@lanoitarnu

I agree that they didnt build cassie up but she's probably have been trained by her parents for a long time. She's not just a random guy. She's young but still a trained fighter who happens to be daughter of veteran fighter that are Johhny and Sonya.

This game is kind of a transition for a new generation. And Cassie is the best candidate for the next championship spot.

I'm not saying that it was the best course but I get the logic there

She has a one-frame appearance in Kitana's ending when Kitana is stuck in the Netherealm and pissed off at Raiden (where've we seen that before?).

diirect just likes to prattle endlessly about how Ermac stinks in order to get attention while under the delusion that Smoke is somehow a more popular character.

Reiko was also in early drafts, and like Bo' Rai Cho, Brian Chard has said time will tell if he is alive. (He's previously stated the team doesn't know if Bo' survived or not (not the exact words))

Most of the responses about the fate of unseen characters/ what happens after story mode is just "we don't know yet" or "we'll see."

I do not argue semantics or other petty details. His desire is more than sympathy for others especially others he has never shown any care for. Maybe if Takeda was one of the revenants but Liu Kang/Kitana etc etc. No, he should not care about them conpared to his family. Secondly, what if some of them want to stay a revenant? Kitana agrees that she likes being a revenant.

Did Scorpion take up the contract or was he told by his higher command after the Shirai Ryu accepted the contract?

His ressurection came easy by being manipulated by having a chance for revenge. It has nothing to do with being a hired murderer.

Quan Chi allowed himself to be captured so that was inevtiable. The Special Forces would not have killed Quan Chi even though he is threat to all of reality. The Shirai Ry would have had immobolise them. Why do keep bringing that up? He does not kill any of them. He actually gives the order not to kill. Anyway, Shinnok was defeated, and no one else dies. D'Vorah is captured as well. He was gung-ho but it paid off.

I am sick of Scorpion with Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero is baggage just like Quan Chi. The sooner Scorpion sheds the both of them the better. Starting anew with Takeda is a good start as well as Kenshi.

He has his own agenda. I am happy Scorpion does not believe in the power of friendship like a deus ex machina to save the day somehow. We can all defeat the bad guy with no losses because...friendship. If people get in Scorpion's way he deals with them, it does matter if they are allies or enemies. Now that he is free of his tired plot line, it will be interesting to see how he progresses along with the more ruthless Raiden.

Can my complaints be that it's just shit? I'm wondering if saying the story is shit works as a lot of complaints.

The only thing I liked is the ending which comes after the credits because it opens room for a much more interesting story that they will also fuck up.

Some of the story was good/decent. It was just all of the moments that should make me say "that was awesome!!!@!" just made me think it was stupid. Idk why they didn't just make the story a bit longer to flesh out some of the stuff. The lack of anything Liu, Kitana, And Kung Lao really bugged me and Cassie being the one who beats Shinnok is baad. I really want to just meet their writers and understand what their thought process on this was. I'm pretty sure everyone on this site could have thought of a better story in two hours.

Cassie has green energy powers, what about that is somehow weaker than having fire powers? Never mind that Liu being able to turn into a dragon may not even be canon, given that he's never done so in-story. Cassie is as much a regular human being as Liu, so I'm not sure why it's so unbelievable that she beat Shinnok, especially with a power-up that had already been foreshadowed and built up lots.

Did you not read the last bit of what I said?
The problem is the direction and writing are poorly done.

Why should Quan Chi let himself be captured? Why couldn't he have been an actual threat and made it to Earthrealm on his own and then the heroes had to race to catch up with him before he summoned Shinnok? He certainly could make it to Earthrealm on his own. He's capable.
Instead, he's just holed up in the Netherrealm like a rat.

Quan Chi comes off as a complete puss in story. He's all bark, no bite. He's far less intimidating in MKX than he was in 9 (or previously.) Highlights of him in story are: getting knocked out by Raiden, getting his balls stomped on by Sonya, hiding in the Netherrealm for nearly 20 years, getting frightened by and depending on rev. Liu Kang, begging for mercy, getting KTFO by Jax, being imprisoned in a trailer, and getting his head cut off just before his plan succeeded. Wow. Scary guy.

The whole showdown between Jax and Quan Chi was most likely put there to give Jax something to do/achieve. If QC had escaped capture and wasn't taken to the refugee camp, the issue of Scorpion's stupidity (and that's exactly what it is) in attacking the camp and taking QC out of confinement, inadvertently allowing Shinnok to arrive in Earthrealm wouldn't have occurred.

If Quan Chi had snuck off to the Jinsei Chamber and began the ritual to bring forth Shinnok, there wouldn't be a problem with Scorpion's behavior. There wouldn't be innocents caught in the crossfire (including thousands of refugees.) He could dash off after him, murder his ass, and be done with it. Go, Scorpion!
Instead, he looks like a complete moron in immobilizing a defense force (no matter how meager it is,) attacking his allies, and (accidentally) allowing Shinnok entry to Earth before being knocked out in no time and leaving everything else up to the Jr. Gang. What a stand-up guy.

He's damn lucky that Johnny, Sonya, Kenshi, the Jrs., and Raiden (?) didn't die, and that Cassie managed to defeat Shinnok. But, he must have had that all planned out, right...? /sarcasm

The fact of the matter is the story is very badly-done in certain sections, and therein they do no favors to the characters.

If you seriously think the camp scenario was well-written and was beneficial to characterization of the persons present, I can offer nothing further to change your mind.
Let's just agree to disagree.

Cassie has less shadow powers than her dad. And how in the hell was the stupid magical green power built up lots? It happens once and that's it until the end. Liu would have been something I wouldn't mind as much because he's been the main good guy for a lot of the MK games and was always built up as the champion. Cassie has no build up to her being the best fighter or even someone that could slightly challenge A FALLEN ELDER GOD WHO JUST ABSORBED EARTHS LIFE SOURCE.

She still uses those powers in her fighting. And Johnny used that power-up and then afterwards they started talking about how it was because he was descended from a cult, and it was even brought up if Cassie could do it as well. It was definitely built-up. Shinnok even captured Johnny first after he was freed because he didn't want that power-up to happen again. Cassie was also mentored by several of Earthrealm's greatest heroes growing up, I think that makes her far from weaker than Liu; you might as well say that Liu's defeating Goro, who had been undefeated for centuries and beaten many of Earthrealm's best warriors, was hardly built up to in the original game.

I'm sure that if they had Cassie beating up everyone, that would also get lots of complaints. They couldn't really show off her victories until her own chapter, and even before then she was holding her own against several other characters. If anything, just look at the power-up as proof that the cult did a pretty good job in breeding their warriors.

Power levels have still never been a thing in MK and never will be, BTW.

Cassie beating Shinnok is the least of the story's problems. The rest of it just feels a little rushed and not as thought out.

I kinda prefer Liu as a hero simply because he just always has been and I like the clean-cut Shaolin Monk prevailing in a world of crazy magic and kungfu mixed with espionage but it's not inherently bad for Cassie to win.

Scorpion killing a weak and already captured Quan kinda ruined what would have been an epic ending to their long standing rivalry. Quan had kinda already stopped being a threat at this point in the story.

I'm also hella confused about the ending cut scene, no idea why it gets so much praise. So Raiden apparently died at the end of the story? When Kung Jin was holding him? Why would they not show that? Also, dying automatically makes you evil now, you just 180 on everything you once thought? Like it use to make sense with Quan or Shinnok having control over the deceased and pulling strings, but now they're both gone, so why is everyone automatically turning evil? And I get the whole dark Raiden thing, but in the cutscene he's a revenant, not dark Raiden. And Lui no longer hates Raiden because he's dead and evil?? wtf? Thats really all it took to be bros again?

And RIP Baraka, not only did they kill you off but they made me, the player, do it! I'm so sorry! My hands are covered in your blood lol. Can't wait to play him in the next game tho since dying in MK just about guarantee's you and your family a spot on the next roster.

Overall they gotta ditch the only playing heroes thing for story mode, the story feels extremely one sided. Like each villain lost every single engagement every single time. There was zero threat. If anything I start pitying the evil characters, even Quan Chi, the dude got his ass kicked all through story mode.

The story was still a thousand times better than MK9 tho.

Kotal isn't exactly a hero, and D'Vorah is straight up evil tho

Raiden didn't die, he was turned evil by the corrupted Jinsei when he purified it. He's not a revenant, notice that he doesn't have the glowing veins like the actual revenants, he just has red eyes. And Liu's not bros with him at all, Raiden was telling him not to not to attack Earthrealm or else he'd crush him.

Reiko, Kai, and Skarlet, as I just found out, were all in early drafts of the story.



Raiden went to cleanse the tainted Jinsei and was corrupted as a result, thus becoming Dark Raiden, not a revenant. The skin even calls it as such.

Raiden gave Liu Kang and Kitana a warning. Since they are now the rulers of the Netherrealm, they could potentially be threats. He made an example of Shinnok to get it clear not to mess with Earthrealm.

Sounds like Reiko is getting that comic death I was expecting.

The concept of chi is very present in the mk universe. Lui Kang has alway had a very high one, due to being a high ranking White Lotus. This was built up and consitant throughout the series for the most part. On top of that he beat a tricked and betrayed Shinnok that didn't have his real amulet, so it was belivable. The Cage boost is powerful, but it shouldn't be THAT powerful. It takes the assistance of the elder gods to beat a powered up Shao Kahn. Johnny didn't get his boost then. Apparently his world of 6-7 billion people and their souls being condemed to eternal sufferent don't equate to Sonya, who had already had a few near death experiences in front of him.

Liu Kang's "high amount of chi" allowing him to beat Shao Kahn and apparently be on the level of Raiden as powered by the Elder Gods is believable, but Johnny receiving a surge of power from his dormant abilities allowing him to beat Shinnok isn't? I think if Liu could beat both Shao Kahn and Shinnok without power-ups, Raiden, Johnny, and Cassie beating them with power-ups works just as well. Why can't Johnny and Cassie's boosts allow them to equal Raiden's Elder Gods boost when Liu Kang, who isn't a god or descended from a cult whose whole purpose was to create warriors for the gods, was able to beat these guys under his own power?

And I don't think the concept of chi has ever been a big part of the MK universe at all. It's hardly been mentioned or made a big deal out of.

I forgot to say thanks in the other thread where you replied to me when I asked where did Fujin disappear after chapter one, so thank you! ^_^

In MK4, Reiko is technically dead since he was a general for Shao Kahn and died, being resurrected as a wraith (explains the blank eyes) to serve Shinnok and the Brotherhood only to resurface in Armageddon to serve Shao Kahn again. Even if he'll be presumed to be defeated and dead in the comics, he'll always find a way to resurface and get back at his enemies in some manner. He's a much more intelligent, calculating, and patient version of Shao Kahn way more interesting and formidable than his former commander.

Hehe, no problem! :)

Makes sense. They wanna keep their options open on most of these characters. The good news is that they aren't dead. Even better news is that dead characters seem to return anyway so the windows of possibility are wide open. I think the next game will pull a Deception and we'll see a lot of cool faces return. That seems to be the trend anyway.

Hooo boy...

Well I finished Story Mode about a half hour ago. I'll list some things out.

- The inclusion of Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Kitana as playable characters makes no sense. They are wasted roster spots, spots that could've gone to Rain, Tanya, Fujin, fuck even Li Mei. Having them playable in human form is just really weird. I think NRS was afraid to not include them because of fan appeasement, and that really sucks.

- Some characters just fucking disappear without a trace. What happened to revenant Nightwolf, Stryker, and Kabal? Where is Jade? What happened to Fujin? (Answered previously, but still). What happened to Kano? Where did Sareena go? How badly was Frost punished? No Goro, Havik, or Reiko? Reiko is mentioned due to the "Reiko Accords" like 239857 times, but he doesn't appear. Not one mention of Cyrax, Noob Saibot, Sheeva, etc? Just seems like there's more questions than answers.

- Ferra/Torr was completely useless. I'm hoping they don't appear in the next one. For all the hype that Erron Black had, he also didn't do too much. I thought Reptile's appearance in this as a character was an improvement over his MK9 appearance, but he still didn't do a lot.

- The deaths. It's not the fact that the people who died (Baraka, Mileena, Sektor, Quan Chi) did so, but rather the feeling that there is no emotional value attached to it. We saw like 9 fucking people get killed by Sindel, and then all of a sudden they are back, and in the cases of Sub-Zero and Jax are returned to life. It makes the prospect of dying empty. Also I really wanted to see Sub-Zero take Sektor out, but of course NRS hates Sub-Zero so I'm not surprised we didn't get to see him do something awesome.

- Cassie taking out Shinnok with the green halo deus ex machina. As soon as I saw Johnny use it in the first chapter, I knew Cassie would be the one to take Shinnok down using the same device. Wayyyyyy too predictable. Keep in mind I went out of my way to avoid spoilers and knew nothing about story mode (except what was shown in the trailer), so I had no idea what to expect as far as chapters go.

- Shinnok as the main boss. Let me start by saying I loved what they did with Shinnok this time (mostly). This isn't a complaint about him, as it is more with Boon. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Boon say the final boss would be a "surprise returning character"? How in the flying fuck is Shinnok considered a surprise character when the fucking ending of MK9 clearly set all of this up? I was almost expecting it to be Liu Kang because that seemed like a "NRS thinks this will be a surprise to players" type of move, but wow, they just threw all of that out of the window.

- The post-credits scene. First, I liked it, because it gives us an idea of what's coming next. It was fine. I just don't understand--is Raiden dead? He looked like a revenant, but I couldn't tell if that was what happened or he's just turning into Dark Raiden a la Deception. I understand why, it's because of Shinnok's corruption of the Jinsei. But this is a very minor complaint...I'll worry about this again when they start developing MK11.


I'll might post more later, these are just some initial thoughts, and they seem to be relatively common among the fan base. Overall, I did actually enjoy story mode for what it was, but it just seemed....rushed. I think they ultimately focused so much on gameplay that it ended up hurting the story and lore of the series. It feels like they are moving to being more relevant on the tournament fighting game stage at the expense of focusing less on story, which is fine, it is a fighting game. But really as a fan virtually my entire life, it seems tough.

Wait, why does this mean they aren't dead? The next game could easily have them as all dead, them being in a script that was probably pretty different from what we got doesn't mean much for their current state in the lore. The comic could still kill Reiko off; Brian Chard, who confirmed them being in early drafts, even said time will tell if Reiko is actually currently alive.

I like Liu, Kitana, Lao, etc being playable even if they're dead still.

All that means is in future games we might get characters who are "dead" for the time being but playable for what-if scenarios. The story constantly changes anyway.