Well the thing to point out is: there are parts of the story from 5-25 years after MK9, and I doubt Cassie has had her team that long, so we'll probably play as other people.

I feel like this trailer was teasing only a small portion of the story mode. It was designed specifically to show the "New blood" (and Mileena). I fully expect a second story trailer, which will probably show more of the NetherRealm War, and show off a different batch of characters.

I absolutely agree with this. I think this trailer is focusing heavily on the new blood because we HAD been focusing so heavily on the old blood. I think the story mode is much more balanced than this trailer would have you think.

Yeah... I'm kinda thinking it will be set up in three major acts the same way as MK9's was...

The beginning being The Netherealm war, covered by chapters for like, Raiden, Cage, Sonya. This will just button up the end of MK9/Gloss over the plot of MK4 briefly for the new canon, much the same way the last game did for 1 through 3.

The middle being The Outworld Civil War, covered by chapters for Kotal, D'vorah, Erron, Ermac, etc. There will probably be lots of plot overlap with what we've seen in the comic book. That's likely why the comic exists, to give detail to things they can't dive into about the war in the limited span of the game plot. This is also likely where the plot will be exposed and tied together. This all seems to revolve around the amulet (and possibly the Kamidogu, based on the comic book). We see the amulet in lots of Outworld footage. Even in Mileena's hand. I'm guessing the amulet will become a focal point in the midst of the civil war that will lead into the real final conflict of the game...

And then the third act will be the new characters dealing with whatever consequence/plot was set up in the second act involving the amulet. This will be largely new territory, story wise.

Based on comments from the developers, there will also likely be some jumping around through flashback. Perhaps something to do with the Amulet/Shinnok gets revealed in Act 3 for instance, that only then makes Raiden remember something he'd overlooked in Act 1. Act 1 and Act 2 could also be entirely flashback for all we know. Something like Raiden re-telling key events to the newbies, to prepare them for their mission in Act 3.

OR... it could alternate. Wherin the entire current plot is the newbies. Then we see a flashback that peels back some plot details pertaining to the present. Then we go back to present for more current action. Then more flashback.

ANYWAY... I'm rant babbling...

Point is, while I do think there will be plenty of unseen story mode gameplay covering The Netherealm War and the Outworld War... I don't expect either of them to be the central focus of the overall plot. I think they're going to be relying on our knowledge of MK4 and the MKX comic for most of the story in those eras... and the present with the young newbies will be the real meat and potatoes as far as the BIG conflict is concerned.

Elements having to do with the Amulet/Shinnok/Quan Chi/The Kamidogu/The Netherealm/This mysterious Blood pact/god/demon... will likely be present throughout, tying it all together.

This^^

I wonder what all this means for the arcade mode then?

Will this just take place in the third act?


I don't think I'm going to touch this mode until I finish story

I think we are only seeing the 25 years in Chapters in the trailer.

I thought about that after seeing the trailer. Seems unlikely that they will go down the MK vs. DC/MK9 route where everyone has their own chapter. I think we will have to choose a character from the Cassie's squad in every battle. Then of course there will be side stories most likely featuring Scorpion.

Considering NRS' signature structure focuses on giving every character a chapter (MK9 and Injustice), I think the trailer might be distorting just how much of a role Cassie's team plays.

NRS' formula is very effective at getting the player used to almost every character in some capacity, so I doubt they would change that up at this point.

4 player co-op story mode please