While MK certainly distinguishes himself as he fighter with the most unconventional methods of attack, I adviocate realism.

1. since they started down the road of emulating real martial arts, there is no excuse fo doing a lackluster job on them.

2. all fantasy and phantasmagoria are based upon real, perceived rea-lisms, thats how the brain woks. The over-the -topness (especially in the fatalities) genuinely degraded MK to a jokefest.

3. as an active martial artist I cannot really tolerate made up shit. Besi-des, there is soo much content in real, both actual and factual martial arts that it hurts. Not a bad thing to throw in some superficial special move, or creating a seemingly functional martial art for characters that are not really anthromorphic (Moloch, Motaro) though. Just that it should be kept to a degree of validity.

4. actually realism is highly demanded nowadays, since base education about, example warfare or combat is not so lackluster in gaming cliques. Emulation is key, and most-certainly emulation of realism is in high demand.

5. Annoying. Seeing someones spine ripped out is hardly brutal. Nor is a gorefest berserk. See Manhunt, and then debate wether Mk is brutal. beca-use it is not.

mix between realism and fantastic,like MK deadly alliance.

I actually have to agree more with Chrome on this. I feel that he has valid points, especially regarding the martial arts.

Those who've seen my posts regarding different styles should know I'm rather anal when it comes to these things. It's not just about style choices, but it's also about the accuracy of the styles. I'm not expecting 100% accuracy, but if they are going to put in actual martial arts styles (e.g. Tae Kwon Do, Xing Yi Quan, Muay Thai, etc.), the accuracy should be damn good.

So that means with Tae Kwon Do for example, there'll be various kicking techniques that are actually used in that style. With Muay Thai, there needs to be lots of elbow and knee attacks along with its well-known roundhouse kicks that use the whole leg to kick as opposed to Tae Kwon Do's snap-type roundhouse kicks. Then there's also the clinch, another known technique in Muay Thai.

There's a lot they can do with the different styles if they put their time and effort into it.

I don't think MK should go completely realistic, and I seriously doubt it ever will due to the way MK is.

What I want is a good balance of realistic and unrealistic elements.

what Chrome said. However, there should be s slight touch of fantasy regarding special moves, and Chinese mythology.

I agree with Sub-Zero_7th and Chrome. At least in terms of the martial arts being used by the characters. I still think MK should have fantasy creatures, such as Zaterrans, Tarkatans, Cryomancers, Shokans, etc. I think those really set MK apart from the other fighting games which focus on having mostly human fighters.

Just like how deadly alliance was, it was a mix between realism and fantasy.

It should be very realistic, but it should also keep the fantasy stuff that makes it what it is. MK is just another lame 3D fighter with no fantasy elements to it.

Boon even said himself, 'No one wants to pay for reality', and that's possibly the smartest thing he's ever said.

I like Fantasy, Mortal Kombat is not a Tournament anymore. Mortal Kombat is now just a kill or be killed world. Realms, Races, Fatalities, Characters, Powers, God, And areas. IT IS ALL FANTASY (pretty much).I like Mortal Kombat the way it is now. No more tournament, straight up fights. And this story is better now than it was in MK I. MK II was the best IMO. They should make a better version of Shaolin Monks. Like make Outworld look like it does in MKD. I also like The Conquest in that game ( it had the best conquest ).Fantasy Straight up



UlcaTron

Exaggerated realism is what I like to see.

Movie style martial arts is more of what I'm after.

Take some ideas from games like Fight Night, which try to emulate realism a little more.

Something to think about for next gen fighters.

I don't want to stay so much with the perfect math fighting formula.

Add things like adaptation altering fighting mechanics, like Risk VS Reward.

Repeat patterns for attacking and combos should be escapable in some form.

Nice thread...Good posts.

I think the balance Sub_Zero7th mentioned is the key here.

1. Very Real-Looking people//characters. Or a better way to say that is: "If it has an obvious human quality to it. It must appear fantasticly real.

a. When I play a fighting game, it's one of the first things I'm looking at.
It's been a standard for grading games graphical appeal ever since Mk1 was released. If I can't be led to beleive, or decive myself into believing that a character in a game I'm interested in could be actually replaced with myself....then I probably don't like the graphicsof that game..
There are only a handful of exceptions to this rule for me. Soul Calibur//Guilty Gear just to name a couple.

b. In Mortal Kombat, we have "things" with humanistic qualities all over the place. Those things must apprear as fantasticlly "real" as the actual characters leaving "focal point",as the main way to distinguish. The Faces of the Trees in the Living forrest, Statues, ect..

c. Elements of a fantasy realm such as grass and leaves and so on need to appear real. Liquids, specificlly the textures of each type need to apprear real as well.

d. They already touched on the martial arts part of it so all I'll say is that, each style should be distinguishable. I'm not a martial artists at all, but I'm not completely ignorant about martial arts either..so for me, all they have to do is make it actuate enough to fool//appreciate it. I propose Movie choregraph as many of you know. Because its not always fake, almost never completly real true mArts...


2. Fantacy, is something I commonly associate with a scenery, a realm of fantacy, or something that you either live in, or not. Maybe even closley associated with how Anime is distinguished....it just is or it isn't

Basiclly, take like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, Swap the characters out for Mk's, make it an adult oriented video game by adding Martial Arts on various levels, slightly sex appealling, Blood, and Killing that you can actually perform, and a story that co-oberates it all. Tah...Dah!

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Anyway, 70% Real 20%Fantacy 10%broken up into Adult material, Killing, blood, gore, ect...

Equillibrium

Fantasy. Movie style martial arts are much more entertaining and suited to videogames then realistic martial arts. If you can throw fireballs, travel between realms and freeze people with your bare hands then I dont see why it is so out of context for the martial arts to be fantastic, rather then restricted to the real and plausable. Im not saying I want over the top, hell no, but I dont want an MMA emulation, which would plain suck ass.

Half and half.

Exaggerated realism would be boring. Its not Mk.

But exaggerated fantasy would be corny, thank God this is not the case either.

Mk (and actually, any other videogame) can afford to have a serious amount of fantasy but still be believable.

I like it the way it is. While I would like to see more realism that suits the game cool (like having the cloth torn when hit by a blade), we cant expect there to be a 100% realistic approach, because then, for example, there wouldn’t be need of weapons (they would instantly cutt you), nor of the exaggerated fighting attacks that make the game so much fun, etc.

Small things like cloth and armor that suits realism or not, I dont care for.

Its just a game, and looks cool.

Tao Feng was a terrible game but I really liked the visual style and characters of the game. Some of the characters were a little too over the top and still stank of poorly conceptualized 90s era comic book rejects, but others were quite cool.

Having slimmer and more natural looking characters would be the way to go. If you HAVE to have muscle bound dorks have it for characters like Jax or Hsu Hao whom are supposed to be muscle bound. Giving Scorpion 24 inch biceps doesn't make a bit of sense. I'd also prefer more natural and believable backgrounds. I think that was one of the problems I had with the past two MK games.

In essence I'd want 80% realism and 20% fantasy.

I think the characters should go back to the size they were in the first three Mortal Kombats. Someone doesn't have to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger to be dangerous. Especially considering all that muscle was just for show. I agree with The Truth, in that some of the characters should be very large, like Jaz, Hsu Hao or Baraka.

I think the Arenas need a natural look. I thought some of the MKDA arenas were really nice, especially in that aspect. I really liked the look of the Drum Arena, The Lost Tomb, Sarna Ruins, The Palace Grounds and the Nethership. I loved the Drum Arenas location, high up on a mountain, with the wind blowing tons of sand over the combatants.

I thought alot of the MKD and MKA arenas were a little cheesy, especially the Yin Yang Island. The only MKD arenas i liked were the Beatle Lair and Slaughterhouse, which I only liked because of the music.