Or is it?
Was checking out MKX out this last week..... Which by the way I have to add is by far the best Mortal Kombat I have ever played. However, I did expect it to move on from the old cast a little more than what it actually did. Going to split this entire article into the following small little parts:
The Original Cast
Characters it Should Have Dropped
Characters it Should Have Kept
The Next Generation of Characters
The Story - When to Relive Childhood and When to Move On
DLC?
So without any further delay, lets get right to it.
The Original Cast
Some all-time favourites are taken out, but some annoying characters that repeatedly keep coming back are still here!
One would think that after 25 years and a tournament and an invasion and a war and what not, that some of the initial cast would be gone and done for, right? Allow me to demonstrate my point.
These are the characters from the first Mortal Kombat:
Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Kano, Raiden, Scorpion, Sonya Blade, Sub Zero, Goro, Shang Tsung, Reptile.
How many of these characters are not in Mortal Kombat X?
Shang Tsung. Thats it.
They have even kept the exact same names, as they normally would in any fighting game, however I wanted to point this out because Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade got together, had a daughter, and then divorced again, just so Sonya can keep the same name?
Correct me if I am wrong. I mean I played and completed the entire story mode and I think they referenced their "marriage" but not quite sure. I could have jumped the gun and made the assumption they were married, in which case she still could have kept the name Blade since we are living in a more refined age....... Maybe I am looking too much into this and their separation was simply a story element which was added.
End of the day, the point remains that none of the original characters are dropped. And to be honest, it is about time that some of them were!
Characters it Should Have Dropped
Well for me it is a clear choice. From that first list, it should have dropped out Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, Liu Kang and Kano. Here are my reasons why.
The Cage Family
I am strongly against Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage taking up two slots of MKX as they feel like a complete waste. Why hold on to them? Especially when you have their daughter to replace them which could be a combination of both of them and she indeed is (check her nut crushing X-Ray out too btw).
I know they are all-time favourites for some, but they should still be dropped.
And it also makes more sense for the story. Why would I want to be reminded constantly that they have grown and are now old, being in their mid to late 40's, and at the same time take up two character slots in the new MK?
All for the purpose of story perhaps? They could have had them as unplayable characters and keep them still there in the story and in the background. Retire them or something, and still write a compelling story. Which to be honest the way it is now feels like the new MK should be called MK - The Cages!
Spoilers- The story starts and ends with them, and their daughter becomes the hero of the new MK? Seriously? We have a telepathic-telekinetic ninja trained from Scoprion himself in the new generation, and Cassie Cage becomes the new hero with some conveniently explained ability of a green goo that she took from her father? Come on guys, you can do better. And if they wanted to make it a thing about female empowerment I am completely cool, but at the same time Jacquie is so downplayed by comparison.
Anyway, it feels like a family flick now, and characters feel like they are kept more to make sense in a story they had written rather than with purpose to make a new and fresh fighting game. Good writing can easily find entirely new plots to go on and I was hoping for this. It is MKX for crying out loud, it is something like 25 years after MK9. The sky is the limit at this point. You would think that they could be more creative with it rather than make it feel once again like a classic title. I was a little let down by this to be honest.
More Characters to Drop.
Other characters they should have dropped from that first list are Liu Kang, oh god yes please get rid of the gimmick character aspiring to a Bruce Lee that all 90's fighting games HAD to have (Fei Long, Marshall Law, Jann Lee... do I have to mention more? Jann even shares the same name as Bruce Lee).
And what better time to get rid of Liu Kang than now? Mortal Kombat 9 was awesome for that reason. It was the complete story telling edition of the entire franchise. It finally put everything in its place. It also had a very realistic or logical approach that not all the good guys from the first MK tournament miraculously lived, and Liu Kang in the story died as well. So, why keep tiring us with this whole "everyone is coming back to life through a convenient manner" idea?
Jax is another character I would drop. He is useless. And adding his better counter-part, his daughter, which to be felt much more fresh and fun to play with, he too can easily become a background character just for the story. A retired hero, as he was for half the story. Since keeping him killed wont explain her birth, it is ok to use all those resurrections going on and what not. This does not mean we need to have 4 slots taken out of the roster for Jax, Sonya, Cage and Liu Kang, two of which are resurrected.
I mean come on. This was the perfect time to start with something fresh. And if people hated on it then they really need to be slapped to get along with the times. We got MK9, isn't that enough for a "childhood revitalization" title? MK9 was perfect. And the time of remakes/childhood reboots is a little done with at the moment. SF4 and MK9 did it, it was great, awesome, amazing! But now it is time they both moved on and I hope SF5 does something about this.
If SF5 becomes another childhood revitalization as well with the same characters once more, I would be really disappointed (even though SF5 has more reason with the story at the moment to hold on to them).
Kano. Drop him. Enough of his black market dragon league ass. You would think a prick like Kano would have been killed in the last 25 years a million times over, being in the line of work that he is. Especially for the idiot they play him out to be most of the time. If they had taken care of making him as truly badass and awesome as he could have been, I would be on-board, but the man is a joke. Talk about a wasted character development that somehow never owns up to something yet always survives.
Dropping Kung Lao is not a bad idea either.
And (although I completely love him) drop Goro too. Seriously. The prince of Outworld? This guy still exists? Goro other than story is still awesome to be there though. Well, maybe I can take that one with Goro back and live with him since he could be the "monster champion" of Outworld that each new emperor holds on to? Or something. Making him viable even in the story.
Mileena and Kitana. More debatable characters but I wasn't too bummed to see them come back. Kitana I was more pleased with than Mileena, but again, this feels like it is holding on to the old story and keeping that old legacy of Shao Khan alive. Be done with it already. Spoiler: At least they kill Mileena off, but the damage was done. Her slot took up another character spot too. Make her unplayable as well.
Characters it Should Have Kept
Well, Scorpion and Sub Zero are the main symbols of MKX, so good thing they kept them. But they dropped some other characters I do not agree to being left out. For example, MK was well known for its Ninjas.
What, no Smoke and no Noob Saibot? Why? And Jax and Sonya are better picks? As are Kano, Liu Kang and Johnny? Whist Rain is completely thrown out the window and he is now kept as a prince of Persia? Which by the way, is in the game but unplayable. Which begs the question. Why is Mileena playable even though she is killed off, when a better character is right there standing next to her, Rain, that can be (even in his new Prince of Persia theme) used as a player and at the same time steer clear of making yet another MK title with ninja's alone?
But, MK needs its Ninjas. And yes, we got Takeda, which was cool, although he could be just a little better in my opinion.
Dropping other characters like Sektor and Cyrax is ok, the robot ninja. And there is no need to bring back the entire cast of the ninja, so having Noob Saibot and Smoke included is something they should have done. Too much having 4 ninja in the roster and 5 including Takeda? Ok, Smoke alone then, and make Noob Saibot a secret character or DLC character at some point (which they might do it regardless, I will get to that later).
It is a good thing they kept Kenshi as well, and I finally warmed up to him and enjoyed him at last. He quickly became one of my mains. The rest, it was a wasted opportunity in my opinion to make for a new beginning that would have been quite awesome for Mortal Kombat at this point. There are plenty cool characters it could have kept or held onto, but going with something new could have been the perfect choice for this next chapter.
The Next Generation of Characters
From new characters I can't say I am completely pleased with all they brought to the table, but not completely disappointed either. You need a roster of characters that you would enjoy beating up, but I do think they could have gone a better way about it and create some better additions. Or, having taken out those tiring and overplayed classics, add more characters into those slots and keep the ones they came up with too.
We get Kung Lao's cousin. He is ok. We get Takeda, son of Kenshi. He is pretty cool. And we get the two daughters, Cassie and Jacqui. Cassie being an annoying little brat (which makes her being the protagonist even more annoying... she is not cool, she is a brat and feels gimmicky just to warm up to new audiences) and although a cool addition she is just not cool as the main character from the next generation.
Perhaps this was a choice made to bridge old and new players? Seems like a lot of choices are made to bridge things rather than simply have fun with it and be creative.
Like Hodor and Bran, eeeh I mean Ferra/Torr. That was a nice and completely new addition and being creative. Not a second cousin third son 5th sister kind of a thing. As was Erron Black. Another nice and creative addition. D'Vorah was annoying as hell and a cool addition for a character you simply want to beat the crap out of. Kotal Khan is a cool addition too (a Nightwolf cross Shao Khan character?) but a nice addition regardless.
They did a great job in the end to balance out the amount of new to old characters, its just that half of the new characters are sons and daughters, which makes the inclusion of the older characters even more pointless, and leaves us with only a small count of completely new characters that can be counted on one hand. Drop the classics, I still stick to that. The new young generation is more than enough to compensate for them, and they would have felt much newer had we not been constantly reminded that they are the family members of the old classics.
The Story - When to Relive Childhood and When to Move On
It was truly convinient the way they brought everyone back to life. I mean everyone. Nightwolf is back as a pawn of Quan Chi, Cindel, Striker, Kabal I think too? Jax, Sub Zero, Scorpion, Liu Kang and Kung Lao all Quan Chi pawns as well and this was the very means through which some of them came back to the good side (like Jax).
Even Sub-Zero was brought back. Why? Kill him off and put another in his place. I mean they did kill off Bi Han, but the original had to stay? The best thing about Sub Zero is that someone else takes his place as Sub Zero all the time. This was an opportunity to make for a new beginning to Sub Zero as well.
Meanwhile, I feel they kind of killed off a great story to Scorpion. He is now mortal again? No. Just. No. Want a human ninja? Make someone else. Don't destroy one of the best aspects to MK lore after 25 years! Its like turning Akuma into young Gouki again. No....
How to make him good and keep him immortal? Simple. Being for so long under Quan Chi's influence and the first to be resurrected, Scorpions stay in the Underworld for so long had him grow potent and all powerful. Add to this that Scorpion was stronger than Qua Chi eventually after all this time (thus making Scorpion even more badass and making a point to show that his own will is what made him important and not his resurrection alone) having found out the truth of Quan Chi's manipulation, Scorpion breaks the link and now becomes a spawn of vengeance that can be of good as well or whatever he believes to be just by his own ideals. Making him somewhat an anti-hero hero.
But no, they went and pretty much killed off the best character in the entire franchise (even though I was more of Sub Zero guy, Scorpion was always my next favourite and at times I went through phases that he became my favourite).
This whole convenient plot of resurrecting everyone. This was too much I think. It ruined a lot of the story in my opinion and made it feel repetitive as well as less inspiring.
Meanwhile, spoiler again- Raiden decides to become bad at the end of MKX.... Why not drop half of that other stuff that tired and bored us and not make Raiden the new villain earlier on? Like half way through the story? Kill off Shinnok who is also a returning character and seriously, lets be done with him already, and get to the good stuff earlier on. Instead of teasing for a future DLC perhaps? Because if we wait for MK11 to come out, then god help us.
All a bunch of convenient ways I believe to keep the classic characters around and a whole mess of the story that didn't come across as well I think. I was much more pleased with the MK9 story to be honest. Its a matter of knowing when to create a game that will relive our childhood and when to make something new and fresh. MK9 was that title for the first of these, MKX was a chance for a title for something completely new and fresh.
Now, with regards to keeping to old characters and classics and what not, before anyone pops in to say that Street Fighter has the same cast for the last 2 decades as well, Street Fighter has mixed it up as much as kept it the same and here is the thing, the story to Street Fighter has moved so slow that it has not been completely done with.
Street Fighter 4 is set between SF2 and SF3, and although many of the old time favourites are back they are all back from a range of SF games that fit to the story. Point being that the story suits it.
Now if one takes the first SF Alpha, they can see that many characters were dropped there too and that was a decade ago, like Dhalsim, Blanka, Zangief, Balrog, etc (until later versions brought them back). Street Fighter 3 The Next Generation was in a way what MKX should have been and it dropped almost every single character aside the most important ones (Ken, Ryu, Chun Li, Akuma). Which was a bold move but awesome, it fit the story, and all the new cast was awesome as it gave them the opportunity to create something new and guess what, it worked.
SF4 brought back the classics and more. Can't say the new cast in SF4 was that great tbh and it is obvious that SF3 simply had more inspiration going into it.
So if other games like SF could do it and have done it a decade ago, who are even more tied to their routes, I don't see a reason why MKX cannot. Especially since MK9 gave us a wonderful and complete story that concluded so much and killed off so many characters. Mortal Kombat 9 was the SF4 of MK's. It brought back everyone more or less and did a great job at it. It was the perfect farewell so we could finally move on to greater and better things. A chance and opportunity to create a completely new cast.
DLC?
All this begins to point to new downloadable content. Old characters seem to be up for conversation with coming back to the MK world through new DLC (some like even Syndel and Stryker?). Noob Saibot perhaps. Smoke is in the game but not playable (he is also in one of the faction fatalities) and perhaps another DLC character? And the list goes on by the looks of it.
 |
| The Annoying little brat that might as well star in a video clip, Cassie Cage. Fighting with her thankfully was nice. |
At which point it seems like we might be getting a lot of DLC for MKX. And I agree to that, I simply do not agree to it in this manner. First up, DLC heavy games should be free to play (like Killer Instinct and even SF5 is thinking about picking up that path). Although this is very risky and could be done so wrong that it destroys a game. For example, they could make all characters available for free and their alternate costumes purchasable and what not, or they can make it that characters after a point need to be bought. The second is a dangerous path and if you do not tread well then you could ruin a game.
For example, lets say SF5 goes free and they make Ryu a purchasable character. There, that is a disaster right out of the door.
I really hope this isn't going to be a DLC heavy game. Because if it is, they just wasted something like 6 character slots on characters that belong in DLC more. The lesser characters of the MK universe. Johnny Cage? He might be a fan favourite for some, for most of us though... not so much. That is a character you make as DLC. And not someone like possibly Smoke.
Anyway, having all that said, I still stand by the notion that MKX is by far the best MK I have ever played in terms of combat, graphics, and so much more. Definately a great time. Do I like it more than MK9? Yes and No. MK9 I enjoyed much more. And that because it knew what it was and did it right. A trip down childhood. It was perfect. I enjoyed it a lot and I am skeptical as to how much attached I will become to MKX.
MKX on the other hand is a better game in many ways. But at the same time, it feels too new in some areas (one example is the stages, they feel nothing like Mortal Kombat anymore, and not a single pit or a single stage with the MK dragon that we all grew to love.... yes I know, no more tournaments, still doesn't mean all locations up and disappeared). Other things it lacks however is being new in the areas it should have been. Again to recap, MKX was a chance for something new, and I was truly expecting more new characters and more of the old characters being dropped out.
So despite its goods, its bads make it hard for me at the moment to warm up to it 100%, creating a love hate relationship in some areas even though I enjoy playing this a lot.
Lastly, as an MK player that never liked Sonya and Johnny AT ALL! Nor Kano. You can imagine how much of a slap to the face it was for me when it focused so much on them alone and their daughter. You have a resurrected Sub Zero and a Scorpion back from the dead (although I do not agree to that Scorpion but whatever) and such other great plots to work from.... And we get a telling of the Cage Family Ties. Disappointing indeed.
End of the day, MKX gets an 8/10 from me. If it grows on me more, it might even become a 9/10 but I doubt it. Definitely not worth a 10/10 though. And although this article was to address the character roster of the game and I don't want to go into game mechanics, I will mention that combos are still in that "mediocre" MK style they always were from as far back as MK3 and do not feel on par, on response, and as varying as other fighters out there. But, that is just what to expect from MK combat and it is regardless of this, still a step up. Can't have all fighting games be the same, that would be even more boring.
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