It ultimatly depends on your defiintion of simple. Some people consider Scorpion's MKX design simple, others say his MK 1 design is simply. Me personaly, I like the complex designs, as long as their clever like Injustice Scorpion

I think it depends on logic and execution.

A character doesn't have to look like a 6 year old's idea of a racecar, nor must he/she embody grandpa's sweater.

I prefer complex designs, especially on high authority or regal characters. There are always exceptions though.

Sometimes simple is nicer. I liked Ermac in the last game, also preferred MKSM kintaro to mk9 kintaro. Sometimes it feels they are trying too hard. They should generally keep the original designs as alternates .

Never liked Takeda's main costume, too much going and too high tech for what I imagined a shirai ryu ninja would look, plus it looks kind of silly, along with his plasma swords.

His simpler alt is way better and fitting, imo.

Complex designs are okay as long as they are tempered with functionality.

MK9 Scoprion primary: too much chitinesque motiffs on the black. Good comlex design? Shang Tsung MKDA Primary. Very basic, but those two scarfs with the details really bring it up to notch.

I too feel that some, not all, costumes are too embellished.

Lol and very true.

For me personally I can't tell if I long for simpler costumes or just the nostalgia of the older classic costumes. I like Sub and Scorps primaries in this game, I wish Ermac had his classic tho. To me Scorpions MK9 primary is a good example of an over-done design.

I wish all classic characters had their classic costumes available. Would be interesting to see what got used the most.

I prefer design simplicity in every function; the only exception being vain characters whose defining traits are their obsession with their appearance.

Simplicity works. You can see it in the UI menus of the game. Not everything has to heap on the ol' razzle dazzle to be visually appealing.

I know it's nitpicky... But something about SubZero's design in this game drives me nuts...

The damn knives on his costume... In a game where a lot of his moves involve forming ice knives... carrying a bunch of metal knives seems pointless... like the designers felt the costume needed "more" but couldn't decide what to add, and decided weapons would make him look more badass..

Ugh, I'm so sick of hearing people bitch about the kunai on Sub-Zero's uniform. It's a functional assassin outfit, it's his "action" outfit - as opposed to his "Kuai Liang" look that is simple and traditional, as it is supposed to be, since it's his "Grandmaster" outfit.

Less tends to be more when it comes to character design. Of course devs always wanna boast what they can do on new engines with new technology whenever the next gen runs around by making extremely detailed outfits, but what are you gonna do.

Sometimes they end up looking really nice like Raiden, or really shitty and overdone like Batman in Arkham Knight.

About Sub-Zeros outfit... Yes.. for a normal assassins outfit... it would make sense.. Why would it make sense for him the have the weapons on it?

He doesn't think to himself.. okay.. I'm fighting Grandmaster style today.. so I'm going to choose to use real knives and not ice knives...

It really depends on the costume. Scorpion for example, his primary in this game is probably my favorite look he has had since the first trilogy of games, I absolutely hated his costumes in MK9, always went retro, it looked better to me.

Raiden, I like his Tournament skin the most.

Sub-Zero, I like his Revenant skin the most, I kind of wish they used that as a basis for his primary, I really don't like his primary for some reason.

So it depends on the actual costumes for me.

In the (not so distant) past I might've agreed to that. But if you look at the Klassic costumes in this game...
Seems like those just lack something and don't really stand out.
Oooor they actually do stand out, but for all the wrong reasons. *mindblown*

Overall, yes, I do prefer the simple designs.

To be brutally honest, the last game where I liked pretty much all of the characters outfits and looks was "MK4/Gold." I feel that due to the increase in the power of the consoles and game software from the next gen wave (that started with PS2/Xbox/Gamecube) the designers tend to add too many bells and whistles to the outfits and designs. It started in "Deadly Alliance" and increased as the games went on from there.

I certainly don't dislike *all* of the costumes and so on - "X" has some great designs - but I do feel like there was a turning point where a lot of the characters started to look a bit too "Final Fantasy"/"World of Warcraft"-ish.

I really like the designs. Reminds me of the 3D Era only better.

I agree with the OP. My favorite designs were in MK:SM. Its like the team took everyone's classic design, but then just added a tad bit more, but not too much. Like the white dragons on LiuKang's pants for example. Gaudy shoulder pads is what kills me the most (mk9 Scorpion!).

Oh and its not just the useless Kunai strapped all over SubZero, but whats up with those belts on his head? There are 100 belts all over Scorpion as well. Is that necessary?

I know the designers are eager to use these next gen engines that can make any kind of material they want, but hey, there's nothing wrong with cloth guys. Everybody doesnt have to be garbed from head to toe in armored leather (mk9 Scorpion!). LoL

During Aramageddon and MK9 I was concern with the amount of loincloths the fighters had. Some of them didn't need it.

This time around, I'm concerned with the back-legs / ass loin cloths.
For me, Quan Chi, Kenshi and especialy Jax do not need it. AT ALL.

They kind went overboard eith that I think.