I have several digital comics. (I got a bunch of Marvel ones like Hulk vs. Wolverine, and Wolverine's origin, etc.)

I wouldn't mind seeing some of this stuff, especially with John Tobias's re-inclusion with the latest installment of the series. However, rather than being presented as a way to tell the story of the games, I'd like to see them spin off into media of their own, or even as a way of bringing back/upgrading the old MK comics.

Although, in reality, probably neither of these things will actually happen. 3D FMV intros seem to be the direction the MK team is going.

@ThePredator151...Honestly I would not mind seeing a little bit of all the above you stated implemented into MK9 for more story depth.
You asked what would be liked in opinion...personally i don't like to read much for endings unless its a created character but it would not be fair for anyone hearing impaired (deaf) so i think text should be on a toggle in options. i also think the same for the narrator...that should also be on toggle for people who would rather read.
I kinda like how the endings were approached in soul calibur 4...in game cinematic endings that take place after the end of the match...it makes the game feel more impacted by the story that way.
Another idea i was thinking about is adding story elements to loading screens.

I wouldn't mind Cutscenes. The technology is good enough to make pretty good 3D characters and those would look good in a cutscene. Maybe.. I know this may sound silly, but instead of just getting an "epilogue" after we beet the game with a character, we get cutscenes between every two matches. Something like... Intro, 2 Matches, Cutscene, 2 more Matches, another Cutscene, last 2 Matches, Epilogue Cutscene. Get the point? I'd love to see something like that. We could really get alot more story from each character that way.

I remember years and years ago, playing I think it was Bloody Roar 2, and they managed to give every character their own story mode that just continued from beginning to end with a scene (I can't remember if they were pictures and text or FMV, but still, anything is better than nothing) between every single fight.
I've spent my entire life since then wondering why the other fighting games don't just do THAT for god's sake. It obviously isn't that hard if a PS1 game managed it.

hm...


Never really been a fan of having the cut scenes littered throughout like you guys are mentioning. i think I just feel it gets in the way of actually playing the game.

For the ladder, I'd accept having maybe a cut scene when the endurance match is going to begin...or maybe something like that before the boss//sub-boss match(es). But not necessary after every couple matches. I feel it impedes too much. As far as the ladder//arcade mode and the story element, think they could use the arenas, and the characters themselves in more subtle ways to indicate maybe a "path" that the character is traveling through on the way up the ladder or whatever. Characters costumes should seethe of their origin, background, powers/special abilities for some of the characters. While others might rely on the arenas to tell, or show us parts of their story.

Could be subtle little stuff for the ladder//arcade mode I think. nothing heavy.

At the end, after we be the boss or whatever, make it worthwhile and treat us to a DGNovel.

Sounds good for that aspect of the game.

Well that's what Arcade Mode is for.
If you already have a mode with just a ladder where all you do is fight, you can afford to have a separate one where there's stuff in between the matches. The story is always richer when it's told continuously instead of just being a bio and an ending with nothing in between.

Personally, I think that the story mode should be it's own special mode that's seperate from arcade mode. Sure, arcade mode could be used to get other things (maybe you get money by going up the ladder, more money for consecutive wins, or milestone money for win streaks... Plus there's unlocking things like.. Say... Beat the arcade mode with every character and you unlock a hidden character. You could unlock clothing items etc).

So if you talk about as separate story mode, kinda like what MK vs DC had, then I don't think you have to be limited by the number of cut scenes you have.

I would however change the flow of the stories. Too many fighting games have one of two story pathways:

1) The characters all fight the end boss and get a "what if" ending. I HATE these because almost none of them tell you what actually happens!!

2) Many of the characters will have an ending that has nothing to do with with the tournament AT ALL. This isn't so much true with MK, but have you played Tekken 6 for example? How about every DOA game? 99% of their endings have nothing to do with the actual tournament they're fighting in!!

So my idea would be to do away entirely with the idea that every character ends at the same place: Fighting the final boss. Since it's a story mode, we can safely assume that in a fighting tournament, not every player gets to fight the final boss. That's right, just one of the kombatants gets that honor.

The rest? They lose to one another, some of them get killed even. Some of them are impeded from getting to their match (maybe they're attacked in their living quarters, maybe they're kidnapped, maybe they're injured etc) . There are a million different ways for these fighters to lose or be forced into conceding a match.

So anyways, my whole argumet here (and to bring it back to the topic of the thread) is to say that I want to be told a story. Not a "what if" story that plays out in just one cut scene at the end for each character, once they've defeated the final boss. I mean hey, who says the final boss should even be defeated?

But I think that you sould have the following:

1) Character Cards: I actually liked these from past games. Only instead of giving their story, it's more just details on their overall past and who they are. It's more history than "why they're at the tournament."

2) An intro video for each character: This tells me why each individual character wants to win and what drew them to the tournament. One might want carnage, one might want glory, or fame, or to redeem themselves, or revenge, or to control the world, or to find a lost love, or to assassinate someone, or to spy on someone, or to open a forbidden gate, or to expose the tournament, or to pay off a blackmailer, or to discover why something happened to them... The list goes on and on, and it SHOULD.

I want REAL reasons for why these people are in this tournament! No more "he's a bad guy" or "he's a stooge for the bad guy" or "he's on team good." I'm sick of that junk. I'm not 12 years old any more. Give me a good story!

3) A middle video: Not all characters will have these, because not all characters will last that long. Maybe one character loses after only two matches in their story.

But those characters might still appear on others cut scenes. Still, these would be designed to show the player specifically what is happening AT the tournament AS IT'S HAPPENING. You get to overhear shady deals being made, two people talking that shouldn't be, etc.

But that would just be background stuff. The real meat and potatoes of these videos would be so that character's story gains direction and momentum. By now, we already know WHY they're at the tournament, now we get insight on where they're at in trying to achieve their goal.

4) The ending video: I will say this and hope and prey that the creators of MK are listening:

I would REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY like it if all of the videos in story mode were real and that they are exactly as the character's story WILL happen or WILL lead in to the next game.

In other word: NO MORE WHAT IF ENDINGS PLEASE!!!!

Okay, sorry for shouting. But I can't STAND these worthless wastes of time! It's a waste of time for the developer because they almost never provide useful information, they're time sucks for the players because we're the ones that have to spend the time trying to beat the game so we can find out what happens to that character...

Except we don't actually FIND OUT anything!

Do you see my frustration!? Anyways... This is where you see a character dying, this is where you see people losing loved ones, this is where you see a character escaping a cataclysmic event, or two character's souls merging in to one to create a more powerful warrior, or a character get made in to a vampire, or a character get assassinated, or a character find a scroll that they had been searching for, or a character finds out who they really are... Or a million other possibilities.

The point is: Give me something! Reveal things and provide good lead ins to the next game! You can do both, I promise!

By the time you unlock every cut scene in the game, I'd love it if the game would stitch them together so that the whole thing felt like some sort of small movie or something along those lines... You know, where everything fits together.

Pred, as far as you digital graphic novel idea, I think it's FANTASTIC as a supplement. In other words, maybe you put a 5 part series in the game, but each part corresponds to a certain group of characters. This would be especially great if the series goes through with the idea of killing off a lot of old characters and bringing in a lot of new ones.

For one thing, we can see the events that took place after armageddon and we can also get a more complete view of these characters as human beings that have multiple dimensions to them other than "I am good" or "I am evil."

But these digital graphic novels would serve to fill out the story. To make you even more interested in the characters, and provide a lot of insight in to what they're looking for from Mortal Kombat and why.

In my opinion, there's no such thing as too much story, especially in a fighting game where usually the most you get out of a character is a 2 minute cut scene that may or may not be what happens to them.

i think that no matter who beats the boss in the end of story mode each characters ending should be revealed and should reflect differently on who wins against the boss.

an example...lets say Sonya beats the boss...it should go to a cut scene for her ending scene and than there should be a small story outcome for every other character after that to show how Sonya's victory reflects on each characters story. even if its just text or comic book style...hell even just pictures to roll with credits to show story elements for each character after her victory. an ending for one character effects all the other characters in some way...that should be shown in some manner in each characters ending. EDIT: i remember playing suikoden and at the end of the game they gave little sentences as to what happened to each of the 108 stars and how they moved on...something like that should be done but it would be different for each character ending...thing is unless there is a set hero to the story of who defeats the boss or if the boss is even defeated they would all be what if endings.

Just for the record, I wanna point out that most of the endings in Deadly Alliance and Deception were not what-ifs and had nothing to do with beating the boss, they were actual canon and all you had to do was figure out the order each ending happened in.

For instance, Sub-Zero's MKD ending took place BEFORE Kenshi's Bio!