Personally I like that each character has three variations because one can be purely offensive build, defensive build, and the hybrid build.

To me it only seems more lazy when some characters will have less than 3 variations. It ́s not fair as well. As stated above, all variations can be used in different fashions giving each character multiple ways to go. That is what they are doing and I have faith in them this time around.

I personally think the 3 variants will (or had rather) a big part of which members of the roster were chosen. NRS probably brainstormed and sat at a round table throwing out ideas for every possible character.

Some character's are a must have for story purposes but most character's I assume were chosen based on how well they could adapt to 3 variations. There is a fine line NRS must cross between fleshing out a character and completely changing them.

We saw a glimpse of this with scorpions new power to control netherrealm demons. Scorpion could never not be in the game so they had to stretch for his final variation. I am sure they will back up and write a story line of how he attained the powers but initially that power was bestowed on him because scorpion did not have enough moves to flesh out 3 variations.

NRS would be weary to add additional powers to old character's because it means they have more explaining to do storywise. For that reason I think the roster will be tailored to character's that fit 3 variations.

Maybe the unplayable bosses only have one.. for the playable characters, yeah! They all have 3 variants, one different X-ray for each, and two fatalities per variant =)

That is hopeful, but would be sweet.

Multiple x-rays are confirmed; no word on what triggers them or how many.

It would be unfair if only some characters have three Variations while others only get two. So yes, every characters should have 3.

Every playable character must have thee variations otherwise it is not fair. People would complain and quite rightly too.

How would it be unfair? Characters can only use one variant during gameplay. The variants prevent characters from using every special moves they have during the same fight. A character with only one variant wouldn't really be facing an opponent who has three, but an opponent who's using one variant in particular.

It all comes down to me not wanting NRS to give extra variants to certain characters that barely differ from one another, just because they thought everyone needed them. The weapon system led to many characters getting weapons just so they could have them, and it was clear the developers didn't put much effort in making some of these weapons. They gave Kung Lao a sword, instead of letting him use his hat as a melee weapon. Or how about Sindel's? Did it become an important part of her character, like Kitana's fans, Mileena's sais, or Stryker's baton?

With that said, I hope bosses of the hulking brute variety, if we get them, will have variants too. It'd be interesting to fight them if they had different variants for the players to adapt to.

I don't know why you're comparing this to the 3D games. Not only is the gameplay systems completely different, the 3D games under midway were also rushed to hell....

The variations keeps the base fighting intact for every character and only switches up a few key moves to allow different play styles...like a more rush down Raiden or a more offensive one for example. Limiting these play styles options for some characters would be dumb and unfair.

Watching the variation demonstrations videos, you can also see that each is well thought out and fitting to the characters. This ain't a MKDA-MKA situation...

But still, if you play with a certain character that has only one variant a lot online... One that has trouble to defend him or herself against teleportation for instance. Anyone who sees you use a character with only one variant who has that particular weakness is gonna come down being beaten a lot by teleportation based enemies. . the three variations are there so that you ́ll keep your enemies guessing. I would really, really be disappointed to see one character has three variants and some other character only has one or two. That is what seems unfair.

And indeed, this is not like the 3D era. To me, there ́s no comparison at all. I see what you mean, but it is just much different this time around.

I would direct you to my first post on this page. They will avoid character's that cannot fill 3 variations. They have a massive pool of character's to chose from so I wouldn't worry. They will use the character's that fit the system best.



Your point is very similar to a point I provided about a month ago, involving a roster spot filled with 3 characters. Each of the three variations would just be a character that is apart of an overarching theme like "female ninja's" V1 would be Mileena, v2 kitana, v3 jade. That is the only way I see a character getting only one variation.

But people weren't very accepting of that possibility so I wouldn't expect anyone to warm up to yours either

If someone had pitched the idea to me a year ago, I would of assumed two.

But three?

Fantastic.

They all need three to balance the fighting mechanics. You want your character to be able to zone, rush down, counter zone, etc. That way (hopefully) you won't have such a dominating top tier like in MK9 and all characters will have a better chance against one another. I think they're trying to avoid lop sided match ups like Cyborg vs Grundy and Martian Manhunter vs Cyborg from Injustice (to use more recent examples).

Bothers me very Raiden not have the Bat on none of three variations.

The Bat?

As for the topic, yes. Every character should and will have 3 variations. Whomever is the main boss will most-likely only have one variation [normal move-set}. However, if the main boss is also playable, he or she will probably have 3 variations. This also goes for the sub-boss(es) if probable to be playable.

Staff.

Bat was a translation error.