I feel so lost. It's like I woke up and never played MK.

Well if they have the same boring ANNOYING storymode system in MK X and we only play as the boring heroes/goodguys it probably will be another fiasco...

Fiasco only to those who have something to nitpick about particularities. It was THE critically acclaimed story mode.


Also, from what i have hear in the interviews, it will not work in a linear manner, not sure what they mean, but it will be different somewhat this time.

It's not a fiasco if the majority likes it. It's not a fiasco if it is the best sold game of the series.

Something insides me tells me that isn't because of the storymode, more because of the total picture.

Of course, but it includes the Story Mode. If people really found the Story Mode so ruinous as some people in here makes it, then it wouldn't be so praised.

Maybe they like the system, playing the storyline yourself.

But i'm sure many more people would enjoy the storymode with the badguys more involved, as the badguys have just as many fans as the goodguys.

I meant the Story Mode was praised, not just the game itself.

However, I totally agree about the bad guys should have been more involved, have some chapters of their own etc. That is one of the things I didn't like about the MK9 Story Mode.

I doubt anyone here would dispute the fact that the production values were high and that the overall presentation was fantastic. This alone was enough to impress the casuals and the press (read: casuals on a payroll).

But nearly every person who has been following the story so far has been critical of the story mode to various extents. To this day, the Sindel Massacre is hugely divisive in the community.

You can't just dismiss it all as fanboys nitpicking.



We are the people who have supported the franchise and its developers through its highest of highs and its lowest of lows.

Don't you dare tell us that we have no say in this.

But fuck it, if you really want to go there, you could argue that the person who wrote the original story is not involved with MK anymore. These new people who took over afterwards had nothing to do with its creation, so, by your logic, it doesn't really belong to them either. So what right do they have to fuck with the original vision?

Are you a George Lucas apologist, Sumac?


From what little I dabbled in SF, it doesn't really have a story mode, so when I play it, I have no idea who anyone is or what is going on. I guess there's some manga and an anime that fill in the gaps (are those even canon?), but that's a lot of outside work. Not to mention that Street Fighter's canon seems to change and contradict itself fucking constantly.

In comparison, MK is fairly self-contained to the games. As in, you could follow the MK chronology front to back by only playing the games.

What makes MK unique is not that it's the only fighting game that has lots of lore or whatever, because that's objectively untrue. What it makes it unique that it has the most extensive, entertaining and consistent lore out of all of them.


Do you watch movies and read books the same way, too?

"Such-and-such event in the character's past was never explicitly shown on the screen or spelled out to us on the page and was only alluded to or hinted at to allow the audience to arrive to an obvious conclusion themselves, so that means it's all made up and doesn't count"?

How did you pass literature courses back in school?


>implying a fighting game is bound by law to have a crappy superficial plot

I'm so fucking sick and tired of hearing that shit.

Hell, why do videogames needs storylines in the first place?
Atari games didn't need them, and they were perfectly functional without it, because pure, undiluted gameplay is all you really need.
Mario barely has a flimsy excuse for a story even after all these years, and it's one of the most celebrated franchises in gaming.
And when you really get down to it, were all these kilobytes of boring bullshit that Mass Effect keeps spewing at us at every turn really necessary? At the end of the day, you're just shooting aliens in the face anyway.

I think we finally have to decide if the story in MK is important because, y'know, it's actually one of the main reasons people keep coming back to this franchise, or it's not important because LOL FIGHTAN GAEM WHO CARES, and we're all just wasting our time here.

So what you need to do is make up your fucking mind, because it can't be both.

You can't be selectively appreciative of the story when it's good and brush off any criticisms of it with "SINCE WHEN DO FIGHTAN GAMES NEED A GOOD STORY AMIRITE xDD" when it's bad. It doesn't work that way.


Considering that the entire Edenian royal family is fucking dead, and there's no one left to split Edenia off from Outworld, I'd argue that no, it's actually not still there.


>implying Rain would give enough of a shit to do that

yeah no


When was Blaze ever mentioned in the context of the new continuity? Who says that didn't decide to leave it all in the dead timeline and just quietly sweep that whole thing under the carpet?


Oh boy.



Let's start from the top, shall we?

Sindel

In the OT, the plan to reincarnate Sindel's soul in Earthrealm was decades, if not centuries, in the making and required the cooperation of two of the most powerful sorcerers in the MK universe.

The Elder Gods might have been assholes, but their power in the OT was indisputable. We are told that they came up with the idea of Mortal Kombat and enforced it upon the realms, but if they couldn't back up their own decree with force, Shao Kahn would have no fucking reason to follow it. That's why he had to find a way to find a LOOPHOLE in the rules. Y'know, because he couldn't challenge them directly.

Now, Kahn is not really the kind of guy who'd sit around concocting elaborate schemes, but we know for a fact that in the past, he has already been so close to conquering Earthrealm that he could taste it, only to have his string of victories broken by the Great Kung Lao and be forced to start anew. I suppose he decided that this time, there has to be a contingency plan of some kind. He was not planning on losing the tournament, of course, but he still set the plan in motion years before the events of MK1.

Sindel's reincarnation was the entire pretext for the invasion in MK3, and Mythologies was the game that described it in detail. Without it, there is no story. There is no game.

NT
>Sindel doesn't kill herself out of desperation of being forced to marry the conqueror of her realm, the enslaver of her people and the murderer of her husband, which would, y'know, add some actual depth to her character, but instead travels to Earthrealm and sacrifices herself there
>her one solitary death creates some magical ward (?) that somehow prevents Kahn from setting foot in the entirety of Earthrealm (???) more effectively than the will of the gods who created the fucking multiverse as we know it (!?!!??!??)
>Kahn has no contingency plan of any kind
>the idea to resurrect Sindel and undo her ward does not occur to him or his fucking court sorcerer even once in all these centuries
>Quan Chi brings it up for the first time after Kahn gets his shit ruined in front of his entire Koliseum
>says that invasion will then be possible
>Kahn immediately rolls with it
>b-but muh Elder Gods
>FUCK'EM, THIS CRUNCHY GUY SAYS IT'S GONNA BE FINE
>#YOLO #SWAG
>mfw


Shinnok's Amulet

In the OT, Shinnok's Amulet is canonically the most powerful artifact in the MK universe and the lynchpin to his entire master plan. The entirety of Mythologies was devoted to retrieving that Amulet. Without it, Shinnok can't even get out of Netherrealm.

NT
>Shinnok is such a swell dude that he lets his servant wear his precious Amulet, which is supposedly so powerful that it can only be created once, as a fashion accessory
>out in the open
>no one notices
>not even Raiden

Super Sub-Zero Bros.

Waiter, can I have some of that pasta from the Subby thread?



Mmm, dat's some fine pasta...


Barely any of the fundamentals that were established in Mythologies hold true anymore.

What were you saying about grasping at straws and wishful thinking again..?


You know what's kinda funny?

You sound like Raiden right now.

"Sure, a lot of people got horribly fucked up in the process, but at least the realms are still standing, right? R-right..?"


I ain't laughing, though...


Where were you during MKDA, when they shook up the entire series for the first time? Were you just as enthusiastic when it came to telling people that the team's vision should be respected regardless of its quality?

I'm all for seeing potential in even the most hopeless characters and plot twists, but I've yet to see you really criticize any of the decisions that NRS has made. Exactly how badly do they have to fuck up for you to finally acknowledge that they have indeed fucked up?


What about the original vision? Was it not good enough to be preserved and respected? Does the new spin automatically get priority over the old? Why, because it's new?


You know, I'm actually very happy for the MK team right now. Like you said, they are not stuck working in Midway's little sweatshop of horrors anymore, and they can finally show their true talent and potential without the constraint of budgets and deadlines. Hell, when I first saw Boon's MKX E3 demo, my exact words at the time were: "this could be as good as Deadly Alliance".

If you spent any amount of time on these boards, you'd know that it's pretty much the highest praise I can possibly lavish upon a game.

I'm crazy hyped to see the future of the MK universe.

And yet, it makes me profoundly sad. Because the foundation for this long-awaited new era of MK is flimsy as all hell, and bringing it to fruition is certainly not worth removing some the best parts of 10+ years of continuity.

You go on and on about the writers doing certain things because they must have some kind of reasons for it. But you're in the same boat as the rest of us; you can't know that for sure at this point. Doesn't mean they're good reasons.

The only thing you can do is put your trust in the developers and make assumptions about the quality of the final product based on their previous track record. And I hope I don't have to remind you that so far, their track record has been spotty at best.

You're making it sound like moving the plot forward would require abandoning the established story or altering it beyond all recognition, but that's false. It didn't have to be abandoned or dumbed down. And that's really the saddest part.

It didn't have to be this way...


We're talking about the headliners of the franchise here. Your A- and B-listers. The faces you put on the cover.

If you're going to kill them off, the very least you can do is have some fucking respect for them and give them a chance to go out with a bang like Nightwolf did.

I suppose I can understand the dramatic necessity of throwing one character under the bus and have them die suddenly and tragically to drive home the point that shit just got real (i.e. Kung Lao). When used sparingly, it's both shocking and effective. Furthermore, if it's just one or two characters that are sacrificed to serve the narrative in this manner, there is a chance that these characters will remain dead and have a lasting effect on future stories.

But it's just not something you do to half of your entire fucking cast. Even worse, it pretty much guarantees that none of these deaths will stick, the characters will be brought back to life via Deus Ex Bullshit, and the people who keep fucking parroting NO ONE DIES IN MK HURR like it's a good thing will be proven right once again.

Is that what you're defending?


And yeah, I'd rather prefer seeing them vanish into obscurity in the aftermath of Kahn's invasion instead of watching them die from a fucking punch to the face like some nameless redshirts.

I'm not gonna quote your entire post T.Rex... but God how do I agree with you!

Good Post! I agree 100% with that... Especially with the Sindel parts and the non-glamourous deaths of the fan-favorites...

Stryker wears a blue shirt, yo.

[ ] Not told
[ ] Told
[X] Toldasaurus Rex

So I'm playing MK 2. Can we just discuss for a moment how damn cheap she was in this game? Eww.

That would be a topic for another thread.

That throw is unbelievably annoying.

Ehh, I suppose you're right.

Probably not, unless you're like me and assume that Raiden's time-shuffling shenanigans in MK9 are not (were not?) the first time that MK's timeline has been mucked with.

I would argue that...

A) Liu was ALREADY losing faith in him because he was showing symptoms of mental instability and also behaving like a coward, running around looking for help instead of going to battle like Liu wanted. Kitana's death certainly furthered that development, but the rest was unnecessary.

B) He was already desperate when he went to the Elder Gods and moreso when they said no, he didn't need the extra motivation

C) He could have gotten the same extra motivation if only SOME of the characters who died had died

and D) The scene where Raiden tries to betray his own allies and sell their souls to the devil is the worst-written, most out-of-character moment in the entire game. If I could change any one moment in MK9, but I was only allowed to change ONE, so I had to pick carefully? It wouldn't be Sindel killing anyone or Sub-Zero being a robot, it'd be that.

See, everything else they did, I may not agree with it, but at least I understand WHY they felt like it needed to happen to accomplish the writers' goals. That one, though, just doesn't fit with the rest of Raiden's behavior, it's too far over the line. He went from "making mistakes with good intentions" to "acting like Dark Raiden" and they clearly didn't mean for him to be evil or to have stopped caring about humanity or his friends' souls, because he goes right back to "making mistakes with good intentions" in the following scenes.

They could have written an entirely different conversation between Raiden and Quan where he still learns Quan has his friends' souls and gets the idea to let Kahn win from him withOUT the part where Raiden acts like either he's suddenly become a sociopathic monster or a shortsighted retard who can't remember that the guy he's talking to already works for Kahn AND for a guy who's JUST AS MUCH A THREAT as Kahn is.





Well Sindel's rampage doesn't have anything to do with Kahn's army being a threat because she was removed from his army right after it happened and nobody fights Kahn's army for the rest of the game.

How does making ONE person look badass for ONE scene help the REST of the badguys look tough?

Like I said, the REST of them needed to WIN FIGHTS. And yes, you're right, some of those fights need to be against important people. That would be a big help.



Kung Lao is almost Liu Kang's equal. And of course, who kills him? A henchman who needs to up his cred? Nope, Kahn himself, who doesn't need the help.

And everything else you said could apply the same way to Sindel's rampage. Everybody she beat were the team chumps. Sub-Zero's the only one who's not supposed to be but he went down to the LEAST lethal blow she performed in the whole fight so apparently he's a jobber too now.

The only "main eventers" on Team Raiden are the two guys Sindel DIDN'T fight and Nightwolf - but Sindel didn't kill him, he killed himself. Her scream didn't even work on him. That put Nightwolf over as a big deal, but it, and the whole scene, didn't do shit to up the threat level of "the bad guys" as a group.

ReptzMK, let me say my honest gratitude to you, sir!! I dare say, you are one of the best things that happened with this place in the last few months. You are absolutely right on all accounts. And, damn, you said everything that was neccessary to say to those "lrmstrs" and their entourage.

Absolutely everything you said is how I feel about most of the fandoms of the long standing series, like Castlevania, Terminator and the like. It seems no matter what people gonna do, fans will vehemently hate whatever producers have to offer mostly because it goes against their own headcanons and assumptions made over past years. At this point, some so called fandoms, could be renamed into "hatedoms", because the only thing that they do is hating and lamenting, lamenting and hating. There are no creative thoughts, there is no interest in the future, there is no desire to see things a bit differently. Only hatred and spiteful rage, directed at ones in charge and people who are just a tiny bit curious about new directions and possibilities. MKO escaped this somehow, but people like Razor are trying to bring it down and turn into just another "closed club for ever hating elitists who hate everything". I am glad that there are people like you, ReptzMK, who decided to take charge and pour salt on those people. It needs to be done.


Yeah, because fandoms should an aggresive, corosive environment, where oversensitive and unsecure grownups bitch and whine about their former objects of obsession 24/7. That's so much better and so much mature, then just having normal conversations or "hugboxes"...


Why...I still don't care.
The way how it was put in the end of MKM could imply, that Sub-Zero was hired by Shang Tsung. It was a long time assumption of some people, so I supported for a time being.


Oh, somebody have authorized you to give an opinion for the whole place, mm? I don't think so. Think whatever you want of me, but please don't pretend, that there are some forces behind you or whatever. It's childish.


So? There are many things divisive in different communities. It's not like every instance should be dramatized.


First, MK managed to last that long, only because even at its lowest points, it still was able to sell a lot of copies. Not because, fans were so passionate, but because general audience kept bringing them money. None of fans passion would have saved series if it stopped being profitable as such big developer wouldn't spend their time to spend serious money to create something for a tiny bunch of people. So, this destroys your first point. Fans are just a tiny fraction in the sea of consumers. Yes, they are the loudest, but if the game has real quality, none of the amount of hatred in the fandom will not stop game from being succesfull. So, in the end you stll can't dictate what to do to the developers. Because, you are not the one who brings them the most money.

Second, as far as I know Mk storylines in its early days were created with input from everyone. Yes, Tobias was the main writer, but it seems some suggestions from others were incorporated in the series. And, yes, he is not with MK-Team anymore, but others still there and they have full right to dictate direction of the series.
And, yes, I believe, that the one who has rights can turn series into whatever he wants. Such, is the nature of business. You don't like it? Leave or create something of your own. This is reality of the situation.


Most of the SF animes and mangas are non-canon, safe for the ones, tied with the release of SF4. Besides, Capcom constantly retcons everything about series, so even if they were canon, it would have been rendered pointless. SF is one of those series where gameplay goes first, everything comes later.
I'd say Soul Calibur is the closest competitor in the quality and extensivity of the its lore to the MK, but Namco, also, constantly retcons everything. Besides, the series doesn't have single writer. It led to the situation, where the current producer of the series disapproved decisions of his predcessor to make a timeskip and kill some fanfavorites and now, even biographies on official site of the game were rewritten or replaced with ones from the past games.
And, yes, I am agree, MK has the best story and lore of all other fighting games. Otherwise, I wouldn't become so invested in it.


MK is not a movie or a book. It's different media, where decisions regarding everything, including story, often made because of the other reasons, than purely artistic.
I am appreciate MK story and I am agree with some ideas of fans regarding MK canon, but when it comes into speculation, that "Kitana has overwhelming deep emotional trauma", that becomes kind of laughable. It's a fighting video game, for crying out loud. Not Shakespear. Not even JRPG. It's basically written as an Western action movie. There is no place for all this stuff. You can imagine it, but don't try to pass it as something actually existing, because it goes in reality of strange obsession and desire to turn entertaining story in the soap opera, where every single character must be either alcoholic or just kill himself to stop suffering. There is enough of this stuff already, so I take MK as it is: simple story with entertaining lore and colorful characters. No need to turn everything in the forced drama. I despise that. If I want drama I'll watch news or go on the streets. There are plenty of tragedy and shit to drawn yourself into.

I do have my own headcanon, but as a rule I always separate my ideas about story, and those of the developers. So I can see two as independent entities and appreciate them as separate things. The same advice I can give to everyone overly engrossed in the series.

And I had four in language and literature lessons.


It's still part of the Outwrold to begin with. And there are also Ermac (Jerrod), Mileena, Rain, Taven and Daegon. Plenty of influental Edenians, though I doubt that last two will be brought back.


I believe it is the case, BTW.


Events of MK1 and MK2 were basically his plan A to conquer Earthrealm. After some changes in MK9 I am not sure about how to regard events of MKM, except something like that had happened in the past. Aside from that, current version of Sindel's ressurection can be written as part of the MK9 storyline.
Details of her suicide are not important. The result is still the same.

Significance of the Amulet was never borught up in the MK9 at all. Considering what is known about MKX I believe, it's either swept under the rug, which I doubt, or will be brought in the future.

As for Sub-Zeroes, vignette of course has changed some specifics of Sub-Zeroes origin. However, it was never outright denied, that there were never other Sub-Zeroes, before those two. It's basically the case, where there is convinient silence about the matter. It's also possible, that new Sub-Zero named himself after the brothers (if this is a new Sub-Zero in MKX). And family matters of Sub-Zero's family was never important to the plot of MKM. Basically it was given as random trivia. Even in the OT it was always about only two brothers.


And it doesn't change that the truth is that lore is intact, changes were applied only to some characters and a few matters.


During release of MKDA I was amazed that there was new MK game at all. Because after MK4 I wasn't hearing anything new about series. When, I have read about MKDA in the gaming magazine I was really excited, that saga continues. I learnt specifics about its story only in 2006 and was greatly pleased with them. So, yes, I supported MKDA-MKD and was dissappointed with MKA, until they started release bioses...and then I was dissappointed with it again, when they had stopped. To this day, MKA is the most disappointing game for me, though I must say even this one had potential.

I am one of those people who prefer to see possibilities in any situation, instead going into histerics and cry "RUINED FOREVER!!", which is the easiest road to deal with such stuff and it's disgusting because it doesn't take much mind and imagination. Basically, it's childish way to deal with something that you don't like in a most childish fashion possible.


If original vision is nullified, then there is a choice - support a new one or leave. I don't care about bullshit, that "if we fart loudly enough NRS will hear us". Nope. They have megacorporation over their heads and this is more serious stuff, than half-dozen of "brave" internet haters.

So, in this case, I will side with a new direction and see where it goes. If I will be dissappointed, I'll leave, like I left during MKvsDC, which I hated. I rarely visited MK boards during that time, and I barely talked about the game. And I have never bought the game and not intend to do it.

In the end, it's not about which direction is better. You like old one, but it not there anymore, what you gonna? Rage will not help you to return it. Either leave or just stop raging.


If they are dissatisfying, I'll leave. That is that simple.


In case of a fighting games, which are notorious for having focus on the same cast for a long time, perhaps it is the only way to make significant jump forward. And I am gladly will remind you, that MK is a fighting game, where stuff not always decided from artistic point of view, but because of many other aspects.


Currently there are only two faces worth putting on the cover and both are in game. So...


I am not neccessarily defending this decision, but I don't see how my whining will change it. It's better to move to the future, rather then permanently replay the past like a broken record. MK, as you said, had highs and lows, so I forgive the lows and will praise the highs. Isn't that exactly what you do with your friends and loved ones?

For me MK9 was satissfying. I don't look at it from purely story point view. I never could do that and never will be able to: MK for me is a video game and I look at it as the sum of all things it has to offer: story, gameplay, modes, designs, music, and the like. There are some things that I don't like, but there are much more things that I liked and for that I willing to forgive some shortcomings. Afterall, rabid hating will get you nowhere, just ruin your nerves.

You mean like the one you create when you post and do nothing but criticize actual users as opposed to criticizing a video game?

Is it me, or are these posts getting really ridiculously longer every time any of you guys go back at one another? Not to mention, has anyone really bothered to notice that this thread no longer talks about Kitana being underdeveloped?

We answered that question by page 2 though.

Still, we could kinda still talk about her.

I tried to throw out the discussion of her hair being constantly developed per game she's in. I question whether her hair will finally touch the ground if she appears in this game or not.

I'm actually surprised it hasn't been closed yet. :/

I was never really a fan of Kitana, so I feel like I'm unable to add anything constructive.

Should she come back, stop being a fucking damsel in distress and stop dressing like a whore........That's all I got.