Thanks for the shout-out! Made my day. 😎 I've been pondering if maybe the Fail-tality idea makes more sense if they're not actually fatal? Like it just ends with your character knocked out/throwing a tantrum etc. (your opponent is just going to fall over anyway). Or maybe not... is the gore simply necessary lol? I don't know, just a thought. I would be a lot more into the character chapter system if it wasn't so damn one-sided. Shao/Sindel's Aftermath chapter was imo easily the most fun and the only one I immediately replayed after finishing. We need more villain chapters because to me it is baffling that, in the previous trilogy, a character like Jacqui got two chapters while a character like Mileena got zero. The villains are some of the most beloved figures in this series, but NRS story modes treat most of them like they're Dan Hibiki.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Fail-talities work either way, as far as I'm concerned. I suppose a lotta players would find it disrespectful that it causes the character's death, but fuck them. As for the gore, if I had my way, I would absolutely hit the reset button on that; it's gotten way outta hand. If 'impact' is what you're looking for, then this stuff ceased to be impactful 2-7 games ago. When everything is gore, you grow desensitized to it. It's much better if it's a surprise that comes out of nowhere. That's why Brutalities were such a good idea. I wouldn't even show blood, except after the hardest of hits, like X-rays and maybe uppercuts. And I'm glad it's not just me who thinks the story mode shouldn't be gatekept by the good guys.

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

Personally that was an awesome idea, I can see it almost like a mercy, kinda like "nah you deserved that win!" Or "almost had me there, I'll give it to you". I'd still keep mercy too though, just because I liked the idea of you wanting to give someone that extra chance you feel they deserve, or rub it it that they were never going to win this either way. Fails would be fun in general, even if you're not making a statement, just the idea that I can fake out an opponent that thinks I'm about to fatality and then I go and make reptile dissolve himself in his own acid or shed and just leave the shedding of himself standing there while he scurries off embarrassed.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@jackkawf4449 Ok, we need to document these; the Reptile ideas are comedy gold.

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock sounds like you have another video to make then ... You honestly do so well, I'd take notes and put the fans ideas together that you think might make a great mk. The video can be a fan tribute/ "NRS the fans are even coming up with stuff now" video.....

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock honestly the shedding could work as a move like a subzero ice clone mimic, except it wraps you in his skin momentarily

The MK reddit has turned on this game so quickly LOL. People started calling it MK Temu

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

That's actually funny.

@poem5677

5 ай бұрын

what MK reddit? I only know the tekken sub

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

I'll have to check again because last time I checked, if you said ANYTHING remotely negative, you were swarmed by "git gud" and "plays something else"

@nono9543

5 ай бұрын

It’s funny cause they were glazing that shit for months

@zzodysseuszz

5 ай бұрын

@@nono9543 typical reddit. That place is the holy ground for grifters

That failtallity idea is excellent. Someone’s got to get that to the developers

My favorite MK within recent times was, and still is, MKX. I always felt it was a good evolution for the most part, especially gameplay-wise (everything you mentioned in that section - I also miss the run mechanic, variations etc... ). It was the "sweet spot" for me, just a very fun game. I still enjoy MK1, but there's no denying it's been a pretty bumpy ride since launch, and it's really showing now. Overall, many great points to consider - a lot can be learned from the past installments.

@Abel_Unstable

5 ай бұрын

Agree man, something about MKX is how addictive the Fights are. Super satisfying to pull combos etc. Even playing VS against CPU alone already super fun to do.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

MKX is the one game they should've iterated on, instead of scrapping everything, like they usually do.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@Abel_Unstable Oh yeah - used to stay up til 4 a.m. playing the shit out of it, raging when I lost, but wanting more. Even though the animations are still janky as hell, MKX had that fluidity of general movement that the more recent games lack. Characters just felt more responsive. Not to mention that combos took a *lot* more creativity.

@tsvetelin6556

5 ай бұрын

The current state of MK11 in terms of variations is actually better. It should have started like that though but at least it got there.

@kylenguyen7371

5 ай бұрын

​@@tsvetelin6556I wish they had not abandoned MK11 to start MK1 when they did, if only because there were so many load-out options that they could have refined further or iterated upon to make them worth taking. Raiden in particular has had a number of options that I've shared ideas with to players on KZread like KnockturnalIs over the past four years.

You know, I always thought that it would be cool if they branched out into different types of games, like maybe a Devil May Cry combat style game, that focuses on the story or something (that could be very bad idea just a personal thing that I think of every night)

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

That's totally what keeps me up at night, too. For real though, I think that's what they tried to do with Shaolin Monks and the Konquest modes, but it's perplexing to think that such a long-running series hasn't branched off into other genres, almost at all.

@Джекет

5 ай бұрын

Yakuza x MK would be perfect

@robertminnie782

5 ай бұрын

Yes, we need sequels/remakes of MK Shaolin Monks, MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero and stuff like the Konquest modes from Deception and Armageddon.

@robertminnie782

5 ай бұрын

​@@CynicalWarlock Yes, very sad. Apparently they're too afraid to experiment or branch out because their 2D fighters have sold well and they no wanna lose $$$. 🙄🥴

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@robertminnie782 Don't see what one has to do with the other. These would be spinoff games, with their own budgets, and profit margins.

I think this specific story in MK1 REALLY would have benifited from the character select that Super Smash Bros Brawl had in it's story mode. Where instead of character chapters, you had essentially crew chapters that start off with two characters and grew in numbers and occasionally switches some people out. You wouldn't be tied to one group at a time either, have one chapter be Kenshi and friends tying to find Mileena and save her for one chapter, and Nitara and the other henchmen doing errands for the Deadly Alliance. And by the time when Reptile, Ashra, Baraka, Johnny, and Kenshi are all ready to rock, you can pick your combination of characters that you as the player feel most confident or curious about with 20 options if it's just a 2v2 tag mode. And that would incentivise players to redo chapters and see all of the little lines between characters teaming up. And then when the chapter of Armageddon happens, you finally get your pool of selectable characters to the full (launch) roster that you would have had *at least* one opportunity to play as, and finally pick your favorite duo for the finale. Of course, you might still have solo chapters such as when Raiden fights everyone to become the champion, but moments like that can work just like Brawl does when Meta Knight meets Lucario. And maybe you go from the shaolin training chapter to Baraka's chapter where he has to fight each of them to defend his camp when the Earthrealmers invade and Baraka get's back up from Shang Tsung disguised as another tarkatan or something. And this system wouldn't even CHANGE THE STORY THAT MUCH! Yeah, it's way more emphasis on a *TAG* system, but tbh you already made the fleshed out (mechanically) characters, just have them team up and let the players choose which combo. I'm at work taking a 40 minute "piss break" so I won't be spell checking this.

@Worst_n00b

5 ай бұрын

I JUST REMEMBERED INJUSTICE 2 AND MK11 BOTH HAD CHARACTER SELECTION IN THEIR CHAPTERS HOW DID THEY NOT REALIZE THE POTENTIAL IN THE GAME WITH TEAM MECHANICS ARE YOU KIDDING ME 😂 But yeah, I think the dialogue in those specific chapters is pretty much what I'd expect from the duo's that you would select in my hypothetical story structure for MK1. Only your getting like 20 different combinations of lines depending on the player's choice instead of two lines from either Green Arrow or Black Canary

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@Worst_n00b I was about to write that MK11 dipped its toes in that. Would've thought your idea would be way too complicated to implement, had you not told me someone already did it. Definitely a cool way to handle it. Also, using up your piss break to comment on my video is *tight*. You're a trooper.

@InTheKitchenWristStirFry

5 ай бұрын

solo chapters like that work if the character themself is powerful. Kitana in 9 is not soloing all those characters she did, if so thats good on her but why does she get taken out by two weak Tarkatans who are faaaar weaker than the Johnny and Smoke she beat up.

@Worst_n00b

5 ай бұрын

​@@CynicalWarlock I mean, if WB wants NRS to cut corners, the lines between characters could be as cut and dry as they want. Kind of like Titan Lui Kang's remarks to our chacarer of choice in the final Chapter 😅

@Worst_n00b

5 ай бұрын

​@@InTheKitchenWristStirFryon that note, I would have the solo "chapters" be more like solo introductory fights that are mandatory for the player to get used to the character, and as soon as the character joins another posse, you have the choice to play as them in the group or not. Even in SSBB you lost and gained members constantly, so varrying from different characters wouldn't be to hard to think of way to do so considering our main example here came out on the fuckin Wii 😅

Now the problem with your ideas, it involves a lot of thinking and brain power. But that’s something NRS’s doesn’t strive, because they keep repeating the same mistakes.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Putting points in Intelligence is hard, yes.

I miss the big monster characters in mortal Kombat

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

#bringbackonaga.

@Sharky_0456

4 ай бұрын

they are only really fun to play if the opponent is also playing them as well unless they are an esports player because then its just bullshit

@Terminator-ht3sx

4 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlockshoulda been the big bad for mk1

Yeah….one of the common criticisms with the modern MK’s is there less memorable soundtracks. Especially when you compare them to the 2000 era 3D trilogy.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

It completely lost its character.

@el_rey_chipinque

5 ай бұрын

I think the only soundtrack that I genuinely remember from mk 11 is Kotal Kahn's Coliseum music. Not only does it perfectly capture his character and his landscape, but it neatly incorporates creepy ethnic instrumentals like the Mongolian throat-singing and the Aztec-inspired chanting and percussion.

Character chapters: the issue with your solution of switching characters during story mode is that this mode is the more casual mode. Made for people to enjoy the story. If they have to switch characters frequently it would be harder for them to learn a character in 1 match only to be changed in the next one. To be honest, I have no idea how to solve this. If you ask me I would remove story mode and have a hybrid tower mode present the story of each character. Besides this and the smaller roster with more DLC characters, I agree with basically every point.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

As you pointed out, Story Mode is the casual mode, which means it'll be played on 'Braindead' difficulty, by most customers - even the more competitive ones, cause they wanna breeze through the story, out of curiosity, then go play online - so this is a non-issue, as far as I'm concerned. People just mash through these things anyway. Plus, you can have short quicktime events pre-fight, where you teach the player 2-3 special moves, before dropping them into a fight with that character. Less surprise factor, but easier learning curve. Also, it's not like you won't be revisiting that character before the Story mode ends; there aren't *that* many characters in the roster, after all. The smaller roster is a tough pill to swallow for everyone - myself included - but like I said, you can't please everybody; whenever you include Ermac in the game, Noob Saibot fans will get outraged that you didn't choose their character instead, and vice versa. But knowing that you have 10-20 DLC characters to look forward to, over time, instead of 4-8, would placate most fans, I think. And if you port over the skeleton from one game to the next, then you can start the second game with the now-enriched roster, since you don't have to flat-out redesign everyone and everything from scratch. That way, you can get from 10-20, to 20-30, and 30-40 characters, over the span of 3 games. Then hit the reset button.

@doishooligan

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock About the story mode, putting it like that you're probably right. About the small roster with DLC, it's not that I'm opposed, it's more like I believe the community would not react positively to that. I don't think DLC on itself is a bad thing, but years of gaming companies taking advantage of gamers through DLC kinda ingrained on gamers' heads that DLC = exploitation. Adding that up to the small roster could turn people against the game from the get-go.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@doishooligan Oh, for sure, I even said the fanbase would get outraged, so I fully agree. So if MK went down this route, it would have to go through a trial by fire to convince people it was actually doing the right thing, instead of over-monetizing through DLC. Definitely not the most painless solution, I'll give you that.

@billmcdermott9647

5 ай бұрын

I think you can get around by not doing it frequently and only when appropriate ….for example chapter 13 of mk1 Fight 1: play as Shang Tsung to take down the portals Fight 2. Elsewhere switch to smoke with a scorpion kameo to fend off the duplicates and dragon Fight 3. Kung Lao sees Shang and Raiden being overwhelmed so jumps down to divert Reikos attention Fight 4…..Shang gets to his feet after Laos save and takes on Dark Shao ending the chapter Fight 5. Kitana and her as a kameo fight an endurance match against the dragon warriors So you only do it a lot at specific times

@InTheKitchenWristStirFry

5 ай бұрын

this^. I'm not a big Johnny fan but hes fucking awesome. His whole thing is hes a secret badass martial artist who came to a whole ass demon fighting tournament to flex the his skills. His characterization in 1 is nice, he doesn't even have a projectile which is super johnny imo. for the most part in 1 hes great, but he should've had more focus later on and thats thanks to the stupid ass chapter system.

I wish the music was good again. Enough of this cinematic blockbuster nonsense we won't remember come MK13, give us that amazing mix inspired from traditional Eastern and dark fantasy we had all the way back in MK1992. Frick the whole art design and style needs an overhaul like that IMO, even a game as relatively recent as MK9 had so much more personality.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Word!

Just look at tekken 7, that game lasted 9 years and had a consistent player base up until January 2024 now that tekken 8 is out. And tekken 7 came out in 2015, that's almost 10 years of support and new characters and features being added to tekken 7. That needs to be studied for sure. Sf5 wasn't as well received as 4 but in comparison, 6 is way better received than 5 was and with what 6 brings to the table I feel alongside tekken 8, people are going to be playing tekken 8 and sf6 for almost another 10 years just because of how they'll be supported over time as opposed to mk1. Nrs needs to take notes from Japanese fighting game devs. They can genuinely learn something.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, I don't think they will take note. WB/NRS are following the EA model of short-term spike in sales, then abandon project, rinse and repeat. It makes a ton of money, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it. But if you want your game to have any kind of longevity (and more importantly, solidify your fanbase), the SF and Tekken way of doing things is definitely the way to go. That long-term support is key, to which I would add having a truly iterative approach, where you lay a solid foundation that you build on top of, with subsequent games. That's what these other games do pretty damn well.

I actually prefer the color shading and the color pallets of Mortal Kombat nine I thought that’s when the series was at its best design wise. My biggest problem with a series is it storylines we went from time travel to more time travel to time travel again. Mortal Kombat ones story mode was actually really solid For the beginning in the middle and then when it started to bring in the big timeline crap is when it lost me. I actually timeline stuff. It bothers me on a whole Nother level. The exception to this rule is DBZ trunks since he’s a bad ass cool character it didn’t make sense then it doesn’t make sense now but he’s like the only possible character and in terms of time shit I can handle.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

I said it before the game got released: M1K's story mode will probably dive off a cliff, like it usually does. And people were like "nooo, you'll see, this one's legit". Yeah. I saw.

Nice video, I usualy tired to MK11 defenders argued that "Changes is necessary" or "Evolving the core gameplay is for the better." Like, my dudes, MK has been lost its Mojo since MK4, not knowing what the game supposed to be. While Deception is Amazing, the series had hiccups real hard. MK9 and MKX is how the series should be, but then they decide to "change" the core gameplay again? Like gimme a break lmao.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, they need to settle on a foundation and let it bloom, in time, already. Just.. not this one. :D

God you know it’s bad when people are looking back on mk11 fondly

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

They are???

@KingBeneviento

5 ай бұрын

You won't be believe how many people are saying "maybe we were too hard on mk11" ​@@CynicalWarlock

@tsvetelin6556

5 ай бұрын

I actually love it! But it's my 1st MK game that I play a lot since MK4 so maybe that's a big part.

@Terminated_Account

5 ай бұрын

​@@tsvetelin6556 thats obviously a big part lol, go try 9 or x

@CynicalWarlock

4 ай бұрын

@@tsvetelin6556 Eyy, fellow MK4 fan.🙌

MK just needs to bring back its edge and absurdity they been playing it to safe these past few titles story wise and gameplay

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Depends how you define absurdity. The story's definitely absurd.. ly bad. Gameplay-wise, I agree, things have gotten way too tame.

@princecrowe6417

4 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock nah the story definitely needs to be a bit more grounded.. I get why they keep doing alternate worlds and such since they kill off loved characters and write themselves in a corner but it must be a way better way But yea I was mostly talking about the gameplay, it’s like they’re stuck between trying to be like Street fighter and Tekken which comes out mediocre

@CynicalWarlock

4 ай бұрын

@@princecrowe6417 There's a lot of truth to that, I think. And it makes sense. In many ways, MK was the new kid on the block, on the eSports scene. Street Fighter and Tekken put a friendly arm on MK9's shoulders, when it made its first foray into this realm, but MK thought they were secretly mocking it. It tried to find its groove with MKX, but couldn't shake the feeling it was too different from the rest of the frat boys, so it caved and started to emulate them to fit in.. ..and it doesn't fit in.

I think you didn't consider how greedy WB is, if they were to start with a smaller roster it would ended being more money for less kontent similarly to MK1 when compared with MK11.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Knew I forgot something.. Step #7: Change parent companies.

@tsvetelin6556

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlockI sometimes think that this might be the fix of all problems.

Honestly, after MK9, Mortal Kombat lost it's identity it's not even really a M rated game anymore if feels like a game for kids now

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

A kids' game with the most overtly violent visuals. Quite the paradox.

@triplexxxgaming7397

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock You know in interviews the creator's for some of the Fatality ideas Ed Boon said no to them he think it would be too much for MK me personally I have good Fatality Ideas it's so unfurntunate.You even have Boon saying he's afraid of titties.BTW I agree I never like the battle cries and the punching and kicking sounds

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@triplexxxgaming7397 "Uhh, oo-aah, mmf-aagh-hoo-AAA-aaaaah" - screams like that after getting poked.

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

​@@triplexxxgaming7397honestly fatalities need to go back to be being quicker and if they are going to be so cinematic then have it be entertaining and not just "how many ways can we hack this guy up!"

@triplexxxgaming7397

5 ай бұрын

​@@jackkawf4449Agreed

Great video! If I remember correctly I think the MK1 ladder endings are canon this time around. One of the few things they did right XD

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Until the next game throws most of them out the window.

@jakebingman278

5 ай бұрын

Sad facts

Chapter system story mode may be getting a little old. Especially since it's all heroes. What we need is a random chapter system. Where you play as multiple characters in different points in the story. For example chapter one. 2 fights as Johnny then 3rd fight maybe scorpion then sonya or whatever

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

My thoughts exactly. Especially the hero bias.

@mikearce7827

5 ай бұрын

@CynicalWarlock Right like there's nothing wrong with villains picking up a few Ws Makes the story more believable

@thecoomchalice5441

5 ай бұрын

And just to add, I feel like the main reason they don't wanna do it is because it would potentially give people whiplash with having to go from one moveset to another. Why not implement a little assist thing like Tekken does where it pulls up a basic combo as well as all the important moves with one button?

"look man I like your vids but there is no way I'm watching a 34 minutes video" Here is me after watching 3 time. Nice vid

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Stockholm syndrome is a thing.

@syki-tp1tn

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock U should probably make a video explaining the power levels of mk characters, cause basing it on story mode now is just effed up since u can basically beat any character with any character since you are the one in control. And cut scene fights also don't make it any better. Most people think giving villains their own chapters will help

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@syki-tp1tn Not a bad idea. Might make a power level tier list.

How to revitalize Mortal Kombat in 5 easy steps, my way 1: Remaster Armageddon. Don't put too much effort into making it look hyper realistic, the cartoonishness of it kinda fit. Prioritize the amount of content over having hyper-advanced graphics 2: replace the combo fatality system with actual character specific fatalities. Bring Weapon Fatalities back from Tournament Edition. Add modern-style Brutalities, Friendships and Faction Kills. Make sure there is no shortage of finishing moves. Retool death traps to only work as stage fatalities. Give created fighters unique finishers to pick from 3: Fix the gameplay, give players ways to use "CPU-only" moves, balance the roster, remove glitches, make the ladder and stage rotation truly random, all stages open from the start including Konquest maps... Those were pretty but you never saw them in arcade mode, add more create-a-fighter stuff including more weapons, more sliders etc 4: Add characters that debuted in the NRS era, minus guests. You don't need to add guests since we can make them 5: turn the variation system into style system. Classic, where they fight like UMK3/MK4; 3D, where they have a hand to hand and a weapon stance; and Modern, where they fight like they do now. Characters would have different costumes depending on style: Stryker in Classic would have his MK3 getup and moves. Everyone would have a different moveset depending on style. D'vorah in 3D would have her ovipositors as a weapon stance.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

That's great. Now send this pitch to NetherRealm.

@jaimechavez5190

5 ай бұрын

Lmfao

Mkx and 3d era had the best hard hitting sounds, wow I thought I was the only one who noticed about mk11 and mk1!

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Same. I assumed only I care about this stuff.

@jfitnesshealth

5 ай бұрын

​@@CynicalWarlock 😅 also even killer instinct bone crushing hard hit sounds. Have a good week!

-problem with mk animation its the motion capture guy think with game logic, they should just move like artial art so the animator guy craft it into fighting game move who resamble real martial art. -i defence flip stance for 3d model show off

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Don't you have dedicated menus in these games where you can inspect and dress your characters? Sure as hell beats flipping your character from side to side. You might be onto something, with the mocap guy.

i just want a run button like classic mk, thats why i still play ultimate 3/trilogy, 4 and mk xl it was a unique mk thing and it was what made it fun to play, its a rushdown pressure heavy fighting game it needs to be fast and you need to be attentive to whats happening on the screen

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

This, a thousand times. Once again, I blame the 'blank slate' design - by the end of MKXL's lifecycle, they had figured out this mechanic - running cost a great deal of stamina up front just to start, you'd lose your entire stamina bar if you got hit during a run, and combo breakers depleted both players' stamina bars. It was perfect. So should we iterate on this mechanic, in the next game? Naah, let's just scrap it.

31:09 Not only is it boring, but you're ignoring how dumb it is. Capcom has been trying to make its own game a service for a long time, which isn't a problem if it's good, but when it's something WEAK, it's bad

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Didn't know about that.

Tekken 8 > MK1 Paying for fatalities was the nail on the coffin. We let shit slide for too long. MK9 was where it his the glass celiling.

Regarding lowering the stakes, just hire an anime writer to create tension from normal every day situations! Or you know, a neurotic woman. 😂 😂😂😂

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Ah, my nemesis: slice of life.

@moldovanandrada-timea9943

5 ай бұрын

Hei, death note is not slice of life, but taking a chip from the bag.....and eating it...... Now that was tension 😂😂😂😂

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@moldovanandrada-timea9943 Or writing names in a notebook, after you've overdosed on cocaine.

@InTheKitchenWristStirFry

5 ай бұрын

thats what im saying, no disrespect to raiden whatever but theoughout mk1-x he had triubles with shiet that wasnt just universal destruction. Liu kang can have shit challenge him

@lordtrigon1733

5 ай бұрын

Or you could try sitcom writers, Liu Kang scores a date with Kitana only to later realize he asked the wrong twin out! The player has to navigate him through the night in one piece, hijinks ensue.

Easy: Make Meat the main character

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Gives a whole new meaning to 'beating the meat'.

@g_ho_st

5 ай бұрын

🤣@@CynicalWarlock

@First-to-last

5 ай бұрын

😏​@@CynicalWarlock

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

Honestly I don't know why they didn't make meat Shang tsungs unfortunate experiments escaped or quan chi being interrupted during the resurrection process

4:43 Armageddon Bell Tower, MK 2 Pit, MKMSZ songs like Water and Earth God, they had sum bangers in midway.

@CynicalWarlock

2 ай бұрын

Hell yeah. Some of em were weird as fuck, but had character.

11:26 You are absolutely right, and UMVC3 is a perfect example of that principle, Virgil is SOOO broken, but i love playing against him and winning against him cuz it's fun

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Yep. I look back at all the games that I still occasionally play now, years or even decades after their release, and it always comes down to their core gameplay loops just being so goddamn enjoyable.

I have the perfect plan,i call it the 4 Bs Bring Back Big Boobies

@Alexcobra861

5 ай бұрын

I add the 4A And Ass Are Admirable

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@Alexcobra861 And Luscious Lubed up Long Legs

@alsuvarnadvipadanargentum1743

5 ай бұрын

Let me add something that builds up to your idea, this has to be a -KHARAKTER by character basis- because the Fanservice part Has to add to their own KHARAKTER and not just mere decor that has no purpose: Kharakters like Mileena and Skarlet……their default mode of clothes are meant to be skimpy because for Mileena she has Body Image issues due to her Tarkatan Mouth and is compensating through her “assets” as in her beautiful body in hopes of finding anyone seeing her whole body but ideally person beautiful whereas for Skarlet it’s because of how her powers work “absorbing the blood of her enemies through her skin” and as a unique Blood Homunculus its also said that the more blood she absorbs the more powerful she becomes which means that should she absorb the blood of a person with a much more powerful Healing Factior, Skarlet will also gain that very same healing factor through the aforementioned person; there’s another piece of information that I personally find interesting, there are some Bloods that are poisonous to her particularly Kytinn Blood implying that any living creature who bleeds Red Blood is most eligible for Skarlet to absorb/consume and that any creature that bleeds a different color of blood from Red could potentially kill her showing that she has her limitations in consuming Blood; should it be skimpier dress or modest dress? How about allowing Skarlet to make her own clothes out of her own blood like how Bayonetta makes her own clothes out her own hair, a good compromise between needing to wear skimpy clothes in a fight scene situation and needing to wear modest clothes when fighting beings whose Blood is poisonous to her like D’vorah or even a cyborgs blood/oil OR where she is located like a desert area it is hot there and at the same time dry and dusty no one wants to get itchy because of sand Kharakters like Sonya Blade and Ashrah while breast size are optional their default mode of clothing are meant to be modest because for Sonya Bladé, she’s in the Military and in the real world it uniforms are not and will never ment to show off skin showing Sonya’s professionalism With Ashrah you’re dealing with a Demon who is going through her own path to redemption arc so she has ment to dress the way she does is a visual statement of her changing moral compass for the better willingly Also because making all of the Females *either* cover up more skin or show up more skin without any more additional reasons why that can serve their kharakters just only makes it more Bland or Generic from a visual standpoint because it feels all samey

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@alsuvarnadvipadanargentum1743 Agree with every word. Also, since Ashrah's a reformed demon (symbolically a stripper/hooker who chose to change her ways and become a nun, *symbolically*, ok?) I like the idea of her wearing a very demure, pious outfit, that fully covers her, but having such a big rack and overall assets, that it looks just a tad funny on her.

@alsuvarnadvipadanargentum1743

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock There’s two types of covered up clothing in this world, “Cover up Loose clothing” and “Cover up Skin tight clothing” either of which can suit Ashrah when she feels the need to do so and her current default mode of clothing in order to build up what I’ve already said, is also ment to be in opposition to the “Brotherhood of Shadow “ ideology in the form of first impressions via clothing: BoS: Mostly Black clothing with some Red and White colors and are “Stripperific” to varying degrees per member Male or Female; despite the English name of the NetherRealm based organization, the “Brotherhood of Shadow” in question is already Gender-neutral so I personally do not see the point of changing it into “Sisterhood of Shadow” in Liu Kang’s Timeline (that’s more like Woke BS from the NRS “Writers” and both Kronika -awful character as she is- and Liu Kang are only mere Scapegoats for the piss poor writing decisions of NRS who are the real ones who should take the fall) Ashrah: is a deliberate inversion to all of that-Mostly White with strips of Gold and Yellow and is more modest in both personality and to match her current state of clothing as a statement of her opposition to Evil

Ngl, having already have the game MK1, I will appreciate it for certain things in the story mode and gameplay being basically better than MK11, but there is a reason why I go back to MKX some times and it’s because the game can feel slow. I just know for a fact that if for whatever stupid reason they decide to make an injustice 3, I won’t care nor will I buy it cause it will be worse than the other games and it will be just as bland with a really dumb story that continues that dumb storyline of “Evil Superman” that nearly every damn piece of media has done at this point ever since the existence of injustice 1, and I know there are some like invincible and I guess The Boys that existed before injustice but my point still stands.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! I feel less insane now. MKX is so much more fun and has way more depth to it; and fast-paced isn't a bad thing, if you tone down the damage and give people plenty of defensive options. I was totally cool with the Injustice series, until they started porting over some of that stuff into Mortal Kombat. They should keep these 2 series separate, cause they have nothing to do with one another. MK has a very.. well, *had* a very distinct style, while Injustice was always a secondary outlet for the devs to experiment more, which I think is really cool. Unfortunately, its purpose seems to have been to serve as a testing ground for shit gear systems and other over-monetization practices, that they could then roll over to MK. And yeah, poor Superman is currently the single most misunderstood superhero ever, which is quite ironic, considering he was the golden child of the superhero movement. Hope James Gunn can clear his name.

@joxyver

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock I hope James Gunn can clear his name too. I still don’t agree with dropping Henry Cavil as Superman but hopefully what they have done will be justified with Gunn’s Superman. And another thing about MKX that did better than MK12 (I’m just gonna call it that to avoid confusion) is the movesets for certain characters. I love Subzero, but after MKX he never felt the same, they either made him into some weird Zoner or whatever they did with him now, granted that it’s Kuai Liang my point still stands. It’s weird and I don’t like it, and as for the individual mechanics, I never liked MK11’s offensive and defensive bar idea. At first I thought it was cool but it just didn’t work for me, and the idea of making the game more competitively viable instead actually fun for everyone else is annoying and makes it that the game doesn’t last that long when another competitive game comes out that is better in every way. And then the big one, fatal blows. When we thought X-Rays were a bit much and then they decided to make Fatal Blows which basically changes how everyone plays the game, it becomes a challenge itself not to cave in and use the fatal blows every time you have the opportunity, they are cool but to use it every time takes away the cool aspect of it. And one final thing, who ever had the idea to make a function for flipping the player model or “stance switching” I want to take away their creative liberties and put them in a corner until they rethink what they have done and think of something better to do instead, such a nothing mechanic in a fighting game that also shows the incompetence for their animation efforts because they are too focused on adding things and modes that no one asked for. We could’ve had like a mini shao-Lin monks inspired mode in the game with Raiden and Kung Lao or Kenshi and Jax like teased in his ending, but no. Instead we got invasions. What a let down. Sorry for the long rant, really like mortal Kombat ever since I have been getting back into the lore of it, ever since from the first game to current release.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@joxyver Agree with your entire rant. The Sub-Zero problem is a classic case of overcorrection on NRS' part; they saw how oppressively powerful the ice clone was in MKX, so they said "never again" and have been neutering Sub ever since. This same extreme way of dealing with issues crops up in every aspect of the newer games and makes them worse for it. We also see eye-to-eye on the Fatal Blow/X-ray thing. That kind of attack should be much rarer, such that it's noteworthy when you pull one off. The player feels satisfied, the crowd cheers when it happens during a tournament.. I think we lost that element of anticipation and surprise; everything's expected and people are just going through the motions. The stance switching rant made me chuckle. And regarding Henry Cavill, I too would've kept him as Superman, at least for some kind of self-contained, elseworlds movie, just cause he's such a good fit for the character, but I can only surmise that he's been blacklisted or "soft-banned" from certain Hollywood circles, since he's kind of being ousted or leaving from most of these projects. Probably too complicated for Gunn to hold on to him.

Just go back to the good old days of tyrannical ruler poses threat or outworld champion wins 9 times something simple like that became memorable. I think the reason they seem to keep upping the stakes is because of two things 1. Culture trends like Marvel pushing the multiverse they see it as a trendy thing to do that will gain attention 2. The last time they tried to avoid great multiversal timey wimey plots they made MKX’s story which most people thought sucked

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

People keep asking me how I'd fix characters like Kronika, but there's nothing to fix; MK11's entire plotline only exists because of what you wrote - they wanted to ride the multiverse wave, despite arriving too late to the party. There's nothing to salvage.

One of the things that I’ve heard is that NRS tried making a team game without the brokenness. Take something like Skullgirls or MvC. They’re fun because they’re broken and because they’re so free with how you can play the game. With Mk1, it’s exactly how you put it where each thing is made an intended way.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Yes, they overreacted to MKX, first with MK11, and MK1 isn't much different. It's funny cause, in every other respect, MK games seem to cater to the casual fanbase first and foremost, yet when it comes to balance, they're so incredibly sensitive to it, despite the fact that not much is being invested in the tournament scene.

So this is in addition to a post I made earlier. I do agree the lack of consistency is hurting the series. going from MK9 - 1 you have Scorpion and he plays differently in each game. Skarlet went form being a rushdown monster to a full blown zoner in 11. Not one game is the same its almost always mechanically rebuilt form the ground up. IT makes the game hard to jump into BC you lose the familiarity that is needed to play the game when you first play it. A reason why SF tends to be so good is BC, in SF4,5, and 6 Cammy is a rushdown with most the same moves and inputs for the moves, Ken and Ryu are always shotos with the same style sto play with, and Zangief is always a grappler. IT helps a player jump in and play BC they already know at least a base level game plan on using a character in the game, which will eventually push them to learn new things and explore the rest of the roster. I think the Kameo system is better than the Variation system, BC it still lets you use your character the way you want to use them, but gives you versatility to deal with ur tough MU’s since the kameos add more utility than anything. I main Rain and I found understanding how to implement the different kameos I can make a MU form hell to fight to easy BC I understood how to use my character’s style with those extra utilities. The Variation system often felt like trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Trying to make ur character do something they are just not built to do at all, or there was just always a variation/set of abilities that were too good not to use, or there seemed to be abilities that if you didn’t take you played with an incomplete character. Though not perfect the kameo system I think is better, but it def. needs some tweaks. I looks at invasions as it was more designed to be a distraction, just something to do when ur not wanting to play matches online and done with the story. I don’t think its great, but I don’t think its completely bad. The think I think is how it feels like its purpose could better serve the player esp. a new player. SF6’s World Tour is a great mode BC it not only does some of what Invasions does with the matches that have wild modifiers, but it spends a large chunk of its time teaching you the game’s mechanics and other FG fundamentals that become essential to becoming better at the game. There are mini-games focused on using the parry system, lil courses teaching you the Drive system and how to use anti-airs and combos. Invasions doesn’t do any of that, it’s all about wild modifiers and crap flying around the screen. Now MK1 has one the most informative tutorials made and really helps to learn its game, but for one it forces you to use characters u may not care to even use and it’s a long boring slog. Now if this concept was used in Invasions, where you choose ur character you learn the mechanics and how ur character choice will benefit from those mechanics. Also, FYI the Arcade endings in MK1 are all cannon to the main story this time around… Anyway just my thoughts great video.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Exactly my thoughts. NRS change more than they need to, from game to game, by completely redesigning characters from scratch. Even banal things like changing the special move inputs is something that always leaves me scratching my head and wondering "why?". As for Kameos vs Variations, I've mentioned before that I actually like the Kameo system, despite all the hate it gets. It gives you more flexibility to take on a larger variety of matchups, like you wrote. The reason why I prefer Variations is because of the depth that it provides. When you do it wrong, it's terrible. You get an MKX Sub-Zero, where Grandmaster was the only usable one, and the other 2 were poorly conceived from the get go, then adapted to be even worse. But when you do it right, you get a Tremor, with 3 completely competitive variations that all offered unique benefits and opportunities for player expression. And part of why Variations were tough to get right is because, again, the roster's too damn big. Combining Invasions with the tutorial mode is a brilliant idea. They should keep that in mind, in general, going forward. And I'm glad the endings are all canon, this time around, only I do have one question: How do you know?

@innocenceUnknown

5 ай бұрын

BC after the MK1 story mode and then you run all the Arcade Ladder ending they all correlate with where that character left off and tell us where they went from there. Even during the lil pre-fight banter acknowledges things that happened in those ladder ending. Ex. Rain in the story mode betrays Outworld and sides with the wrong side and in his ladder ending it leaves off to after the rebellion with Shao failed and he ends up working with Havik since he was wanted in Outworld. Havik convinces him to flood and drown all of Seido killing millions. He feels a sense of regret and remorse and returns to MIleena begging for redemption and a chance to right his wrongs . The ending for Smoke and Scorpy tell where teh Shiya Ryu are headed and how Hanzo ends up within the story as well. The ladder ending actually are really interesting this time around and I hope moving forward they focus on the story telling of this new era. @@CynicalWarlock

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@innocenceUnknown I understand what you're saying, but they've done this before. Pre-fight banter and arcade endings are not reliable sources of information, cause they've been switched around, in the past. What I'm saying is you'll only know for sure if it's canon or not when the next game comes out.

I loved this video I'm waiting on your reptile idea video

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

You don't know what you're asking.. 1-hour vid, maybe more.

@Krasiox

5 ай бұрын

cant wait@@CynicalWarlock

MK 9 was the peak for me, and MK X was still good but had some of the rot showing. 11 was the beginning and 1 is the end. Somewhere along the lines this goofy blood-soaked game started taking itself too seriously, and that's why I didn't buy it. Glad I waited for Tekken 8. Over the top, larger than life characters with incredible customization and as a bonus... the developers aren't afraid to make conventionally attractive women like NRS appears to be.

@zzodysseuszz

5 ай бұрын

Mk9 had the best balancing. When everyone is broken, nobody is broken.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@zzodysseuszz lol.

On the topic of animation, I'll never forget how comical they made Darkseid look in Injustice 2 by having his arms folded behind his back literally all the time, even when he's doing dynamic shit like kicking or jumping. It's so bad lol.

@CynicalWarlock

2 ай бұрын

It's fan service gone wrong. They didn't consider that that kinda shit is *forever*. A pose like that gets old quick. They have trouble with standing poses/stances, in general. More and more MK characters have no stance at all, just keeping their arms hanging down (e.g. MKX Tanya), like they're waiting in line to buy bread, in some communist country.

For Gameplay I was thinking about a variation system but, unlike the MKX one, it does change the mechanics you'll use to play. For exemple, using a style switching mechanic from the 3D games that have emphasis on combo potential or using the meter mechanic to enhance special moves (and I still don't have idea for a third style of gameplay to add on), and having custom options for either specials and style branchings. As the art direction for MK, I think it should approach the aesthetics of 3D era games, specifically the ones released on Ps2 era (including Shaolin Monks). For me, it's where the Mortal Kombat essence lies.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Deception was the art style high point for me. Bulky, muscular characters, stylish but simple outfits, lots of shadows and dark colors - it's exactly the larger-than-life style that I mentioned MK needs, instead of the photorealism. And MK games were still funny, back then, like all the stage fatalities were hilarious. I just discussed the fighting style thing with someone else - that would be an elegant solution, cause you can switch them on the fly, instead of having to blind counter your opponent, in the character select screen.

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

I had a similar idea, only you could make it 2 styles, have a combo for both that transitions and also a designated button to switch while idol. One style would be zoner, but they can switch to a more rush down. A defensive character, can switch to a more offensive character. Some characters get a weapon that extends and enhances combos/moves, or giving them more reach or a projectile. Honestly it's an awesome solution because it's an in game decision, so you're not stuck with an incomplete character, and you aren't stuck to just one play style. Of course it works for adaptation as well, if you need to change up you tactics because the opponent is catching on, switch your style up, see if they can handle that.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@jackkawf4449 Man, that would be the craziest gameplay you'd ever see. Imagine Sub-Zero zoning out hard, slowing the pace of the match to a crawl, then suddenly switch to his rushdown variation when the opponent least expects it, and runs over him like a freight train. Would be an adrenaline-inducing viewing experience, but it would definitely need extensive testing, to make sure it's not too swingy. But the tamer version is definitely a good idea - e.g. switch from pure rushdown to a midrange anti-zoner.

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock yeah some things would have to balanced and I won't pretend to know how, but maybe a few solutions would be a stamina meter or perhaps a cool down (so you can't just spam flipping, you have to actually play in it for a moment).

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock plus, and forgive me for not being able to describe it well, but didn't MKX drop combos or something once you've gotten to a certain point or juggled to a limit? Like the a move that would typically be a bounce, would land them on the ground by the third use in combo/in a row?

I know this might be something most people would want but for a while now I've come to the idea that a more live service approach to fighting games could work to it benefits, obviously don't release an unfinished game but have where more than just DLC characters would be added to the game.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

That's.. sort of what I'm suggesting, I suppose. Solid core + a ton of DLC added later. 'Live service' in the sense that it's practiced today is a very repugnant model though, and a slippery slope, so we must be careful.

It really is wild to me how NRS made such fluid and quick games that struck a good balance between accessibility w/o lowering the skill ceiling and just said nah and never looked back. Like I remember booting up MK11 and playing with a friend who doesn’t play fg’s asking if we could play X instead. What's worse for MK1 is that we're at a point where all the things NRS was known for doing and what separated it from the competition are now being outclassed by T8 and SF6. SF6 and T8 both have better netcode than MK1, which would've been an insane thing to say 8 years ago. SF6 and T8 also have a ton of replayable single player content, and T8 has by far the best cinematic story mode that imo has finally surpassed MK9's story. Even MK's realism, has been outdone by Tekken and SF who have both made their characters realistic while keeping their animated style in tact, which is something MK11 succeeded in doing as well! Also you are not alone in the sound design, it drives me insane hearing those I2 sound effects which were never that good to begin with and I’m glad someone has pointed that out. Atp im just hoping they patch the game to be much faster and hope they fix their mistakes for Injustice 3 cuz MK1 isn't rly recovering from this.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Thanks, I feel less insane now, about the sound effects. Agree with everything in this comment.

I thought you were going to focus on character rewrites, like how you did for Kung Lao. For instance, I know and love how tight-knit you made the Mortal Kombat elemental system and especially for Scorpion and Sub-Zero's rivalry, but could there be any way for Bi-Han and Hanzo Hasashi to avoid their respective tragedies, deaths, and Netherrealm fates? For that matter, in terms of Scorpion's rivalry with Sub-Zero, is Scorpion all there is to the fire elemental, or are there characters who represent other facets of fire like how Kuai Liang and Frost expand upon Bi-Han's ice powers (I know that some game before Mortal Kombat X stated that Hanzo Hasashi was meant to be Raiden's Earthrealm champion before Liu Kang received that honor, but I'm not sure that counts. Why does Liu Kang specifically use fire when he can "soul-manipulate" his own soul and thus gain fabulous secret powers? What about the new continuity where Kuai Liang has fire powers due to being the new Scorpion despite not having been to the Netherrealm? Where does Bi-Han's relationship with Sareena fit in to all of this? And who would be Noob Saibot if not Bi-Han?)?

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Ok, lots of questions there. First off, the whole reason I made this (more general) video was to buy more time for the character rewrites and such, cause those take a bit more time to make. I'll definitely make more power system videos, like ones where I rank every Fire user, every Air user etc, and go into the little differences between them. Scorpion was actually supposed to be the elder gods' champion, in Deception, but they scrapped that idea, unfortunately. Would've been one of the coolest things to see. Every Shaolin monk uses Soul, in much the same way that a Jedi uses the Force, which is to say in a fairly defensive, limited manner (mostly). So that's not necessarily their specialization element, like Fire is for Liu and Air is for Lao. As for the Sareena-Bi-Han relationship, I think that the whole point of it was to undermine the player/viewer's preconceptions and make them question the story, cause everyone keeps telling Bi-Han that his soul is corrupted and hinting that he's beyond redemption, when there's clearly enough evidence to the contrary, including him befriending Sareena - an actual demon who's tired of doing evil - so that's relationship serves to drive this theme home. The more I think about it, MK: Mythologies is pretty damn solid, on the story and symbolism front.

I literally just watched the SugarPunch videos on mortal kombat's animation issues last night before seeing this video lol.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Was waiting for you to watch em, so I could post this already.

@GamerTimeNinja

5 ай бұрын

@CynicalWarlock this vid is the sequel I've been waiting for for 4 years since SugarPunch made his mk11 video.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@GamerTimeNinja Oooh, that's very generous, thanks. I don't have his expertise. But yeah, I too kept searching through his videos to see if he addressed MK12 at all, but he's probably fed up with the series, at this point.

I agree with your chapter idea. The trick will be doing it in the right places like…say if you are playing as Kitana…let her have most of the chapter but as soon as say Shinnok turns you switch to Liu kang because he would be the only one strong to take him down

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Precisely. This way, you tailor the player characters to the story. Right now, they're doing the opposite, which is nonsensical.

@billmcdermott9647

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock I think as well because they have a limited amount of chapters will always miss out…unless it was 23 chapters long

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@billmcdermott9647 Yeah, that's another thing - you almost always get to play as just the good guys. Would be fun to make you play as a villain, during a pivotal moment, where you think you're gonna help stop the villain, and boom - you're *actually* the bad guy, and wreck shit up, for 1-2 fights. Also, there are a lot of grey characters.

I love to see characters analysis from ferra/torr and have a nice day

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Thanks.

First time watcher - great stuff!

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.

@wren8253

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock it’s great! do you have any social media to follow?

how tf did i miss this vid? i like to pride myself on watching your vids on time. Ah, better late than never.

@CynicalWarlock

2 ай бұрын

We'll let this one slide, and never speak of it again. ;)

I really enjoyed this video. I have said before that I am haven't really played any of the Mortal Kombat games but I still love listening to what you have to say. And you said a lot of interesting stuff. Art styles can make or break games. Especially when the art style in question doesn't fit the feel of the game. Mortal Kombat has always been more exaggerated. The characters aren't really real people nor are the fights "realistic". So, it's odd that they make each game more real. And as you said it makes it hard to make the gameplay look cool and feel fun without it coming across as weird. They could go into the direction of hyper-real but where realistic characters to unrealistic things but it seems they are uninterested in that. I also think them making it more realistic causes the designs to look more same-y. And not in a good way. Stories with multiple characters can work but man is it hard to do. I like your suggestion of having a core story roster and then side stories. A lot of developers have this tendency to not make "true" sequels. True meaning that the sequel is basically the same under the hood but is expanded. What this can do is allow the developers to actually master their tools. I remember that since BG2 is basically just BG1 that they could do so much more because they knew what worked and what didn't. It feels like Nether Realms just doesn't do that. You idea of having one base game that is expanded and master over tge course of two games and DLCs sounds really good.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Absolutely, the more 'real' something looks, the more it loses its distinctive style. And yeah, I supposed I referenced that really old video of mine on iteration, and how franchises like Mass Effect and The Witcher used it to great effect. That's exactly what's lacking, in Mortal Kombat-land.

@Knight1029

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock yeah, there is a lot to be gained by an art style that is distinctive. It can give the characters more personality and more leeway on how wacky the characters can look without being ridiculous. I hope to see more games adapt a true sequel style. We are at a point in games where graphics aren't developing rapidly. So, we should expect more consistent sequels from game to game.

Aye i forgot how much hell Nimble Reptile use to bring. I was a demo Sonya main but Rep was so cool to watch.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Scar was an artist with Demolition Sonya. Remember watching some of his tournament runs, back in the day. Very solid, technical variation.

@KrisHornett_

5 ай бұрын

Absolutely. MKX was huge in our scene. No one plays MK1. @@CynicalWarlock

From a serious fighting game player pov: Make combo mechanics more manual and harder. By this i mean, let there be a bit of learning curve. If im paying well over $60 i want my game to have longevity, to have incentive to learn. Combos like xxx, xyx, xab that i can master in one night's session just do not cut out against say, learning, Sakura's tatsu loop combos in SF4 or Menat's orb combos in SF5 or Chun Li's stance cancel stuffs from SF6

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

That's obviously a tough sell for the less hardcore fighting game enthusiasts, but again I find myself referring to MKX, because even though combos operated in much the same simplified way there, the timings were a lot stricter on some of the characters, for some of the more advanced combos, so there was a surprisingly high skill ceiling. Add to that run mechanics, flash parries and fireball cancels, and you've got enough skill requirement and opportunities for player expression for almost everyone.

THE PERFECT GAME... 1- MKX GAMEPLAY 2- MK ARMEGEDDON STAGE FINISHERS 3- MK1 BACKGROUND ART 4- MKX AND MK11 BACKGROUND INTERACTIONS 5- MK11 FATALITIES/ MKX 6- MK11 CHARACTER DESIGNS 7- MKX/ MK11 COMBO SYSTEM 8 MK11/MKSHAOLIN MONKS KRYPT STYLE KONQUEST MODE 9 MK1 ENVIRONMENT FOR KONQUEST MODE 10 NO FUKING INVASION MODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11 MKTRILOGY 2vs2/3vs3 12 MK ARMEGEDDON "KREATE A FIGHTER" 13 MKX DARK PORTRAYAL OF A KOMBAT GAME 14 MK TRILOGY SHAO KAHN 15 MK 11 FUJIN DESIGN WITH MK MYTHOLOGIES POWER-lol 16 MK TRILOGY BRUTALITIES 17 MK11 MATCH FINISHERS 18 MK ARMEGEDDON CHARACTER LIST 19 MK TRILOGY WOMEN CHARACTER DESIGNS 20 MK TRILOGY SHEEVA DESIGN 21 MAKE ONAGA REIGN TERROR FOR TWO GAMES!!!!!!!!!!FFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 22 AVOID FINAL BOSS ENDINGS LIKE ...MKX/MK1 23 ERMAC MK ARMEGEDDON DESIGN

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

I like how Invasions is *so* hated that it got its own warning spot on this list.

On Fatal Blows, they like X-Rays were meant to be the Get Out of Jail Freen Card for the game. The FBs in 11 were there and almost often unavoidable and nearly every time it was used you knew it was coming. Problem was it was just unsafe on block and once hit you were done. In 1 they have more strategic value IMO, you get only one use of it, unless its blocked or whiffs, whoever this time its better used when you know its gonna kill, other wise you wasted it and now if it hits, its breakable with a Kombo Breaker, making it even more of a risk to use. I feel like MK1 takes a collaboration of what worked in the 3 games and made a single game with those.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

That was definitely MK1's goal, and in some respects, it succeeded. I may very well be biased, cause I see too much of MK11's DNA in it, but I sincerely think that there are better alternatives out there than Fatal Blows. Every fighting game has its flashy 'cutscene' super-move, so it's never gonna go away, but even visually, these moves have gotten longer and more elaborate, to the point where I feel like something shorter and punchier would be more impactful. How many times can you sit through Kenshi's Fatal Blow animation, before you mentally tune out?

@innocenceUnknown

5 ай бұрын

Oh I agree there as well they make these things too long now, I feel the same about fatalities too. After so many sets, I don't care to even do them, 99% of the time I don't even do them. This BC they are long and after you see them a couple times you seen enough of them. I like the Brutalities BC they are fast straight to the point and done. @@CynicalWarlock

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@innocenceUnknown Exactly, Brutalities were such a good idea (again, MKX, not that I'm keeping score). They make for better Fatalities than Fatalities.

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

I agree with the first portion for sure, I won't say it's a bad thing necessarily, because come back mechanics can be a good thing. X rays at least came with a choice though, either use your bar completely for a big move, or sparingly and enhance everything else, I didn't mind that too much because you didn't completely rely on it and it wasn't always the best option. I wish they stuck with X-rays and made them shorter or krushing blows could work if they didn't have the stupid requirements and it was tied to a meter, similar to X-rays. So for an example if you see someone has built their meter to the max, you know they have a crushing blow they can use (with a specific move), so you'll be looking out for it as an opponent, the only thing I might do some tweaking to is, maybe they don't do AS MUCH damage, and possibly work slightly different for each character, like some work as a knock down, some work as a bounce, and for some characters maybe it just does a good chunk of damage or opens the opponent up for a nice combo.

great video on mortal kombat 1 i hope you can also talk about injustice or what NRS should do to make injustice 3 different than previous installment or don't just reusing asset from mortal kombat 1

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

I never had much problem with the Injustice series, until they started porting features over to MK. I think the 2 should remain separate. I see Injustice as an extra creative outlet, where the devs can afford to be more experimental. But apprently they see it as more of a testing ground for various monetizable features that they can then shove into Mortal Kombat.

I remember the character chapter layout had its flaws since it was introduced in the MK9 game. That had to change since MKX for me. The story is better for the most part, I liked it up to the part where the climax goes a bit far. It was fun, but not a story that will leave a lasting impact like the Midway stories. Let's just hope they don't reboot the universe a third time lmao! Story wise, this game is an improvement. Gameplay wise, it looks really beautiful but the combos are repetitive and the skill ceiling is really limited. I want to play this game, but it's not on Gamepass :/ MK11 still is, but not this one. Putting this on Gamepass would help attract more attention, that 70$ price for me, a casual fan, is a bit much to commit to. I got bills to pay, I can afford M1K but it's not worth my investment since I play casually and fighting games become competitive very quickly.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

I'd stamp that last paragraph on WB's offices, if I could. This is the problem: because of these games' short shelf life, a lot of casual (but still) fans never get a chance to buy it; by the time it's on sale, the hype dies, support dwindles, and most players move on. And yes, making games is expensive, and that justifies the $70 price tag, but it's another case of misallocation of resources, in my opinion. They invest waaaay too much in making the games as graphically impressive as possible, and doing all this (poor) motion capture stuff, and elaborate story modes that everyone just watches on Gamer's Little Playground, and then the actual value your average player is left with is not enough to justify the price. Oh, and you're totally right about the skill ceiling.

I would take everything that worked in MK (throughout) improve on it and then add previous game modes. I'd scrap the current cinematic story telling for a more personal exploration through a Konquest Mode (similar to Armageddon), that has you go through the world and travel to and within different all the realms with (short) cinematic cutscenes once in a while to help progress the story with a bit of a visual narrative. The story would also be focused on the TOURNAMENT!! After story is complete, you're free to roam the different realms and battle NPCs, find secrets that appear after story completion (and some will be there during story mode too), and find mini games throughout (also in Johnny's mansion, in earth realm, you can access his arcade room and play the OG trilogy). There will also be a mode that is akin to Shaolin Monks as well, which will be just a short off shoot story with maybe a few maps and can be replayed. Each mode wins you some kind of award, the awards will be skins, customisation options, and new characters. Character customization will be limited, but it'll be items that are iconic/relevant for each character (such as masks, weapons, gauntlets, etc...) Colors of items and skins can be changed (with a wheel of fitting color pallets for that character), they will not be premade, but dictated to regions on each items (so for example you can make the chest of scorpions shirt yellow, but his sleeves gold or whatever). Create a character, only to avoid bad balance, they will have the same basic combo list across (kinda like TMNT in injustice), but just like variations worked, you can add moves to them to make them more like your own. Run mechanic would return Each player gets two breakers per round I'd add (able to be toggled off), for some stages fatalities that can be initiated at any point in the match, the player that initiated it has a chance to early fatality and win the match...when it is triggered, it turns into a test your might between you and the opponent... If the person that started it wins, he gets the fatality and win, if he loses then the opponent can flip it, on the second flip if you manage to escape that, it ends it and shuts down the opportunity to do it again the rest of the match, putting both players at starting distance. Also the traditional will still exist too at the end of the match, like uppercut into the Deadpool. Stage transitions (only not nearly as long or cinematic as Injustice 2), just a short bust through the ceiling/floor/walls, of certain stages, changing up the surroundings and minor damage to the player being knocked through. Stage interactions, only there will be some that do different things, like and example would be opening the fridge door in Johnny's stage and one time blocking a projectile before the door explodes off after hit, maybe throwing the floor vac at someone when it comes near you. Some do like the vines in the jungle level of mkx, where you swing and the other holds you up. (Can also be turned off for more traditional play) Air combat and Air block, I like it, just wish they gave characters more combos to do and also I would take out the floaty-ness of the jumps (because all they are doing is compensating to give you time) in MK1. Instead of variations, I would add back the changing of styles during the match, only I would make it only two styles and there would be a couple of transitional combos as well as being able to press the button while idle. The two styles would function to help characters have a full toolset/set of play style... So for example, a zoner can switch up to have more of a rush down style, a defensive character switching to have more offensive options, some characters might just get a weapon that enhances and adds to their move list, and so on... Get rid of stance swap, and make it into a dodge system. Block would still exist, however you can now press the dodge button with up or down to dodge a high or low attack and avoid blocking/chip, in order for a quicker reaction/punishment time. To avoid spamming it, it'll be tied to a stamina meter as well as it must be pressed at the right time, you can't just hold the button and press up and down. Also if you misjudge the high or low attack and/or do it too early/late, you'll be open to punishment as well. Towers will be back and tower endings would work as a "what if" scenario for each character. There will be a big boss that isn't playable. MK1 (og)-MK 3 roster would be included in roster (taking a few from 3 maybe), and a handful of 3D error, a couple from MKX and a couple from MK11..1 or 2 new character that will either be starting roster, or at least eventually the full roster. Online rooms, king of the hill, all that good stuff (and stuff should have been in this current game). After that I would just add a store with in game currency that is earnable (and also buyable) either by certain game modes (offline of course) and/or just playing the game/achievements, for cosmetics. Just to keep something there to play and earn.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

I like the test your might/stage fatality idea. And thanks for reminding me about the stage transitions; forgot to talk about those. That was such a fun feature in MK3. Why those things exist in Injustice, but not MK is beyond me. Switching fighting styles is a more elegant solution than variations, yes, because you don't need to blind counter what your opponent's gonna pick, you can just switch to a zoning style, on the fly, so that's a viable alternative. Dodge system is something I also thought of a lot. MK4 had the right idea - it was just a single-tap function that made them sidestep a bit, to avoid projectiles, and that's really how the 3rd dimension was used in the 3D era, as well. Reimplement it, give it a significant cooldown period, and add running back, to allow for counterattacks. This'll make zoning still viable, but not as abusable, and more interesting to watch. The Konquest thing comes down to execution, I guess. The full-on action-adventure genre that you basically describe has had some good examples and many bad ones, in recent games, so it's all about doing it the right way. But it would definitely hold the casual player's interest way better than the current modes they have goin on. And with regards to the roster, there are really only a couple characters that are popular/worth salvaging from each era, so this philosophy might work there, as well (Shujinko and maybe Havik from Deception, Erron and maybe Cassie and Tremor from MKX, and.. that's really it). Lots of good ideas, overall, well done.

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock well you're a reptile fan... So I don't think I'm too worried with your picks for a roster (I love reptile too, it was a mistake to leave him out of MK11)

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@jackkawf4449 Can't believe I bought that game, despite the lack of Reptile. Jax became my main, in that game; his playstyle and crushing blow payoffs were pretty satisfying. But yeah, that's the thing, some people are Ermac fans and don't give a shit about Reptile; other people hate all ninjas and want more boring-looking people in the game. Can't please everyone. That said, I do think that if Scorps and Subs are always mandatory, then so should Reptile be, for obvious palette reasons, as well as the history and legacy of this franchise.

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock honestly I think over time they've had great ideas, but just either wrong game, wrong time, the technology wasn't quite there, or whatever hardware restrictions I'm sure that came with the older systems (which oddly they managed to squeeze more into). I think they take criticism too deep and drastically change everything in hopes to hit the mark, not realizing they've had great ideas over time that could have been utilized now, with the current systems.

@jackkawf4449

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock yeah people are fickle with the roster, however kinda like you said with the subzero/scorpion thing, I personally believe they can please most if they had, at least, the first two, and then sprinkle in some of 3,4,and then mess around from there. That being said it doesn't help that they take away characters or disregard them in story constantly, it makes it so that no character sticks with people (well newer fans) because half don't understand their lore (like reptiles awesome story) or they weren't in the MK game people started playing.

YOUR THE ONLY GUY WHO TALK ABOUT THE MUSIC....yes it's dying because of the music who wants to play a game with boring music 🤷🏿‍♂️

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

It matters way more than people think.

@faulk281

5 ай бұрын

Naw fr tho because I grew up on MK trilogy....and it major playback because the music was just that good....IDC if the game is bad I just want good music 😭😎

Seems our friend is a reptile fan

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

I admit nothing.

I don’t think this game has any hopes

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

About 10% chance.

how to fix mk1: copy mk9s gameplay improve it and restart the timeline before 9 came out and then adapt the mk1-6 timeline but dont do armageddon and kill off your series. Theres whole ass material for an anime ass show for MK, the edenia conflict the shao saga in mk2-3 that leads to the edenians freedom. Shinnok and Quan chis attack, these reboots after have completely erased that earlier legacy and it sucks

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Dude, I completely agree. To a T. If I had my way, Armageddon would never have been made. I'll even be more charitable: you can still make MK9, but market it as a spinoff, an elseworlds story. Cause that's what it fuckin is. It's like Justice League: Apokolips War, where the world got fucked up, and almost everyone dies. It's not the kind of thing you turn into your mainline series. And there are soo many threads that Deception/Armageddon left dangling. What happened to Noob, or Nitara, or Quan, or Shao, or Kitana & Mileena, or Outworld, what about the newer characters? They got tired of juggling the ever-expanding roster, so they killed everyone off, so they could start over and still have to juggle that same roster.

@InTheKitchenWristStirFry

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlockdeadass, A show would be fire if it handles the og timeline fine. Ive always wanted to see Johnny, Sonya, Kitana and Liu together. Liu and Lao teamups, maybe the chi power system explained, training arcs and good characterization.

@InTheKitchenWristStirFry

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock im tryna see us dumb ass powerscalers scaling mk too. Liu kang bug level scailling 😮‍💨 (fuck dvorah)

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@InTheKitchenWristStirFry Couldn't ass-k for more.

The Krypt had it's redeeming qualities; creepy atmosphere, free-roaming, and a sense of suspicion and uncertainty when you explore your way around the game's universe. If it were up to me to revitalize it,it'd be: 1. Give the player more of things to do, give it more beat-em up mechanics like in Xiaolin Monks. Unlockable minigames like a chess minigame or hell, a racing minigame like in MK 9 2. Teleportation/fast-travel so it's less tedious 3. Character creation 4. have an actual side story to it, it doesn't even have to be canon, but it sure as hell needs to be interesting. Give us a reason to care about what is going on.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

4th one's the most ambitious, I think. Sort of goes with my ARPG idea - you could have this creepy vibe, and an ominous, minimalistic Dark Souls-type story, that's printed in the background.

The one thing I'll disagree on is the sound design. I think the Netherrealm games have awesome punching and impact sounds. Other than that, this video is full of amazing ideas and great points. I miss tag team so freaking much...

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Sound design is such a subjective thing, of course, and like I said, I do log it as a nitpick. I'd still make the novelty argument, though. It's been roughly the same sounds for 4 games, now.

16:49 I strongly agree.

Mkx Best gameplay out of the nrs titles. It's just that d*** story, man.

Easy fix invasions -third person over the shoulder camera -create a fifgter

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Aka bring back the Krypt..

yep started playing mkx again in anticipation of mk1. decided to play cyber sub and it was so much fun. the characters are so much more fleshed out compared to mk11 and 1. then mk1 came out and i wanted to go back to mkx😂

@CynicalWarlock

4 ай бұрын

Went through the exact same process. It's doubly-bitter for a Reptile main like me, cause M1K finally gave me a cool version of him, yet I don't have the heart to play the game.

I think overall I wish NRS would just commit to a legacy system and they can improve upon each game so they don’t spend so much precious development time creating a brand new system each game. I just think about how much more content and quality they could deliver with this.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

My sentiments exactly.

My take on the animations in NRS games are not that big of a deal It only matter if the combos can go well with it. But I think Mortal Kombat shows proven giving us a good balance of online and offline modes, also bringing back modes fans like from the pass.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

From a functional standpoint, you're probably right, animations don't matter, although there have been many cases in the past where attacks that look like they shouldn't connect actually do, because of invisible hitboxes and animations that simply don't translate correctly. And that's to say nothing of the overall mobility/fluidity in MK11 and 12, which I feel is lacking.

I wish more DLC space was dedicated to actual Mortal Kombat characters Guest characters are cool because often times they’re unexpected, but MK has played the guest character card so much it stopped being special or exciting Meanwhile characters that haven’t been used for years are being left behind or if they’re lucky, become a Kameo.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Precisely why I I mentioned the roster idea. If most of the DLC fighters were actual MK characters, you could pull off a smaller initial roster, cause you end up with a very large one, later on.

Great video and im glad you mentioned the sugar punch's video about the animations problems with the modern mk. About the sound effects from mk's 3d era when you punch or slice the enemy with a sword it is sounds realistic and satisfied. Even the sound effects when you perform the Test Your Might from Deadly Alliance and Shaolin Monks. MKX and MK1 feels off. For otherwise I dont know why NRS keeps making mk into a dc comics, restart the story again with the good guys vs the bad guys and keeps removing the tension and ruining iconic stages like the living forest from mk1, even some of fearsome characters like Goro, Shao Kahn, Baraka, Shinnok or Reptile are now a jobbers who likes to being humillated for nothing.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

"I dont know why NRS keeps making mk into a dc comics" - probably because both are owned by Warner Bros. Finally someone agrees with me on the punching thing. Always wondered if it's just me. Surely you mean MK11 and MK1, though. MKX had different sounds.

@andymarayes

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock it sucks that mk lost the consistency story. I began to doubt the sound effects since the sektor's missils from mkx.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@andymarayes Interesting.

They need tag teams WITH the Kameos. That would be amazing!

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Damn, I had that thought, as I was editing the video, and quickly shoved it back in my brain. That would be insane. Would look like a full-on gang fight, which is kinda cool, I guess.

@Nick-up5wv

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock It would hopefully be similar to the tag in concept; like the Marvel vs. Capcom series, but still have its own MK flare added to the mix. MK 9 showed how awesome the tag feature would be in the first place, but I always liked the Noob/Smoke concept from MKD. Kombinations would be endless, but imagine Lui Kang and Kung Lao tagging with Johnny as a Kameo providing a finish to a combo or a finisher? It'd reference MK Shaolin Monks and would look awesome! Might even be my main; unless I use Scorpion and Sub-Zero with Smoke as a Kameo.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@Nick-up5wv Absolute insanity. At the very least, they could experiment with that in some tower mode.

@Nick-up5wv

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock Do you think they could add it to MK1 or do you think they'd have to start in the next installment? 🤔 Either way they need more content for MK1 to keep it going. I personally have NO interest in their guest characters; save the MK characters. NRS is getting out of hand with their special guests. They can be fun editions, but they shouldn't rely on them. Granted Peacemaker will serve as NY fatality practice because John Cena is dumb, but we need more MK KHARACTERS added to the roster. How is this "MK 1" and you don't even have Sonya on the roster; except as a Kameo? Than they're adding Takeda? That's cool and all, but Sonya is OG. It's like NOT having Chun Li in a Street Fighter remake. Why would you make such a decision as a studio developer? I know fans were vocal; TOO vocal, when Mileena wasn't in MK 11, but where is the support for Sonya? Not just for MK Sonya is one of gaming's FIRST ladies! Ms. Pac-Man Peach Zelda Samus Chun Li Sonya Laura Of course I'm missing VERY key ladies to the industry as a whole, but I think MOST would agree these ladies are the stand outs and Sonya is IN that ranking. So disappointing NRS. 😞

23:38 To be honest, I think they should just make movies for us to watch and leave a specific cutscene for each character in solo mode

I don't really mind the non-canon arcade endings... specially if they involve the actual tournament, since of course, canonically not everybody can win the tournament. But I do hate that the main story is going back again and again to the timeline thing.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

As I said, non-canon endings are cool in that they explore various 'what if' scenarios, but it's like.. I can make a thousand of those, on the spot. They don't mean anything; they hold no weight, into the next game. I've said this before, but non-canon endings are a microcosm of the reboot stories they keep doing. That doesn't hold any weight either. But yeah, the non-canon ending is a nitpick; not gonna bang on about them.

@CappuccinO80

4 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock I get what you say but hey, if you play as X character on arcade/ladder and you beat the boss, of course you wanna know what would happen if that particular character beat the boss. No sense to play as say, Baraka, win everything only to get an ending showing him as a jobber as he most of the time is portrayed in story mode.

@CynicalWarlock

4 ай бұрын

@@CappuccinO80 True, but there's a middle ground to strike there. Baraka can do something meaningful in his ending without having to beat the big boss. You're right though, non-canon endings are tied to the whole arcade ladder concept, which I'd also change, but not gonna get stuck into the weeds on that one.

16:04 Today on "Cooking with Scorpion": chopping! 😂

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks MK's art style and soundtrack hasn't been good in a long time, the photo realistic art style is boring and doesn't fit MK and the soundtrack is super generic. Me personally I wish they'd go back to the art style of MK9 and the 3D Era games and I think Mick Gordon should make the OST in the next game given that he expressed interest in composing for MK and he has written music for both Modern Doom and Modern Killer Instinct, 2 series with similar energy

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Duuuude! Imagine Mick Gordon composing Scorpion's theme, for the next game. MK flirted with rock and industrial before, but to have it let its hair down and commit to this vibe would be fuckin epic. Also, it's so ironic that the more tame fighting games that don't even feature blood or over-the-top violence, like Street Fighter, have a bolder, more colorful, larger-than-life art style, while Mortal Kombat, which is so violent that it's for borderline psychopaths, insists on making everything look as real as possible.

Well done video! I agree with some and disagree with some. All of it has good logic behind it though. But also apparently the MK1 tower endings are indeed canon and an insight into the future story mode update and beyond

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Of course.. Until the writers change their minds, by the time they start making the next one. Glad you enjoyed the video.

F'ing good vid

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Lowkey longtime viewer here I personally feel like if they REALLY want to have an easier game for casuals to pick up, stop with the over complicated combo inputs. Treat it somewhat like the old games, and let characters have a simple button mash-y combo 3-4 hit combo. It'll at the very least give newbies a simple string they could combo off to begin with, instead of looking at the move list constantly. It's a long shot and it probably wont happen, and if it doesn't, I don't mind. As for story chapters, either have a Shaolin-monks-esque beat 'em up Konquest mode, with one or selected characters - Or, let every character have their own story mode that ties into the main one. I think SFV did something like this, but the narrative can be expanded so much in these games if they had designated fights for everyone on the roster. I feel like it would also incentivize players to learn fighters/play more of the roster to see the whole story. Treat it like a TV or book series.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Appreciate you coming out of the woodwork. I'm so glad you mentioned the input thing. I'm a fairly dedicated, semi-competitive player; I've played MKX online voraciously, and mastered its mechanics quite well, and *even I* agree wholeheartedly with you. Double tapping for dashes tiers the fuck out of me, especially when you could assign forward/backward + the useless flip stance button to accomplish the same thing; Combo timings are deliberately too strict, sometimes, for no reason; run cancels in MKX were a nightmare; special move inputs sometimes clash with other, more basic controls - none of this shit is needed. If you raise the skill ceiling naturally, then strict timing is still required to hit the more optimal combos, so pro players should be satisfied, and all this needless complexity just scares the newbies and the casuals. Yes, player error should still be a part of the game, but I feel you can strike a way better balance than this. It's a very archaic way of designing fighting games, in my opinion. Agree with the story stuff too.

I preffer 1 character for story mode in a konquest scenario then the way they always do, is already getting boring, also Invasions, what the heck that mode supposed to be? a cellphone game to grind and grind

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

I'll tell you what it is: a testing ground for future mobile games.

I feel validated watching this. I agree with pretty much all of your points and I've been feeling crazy praising MKX while everyone plays these inferior projects imo. I also think the “run” button should be as staple to MK games as the block button at this point. (though I would be curious to see netherrealm experiment with back to block in mainline mk games or at least a game mode that does it) I really don't understand why the devs have tried everything to get a way from mkx rather than refine it.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

It's because of that 'blank slate' mentality I mentioned. Once a game is released, throw everything out and start from scratch. It's incredibly tiring for both the fans and the devs, and you end up throwing the baby with the bathwater a lot, like in MKX's case. And yeah, the run button *is* a staple of MK, as far as I'm concerned. Help me understand the back-to-block thing. I know most other fighting games have it, but apart from discouraging turtling, I don't see the point of it.

@Duke_ofGames

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock just adding in an option for actual cross ups in Mk. I remember laughing hilariously when the devs did mileena ethereal reveal in mkx and said her going back and forth was a cross up and that literally can’t exist with a dedicated block button lmao. So now people would have to consider if high, lows and if the jump in hitbox actually hits the back of their head lol

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@Duke_ofGames So you have to react in time and switch directions to block it. Makes sense. Personally, I'm a bit iffy about jump attacks, in general, in MK, because anti-airs are so inconsistent in these games, and the shitty netcode makes it that much harder to consistently punish air attacks, making them a bit overpowered, for 90% of the player base.

@Duke_ofGames

5 ай бұрын

@@CynicalWarlock well yes, I guess my curiosity could only be fed if those design flaws were remedied. Personally my biggest gripe in netherealm games was zoning being way too good for many characters and even character’s answers to zoning like Kitana reflect in mkx was way too slow where the animation played but the effect didn’t work till seconds later. Even when they patched it, it seems more like you have to guess projectiles are coming rather than react to it.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

@@Duke_ofGames yeah, the startup is deliberately slow. The actual answer to zoning, in NRS games, is teleports, for the most part. Which breeds another problem, cause everyone ends up having a super-fast, tracking teleport attack that can be done on reaction, and the entire gameplay devolves into abusing jump attacks and teleports - or jump attacks *into* teleports, even. As much as I love MKX, this was one of its biggest problems.

2:18 why do we have a switch dance button like for mk11 I believe it was to perform a mercy so basically we have a entire button that is useless

love this video but id say 9's soundtrack was fine in stages because they were always insane remixes of older tracks like the armory and the subway station but outside gameplay i could agree

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Elder gods damn it, how did I forget about the armory track? That's actually one of my favorites. You're absolutely right, should've mentioned that caveat. The remixes were good too. Half a point for those, I guess, since it's not actually original music.

18:40 I do agree if you could figure out the buttons of your opponent's Fatality and it canceled it out that would be hilarious cuz I'm sick of seeing fatalities at least for me it takes up too much time but if there was Babalities I could steal their fatality with a harakiri then hell yeah

@CynicalWarlock

4 ай бұрын

Yeah, it's just torture to have to sit through the same cutscene a thousand times, because all your opponents happen to be functioning psychopaths.

26:13 yes

It's hard for me to agree with the argument that photorealism and stylization can't go hand in hand because DMCV exists. It was able to acheive stylish and over-the-top attacks while still doing some sense of photorealism.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

True, but DMCV is a different genre, where less scrutiny and camera attention are placed on the finer details of the animations, and people generally fight with swords that generate huge slash effects, which is easier to pull off convincingly. And even though the look/graphics of DMCV is photorealistic, some of the key poses, in combat, are a bit exaggerated, for effect, which is exactly the right call. But you're right, I drew a correlation between photorealism and inadvertently getting more stringent with your animation, because of it - the more realistic the look, the stricter your eyes become with it, too - but yeah, it doesn't have to be the case.

I would play a game like that.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Me too, Poem. Me too.

Dark, Gorry, just like MK2 vibes.

@CynicalWarlock

10 күн бұрын

Fuck yes.

This might be a stupid idea but, what if the stance switch button was used to change variations mid match? Like in the 3D era. It would probably be the most broken shit but it'd be fun.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

This is one idea that's been repeated by a few peeps, and it's sounding better and better. Deception-esque fighting styles might actually be a more elegant solution than Variations, simply because you can switch them on the fly and don't have to blind-counter your opponent in the character select screen.

22:07 I'm not sure about that. You'll end up becoming the competition and launching something so bad that the next time you do the simplest and most boring thing possible.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

There's a silver lining between these 2 extremes is what I'm saying.

Based criticism. Nice video.👍

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Many thanks.

The flip stance button is used as a pump fake button. You actually use it to trick your opponents into thinking your going to do a move or make them think your attempting to do combo

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

I've played MK9, MKX, and MK11, online, extensively. They all had a flip stance button. Never once have I seen anyone use that tactic; not in my matches, nor in high-level tournaments.

Mortal Kombat has failed to live up to its potential as a multimedia juggernaut. The only thing keeping it alive at this point is the fact that it is the series that invinted the rating system. They have come up short in lore and storytelling due to not acknowledging a wealth of great concepts and ideas from the 3d era in favor of the same rehashed MK trilogy characters and settings. Very similar to how Star Wars neglected and shunned the prequel era to the point that the made a bs sequal trilogy with episode 7 being an exact rehash of A New Hope. There is no reason why Mortal Kombat should not have successfull action adventure games, comic books, animated series or movies, considering the characters and world. And oddly enough, they were primed for most of these things from MK9 onward but fumbled over the course of the past decade plus. MKX was launched with an amazing comic story tie in that introduced fans to 2 Characters im Kotal Kahn and Takeda that could have legitimately carried MK into a new generation the way Jin, Hworang and Xiaoyou did from Tekken 3 onward. Only to turn around and disregard their own cannon comic line and stunted these said characters in favor of more UMK3(Og trilogy) wank. Mk11 was just fucking bullshit and showed that NR had no intention on pushing the I.P as far as it could go. It also displayed how creatively inept they were as they decided to to retcon/reboot an already rebooted timeline that did not reach its true conclusion due to time travel shenanigans. And then they reboot yet again in MK1 just bog down the 2nd half of the story with multiversal bullshit. Also, Ed Boon is a blatant liar. He has lied/falsly advertised on the past 3 MK games at this point and people still excuse him for his bs. MK1 looks unfinished, Key example look what they did to my boy Reiko, his moveset and capabilities are much blander than the rest of the cast (He's fuckin generic mma guy) And his intro and FB feature a spear he does not use in combat which is so frustrating everytime i see him fight or picked to fight.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Pretty good rant, 8/10. "it is the series that invented the rating system" - the irony is that they're holding on to that part the most, pushing the gore aspect as much as they can, at the expense of everything else. You mentioned Star Wars. It's very telling that every single IP is facing the same longevity problem. I personally believe this is part of its natural life cycle, unfortunately. IPs aren't allowed to die. They need to keep making money, so they keep getting sold and passed around, periodically revived into some Frankenstein's monster, only to fail and go dormant again, until the next time they decide to suck some more marrow off its decaying bones, without ever allowing it the dignity of death.

Was listening to the rest of the video while driving, will have to return and re-listen to it in order to earmark some rebuttals to a few statements I don't entirely agree with. There's an interesting avenue for discussion in those which I'd like to open up in this comment section with you, Warlock.

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Go for it.

@kylenguyen7371

5 ай бұрын

7:20 Regarding MK11 and it's gameplay, the lack of mix-ups is a bit inaccurate. The mix-up is not a simple overhead/low, but rather a strike/throw mix across a majority of the roster at the game's more basic level or initial layer. Outside the strike/throw meta of the game, however, is the mind game of krushing blow mix-ups. This is not apparent to viewers, however, that are not already initiated in how krushing blows operate or are loaded/triggered. To those who *are* so initiated, however, a game of cat and mouse begins as players must engage in the guessing game of whether or not their opponent will fish for a specific krushing blow. This can range from the krushing blows of throws and/or uppercuts, to more esoteric krushing blows from specific load-out options that have unusual conditions (i.e. Shang's Superkick, which has actually been used to punish an attempt to flawless block reversal Shang's blocked string). MK11 is ultimately a game that is very mental in terms of how it engages people, but this requires both players and viewers to be initiated in these deeper processes to appreciate. That's a tall order for many spectators, & makes it more difficult to enjoy the game in general when compared to the raw visual spectacle of older franchise installments like MKX.

@kylenguyen7371

5 ай бұрын

7:42 Regarding Fatal Blows, these were made to address a deficiency that the developers noted about the X-Ray attacks of games past. In 9 and X, NRS noted that many players stopped using the X-Ray at a competitive level because it was not an economical use for meter. It was often more productive to spend each bar of meter on amplified moves or other options than to spend it all in a single go for the X-Ray. It also meant players had to weigh spending meter on X-Ray damage or Combo Breakers. The two fold response to making X-Rays viable was to make them a comeback mechanic, and to disassociate them from the meter system. This is why Fatal Blow is a meterless option tied to a health threshold. Unfortunately, the Fatal Blows were too widely useful in MK11 for what they did: they were too safe on block, and they would return for another attempt if they failed to connect. That last part was not addressed in MK1; while they are no longer safe on block, they are still significant damage sources that return infinitely until they successfully connect (and are not broken). Compare/contrast to one of the most controversial (and possibly reviled) comeback mechanics in fighting game history: X Factor, from MvC3. I think Fatal Blows would benefit from becoming something closer to a middle ground between the current state of Fatal Blows and the X Factor, but this needs to be handled carefully and on a character specific basis.

@kylenguyen7371

5 ай бұрын

9:38 I would caution you on this segment by reminding you (and viewers) that "fun" is subjective. There is an audience out there that finds MK11 to be a more fun game than MKX, and others who find amusement from neither game. I also vaguely recall F0xyGrandpa and other pro players pointing out that MKX was a worse game than MK11 for competitive play, but I can't recall their exact words or justifications for that assessment.

@kylenguyen7371

5 ай бұрын

11:47 With regards to the frustrating grounded mobility of MK1's roster, this does have a side effect of generally being required to *commit* to moving. Walking forward or backward is just as much of a commitment as throwing out strikes or throws or special moves. This ties into your commentary about the run button, something I don't think every kombatant needs; I wish this was actually something a select few kombatants could perform at the press of the "Flip Stance" button, to help shore up their own game plans.

Your thoughts on the chapter system are mine exactly

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Demented minds think alike.

As usual cynical Warlock is cooking ( remember when you get ultra fame, its coming for you I can see it )

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

I have a good memory, don't worry.

"you cant have things look good and real" I mean, tekken 8 is here and I think it both animates and looks very good while also looking realistic. its a matter of NRS still using mocap animation 30 years into the series, something that was a limitation in the first trilogy, and part of the 3d era since they used real fighting moves as reference. but now its completely unnecessary, they have both the technology and the money to do better also I gotta say, M1K looks stale, the colors feel washed out and everyone looks like a closet cosplay of their characters (the base outfits at least). as much as I dont really like MK11's mcu style overdesigned costumes, I feel like going from there and toning down a bit would be perfect I felt like mk11 was a true step forward for the series artstyle wise, it was colorful, realistic but also cartoony in the way the visual effects and presentation were shown, the freeze frame style fatalities were the coolest idea they ever had. now the fatalities basically went back to the original trilogy's style of "action is done, camera stops", no dramatic pose end, no cinematic camera, they all end with the same composition M1K to me feels like a lost middle game between MKX's brown artstyle and MK11's colorful artstyle, and I really wish they sticked to MK11's design as a base

@cheatsykoopa98

5 ай бұрын

also the worst mistake artstyle wise MK11 had was to allow colors different than the usual colors associated with each character (yellow sub zero and blue scorpion? wtf were they thinking)

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

1000%. Red Sub-Zero and blue Scorpion can kiss my ass. The customization shit made characters look like they fell into a paint vat. I agree that the slowmo poses from MK11 were a nice touch. Also with the mocap limitation, that's a crutch at this point. And while Tekken 8 definitely does go for a relatively high degree of realism, it is a stylized reality. And yeah, in terms of 'real', Tekken moves look a heck of a lot more convincing than MK moves, cause characters actually move their center of gravity.

Balance is killing fighting games (all of them). As for mk1, the game is unsuccessful because it was released incomplete, full of bugs and sync issues, a boring grind, expensive extra content, and lack of interesting offline content. The history itself was fine until the 3rd act

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

And that's because of this pudrid development cycle. Rush to the finish line, make quick buck, scrap support early, then move on to the next half-baked project. It's the E.A. model. There's a reason why Tekken got to the number 8, and Street Fighter got to 6, while MK got to 12 and is embarrassed to acknowledge it.

Those flying knees are in injustice as well

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

It's the root of all evil, it seems.

So glad to see Sugurpunch's wise words have carried through to the MK fanbase by now, they were so upset before but its become so clear things have gone too far

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

Sugar Punch's videos made me realize that I'm not insane, and something really is wrong with these visuals, so that was a pretty important turning point in my life. :P

This is my most nonsensical idea ever but you could have a mk where in the character select you can choose your system and then character so you could pick the kameo system of mk1, the custom moves system of mk11, or the variations system of mkx again emphasis on the nonsensical part of this idea

@CynicalWarlock

5 ай бұрын

It's not nonsensical, it's just unfeasible. Too many features added to one game, and arguably people would just gravitate towards one mode that they like more/view as 'default', and the rest would likely end up being wasted resources. Not to mention that, competitively, you would actually need a standard, and so people who play somewhat competitively would ignore all this by default and stick to whatever mode is played in tournaments. However, if we're applying this in the context of the foundational game design I mentioned, you may very well eventually have something like this. Cause my idea is you start with 1 solid game whose core/skeleton you port over to the sequel, and add more stuff on top of it, then rinse and repeat for the 3rd. That way, you could totally end up with a leviathan of a 3rd game, with a lot of the features you just described.