History YMMV / MortalKombat11

** Shang Tsung's Fatality has major visual inconsistencies. In "Kondemned to the Damned", the opponent's entire skeleton is ripped out, with no accounting for Jax's metal arms, Baraka's blades, or Frost's cybernetic parts, as well as having them still clearly have a skull despite it having also been ripped out of them.
** Also relating to Shang Tsung, his normal/default intro has him enter the screen looking like whoever he is fighting before turning into himself. It looks cool but there is a noticeable problem with the models not matching up. On characters roughly his build and height like Johnny Cage, it's a seamless transformation, but on characters taller or shorter than him, he either growths or shrinks when he turns into himself, causing his face to awkwardly emerge from either on the previous characters body, or just out of thin air.

** Both of Shang Tsung's Fatalities have major visual inconsistencies. In "Kondemned to the Damned", the opponent's entire skeleton is ripped out, with no accounting for Jax's metal arms, the Kollector's multiple ones, Baraka's blades, or Frost's cybernetic parts, as well as having them still clearly have a skull despite it having also been ripped out of them. In "Shokan Reborn", Kintaro first appears by ripping off the opponent's arms, but once he fully bursts through them, the arms are reattached.

** [[ComboBreaker Breakaway]] has been a point of contention since launch, with the main complaint being that the mechanic is too powerful of a reversal, especially if the attacker is stuck in a combo string when the breakaway happens. Even if the attacker anticipates a breakaway, the most they could hope for is a down+2 (or other similarly damaging single hit) or the situational Fatal Blow, which [[ArmorPiercingAttack breaks armor]]. This is in contrast to other fighting games with a similar mechanic (e.g. ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' and its Burst system, or even some of the older ''MK'' games) which knocks the attacker a fair distance away and resets the neutral game, keeping it fair for both sides. The developers added universal armor breaking moves in ''Aftermath'' to address these criticisms, an idea they first tested with Spawn. Not all of these moves do the same thing -- Scorpion, for example, gets a launcher with his while Sub-Zero's is a hard knockdown and corner carry -- but they're generally designed to be an easier and more effective response to breakaways. Over time, criticism also began to extend to its usage as a defensive move, as activating it requires the character to be in the air. This ends up making Breakaway a significantly less consistent defensive option as some characters can pull off meaty combos without letting the opponent's feet leave the floor while others can't even get their bread and butter combos started without a popup. Fighters like Jaqui and Johnny Cage end up having more-or-less unbreakable ground combos for days while characters like Skarlet and Sindel are left in the cold. A lot of players were left longing for the [[BoringButPractical old fashioned Breaker.]]

** Because of how unpopular Sindel being EvilAllAlong is, she is typically written to has actually been BrainwashedAndCrazy like she was originally written. Several fanfictions that have been known to follow this call the Sindel in them as [[FanNickname 'Good' Sindel]].
** Don't be surprised if you see Mileena in fanworks of this game but she has her [[AdaptationalAttractiveness MKX look]] instead of her more klassic look.

** Some of the taunts and animations look pretty badass, but at the same time, look abnormally goofy in certain stages, bordering on a MindScrew, such as the Terminator's time bubble causing bits of paper and plastic cups to blow around in places like Outworld or [[FridgeLogic the beginning of time itself.]] Or Erron Black shooting a bird out of the sky inside a Special Forces base or the beginning of time itself. Or Robocop coming to aid a human police officer...'''''[[RuleOfThree who is somehow trying to stop a crime at the beginning of time itself.]]''''' MST3KMantra truly is your friend here.

** Sindel and Shao Kahn are retconned to be consensual and in love, but a lot of people still found it gross, considering it's built on Sindel's CharacterDerailment, the fact that Shao just calls her "Wife" like he's a caveman barely grasping English, and Sindel's own arcade ending just has her throw that subtext out the window and make him her slave. There's also the fact that he still had her revived under mind control, now for seemingly no reason, making him look a prick to his supposed lover too.

* HarsherInHindsight: The Joker being excited to fight Liu Kang, who mentioned not having any problem taking his life, becomes this as in VideoGame/MortalKombat1 a mirror match betwen the latter would imply that... [[Franchise/{{Injustice}} Let's just say that The Joker gave Liu Kang one bad day.]]

** [[ComboBreaker Breakaway]] has been a point of contention since launch, with the main complaint being that the mechanic is too powerful of a reversal, especially if the attacker is stuck in a combo string when the breakaway happens. Even if the attacker anticipates a breakaway, the most they could hope for is a down+2 (or other similarly damaging single hit) or the situational Fatal Blow, which [[ArmorPiercingAttack breaks armor]]. This is in contrast to other fighting games with a similar mechanic (e.g. ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' and its Burst system, or even some of the older ''MK'' games) which knocks the attacker a fair distance away and resets the neutral game, keeping it fair for both sides. The developers added universal armor breaking moves in ''Aftermath'' to address these criticisms, an idea they first tested with Spawn. Not all of these moves do the same thing -- Scorpion, for example, gets a launcher with his while Sub-Zero's is a hard knockdown and corner carry -- but they're generally designed to be an easier and more effective response to breakaways. Over time, criticism also began to extend to it's usage as a defensive move, as activating it requires the character to be in the air. This ends up making Breakaway a significantly less consistent defensive option as some characters can pull off meaty combos without letting the opponent's feet leave the floor while others can't even get their bread and butter combos started without a popup. Fighters like Jaqui and Johnny Cage end up having more-or-less unbreakable ground combos for days while characters like Skarlet and Sindel are left in the cold. A lot of players were left longing for the [[BoringButPractical old fashioned Breaker.]]
*** Armor Breakers themselves get this to a lesser extent, due to how much they can vary in usefulness from character to character. Most characters either get to continue the combo after an armor breaker, or get a highly-damaging krushing blow, but a few others get very little aside from a little extra damage. For example, Sonya's Forward 3 is slow, weak, and a hard knockdown, ending your combo immediately; this means that you are actually better off not using it at all, and instead just uppercutting the opponent because that will deal more damage even without being able to break armor. Some armor breakers (such as Kotal Kahn, Baraka, and Spawn) are also variation specific, either requiring you to equip them, or to not equip any moves that would replace them, which can limit your choices significantly in making a variation.

** [[ComboBreaker Breakaway]] has been a point of contention since launch, with the main complaint being that the mechanic is too powerful of a reversal, especially if the attacker is stuck in a combo string when the breakaway happens. Even if the attacker anticipates a breakaway, the most they could hope for is a down+2 (or other similarly damaging single hit) or the situational Fatal Blow, which [[ArmorPiercingAttack breaks armor]]. This is in contrast to other fighting games with a similar mechanic (e.g. ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' and its Burst system, or even some of the older ''MK'' games) which knocks the attacker a fair distance away and resets the neutral game, keeping it fair for both sides. The developers added universal armor breaking moves in ''Aftermath'' to address these criticisms, an idea they first tested with Spawn. Not all of these moves do the same thing -- Scorpion, for example, gets a launcher with his while Sub-Zero's is a hard knockdown and corner carry -- but they're generally designed to be an easier and more effective response to breakaways.

** A major plot point of ''Mortal Kombat X'' is the heroes' attempts to restore the revenants of Liu Kang, Kitana, Kung Lao, etc. back to life after Raiden accidentally restored Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Jax. While Quan Chi's [[KilledOffForReal death]] and Shinnok's [[OffWithHisHead decapitation]] at the hands of Dark Raiden seemingly made this impossible ''without'' the time merger, it still would have been interesting to the see the older characters try to find a new way to restore the souls of the revenants. In particular, this easily would have given all the Revenants a motive for following Kronika rather than the game's vague reasons for them doing so, and would have made the heroes actions have more weight to it.
** The fact that Kronika can pull people from different timelines easily could have been used by the writers to allow for her to use versions of the cast from other timelines to make her seem more like a credible threat. Characters like Johnny Cage could fight a version of himself that sided with Kronika after Cassie and/or Sonya died, or Raiden could decide to ally with her out of desperation to keep his world safe. While some intros do allued to this idea, Kronika for some reason only ever pulls people from a specific point in time, and her reason for doing so is never explained.

** In the game's story mode, when some of the characters disappear after being covered by Kronika's sand, some players refer to them as being "ComicBook/{{Thanos}}-[[Film/AvengersInfinityWar snapped]]".

* ContestedSequel: While critics praised the game's story and combat, they criticized the progression system as being "grindy", resulting in a lower (but still mostly positive) scores than previous entries. And, to keep it brief, the ''[=MK=]'' fandom is less charitable especially toward the story and writing. In terms of fan reception, it is also quite possibly the most divisive game in the whole series. While some do praise some parts of the story such as Past Liu Kang's {{Reconstruction}} as a character and [[spoiler:Past Kitana becoming the new Kahn of Outworld]], others such as Kronika [[spoiler:being responsible for every issue in the past game]] is seen as either a noticeable retcon at best and a cop out at worst.

** [[VillainDecay Due to the constant humiliation]] he suffers in his depiction this time around and [[TierInducedScrappy absolutely abysmal state]] as a fighter even into 2020, fans regularly like to rag on Shao Kahn.

* TierInducedScrappy:
** Scorpion has again shot himself to this status, thanks to his Spear and Teleport moves making it all but impossible to keep away from him, while also being able to amplify both to start a combo up from any range. Due to Scorpion's smaller selection of moves this time around, expect both to be spammed ''constantly''.
** Erron Black is even more spam-happy than Scorpion, thanks to having a rifle that he can fire shot at after shot with that he can reload at will anytime his opponent is zoned out. Even worse are [[ThatOneAttack his slide and drop kick]], with hit low and overhead respectively and have similar start-up animations, forcing players not paying close enough attention to guess which move he's going for or get hit. [[FromBadToWorse And if you guess wrong and block low, the drop kick is a Crushing Blow.]] It's a common tactic online to just spam these two moves endlessly to cheese rounds, causing many players to groan when they see their opponent pick Black.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMTk0xz8ads For a variety of reasons,]] Shao Kahn had long been unanimously seen as the single worst character in the game by a huge margin, bordering on MemeticLoser. In comparison with other initially negatively viewed characters such as Kollector and D'Vorah that eventually found success, Shao Kahn earned a spot for himself on every professional tier list as the absolute worst character with no competitive results whatsoever in the game's entire lifespan. It took until the very final balance update for his reputation to turn around, with his newly-improved combo options and higher damage finally lifting him out of bottom-tier status.
** Sub-Zero is considered this as well, while far from among the strongest characters in the game, players still dread facing against him online due to some very spammable moves. His ice slide is fast and hits low, and if amplified three times, triggers a damaging krushing blow. His overhead combo string is also very fast and hard to react to properly, which can result in some players trying to attack and then getting punished for it with another krushing blow. Just like Scorpion, because of the more limited moveset he has this time around, expect Sub-Zero players to make use of these two moves a lot.
** Sheeva has undergone a severe case of this. While considered a very well-rounded and strong character in both casual and professional scenes, she has become a notorious {{Troll}} magnet online for the sole reason that her signature jumping stomp has become more powerful in the environment of 11's physics, attracting waves of players that solely spam the move with some unpredictability thrown into the mix. The move itself is so infamous it's garnered some flak even in professional play.

** Speaking of which, Shang Tsung in the same expansion. He plays everyone like a fiddle, precisely ''because'' nobody trusts him. He allows Shao Kahn and Sindel to obliterate and enslave most of the heroes as well as help take down Cetrion and Kronika, then betrays his former masters to claim the crown for himself. To complete the icing on the cake, the BadEnding has Shang defeat Fire God Liu Kang and absorb his power, meaning no one is able to ever stand up to him again. In the final scene, Shang, now with both Kronika and Liu Kang's power, has re-written the universe in his own image and sits upon a massive throne as Raiden and Fujin, now his loyal soldiers, conquer Earthrealm in his name. Have a nice day, indeed.

** Just like with Freddy in ''[=MK9=]'' and Jason, Leatherface, Alien and Predator in ''MKX'', you can finally [[PayEvilUntoEvil pay the Joker back for everything he's done]] both in the proper comics and in the ''Injustice'' series. Doubly so for the fans who had been waiting since [[VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse the last time]] Joker was in ''Mortal Kombat'' to perform non-watered down fatalities on him. You can also perform some of the series' most violent and painful fatalities on [[ManipulativeBastard Shang Tsung]], [[InvincibleVillain Shao Kahn]], [[AdaptationalVillainy Sindel]], and [[KarmaHoudini D'Vorah.]]

** The TamerAndChaster costumes for the female characters. Either they are step up from the {{Stripperiffic}} nature of previous games, most notably ''[=MK9=]'', and look more interesting, distinct and practical (the women have distinct design elements as opposed to being pallette swaps, Cassie Cage dresses practically) or they are bland, take away from the character and are way too covered up (the primary outfits for Jade, Skarlet and Cassie being the worst offenders). Arguing for one opinion or the other is a pretty much a guarantee for a long debate. Then there's those in the [[TakeTheThirdOption middle of both extremes]] who don't mind the default costumes, but prefer some of the skimpier alternative outfits.

** Sindel. While some fans were looking forward to playing as her with a revamped moveset, those who ardently follow the canon of the games were ''very'' annoyed at her being retconned into being EvilAllAlong. However, there's also a camp that actually likes the new Sindel, some even saying that it makes her seem less of a damsel, to which those who dislike the retcon respond that the fact she rose above being a damsel to in turn save her daughter from Onaga in the original timeline was why they liked her character. There's also a middle-road camp that evil Sindel is good on paper and theory or as a different character, but dislikes the fact that the writer puts that characterization on a character like Sindel, which heavily contrasted her character and disrespectful of the old lore.

** Because of how unpopular Sindel being EvilAllAlong is, she is typically written to has actually been BrainWashedAndCrazy like she was originally written. Several fanfictions that have been known to follow this call the Sindel in them as [[FanNickname 'Good' Sindel]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Past!Sonya is told her future self performed a HeroicSacrifice on a mission. She then reads part of the report and [[InsaneTrollLogic suddenly thinks Cassie abandoned her.]] Not only did she not bother to read the full report before assuming the worst of her own future daughter, but she seems to have completely forgotten that Cassie ''explicitly told her'' Present!Sonya gave her life for the mission. The fact that this misunderstanding doesn't impact anything in the story and yet it is given focus as a character arc didn't really charm a lot of people.

** In an intentional case, Geras is practically a walking Uncanny Valley, between having some part of his flesh held together with metal while others having perfect cracks in between, his voice being artificial sounding yet emotional, and coming back to life by unwinding himself perfectly, he is one of the most unsettling characters in the franchise.
** Frost invokes this, being a {{cyborg}} who looks generally human enough that the specific ways her body moves, [[AbnormalLimbRotationRange twists, turns]], and ''[[DetachmentCombat separ]][[LosingYourHead ates]]'' will make you constantly go ''[[BodyHorror "HER BODY SHOULD NOT DO THAT"]]''. Her Friendship, in which, after skating on ice for a while, she starts spinning her entire body ''while her head is completely still'' makes her look surprisingly creepy.

** Kronika was intended to be a breakout star, instead what happened was the total opposite. Kronika was incredibly unpopular within the most vocal parts of fandom. Fans of the character becoming a [[SilentMajority Silent Majority]], while her haters grew in size and voice. When the writers of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' attempted to explain such issues fans had with the character, [[FanDislikedExplanation it only made things worse.]] Specifically, her motives are vague, and what the arcade endings imply about her being a well-intentioned perfectionist aren't brought up in the main game, making her look flat. The fact that she's done the same song and dance with Raiden countless times yet doesn't seem to learn from her mistakes has earned her some mockery as well. There's also people who don't like her introducing Titans as a concept in ''Mortal Kombat'' and the fact that she's said to be responsible for everything bad that has happened, devaluing whatever the previous villains have done, hasn't charmed many fans. Regardless, there are people who still think she's interesting, at least in design.

** The game's story in general is often criticized for how depressing it comes off feeling with deaths for popular characters around every corner, incomprehensible twists that come out of left field and a BigBad that pushes the omnipresent EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce aspect of the series so harshly into the forefront that it ends up making the whole effort feel a lot more tiring than it intends to be. [[spoiler: Especially considering TheBadGuyWins in the end and the timeline gets erased in every ending no matter what you do.]]