yeah, i must agree with you. the fuck was i thinking that night? oh well

Yes, he has his success, but it's only on the factors of his gimmicks, nothing more.

Even if he develops as a character and has a more interesting story, that doesn't necessarily mean that I'd change my mind about him to the point where I would start to not mind seeing him return.

Two examples would be Jax and Johnny Cage, both characters who have not had real character development until very recently. Their stories have gotten more interesting. However, while there is a bit of potential for them to return given these developments, I wouldn't want them to return. The same would be for Baraka, who is in a worse state as changing his story direction might take it to something that's either predictable or something that's already been done in someone else's story. There just isn't that much to him.

Why is it absurd to care about the depth and quality of the characters? I care about looks and moves as well, but they are not the sole things I care for. It's caring for the surface things like that and nothing else that I find a bit absurd.

The "depth" and "personality" you and Xia are talking about for characters only goes so far. Bios are merely a few short paragraphs. Endings also. It isn't absurd to judge characters solely for that?

Truthfully, we only know rather little about the characters. Novels and comic books have pages upon pages that develop their characters continuously. MK has had no more than 7 short bios/endings for each character. That is not enough information. We haven't delved into their "depth" very much with only that.

I too care about the story. Bios and endings are interesting. Collecting them is fun, but what's even more interesting and fun is what goes on in the actual game itself; the fighting, the moves, the action, the playing of the game. Baraka has more personality in his gameplay
than Quan Chi and other characters have in all their bios combined. In other words, what he lacks in his bios, he definitely makes up for as a selectable fighter.


You are seriously delusional if you think that.

Prove it. With evidence. But if you fail to bring up anything in junction with the concepts of heteroglossia, dialogism and chronotope, then your words will equal basically with nothing but your own dilettantism.

Well, so would yours, right?! I mean you haven't proved anyhing yourself...

Anyway, this thread is beginning to be flaming like the last thread, so I suggest we will stay on topic and make some points instead of critisize each other for whatever oppinions we have, ok?

New characters vs the old characters. I must say, there have been some bad new characters, in my oppinion Dairou and Li Mei are some of the worst, though, Li Mei improved greatly in MKD.
I DO NOT SAY THEY ARE CRAP ONLY THAT THEY DO NOT TOP HIGH ENOUGH FOR ME TO APPRECIATE THEM!!! So I won't hear any flaming posts like "U suxxors, Dairou rules da world!!!", alright?!
Characters like Nitara and Darrius needs some more story to make them more interesting, if they are to return in the next MK game...

Hmm... I also agree that story and bio is not all that makes a character, but it surely is an important part of making a character interesting. Like I said in my last post, give some of the old characters some new goals and they'll improve!

Search feature + Chrome + threads + circa 2005 + character random topics

Or if not satisfied, I could do it again at request, though I see the futility of doing so. It is a damn failing video game for Christs sake.

Don't be so pessimistic... Mortal Kombat has potential... The MK team just needs to take their time and make a good game instead of rushing things because of the fans are impatient...

QS: You're making it sound as if the few short paragraphs mean very little. Yes, there are still things we don't know about certain characters, but given the way Baraka and other characters have been, we get a good enough idea as to what they're like. It's the meaning behind their short paragraphs that tells about the character.

How does Baraka have more personality in his gameplay than Quan Chi and other characters in their bios combined? It doesn't make any sense and sounds very subjective.

Another thing is that I don't judge characters solely on their stories. I've said this before, even in the last thread. Things like looks, moves, etc. have their importance, but for a fanbase of a character to be based solely on those things and not also on things like what they character is about, then it's more on the shallow side. Again, Scorpion is a prime example of this as a lot of his fanbase is based on just those things, so they can't see how Scorpion has, in actuality, become a complete imbecile.

JR: It's not as simple as you're making it out to be. The bosses at Midway set up the deadlines for the MK team to complete their games, so there'll pretty much always be those time constraints. Another problem lies within the incompetence in the MK team itself. You would think that with someone like mastermalone, who went to E3, talked to Ed Boon and some of the others working on MKA, giving the a disc that shows the various glitches in MKD, and even handing a list of the major gameplay problems, that MKA's gameplay would be much better. Unfortunately, it was once again a disaster.

Despite the supposed knowledge Boon and others have, the results say that there are some people who don't know what they're doing, and because of that, things go bad. It's gameplay is still a joke and will continue to be a joke unless they have a solid foundation on the design.

Yet another problem lies within the whole "quantity over quality" thing. MKA in particular, suffered from this. We get over 60 playable characters yet they are all pretty shallow as the core foundation of the fighting system is very shallow.

The point I'm trying to make here is that there needs to be several drastic changes to take MK in the right direction.

Ah, I see, that changes things... I still hope they will become better so the next MK game can match the standards... I mean, MK has been a good series for so long, it would be a shame to end it here...

Actually,MKD and MKA are a joke compared to MKDA and before. Im talking about actual gameplay. The glitches,OTGS,and Broken Characters just really ruin it.

I just hope Ed Boon does in fact go with his original idea of killing off all characters,changing the fighting engine and having all new characters to start off a clean slate on the future video game systems. PS3,WII,Etc.

I'm not trying to say that they mean very little. I'm saying that they are very little. We have a decent idea as to what the characters are like, which is a good thing, but they're personalities are still largely nebulous since we only know so little of them. Most of their backgrounds are even empty and summed up as "he was the former ruler," or "she was an assassin," etc.

Lots of characters, like Ermac, barely even have any personality cuz they seldom appear and aren't given much to do. So I don't think it's fair to let story dictate what characters return or not.


What I was trying to say was that Baraka is more compelling in gameplay that Quan Chi and others are in their bios combined. This is not an opinion of mine since clearly Baraka has more fans than Quan Chi and other characters who have interesting stories. Frankly, Baraka could be cared for more by people as if he were somebody than other characters who have good and changing bios.


I know you've said this before. However, you make it sound as if you're not being honest because I ask why Baraka shouldn't return as you always say... because of his story. That right there is judging characters for only one thing alone, which I consider to be shallow. Maybe if you said he shouldn't return because of his repetitive story, and because he's a lame fighter, and because you don't think he fits in with MK, etc., then alright, I can see why you think he should be killed off if that were the case, but no, it's always just because of.... "his story."

And I'm not saying story isn't important, because it is. What I'm saying is that story isn't as important as you say when it comes to controlling a character's existence in this franchise.

I think its a brilliant move to kill off most of the characters. Most of these characters were made in the early 90s and a few in the late 90s. You can redesign these characters all you want but quite frankly the archetypes represented in these characters are old and out-dated. Hell the whole theme is.
I'm bored with these guys, and I don't care for more than half of them. I was a diehard scorpian fan, but after Armageddon, I just stopped caring. Its the same crap with this guy over and over. Same with the rest of the characters. Can Boon and Co. save my interest in them, maybe, but it'll be a waste. I need a breath of fresh air, not to sit in an old friends basement and find out he moved from the mail room to customer service at Walmart.

Lets caste them aside, bring a character in with ice powers like Subzero, just don't make him a ninja, make him a Yakuza or a Triad. Something new. If need be, throw in a few classic themed costumes for the new kombatants. Lets have a new storyline, if you need to bring back a character, make Lui Kang the tournament champion, tired and broken, looking for someone to put him out of his misery. It'll be a metaphor for the emergence of a new status quo in MK.

QS: When you say Baraka is more compelling in gameplay than Quan Chi, what do you mean by that? Are you saying he's more fun to play as or easier to master or what?

About the whole story thing, I can kind of understand why you would think that, but when it comes to returning, story plays its part. Why should that character return? What can be done with him/her? The problem with characters like Baraka is that they lack deep enough interaction with a lot of characters. Mainly, Baraka is antagonistic to the good guys and serves the big bad of the game, save for Quan Chi in MK4.

For his story, he has nowhere to go. He might as well be a storyless character if he were to return. In terms of character, he's the same as before. In terms of gameplay, he's mid tier in MKD and MKA. His gameplay style can and would change. In terms of looks, he'd have the same basic designs.

He fits into MK in the sense that he's a monstorous fighter from another realm. However, we have other monstorous fighters in MK who have better gameplay and are more compelling than he is (e.g. Drahmin).

Why should characters like Baraka return just because he has a fanbase? Why must fanbases of most or all characters be satisfied? It would lead to an oversaturation of the roster. Yes, I know it has been said that not all of them have to return at once in the same game. I wouldn't mind a couple of characters or so returning in different installments as long as it was worthwhile. But why should Baraka return? Why should Kano return? Why should Liu Kang return? Haven't characters like these been dragged for too long? Why not make room for newer characters and not have too much of the old roster?

If MK is to move forward and start anew with a lot of new characters, why should must some cling onto too many characters from this generation and refuse to give some of them up? I would personally take the current roster, and split it in about half. From the half that doesn't return in MK8, I would split that into characters who should die (and not come back), characters that should live and "retire", and characters that could return in the future.

Whether we like it or not, MK8 is different from games like MKDA in that MK8 will be the start of a new generation. That means a next-gen storyline, lots of next-gen characters, new modes, etc. etc. Putting aside MKA's main story, why bother taking the trouble to set up the demise of several characters and be forced by some fans to bring most of the current roster back? If MK8 and other future MK games are supposed to bring in as much newness as possible, why keep clinging so much to the past? Again, I'm not saying we should ditch the majority of the roster or ditch certain elements from past MK games. Overall, it's a matter of moving on though not without having some ties to the past. Getting the same formula again and again leads to things getting stale.

More fun to play? ....

Either they are better or worse according to the universal tier list, or they have inherently easier commands. There is no "fun factor" in game me-chanics, just the final product of the assembly wether the character has visually appealed to you or not.

Thats like saying that the Allies are better on ground power in Red Alert because they have more tank types than the Soviets (in which they are of course quite wrong, given the Soviet tanks being sufficiently outpowered compared to the Allies).

I mean he's more fun to play as. Like many classic characters and some new characters, Baraka has that irresistable and enjoyable flavor to him during gameplay, and thus he has a large fanbase.

I'm getting the impression you don't want Baraka to return simply because you don't like him. He's seems boring to you in all aspects. I mean you've described him as "just a monsterous fighter," "he's just a servant, "he's just a dragged character," etc. Like he's nothing but a bother or something.

Not only do I not think its fair to eliminate Baraka because he's cool, but because he's only been in 2 games - MK2 and MKD. MK Gold is a only a half point because that was exclusively for Dreamcast only. 2, or 2 1/2, games is not enough to say that he's been dragged for far too long.


Scorpion was going nowhere but then he took a U-turn to become Champion of the Elder Gods. How do you know something similar can't happen to Baraka?

Let's see.... A future story for him.... How about he kills someone important, like Quan, and then becomes the target of angry people? Or what if he becomes a master instead a servant, for once? Or what if his master has replaced him with a stronger fighter and, left out in the cold, he seeks revenge? Or maybe he travels to the netherealm for somethng and netherians hate him because he's half outworldian and so they seize and torment him and now he has to escape?

I don't know, but I'm sure something new could be done for him. He does have somewhere to go, but that's up to Vogel and his creativity. He's not a dead-end story character. In MK, where anything can happen, ANY character can do something new.


Well, he'd have to if we want him to look like Baraka. Your man, Sub-Zero, has had the same basic design up until Deception, so I don't see what the problem is as long as the look is altered and made somewhat novel with each new installment.


Drahmin isn't more popular than Baraka. So if one had to be taken out, I think Drahmin would be the wise choice.

We also have several ninjas in the series. Does that mean we should throw them away to keep only one?


Why shouldn't they? They are who the customers want. You'd really take the Big Mac off of the McDonald's menu just because it's old?

If customers want something, isn't smart to have it available to them?


Not necessarily all fanbases have to be satisfied, I think. Only the good-sized ones. Sindel has a small fanbase now (damn Deception). I don't think Midway should necessarily go put her everywhere just to satisfy it when they could be satisfying larger, more worthwhile fanbases.


There's always room for new characters. Look at the attention Quan Chi, Frost, and Kenshi are getting. And now Taven. Most characters don't have to die just to let new characters come in.


Cuz too many of these characters are smash hits. It doesn't sounds dumb to you to give up the hits; the legends?

MK8 can be just as a rebirth with old characters like MKDA was. Now i agree, i so want to see some new characters, but the point is that its not easy to create a batch of new CLASSICS! Look at the MK4 characters and the MKD characters, they were nothing but half-assed. I personally really like all the MKDA characters since that was my favorite game, but even they gets trashed and looked down apon and they haven't really been given a chance.

The point is, there are many current characters that have not been given a chance. Before MKD every body was like "Ermac suxs!!111" and "Jade friggin sux!!!1" but when everybody saw that they were revamped and were pretty much like new characters, that all changed. Like it or not, the MK4,MKDA and MKD characters need atleast just ONE more chance to redeem themselves.

You may not agree, but think as i am thinking. ANY character can be improved with a good story. And its not all about story either, Gameplay,their fanbase,their looks and ect. come into play as well. Its how the character is OVER ALL, not just story. Look at Scorp, one of THE top characters, but if it was just about story then he certaintly wouldn't be returning. Now as for characters that have been given a chance and have ran their course such as Scorp,Sub,Liu Kang ect. they are the ones that need a break. But the fact is that the amount of characters that haven't really either been given a chance or has not been streched to their full potential heavily out weighs the amount of characters that have.
Let the characters that have NOT reached their full potential reach it in MK8. Some of those characters are Sonya,Jax,Ermac,Rain,Baraka,Sindel,Fuijin,Kintaro,Nitara,Kenshi,Hotaru,Dairu,Jarek,Quan Chi,Tanya,Shinnok,Smoke,Sektor,Cyrax,Sareena,Kira,Kobra,Bo'rai'cho,Li mei,Khamel,Chamel,Meat,Goro,Sheeva,Kahn ect ect, do i really have to go on?

QS: Baraka being more fun to play as is a subjective thing. That doesn't really do much to back up what you were saying.

Baraka is just a gimmicky character. This isn't to say that there isn't anything I like about him. It's just that he doesn't have much going for him. At this point, his character has been defined well enough. If there really is so much more to him, it would've been explored long ago.

Regarding the games he's been in, I'm afraid you're mistaken. He's been in MK2, MKT, MKG, MKD, MKA, and MKSM. I'm not sure what you're really getting at with MK: Gold. It's story is an expansion of MK4's storyline, just like how MKT and UMK3 are expansions of MK3's storyline.

The difference between Scorpion and Baraka is that his previously established character had some depth while Baraka's doesn't. Unfortunately, Scorpion's post-retcon self is an imbecile so I suggest he returns to his pre-retcon self.

As for your future story ideas...

If Baraka kills someone like Quan Chi, that would mess Scorpion's storyline even more as it would destroy the chance for that story arc to come full circle. What I mean is, Quan Chi set up the events that would lead to the creation of what is intended to be his personal weapon. However, if that weapon were to be the one to lead to his demise, the story would come full circle, much like if Kitana were to be the one to destroy Shao Kahn.

If Baraka were to kill someone like Quan Chi, there needs to be a good explanation as to why. What would Baraka get out of killing someone like him? I don't necessarily think that killing Quan Chi would lead to Baraka becoming a target for angry people as many hate Quan Chi, unless you mean that they would be angry at him as they themselves were not the ones to kill Quan Chi. If so, this would almost likely lead to Scorpion displaying anger and stupidity once more, which I would be strongly against.

If Baraka decides to become a master instead of a servant, it would be predictable and cliche. Other, more interesting characters, such as Mileena, have stepped up. Also, Baraka deciding to become his own master would be breaking Tarkatan tradition.

If he goes with the revenge plot, how far can it really go?

Regarding Sub-Zero's design, I can't agree with you. In MK2, he pretty much has that basic male ninja design like the others and his brother. But in MK3, his look changes a lot, with him unmasked and no longer wearing the garb of his clan. Then we have MK4 in which he dons the same costume that his brother wore to honor his memory and courage against Shinnok and Quan Chi. In MKDA, he changes again with his aging. In MKD, he has the whole armor thing going on and his alt costume in particular is very different as it steps away from the Ninja aspect and more into a Chinese influence.

Baraka's design doesn't need to drastically change, but it would be cool to at least have one very different costume design for him.

I never said that Drahmin is more popular than Baraka. I just said that his gameplay is better and that he's more compelling than Baraka is. And besides, Baraka has been in many games and his time is up. Drahmin is more of a newer character and has room to develop.

Regarding the Ninja-type characters, I'd say that ones like Chameleon are easily expendable. There are some like Reptile, who should probably just have their happy ending. Then we have characters like Ermac and Rain, who can go somewhere.

Not all of the fans want Baraka back. Some want him to go.

Let's say you're right about Sindel having a small fanbase. If you think the good-sized fanbased characters should be satisfied, wouldn't Sindel not return? I mean, I would rather have Sindel return than someone like Sonya, Kano, Jax, Baraka, or Johnny Cage. She hasn't been in many games, has a role that can easily lead to further development in her story, and is a character, imo, who deserves another chance.

I don't think all the fan favorites need to return, only the ones that are worth it.

Ahnka: MK8 will be different from MKDA. At least with MKDA, the story is still part of this generation. MK8's story will be the start of a new generation of storyline.

You're right about it not being easy to create a batch of new classics, but it's not impossible either for some of them to become fan favorites.

Regarding the MK4 and MKD characters being half-assed, I can agree with you for the most part regarding MK4's new characters. When it comes to MKD's new characters, not so much.

Before MKD, I didn't care that much for Ermac, but his concept was kind of interesting nonetheless. I did like Jade (and still do), but I knew that she needed another chance.

Improved gameplay is much easier to do than improved story. Take Sub-Zero, for example. In MKDA, he was pretty much low-tier. In MKD, they gave him the Ice Clone, improved Kori Blade, and enabled him to do more damage, thus making him mid-tier. In MKA, his Ice Clone could be done in the air, the Icy Pillar makes him an anti-turtling character, and he has a good key low and mid attack in both his styles, thus making him top tier.

I don't see how Sub-Zero has run his course given the depth of his story and how much exploration is needed. He's come a long way and has forged his own destiny. For him to not make it after Armageddon cannot be without him doing something big and meaningful, otherwise, his story will not have been tied up properly.

I personally think that some characters have more potential than others. Overall, there will be characters we'll favor over others despite whatever qualities or lack thereof they possess.

damn, alert the local news! I agree with you for the FIRST time,lol. On SOME things,lol.

I disagree here. We all know Midway has done some poor and flat storytelling in the past. It doesn't mean Baraka's story is a dead end. It just means Midway hasn't gotten creative with him.


In MKT he was the same Baraka from MK2. I suppose his story counts but his appearance/sprites or whatever was exactly the same. They didn't renew him for the MK3 games the way they did the ninjas and Johnny Cage, so I personally don't feel that MKT counts for him. Same thing for MKA. It's the exact same person from MKD. That doesn't count to me. MKSM isn't part of the main series, and its story doesn't count. So, actually, we've only seen 3 versions of Baraka - MK2, MKD, and MK:Gold.


I new you'd ask a ton of questions. That point was... He can have a new and improved story. Characters can always have something new to do or discover in MK.


Other than his MKD alt, Sub-Zero has always been instantly recognizable because of his blue ninja outfit. Unmasked or not, his clothes always looks similar. MKD only took it to a different level though.


I know that. It doesn't mean Baraka's fanbase should be ignored though.


Not necessarily. What a meant was, characters with big fanbases should remain in the series. That doesn't mean characters who aren't highly praised should be never used. Otherwise, we'd rarely have new characters since most of them suck.

In Sindel's case, however, we know that she can be more successful because she was in MK3. Even in her story (bride of Shao Kahn, resurrected Outworld queen, etc.) she was successful. Just because ONE version of her sucked (MKD/MKA), I don't think it's a good idea to throw her away. Potential is written all over here.

And if story should always strongly determine what characters return or not, then Sindel should have returned in MK4... for bigtime obvious reasons.


Fan favorites to how many people though? Current classics attract millions of people to the series. Sure next-gen characters can become fan favorites, but to what extent? If next-gen were to consist of only characters like the MK4, MKDA, and MKD new favorites (Quan Chi, Frost, Kenshi, Havik, etc.), I seriously doubt the series will be as successful as it is now. Why the classics have been a huge part of keeping MK successful is because they appeal to lots of different people and they're not the typical martial arts fighter done over and over. These characters have great style and tons of unique (and hard-to-get, from a creative point of view) flavor to them.


This actually applies to at least half of the current roster (or more) since tons of characters haven't been fully explored. Yet, I'm sure MK8 will not feature them.

I don't feel you're making a valid point when you're talking about the appearances. So what if he looked the same in MKT as he did in MK2? He has a different story, even though it mainly involved the same thing, namely serving Shao Kahn. Are you sure MKSM's story doesn't count? It seemed to me it does considering the way the MK team tried to answer questions regarding its story and the way they explained things like Sub-Zero's scar.

He could have a new story for him, but it doesn't mean that it'll be improved. None of the scenarios you gave examples of would help. He really should've had a bit of exploration back before MKG.

Even with his MKD alt, he can still be recognizable. Compared to the way the other ninja costumes were, his costume in MK3 was pretty different, even it may have retained a bit of similar elements to his old costume design.

I think you're kind of overrating the MK1-MKT classics a bit. This isn't to say that none of them should return. But I don't think all of them should. What do you mean by "typical martial arts fighter"? I don't know how unique I can really call the different characters in MK, especially with the earlier characters being largely based off of things from mythology, comics, movies, TV shows, other video games, etc.

And which half of the roster are we talking about exactly? Why should I care about characters like Kai, Jarek, and Chameleon, when I'd rather see what could be done with characters like Sareena, Kenshi, Hotaru, and Li Mei?

And this here proves that you and I are addressing this topic from very different stand points.

To me, having the exact same appearance, using the exact same sprites, being copied and pasted like most Armageddon characters, etc. doesn't really count to me as "new" appearance for characters. They may have different stories, but if playing as them doesn't feel any different or new (the way Li Mei did in MKD) then it's not a new appearance, just an extended or reused one from previous games, to me.

If all the characters' sprites/appearances were reused over and over and over again, they wouldn't feel old to you? Shouldn't the characters feel somewhat new in... "new" games?

A new whipped up bio and ending alone doesn't count as a "new" appearance for any character, to me.


Most people regard MKSM's story as non-canon because it was a trainwreck. If you want to credit its story, however, then go ahead, I suppose.


It doesn't mean it won't be improved either.


Those were just off the top of my head. I didn't thoroughly think them through.


I find that as a good thing. Certain trademark features of the characters should always remain intact. If someone gave Sindel a short-cut hairdo, took away her skunk streak, took away her dark make-up and white eyes, I'd be pissed. Those have been her trademark features to date.


His MK3 costume felt novel to me. I prefer his masked, but unmasked was an interesting step.


It just so happens that they remain the generally most beloved MK characters. I'm just stating the truth here.


I've seen some of the Virtua Fighter cast, for example, and lots of them look like very plain fighters with martial arts outfits or street fighter outfits and "comfortable" clothes for combat, etc.

MK features characters who look far more imaginative and out of the ordinary in attractive ways. Plus they have suitable special abilities and creative moves, unlike some other fighting games.


Still.... They are distinguishable as MK characters. I.e. Sindel was partially inspired by the Bride of Frankenstein but you can certainly tell them apart.

Midway might base lots of MK character looks and stuff from outside sources, but they gather and personalize the material to the series very well.


I didn't say you should care about them. I simple said most characters haven't been explored very much. So if you think Sub-Zero shouldn't die because he hasn't been thoroughly explored, then by those standards, most characters shouldn't die either.

Originality of MK moves:

Kano: cannonball, admittedly borrowed from Blanka.
knife throw, random generic fighter, mostly female character use
throwing weapons as a cliché.

Raiden: teleport, functionally it appeared in previous fighting games, the
look was somewhat different as it has not been made before.
torpedo, SFs E.Honda and the fat guy from Bruce Lee.
electricity, nothing original if you watch other games.

Sub-Zero: freeze, Dark legions very old Wizard used the same attack.
slide, again Dark Legions. The character Water Elemental.

Scorpion: teleport punch, oh wow, comes out the other end, really innovati-
ve, plus originally it wasn't teleport in the first place but Decoy.
spear, kung fu movie what had the protagonist named as Liu
Kang and a guy who used a throwing claw as a weapon. Yay.

List could go on....

What I generally loathe about the old games that the established archety-pes have been cichéd big time, and do not function nowadays. Aforement-tioned Virtua Fighter has more outthought characters (comparing the am-bitious shaolin monk to the revenge drowned emo ninja.. a fail) than MK nowadays, and I by all means do not mean the post MK4 characters. At least Vogel got some talent to do generally complex character, not the
SHALLOW AND HISTORICALLY INACCURATE trash we name as clas-sics (oh yes, think about what Lin Kuei is. ... or why Christening a charac-ter with a female name).

LEss flash and flare, more thought. Shallow, mindless and generally im-becillic narrow mindedness is not welcomed nowadays. Why do they ma-ke games more realistic? Why are there stuff like Carmageddon, Manhunt, Thrill Kill or FEAR?

People want to emulate the real coreography of life, and as always, the original (reality) is always more complex and faster-evolving than the ma-de up (phantasy). MK needs to reinvent, and that requires a great deal of loosing dead weight such as characters.

The game is a laughingstock in the annals of fighting game communities anyway.

First of all, unlike you, when most people play video games, they don't go on a research spree to get all the historical relevance to the game and then criticize it if it's incorrectly depicted. Raiden might be based or inspired by a real-life god mythology or whatever, but to MK gamers, he's simply the god of thunder/protector of earthrealm. See?


Do you even realize what overriding MK's fantasy and flashy style with thought will cause?

MK is mostly popular among teenagers. Providing excessive intellectual and overly mature content instead of the in-your-face, fuck-you-up-while-looking-hot-as-hell, and ripping, burning, smashing, bursting people apart will only lead to drastic loss in those fans.


Honestly, I have no idea what on earth you mean by this.

To this day, MK is doing just fine. It's massively successful and popular. To this day, people love it. What about it needs to be sooooo reinvented?

Up until Armageddon, the series was explosive and only getting better and better for the most part. All of sudden, Ed Boon put a halt to that and said "Let's throw this out the window and do something else." Now we have people like you saying "Oh yeah, that's totally necessary."

Huh? Why weren't you people complaining during Deadly Alliance or Deception? And if the series is so outdated and flat, why do you spend time on a site dedicated to it?

When I said Baraka could be replaced, I didn't necessarily have another Tarkatan in mind.

Why not a fighter who wears a black hooded get-up, and shoots the blades out as a weapon style? Not organically, but rather mechanically, leading us to question why, and how, he developed his fighting stances? Baraka's whole character is based entirely on him using built-in blades. It can easily be adapted to the new games without having to drag a bland character back.

Now onto QueenSindel's arguments. Sindel really should have been retired after MK3. She was always a one-off character, in my opinion. She was resurrected by Shao Kahn to provide his occupation of Earth. Even if you take the Trilogy storyline, and Sindel is swayed back to good by Kitana, she really should have been fodder for Shinnok and Quan Chi in MK4, giving Kitana more motivation to fight.

It's all well and good to bring back classic characters when they fit, and they have a purpose, but Baraka has never really served a purpose other than to be a henchman. Can that change? Probably. Would it be a good idea for it to? Probably not.

-no, not research. But when the co-creator boasts how the game is based on "supposedly researched" material, it is automatically legit to criticise it once they "advertise" this very little quirk.

-overriding the "fluff" -> increased interest for real martial arts (something meaningful instead of playing video games, and pretend), actual substan-ce, and umm......actual relevance. Perhaps the return of the relevancy of the gore/violence factor. less flash, more brutality. And by that I see no
"over-the-top-intellectuality". If you think as me as overeducated, then your education is perhaps flawed to the core, in comparison to what intellectu-al would mean.

-the type of shallow braindead teenagers? Let me ask you this: why aren't there games like Golden Axe, Tyrian, Long Life and Gods like games out in the market? Because

-if you believe the MK series is successful, you delude yourself. MK has almost absolutely 0 recognisance in the real relevant gaming community, a.k.a. Asia? If you think MK sells big, then check out sales figures for Tek-ken and Soul Calibur. Hell, even strategy games like SupCom made more than MKDA and MKD combined!

-I liked MKDA, MKD was a disgraceful excuse for a video game. MKA has no place of interest and utterly killed my vaning overwatch of the MK series.
if you think that people were not complaining during MKD, then you should just CHECK THE SITE CONTENT! Voilá, Deception is so far one of the most hyped and most undelivering video game fighters ever, that is FACT.