character instead.
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That is the guy people were talking about but I noticed a guy with even darker skin in todays trailer
Though whether that’s kai or not is unknown
Also I’d like to state this. I’m GLADE! they made Sindel one of the Good Guys again. I hated what they did to her in MK 11
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Me too! Sindel and Kabal were almost ruined for me in 11 after the changes they made to how they interact with the rest of the cast and their personalities.
It’s nice they learned the lesson with Sindel but they then decided to do that same thing with over half the other characters on the lineup no longer really even being themselves. So…
5 bucks says she turns heel during the 2nd-3rd act.
Interesting that Shao has horns. It kind of seems like they’re taking the Minotaur aspect from Motaro’s “Armageddon” form for him. Speaking of which, can I just say how cool it is that we finally got to see Motaro himself as a full-blown centaur after all these years?! 
Something that I also unexpectedly like was the interaction between Johnny and Kitana in their intro dialogues, more specifically Kitana’s excitement at seeing a movie for the first time.
Works the same way, if I recall correctly, though this time around there’s definitely more reaction time for the player on the receiving end.
Lord Shao feels like an easy title. Maybe in cut scenes the call him Lord Marshal or refer to him as “The Lord Marshal.” Seems easy enough, even if Lord Marshal Shao doesn’t run off the tongue at all and is way too long to display in a health bar. Either way, Lord Shao seems easier and better IMO.
Jax could end up as DLC, but there’s been zero rumors about that. Sonya is still rumored for the main roster but I don’t see how that’s even possible. If the rather credible leaks are to be believed, Reiko, Nitara and then an unknown character are all that’s left. Maybe Jade’s a hidden character?
Nah Reiko definitely has a fanbase. He’s been among the more highly requested 3D era characters. Maybe not as much as characters like Havik, Nitara, Ashrah or Sareena, but he’s up there.
He was on some of the roster leaks, so it’d be pretty surprising at this point if he didn’t make it, but we’ll see.
This would be an exceedingly wasted opportunity for this character to the point where it’d almost feel like a troll job directed at all the fans that complained about Sindel’s MK11 retocon. That said… It wouldn’t surprise me lol.
Yeah the horns… Some are thinking his dad is a certain former Kahn of Outworld.
Really hoping that turns out to be true and we see him again! It’d be pretty awesome if he were playable as well.
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I swear for years he was on dozens of most hated MK character lists. Where did these people come from?
That’s an interesting variation if so. I recall that Shao had been Onaga’s advisor, but the possibility of Shao being Onaga’s son would be pretty neat. I think the most fascinating take was kind of alluded to in X and some of the older titles like “Deception”, where it was suggested that Shao Kahn’s conquering of realms was a sort of act of desperation as a way to prevent Outworld from decaying. To a certain extent, it almost seemed to suggest that Shao was something of a hero, if not Outworld’s equivalent to Raiden or something before his corruption.
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