Mortal Kombat XL

Thas really nothing New, Deception pretty much opens with EVERYBODY'S DEAD and then instantly undoes most of it with Onaga reviving the fallen as his minions.

Chapter 7

Reiko plays Kotal schemes Goro Lives

We get a good bit of context... Kotal apparently was one of Shao's Top Generals with Reiko... -Where the **** were the two of them in 9?-

Reiko gets alot of The Dreaded as Kotal picks him as the real threat of his union with Mileena -Trust me they leave no real room for doubt-

Rain is still serving Mileena, Kotal race is strong in the light but weak in the darkness, Mavado shows up with a Red Dragon legion to aid Mileena's troops. Goro kills Kotal's dad.

edited 15th Feb '15 3:20:26 PM by FrozenWolf2

It isn't new exactly, but I really saw MK 9 as the series turning a new leaf. Plots mattered, people mattered, things were being rewritten to make some semblance of sense. Ignore the way Sonya takes Kitana and Jade at the same time (giggity), or how Jax beats up Johnny for a weak reason, and how Kung Lao takes Shang Tsung and Quan Chi (actually, that was more Took a Level in Badass) - I felt like the series was trying to fix itself, storywise. Gameplaywise, it's even being considered a "competitive fighter" in some circles.

So when they suddenly bring back everyone when they had the perfect setup for new characters, and to reboot characters from the later games, I'm just a little let down. Gameplaywise, maybe it averts Damn You, Muscle Memory! and allows for veterans to get back into their favorite characters, but I was hoping for a largely different roster with maybe people like Raiden and some of the MIA from MK 9 who Sindel didn't kill.

edited 15th Feb '15 8:49:41 PM by FOFD

You also have to consider the Game style

The Character is as much their fighting style as is their personality and quirks... Now sometimes you can just do a New Clone character and it'll work but thats generally cause you can't tell the difference between the two anyway.

Killing off a character means you're killing off a certain flare and style.

I've since calmed down about the Sindelssacre, since by now, it's clear they wanted to use it to clean out all the more clone-y chaff, and make MK 9 their last hurrah in a sense. However, I still feel they went too far with it, and I think Netherrelms realised that, hence the return of Kitana and (As implied) Jax. Striker I don't feel as bad about now that they made Cassie his spiritual successor.

Think Goro will keep the hammer? I could see it work well in the game itself.

Re: Reiko and Kotal in 9, I would think Shao Kahn was dealing with other realms and they were in charge of those invasions. I kinda like this idea of online factions, but only if you can switch between them. Have some really meta Face–Heel Turn and Heel–Face Turn going on.

I'm agreeing with the weirdness of having so many characters be returning from 9 and my headcanon is this exchange:

Seriously, it rings too strongly of SCV's 17-year timeskip with most characters completely rebooted or contrived to not age anymore (coughIvycough)

edited 16th Feb '15 2:01:10 AM by TomoeMichieru

Yeah, you can switch. There are caveats about keeping specific faction exp, but you can switch it up as you wish.

I was really hoping they put more emphasis on bring in new kombatants and keep some of the old faces dead. They haven't revealed a brand new char since E3.

edited 16th Feb '15 7:19:33 AM by Niitris

They might be saving those reveals for after the prequel comic is done/the game is already out so they don't spoil who survives.

How many of MK 9's fighters were known to us at this point back before it came out?

I'm not sure. I only started paying attention to the game once it was almost already out. Like, a couple days before, and the story mode was already online.

Whatever it was, this is a different situation. MK9 was a soft reboot, so there were no new characters at all (except Skarlet, who was DLK). All the characters except Quan Chi were from the first three games, and all characters from the first three games were present except Rain initially, and C/Khameleon (and the various bosses who were in the story, but weren't playable, I guess; I count them as being there though).

This is a) a milestone game, b) has new fighters, and c) the uncertain return of older ones. The reveal schedule would be somewhat different.

I don't know either, I assumed MK 9 would be utter garbage and didn't pay it any real mind until people started giving it praise beyond mainstream nonsense.

There's still about 10-12 spots left so I'm not sweating it or anything. But pretty strange to highlight "the new generation" and then proceed to introduce a slew of returning characters.

I'm kind of worried about the new fighters too. Mileena seems like a sure in for the game and a lot more old faces then I was led to initially believe.

The demo character select screen showed 24 slots. There could be more, we don't know, but there isn't likely to be less.

We have 16 confirmed characters, four of them being new. So that's 12 returning so far (plus Goro as DLC).

If there are only 24, I could see them doing a 2:1 split on returning vs. new characters, especially if the rest of the new ones are as cool as the ones we've already seen. I'd rather have eight quality new fighters, than 12 where half of them suck. On top of that, there's the fact that it's a milestone game, so you want to give tribute to the characters that people already love.

So 16 returning characters, and 8 new ones on the disc is a good amount, I think.

edited 16th Feb '15 8:30:02 AM by BadWolf21

I'd rather have eight quality new fighters, than 12 where half of them suck

Or we can do the right thing and have a full set of quality characters regardless of the number? Quality and quantity are not mutually exclusive.

The thing is, of all the characters showing up, Kung Lao and Kitana are really the only questionable choices, since we explicitly saw them die. And maybe Sub-Zero, depending on what the hell they're doing with him. Otherwise every other returning face is a survivor from MK 9.

And again, it says a lot of just how much on their A-game NRS is that people actively want more new characters. Thank the Elder Gods we don't have the likes of Hsu Hao or Darrius here.

Chapter five review

I never expected MKX to be like SF 3

where the cast of returners can be counted on one hand.

edited 17th Feb '15 12:18:00 PM by FrozenWolf2

I'd love to see Frost make a playable appearance. Heres hoping.

Bring back Dairou, he was such a fucking hilariously broken motherfucker in Deception.

I'm kinda digging that Reiko has gone from the really obsessive Wants to be Kahn fanboy... to The Rommel of Outworld

Maybe they'll actually make him Kahn this time

In fact BRING BACK HAVIK

Well they did mention that the Chaos Realm will invade the Faction wars

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

A badass Reiko would be good, in a "Here's a playable Kahn, folks!" sense.

Havik and Frost would both be good.

Bo Rai Cho would be great if they could shave some of the excess sillyness.

If they can somehow salvage Mavado I'd be happy.

Nitara's often forgotten and would be great.

I was always a Drahmin fan, though I know Boon hates the bastard so he's probably out.

Nitara I wouldn't mind but I feel like Skarlett takes her niche away a bit.

Tanya being reimagined could be cool but Dairou? Don't want. Reiko would rock.