It appears to have been deleted now. Pity but I'm glad she has her own chapter and she's kicking ass after playing damsel to Johnny three times in a row in Chapter 1.

The fights and cutscenes between Sonya, Kano and Quan Chi are epic!

Having seen half of Story Mode including its immediate ending and Sonya's chapter, being aware of her variations, and seen some admittedly weakly executed gameplay of hers, I am extremely satisfied with her showing in this game.




I want to talk about her Portrayal, keeping it as ostensibly spoiler-free as I can.




The goal in MKX evidently encompasses elevating Sonya Blade to an epitomized position of leadership for the Earthrealmers. She is Earthrealm's leader on all fronts: in command, in ambassadorship, as well as active defense. This is brilliant, but it is to be acknowledged that in showering Sonya with such a strong, but specific role, inevitably there will be losses. And indeed we're losing a few things as Sonya ascends to embody Earthrealm's defense.

These losses are minimal, and are strictly tied to Sonya's complete immersion within her military role. As the "cream of the crop" of Special Forces (which itself encapsulates other Earthrealm-based factions; more on that later), Sonya is presented to us very rigorously as a soldier-commander. Thus come lamented additions such as use of a drone and high-tech gear in favor of once iconic acrobatic feats and Chi-based powers ala Liu Kang and Cage. I continue to dislike the idea of the drone and bemoan the retconning of her corporeal energy, but I'm confident I'll grow used to what are essentially newly fashioned modules to her personality.

What we're gaining is much loftier in scope and something to be admired and appreciated, and cherished throughout the lifetime of this iteration. And that is a Sonya confidently boasted and empirically established as a protagonist to the Story, the lore's lead female character, and, really, the "Face of Earthrealm". In a new reality where past defenders have fallen and moved on, and where new faces are mingling with select classics to form a new world of Mortal Kombat, Sonya is given the mantle of Earthrealm's Khan, to put it bluntly and hilariously---she is to it what Kotal hoped to be for Outworld, sans the mutiny and the ensuing civil war. And that is because Sonya wears this mantle beautifully, and the rest of Earthrealm, including its other protective factions, are accepting of this. She has managed to bring them all together, to unify the realm, and is more than happy to be its chieftain; they report to her, they check in with her, they follow her orders, and no stone is moved or turned without her say-so.

A footnote worthy of inclusion is the invalidation of the once popular outcry that the roster is too "Special Forces-heavy". Overreaching jokes about MKX being MK: Special Forces 2 are rendered even sillier when one takes in Story Mode. The Special Forces is merely the faction that brought the others together, that leads them in Earthrealm's defense; it does not lay claim to any one of their identities. Takeda proudly touts his title of Shirai-Ryu; Kung Jin colorfully dons his metaphorical Shaolin Monk robe; Sub-Zero journeys on as Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei.

The existence and prominency of the Special Forces serves only to harmonize an otherwise muddled Earthrealm with a cluttered story involving a group of characters and factions who just can't seem to come together toward the imperative task of the realm's defense. Thanks to SF, characters remain loyal to their identities and titles while sharing a much-needed and overdue goal.





Now, where does Cassie Cage fit into this, and what does this all mean for Sonya in MK11? It's too early to tell, and by Boon's own words, anyone contemplating this at the moment is farther ahead than even NRS is when it comes to the question, "Where do we go from here?" They don't know. They've dedicated themselves wholly to this, MKX, and their daunting battle with the blank page is still to come.

One thing has been made certain: Sonya Blade is not going anywhere. Her impressive portrayal in this game, her snug fit into her new role, and the ending of MKX's Story all concretize her newfound position in the franchise, and optimistically allude to her continuous return.

Will she be back next game, in some form? Of course. Is there a possibility that she won't be an initially playable character? Yes, just as there was such a possibility prior MKX and prior any game. And just like before MKX, the possibility of her exclusion as playable does not correlate whatsoever to her daughter's existence. Do not expect Cassie Cage to perform Leg Grabs and shoot Energy Rings; in fact, expect not to see Stryker's return much sooner than you would do the same toward Sonya.

What was once evident is only made clearer in MKX: Cassie Cage is not her replacement. Her gameplay attests to that more than anything. Other than locks of hair, they have NO notable similarities. Cassie is a welcomed afterthought and addition, never was nor will be a replacement. Therefore, don't be surprised to see Sonya and Cassie sharing a select screen again in the near future.

Yay! thanks that wil do.

She defenitly isn't a damsel in distress. She saves Johnny.

Sonya's 2nd Fatality, guys:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS2Mm-p654Q&feature;=youtu.be

The ending of the second fatality is pretty good - love things reduced to bone and such.

But god fucking damn it I'm sick of that drone.

Well, can't say I wasn't prepared this time xD Ofc the drone is back...

I prefer this one though, at least she's actually (physically) involved in it.

I don't like it. I feel like if one fatality is about that ability the second one shouldn't be too. Kinda like what they did with sindel in mk 9. Also i feel like sonya not a head hunter kinda character. I will be sticking to her brutalities.

Funny thing (or maybe just in my head) how the first time being shown it's on Kano.

Since in MKDA Kano had a lock of Sonya's hair now she "accessorize" something of his as well. Just a little token xD

But why do they hate Sonya?

Given how important she is to the story I'm sure they don't hate her. They must genuinely think what they've done is good -_-

I actually like the second Fatality, a lot. Saving grace, in my opinion. It's cool, flashy, and ends with her posing with the mangled head as a belt accessory. I also can't get enough of the sound effect of the wire.

They phoned in her first one, I'm sure we could have come up with something much better. But this one gets two thumbs up from me.



And for the record, someone coming up with a bad first Fatality for her does not equate NRS hating her. They have in fact always treated Sonya incredibly well throughout MK and elevated her accordingly time and time again, and MKX more than ever attests to this (which is hilariously ironic given all the premature claims of her "replacement").

Just wait until you guys go through Story and see her portrayal and prominence. There's boundless Sonya love going on in their studios.

Managed to get my hands on a copy early.

After playing Sonya for a good five hours, I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what she can do, don’t get me wrong she is accessible but its going to take some time to figure things out and get her playing right.

Her moves all are nifty and I found myself utilizing all of them, the air drop is really useful and its seems safer than her other moves because of the follow up properties even on block. Her leg grab has been improved I haven’t tested its block properties yet but its better as a solo move, although it has to be pointed out that the ex version doesn’t differ from the regular version I’ve tested it in practice Damage is the same, there must be some mistake?. The arc kick works the same its fast but punish friendly on block, . Energy rings are fast and the ex is flashier. havent figured how to incorporate military stance yet but her reverse kartwheel is really useful because its fast and hits low.

Combos will play a big role in this game, more so than the previous one, and Sonya has got a number of those some ending with a flashy air summersault and one resembling a three hit downward bicycle kick.

Xray, timing is everything here, the window is short and some will likely be turned off by this, I didn’t mind its more satisfying once it connects. .

For her variations,

Covert ops and Demolition are both pretty great, whilst covert ops is an obvious go to variation because of the exclusive air throw move she gets and the garrote reversals. Demolition is actually really fun, and managing grenades isn’t tough, you just have to summon the drone to restock you, the timing of detonating the grenades is what makes this variation tricky an d fun, she also gets a variation exclusive three hit combo that she finishes with a grenade.

On the other hand Special forces, so far I’m not feeling it, the drones are sluggish and position awkwardly, doesn’t really work with Sonya, perhaps I’ll give it another shot but this is an easy elimination in my opinion. It’s a shame when they could have built on military stance so much potential wasted there.

As for her fatalities its just the two drone based ones ( bummer), she has five brutalties, one is unlocked from the start, the rest have to be found in the kyrpt or accidently triggered while playing. The brutality available is her leg grab split fatality from previous games, you basically are required to have less than 50% health in the final round and to finish your opponent off with a five hit combo ending in a leg grab.

So far I’ve gotten three costumes, the black (general), the jacket and brown pants (major) and tournament Sonya which is basically a camo zipped up version of her major costume (it looks better). The cap in her primary outfit can fall off after some pummeling during a match.

Overall I really am a big fan of this version of Sonya and I certainly am not disappointed with her appearance/ fight build in this game, she looks and even moves like Brigitte Wilson's Sonya in the first Mortal Kombat film although a vastly superior fighter lol. as i mentioned its going to take a while to figure things out.

I have to hand it netherrealm, the fighting in MKX has been further enhanced it feels different and superior to the previous game, set up, combos, frames, reversals , wakeup mechanics have all been upgraded for the better, add on top of that the variaitons,I cannot see this game not getting a great reception from critics.

Awesome review.
Can you tell me ( for ps4 ) what the input for the fatalitys are ?

And could you Please post her uniform pictures ??

Yes PS4,
there are two ways of doing fatalties the easy way which is basiclaly holding R2 and pressing square or triangle, these can be used for a limited number of times.

The regualr way I've only gotten the input for Sonya's first fatality (the second one's input has to be unlocked from the Krypt) , D,D,B,F R2 (close range), this is the smoke bomb in the mouth with Drone arm slicing followed by blasting the head. the input is similar to her classic MK3 kiss of death fatality.

D D B F again? Her scissor legs (mk9) and kiss of death (mkvsdc) fatalities had this input

yup and her MK3 kiss of death as well, its classic Sonya fatality input? I wish they'd had just given us the Kiss of Death, the drone fatality is an insult to the input command.

Thank you i Will try it
Can use the second one even if not unlocked ?

And could you Please dm me screenshot of her costumes ?

Wow, thanks for this! I'm even more enticed now to play her, if that's even possible. Those combo enders sound cool as all hell! I knew there would be a lot of flashy stuff in her strings that they wouldn't manage to show in the stream. Really, the stream didn't do a whole lot to show her off gameplay-wise, even the leaked gameplay videos of her give a better idea haha.

You can definitely combo into Military Stance if you input fast enough (which should be pretty simple for MK9 Sonya players). So there's one advantage of it; I'm sure there're more.

Speaking of which, are there any other Military Stance moves they didn't show on the stream? They showed 3, the Kartwheel, Grab, and Low-hit Reverse Kartwheel. Also, is the Grab an overhead like in MK9 or does it hit high?

Also hoping there's a good mix of overheads/lows in her strings for mix-up.

Thanks for all this info! Have fun! We should play online down the line!

This. Having seen some of story, myself, a lot of people`s preconcieved notions are false.



Seems Dronya took after Raiden more than Earth`s other heoes.
Don`t fuck with Earthrealm or you`ll get nuked.



Ka-Tra

So is the military stance really exclusive to the covert ops variation?

Glad to hear she is just as powerfull as she was in MK9.