A.B.I.torial 13: Mortal Kombat X's Animation SUCKS

[@casper3105]

id like to add my own criticism or pet peeve The color palette is so awful, i though the point of MK characters having bright colors was to stand out and be memorable but in MKX they are so desaturated to the point where they get lost in the background and it gets really annoying when playing and especially since a lot of the cast have dark and black clothing. it's kind of like the movie adaptations of Xmen, all of their memorable costumes that give them all the personality are being replaced by the same, uninspired, boring black uniforms.

[@clownypoundy6834]

Great breakdown I agree when I first play this I first notice this.

[@a_creatorsstuff17]

add the fact they put too much motion and bright colors in the backgrounds and you have the perfect trainwreck.... oh and dont get me started on stages with elements that reach the characters, yea im talking about a certain blood ocean

[@xd_teoma93]

Y E S YES YES THIS IS TRUE!!!! ALL OF THEM ARE TRUE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@Niopunk]

Injustice: Gods Among Us had the same problem

[@austinreed7343]

Part of the reason why Deadpool 3 is bringing the old outfits back.

[@coldhazzard]

The "low kick" duet at the end killed me.

[@Blubbii88]

Damn, I was scrolling through the comments close to the end of the video, when I read your comment I scrolled back up, perfectly timed with the ending. Damn that was good timing

[@Hazard_sys]

For the record: DOA's stance does actually affect gameplay, but only really at a high level. If both characters's bodies are facing separate background/foreground, it's considered a "closed stance". If the same, it's an "open stance". Certain moves will affect the opponent differently depending on the stance. Virtua Fighter has this same open/closed stance concept, but it's much more prevalent as its tracking moves are affected.

[@flamewolfscout3978]

I actually just learned something right there. I mean, I know you posted that a year ago at this point, but still, nice to know!

[@unlocktornado]

@@flamewolfscout3978 ikr

[@perfectlap9379]

Yeah, its a big part of DOA5 (Jacky, Akira, and ayane for e.g)

[@sadowolf]

I teach game animation and I actually use this video quite a bit in class because so many of my students try to argue that MK has great animation (they tend to laud its realism...lol); and specifically much better animation than a series like Street Fighter. I'll argue them down for a bit, but then decide it's much easier to just show them this video haha. I also enjoy that you go through some basic fundamentals to reinforce some of the things I teach in class and show what looks good and what doesn't. Great stuff.

[@sadowolf]

@AT Productions It's crazy how much visual fidelity influences people's view of animation. And of course some people just view animation in terms of how pretty something is, like they literally don't know the difference between graphics and animation haha.

[@austinreed7343]

AT Productions This is why that awful Lion King remake exists.

[@WikiHL]

Have you showed them Darkstalkers/KoF animations?

[@sadowolf]

@@WikiHL Oh most definitely. Darkstalkers and Third Strike are two pieces of my holy grail for 2D fighting game animation haha. I love that Darkstalkers does so much with such a limited amount of frames. KoF can be inconsistent but overall has some great stuff too.

[@TheLegodude102]

I disagree, the fact you have to level down to the fact that you can’t convince your class and having to resort to a higher influence, this being another professional animation major further supports this. I believe mkx has good animation for a fighting game, I see it like the naruto vs pain fight. It breaks traditional fighting game norms, it’s rapid, fast and all the characters move with fluidity. The gameplay at hand is what we are watching and it embraces it fully. You can’t possibly tell me that street fighter gameplay is as energetic or rapidly paced as mkx.

[@Gettles]

I've always felt that something felt off about MK's animations that turned me away from the game. That "trying to throw a punch over a waist-high fence" bit summed it up to me better than I could have.

[@suddenllybah]

Gettles The funny part is that the actual iconic MK generic move (because frame data is hard) is the uppercut which I think works.

[@dracocrusher]

Yeah, like whenever you're talking about writing, animation, act structure, etc. there's a pretty good chance that most people won't immediately be able to point to the thing they're looking at and say "Oh, this is the problem". But, even if you don't notice, your brain probably does, which makes it feel 'off' even if you're not really sure why. I feel like there's a lot of people who look at analysis of stuff like that and they just hand-wave it as nitpicking when it's super important to sell the experience.

[@brojuiceunderfoot5765]

They have always looked a bit robotic and unnatural tbh

[@backlogbuddies]

@@suddenllybah I think the leg sweep is the worst but God the upper cut

[@realamericannegro977]

MK 4 animates the best out of all 3d MK games in my opinion

[@Vanisonic]

Lets start the movement to raise awareness for good animation. I firmly believe in this cause.

[@tempestbrown5033]

X Life we should, someone tweet this out

[@Stavol2Dual]

will support

[@ConnorLumsden]

start the.... "movement" get it? Because it's about movement? I'll go.

[@bud389]

If anyone is going to raise awareness for good animation, it's certainly not going to be this idiot, he has absolutely no idea what he's talking about. Go to any animation channel that teaches 3D animation, not 2D animation, and learn a thing or two. He's applying faulty principles that don't mesh with the art style or the medium.

[@ToaHurlak52]

"guys guys he talked bad about muhhh muh gaaame, I didn't watch the video! buh let's ignore the fluid animation from smaller studios like Soul Calibur, Street Fighter V, Dead Or Alive, Dragon Ball Super with actual martial arts attacks and poses!!11!1! he don't know what he is talking about even though he's probably studied animation with a degree more than me! but listen to me because because im right! >:[[["

[@neckinhalf]

I never understood why people harped on MK's animation, but I get it now. To be honest, I still don't really care. But this video was great in helping me to understand. Great insight from an animator.

[@sladejosephwilson2300]

It's harder not to care when you play a lot of these kinds of games.

[@slamtown1903]

@@sladejosephwilson2300 I don't know I only play fighting games and I also don't really care. Injustice 2 was the only time it was noticable for me.

[@sladejosephwilson2300]

@@slamtown1903 Well it's 2018 man. This crap reminds me of the movement from ps1 games. Even the cheapest fighter does it better.

[@slamtown1903]

@@sladejosephwilson2300 ps1 games are dope though. street fighter ex hell yea.

[@sladejosephwilson2300]

@@slamtown1903 It's 2018 man. The shit looks bad. Even a cheap ass anime fighter has better animations

[@Martinsuki]

At the beginning of the video: another whiny criticizing a game he doesn't like. 5 minutes in: damn he's right lol

[@browdera]

Martinsuki THIS was exactly my thoughts!

[@MakoHazard]

That just shows your own fanboy bias that you were that quick to write off his complaints as "whiny criticism." Learn to have an open mind and accept that nothing's perfect.

[@Martinsuki]

stfu

[@brightnoa21]

You're like that mom who yells at their kid to wash the dishes while they clearly see them washing the dishes. OP already admitted his own bias and even stepped over it to really appreciate the vid. You just commented for the sake of being a shitter.

[@ScorchedEclipse]

reymart christian Cruz i appreciate the attempt in english, but please, fuck off.

[@BingBangPoe]

Whenever a new Mortal Kombat game is out I always come to your videos. MK1 still has the same issues with some animations and it's really sad.

[@richardw1043]

Wait, does it? It seems to fix a lot of it to me

[@Perdix64]

@@richardw1043have you seen Johnny’s front kick?

[@zarzunker2451]

Read the title. Always thought that myself. As a martial artist I always cringed at characters in the 3D games because they don’t keep their core still. You have to keep your core solid as you move, throwing fast snapping punches and kicks. In a real fight you would lose your balance and fall over doing fast moves. Not only is keeping balance crucial, it looks cool and stylish. (Edit) I commented before even watching the video and you hit all my points and more. 🤘🤘

[@davecarsley8773]

Real martial artists also don't punch your fist through people's solarplexis and rip out their innerds, but, ya know.... Video games?

[@uppercutgrandma4425]

As a real person, I always cringed at characters in the real world who became martial artists because they didn't keep their core of shit nobody cares about. Lols

[@TyRiders2]

@@davecarsley8773 Your point?

[@TyRiders2]

@@uppercutgrandma4425 I cringed at the fact that you cared enough to reply at something no one supposedly cares about.

[@allengordon6929]

Funnily enough, the characters do keep their core muscles rigid whilst using weapons. As a practitioner of mostly weapon based martial arts, I can say some of it is biomechanically sound, if horribly awkward looking (scorpion's uppercut slash).

[@adityalokapratama8495]

I totally agree about everything you said here. I used to be a professional character animator and it pains me to see that both MK and Injustice, both made big-budget by an awesome studio with highest-quality character models, has animations below the level of an amateur indie project.

[@MrSkerpentine]

Presumably because they spend 90% of the animation budget on the cinematics and ultra-brutal finishing / super moves and then afterwards remember “oh fuck we’re supposed to make a fighting game alongside it too?!”

[@darkshat3077]

Because stances are the least of their problems

[@emchou3]

​@@darkshat3077Sad, because stances are among the most important things in a fighting game. All the stances in MK look like guys who have never fought in their life lmao. like a discord mod trying to look cool and shit with their made up kung fu stance

[@DaSuperGamer]

Not gonna lie, I went into this video expecting it to sound pissy and whiney. I am so happy I was proven wrong. Yeah, MK's animation DOES look watered down compared to LITERALLY ANY OTHER FIGHTING GAME. You have opened my eyes, good sir. Good job! 👏

[@fairlywren3664]

Want some eye candy? Check out Tekken 7. Their Slow Mo shots during fights are practically there to just show off their glorious animation.

[@ferghyescalante9760]

I dont play Tekken cause i hate 80% of the cast, I dont play Mortal Kombat cause all MK games have shit animations and shit design.

[@LtSprinkulz]

Ah yes, I love watching slo mo close up action of my characters leg clipping through my opponents character.

[@filipepires9860]

Ive only played NRS for the longest time, and since this videos, i still play them and have fun, but oh boi did i find gold moving away to other fighting games Im having a blast with DBFZ, wich working with so little frames and still making things readable with clarity is amazing, the new GG strive is from arc system so no disapointment But Tekken, you fucking feel every punch, sure the hitstun, close up camera and particles help, but the pure force they put in the punch, you feel it

[@Ramsey276one]

And to reveal the SHENANIGANS... HOW DID THAT HIT ME!?!

[@fairlywren3664]

@@Ramsey276one BRO I TOTALLY SIDE STEPPED! AWW SHUCKS, I WENT LEFT INSTEAD OF RIGHT!!!

[@MEAD3MAYNE]

I agree 100%. I'm surprised you didn't talk about how characters lay down horizontally when getting juggled. It looks disgusting

[@llTRaGiik]

MEAD3MAYNE how else are they supposed to look while being juggled

[@MEAD3MAYNE]

Uhh look at Marvel vs capcom, Or smash, or blazblue or any other game with air combos. The characters don't fucking lay down in the air while the opponent slaps their feet.

[@llTRaGiik]

MEAD3MAYNE games like those have it like that because they're meant for air combos and putting them vertical makes it easier to hit them. I'm talking about games that are more ground based like mk, sf, tekken. they have it horizontally because the combos are easier to hit in a ground based game.

[@MEAD3MAYNE]

Sf definitely doesn't have that problem either. Open your eyes dude

[@llTRaGiik]

MEAD3MAYNE um yea they do, when you launch them it has the same animation.

[@Chris-hw6hy]

That kicking animation while the characters are crouching gives me anxiety.

[@zzxp1]

I liked Liu kang animations in 9, he looked so footsie, very in tune with a character which most signature moves involved his legs. Also im glad im not the only one to notice the lack of charisma from 70% of the MK cast, aside from my man Johnny Cage, the mascots of the franchise sub zero/scorpion and Raiden with the main duo Liu Kang and Kung Lao, everyone else is just meh in both personality and design.

[@mukiex4413]

I'm actually amazed you STOPPED where you did. There's this sort of fluidity to TAKING hits that MK is really bad about, especially in terms of momentum, and it's one of my biggest problems with the series. It's something that Soul Calibur does well and it's one of DOA's major strengths, but MK's failure at it is part of why it feels so stiff.

[@TexasHollowEarth]

Pete Martinez - "No-sell" animation.

[@puffpuffpassmako]

As a black belt in kempo, you're correct about posture. Being hunched over like scorpion is not a good stance, and moving like that in the idle animations will tire you out, when you couldve saved that energy for a punch or kick. The letting loose stance is a big no no as it REALLY tires you out, but people do it to cope with the fight to show "Yea! Lets do this!". The calm and collected posture is smart as it gives you the ability to keep your cool and fight more fluidly, but it leaves you wide open for an attack if you're not careful. The beastly posture shows the fighter is animalistic, unpredictable, crazy or a very dirty fighter, which actually has a lot of advantages as it strikes fear into an opponent. The posture sub zero uses is VERY effective as it is a defensive stance, one hand is in front so he can block, grab, or reach with ease, and his other arm is there to pull a punch or collect more power for a strike. The feet also being flat shows balance, their feet are glued to the floor to prevent ease of being knocked down. But you are right, mortal kombats fighting stances are not good as it can hinder fighting ability and stamina due to poor posture or excessive movement

[@zamirewilson7424]

Interesting, thank you for sharing.

[@offended323]

Pathetic comment

[@anibalrodriguez2626]

@@offended323 Offended got offended huh...

[@offended323]

@@anibalrodriguez2626 Offended by pathetic comments? Well, if you wanna see it like that.

[@anibalrodriguez2626]

Geez, why so salty?

[@dudebfg0123]

This one of the best videos I've ever seen. It's changed the way I think about animation. I've been playing fighting games competitively forever and it never hit me how much proper animation and characterization mattered. And just how the little details on character animation, overall color palette, etc are important for visual information. And how being a good animator requires you to think about adhering to real physics regardless of how fantasy the setting is. What adds to MK's disjointed animation is that the games feel rigid to play too. Playing MK felt more like controlling a mech than an actual character, like the delay between doing things and how they looked was jarring. I loved the perspective this vid took on MKX's animation.

[@AirLancer]

It always amazed me how people could say that the animations in MK are good.

[@daddysaso]

It amazes me how you're fooling yourself into thinking those people exist. No one said they're good, just because there are people that don't mind it's flaws doesn't mean they call it good. Learn the fucking difference between calling something good and accepting it's flaws.

[@louisfill849]

@@daddysaso my brother said it's good tho 😐

[@Goat69805]

​@@daddysasoChill, netherealm isn't paying you to defend their games

[@mypepsiisfrosty4738]

Personally, I think Jason's idol animation is quite good. I think the way he tilts his head while studying his victim fits his "personality" quite well, in my option of course

[@Jadty]

>idol

[@DDXNinja]

We really need more videos like this. This stuff is still happening right in front of our noses. Even the most hardcore of NRS and MK fans are giving up on MK. They don't see it but they feel it. The bad animation cascades down and affects the game from the gameplay to speed, to ability to pull of combos and overall fun.

Thanks for putting in words what always put me off NRS games.

[@EricGiby]

Puppet Kombat

[@y0lNk]

Yeah, the same thing. It's pretty obvious, but when someone takes a serious analysis on **why** animation is crap, it makes things easier to understand and explain your thoughts on it. Story and visual style aside, any fighting game relies on moves. Moves are based on animations. If animation is horseshit, it's pretty obvious that moves would be shitty aswell. MK franchise is all about gore and violence, so that's why people buy it and do not care about animation. Casual gamers do not care about how deep gameplay is if you can cut your enemies in half and crush their skulls in slow-motion. When somebody wants to get a fighting game, others will recommend MK in most cases, because of its popularity.

[@bud389]

Looks like the insecure weebs are starting to lash out against MKX with their only criticism being leveraged against it is some shitty animator who's gone nowhere on youtube, lmao. Keep raging, cucks.

[@lordeowstheking]

Carlos Ferrão meaning you can't speak for yourself so you need someone eles to...

[@bud389]

Critics also said MKX had great animation and graphics as well.

[@vvm583]

This is why I haven't played Mortal Kombat since 3. Everything just looks "off". Even to a layperson. I play a ton of fighting games, but not MK. People would ask me why, and I would say it's too "floaty". Not the best description, but the video sums up a lot of my problems.

[@lyricchristopher503]

Thats the most fucking retarded shit ive ever read

[@vvm583]

@@lyricchristopher503 use your big boy words so that everyone understands what you mean.

[@lyricchristopher503]

@The Monster Under Your Bed ur a loser

[@5usp3c7]

@The Monster Under Your Bed the gameplay itself is actually great, even if it doesn't try to sell you on it with the animation.

[@DD-fs7pg]

@@lyricchristopher503 lmao

[@kyleguajardo]

For animations based upon actual fighting, as someone who actually likes martial arts and understands what stances do to express where power comes from, and how a certain art moves and receives, and how characters have personality in movement, I agree with all of your points. I am a fan of Mortal Kombat but I always knew that their actual poses and movement kinda sucked. There was a different time actually when in Deception and Armageddon they used some real stances from real martial arts, and they kinda worked like dead or alive as you mentioned in the video. I appreciated those stances that were accurate, but unfortunately they were mostly on side characters and still looked stilted and awkward. I'm still a fan of the games just because they're fun, but you're right.

[@skillustrates]

You've put into words what I've been too indifferent to bother expressing whenever I'm asked why I don't play NRS games much. I'm no animator but I understand balance, center-of-gravity, and proper form; enough to tell when something looks off, or absolutely hideous. The things you highlighted have always been eyesores to me, and makes the game a chore for me to play for any extended period of time.

[@astrangeone]

The thing that bothers me the most is MK's obsession with low kicks looking like they would break the character's joints/bones. Seriously...have these people at Neatherrealms Studios never seen human anatomy?

[@somedudeonearth4978]

skillustrate - The game becomes a chore to play because of the animations? Are you kidding me? If the actual GAMEPLAY is bad, THEN I would understand your pain. But you let some animations ruin your fun in a video game? This is a video game, buddy. Not a movie. This sounds a tad bit too whiny to me.

[@gquackstery888]

Some dude on earth why look at something subpar when you could look at something actually decent or even good?

[@somedudeonearth4978]

Steven, got it? - Mortal Kombat X has more to offer than just its looks.

[@gquackstery888]

Some dude on earth still LOOKS subpar. Not saying it's a bad game, just that visuals are lacking.

[@Manobaru]

I'm surprised you didn't mention that most of the attacks in both MKX and ow in Injustice 2 are based on spins. Everything is freakin spinning! None of the characters can do a combo without swinging their limbs or weapons like a maniac. I'm looking at combo videos in MKX and Injustice 2 and all I can see is Gun Jack from Tekken 3 doing the "Wild Swing".

[@FF18Cloud]

Manobaru well, he does on his latest video

[@thereisnousername99]

reymart christian Cruz copypasta harder m8

[@jasonalen7459]

At least Smash Bros. has good spinning animations

[@KameKame27]

Jason Alen *Loogie* *intensifies*

[@darthbaluuduh6598]

I know I'm late but I'm obligated to leave this here: "I'll try spinning. That's a good trick"

[@Ljoose]

PREACH. I absolutely hate nrs animations. Although they have gotten better in mk11, I still think they could have done better with the budget they have to work with. Smh

[@scottchaison1001]

Don't say stupid things, MK9 is great.

[@IvanMuso]

I never noticed any of this...to be honest I don't really care about it, but yeah! it definitely makes sense, I hope they see this so they take note and make their games even better :)

[@saulspanco854]

perfect response to this kind of video

[@Snake3yesEddie]

Agreed

[@unlocktornado]

@@saulspanco854 it is also useful as reference and analysis for game developers, which i thought it'd be most of the public here

[@a_creatorsstuff17]

2 years later........ they still fail at it

[@MrSunshine1079]

In Liu Kangs defense... he is dead.

[@austinreed7343]

MrSunshine1079 Squigly and Hsien-Ko walk by. Lord Raptor then bounces into frame.

[@legacy7ds]

And til this day, Mortal Kombat has yet to fix this issue. Their animations are still trash.

[@scottchaison1001]

Don't exaggerate.

[@Outcast89R]

You wrong , in fact he admitted that MK11 animations are great for the most part, except jumping , sword swinging , dashes and a few cases . With MK1 it’s not relevant at all.

[@nicovelardita8619]

​​​​​​​@@Outcast89R You seriously need to go back to that video. He doesn't say they're great, not even close. He says in general there's as much okeyish animation as there is bad animation. In fact, the video ended in ABI giving up on MK delivering animations worth its budget after seeing how Sindel and Terminator were horribly animated.

[@IlokanoWarrior]

The way the characters walk and their stances still look stiff. and so does the jumping. but once the attacks get going the movement seems to be better. Game like Tekken, VIrtua Fighter an Street Fighter have always animated better than MK.

[@ODDiSEE_]

Every time a new nrs game comes around this video gets shared a ton

[@scottchaison1001]

No.

[@jonathansalvador5037]

No people. He’s not whining about something he doesn’t like. He’s criticizing something bad.

[@nodtomodley9114]

Expect for the snide remarks about the series and the characters lacking personality and the ending monologue about the game never being great without the good animations. Those were clearly personal bias on his part.

[@jonathansalvador5037]

Out of curiosity, what does the detached, impersonal, classy "objective" criticism of an arcade video-game franchise about cyborgs, bikini ninjas and cowboys ripping out each others' spines look like?

[@nsmorgan05]

Hey look at that, you just described part of the personality that the game doesn't have! And, he was definitely doing both by the way.

[@justbny9278]

@Jeeses99 i haven't lost hope in the next games, maybe the series might recover...

[@ectothermic]

He talked about how the characters are supposed to feel like and how the animations don't do that justice. Like the whole tangent about Mileena's stance not feeling sexy, feral, or dangerous, just uncoordinated and messy. The characters _have_ personalities, they're just not portrayed well due to the animation being lacking. Y'all missed the point entirely on purpose so you could complain huh? I refuse to believe people this stupid exist.

[@lenildocairespinheiro4729]

It's like MK and Injustice characters are "uncomfortable while fighting, making me, the player, feel uncomfortable while playing and watching. "

[@danielutshudi4053]

This video still holding up to this day. MK1 hasn't changed at all.

[@016Rafa]

Cant believe Ive found a video talking about something I thought about for so long. Oh boy I’ll enjoy every second of it

[@liltacodaddy4002]

Coming back here to say they listened to almost nothing 😭

[@dollin971]

9:36 you killed me man

[@majinbros9971]

DD107 rip best jojo

[@Elalmadebudin]

I thought he was a little too nitpicky until I saw that.

[@TheAustinKendall]

Although I enjoy MKX I will say your points are very valid. Here's to hoping with the new engine they did a better job with animations!

[@Ryan-tc2el]

Virtua Fighter has stance switching, and it affects combos quite a bit as well as what side your half circular moves will cover. It also has great animations, probably the best.

[@gameplayadmajora4164]

I agree, you have a point. Still love the game, it's really fun to play, but it can be better.

[@ParticularPixels]

Great video. As someone who studied character animation, and who's been a martial arts instructor for 20 years, I just have to give this a thumbs up :)

[@bud389]

You're clearly a very shitty martial arts instructor. I could probably beat the shit out of you, what do you teach, some fake form of Karate, lol?

[@bud389]

Yes, I edited my own comment, because I'm not a stupid inbred who leaves mistakes in his posts, unlike you apparently, who can't even use the proper "your" (it's 'you're'), and refuses to use any sort of proper punctuation to get his ideas across. " liked your own comment" Yea, so? Who's gonna stop me? Did I say I didn't? Clearly if such petty little things bother you so deeply, the only one who's a joke here, would be you. Have fun in that empty thing you call a life with such a shit personality that you'll never have any actual friends or actual relationships or veritable happiness by any measure. Bye! Oh, and FYI, I edited this comment.

[@Ace20A]

dave longsdorf Why did you feed the troll?

[@bud389]

The extra irony here is that even though he's crying like a little baby at me for liking my own comment, he went and signed onto a separate profile, just to pretend like someone else gave a shit about him, lmao, talk about pathetic.

[@Ace20A]

bud389 Who the hell are you even talking about here? Put down the tinfoil hat. All these keyboard warrior-ings have messed up your brain. Also don't go around calling others "pathetic" when you have been coming back to this comment section REPEATEDLY to talk shit to almost anyone who dares to agree with the video, like a fucking twat. Hypocrite much?

[@airjapp23]

After I watch Peacemaker's trailer, nothings new still the same stiff animation.

[@spbn0va715]

What is worse is that a big chunck of the MK fanbase isn't even aware or care for this problem. And are problably in a very defensive mode to protect anything related to MK/NRS. Im a long time fan but agree with all of your points. It's only for the better of the MK series.

[@juliobrian4757]

A huge chunk of the MK Fanbase are not Animation Majors. What did you expect, a Rebellion?

[@spbn0va715]

No i expect awareness atleast. Im not an animation artist and i can acknowlidge it too. The MK community should aswell as it does only better to their games.

[@alonzowashington8051]

Julio Brian Nor are they martial artists, have witnessed martial arts, or had any fight experience to know the difference. You don't have to be an animator. Even a white belt or some learning how to throw a punch from their dad in the backyard or whatever could tell the difference.

[@freestyler7117]

You acknowledge it because you had someone in this video explain it to you.

[@TheDonaldduck911]

Lol exactly this. One of my homies wanted to actually get me the game so I could start playing with him (I'm more into capcom games and smash). I told him not to do it because even though MKX has good story and cool characters, I find the game and its gameplay absolutely hideous to watch and overall just feels super slow and clunky. However, I couldn't really explain to him the exact science of why the game was an abomination when he was insisting on an explanation, because he's really into MK. I told my brother about our argument and he immediately linked me to this video, where this wonderful man perfectly and thoroughly explains why MKX fucking sucks. I had my friend watch this video immediately after. To my surprise, he just laughed and admitted that this guy definitely makes sense, but at the end "it's just a game and it doesn't really matter if the animations look funny". Just to point out, my friend is also into league of legends, cod, assassin's creed, and fifa.

[@planelattice2783]

Why does mk have so many blind fanboys?

[@ShiftyGuy777]

I don't know every mk had awkward animations but despite that I still enjoy the mortal kombat series.

[@MrFGC-sh9vb]

I have never once complained about the animation. This video was great you got my sub. I think the animation works for this specific IP but they def can be hella better and I’m with it this movement 100%

[@MrSynesthesia]

Goddamnit you had to go and convince me of all this and now I'm never going to be able to not see it. And I LIKE playing MKX! DAMN YOU SUGARPUNCH! (No but seriously, this was great. I love having stuff I never would have consciously noticed spelled out for me by an expert, and realizing it was subtly impacting my enjoyment without me realizing it.)

[@MrSynesthesia]

...? grow up dude

[@FixTheWi-Fi]

Did... Did you just reply to yourself?

[@TechSY730]

For those complaining that "This is a video game with a crazy universe, why should we expect any rules to be followed?" Willing suspension of disbelief allows me, for the purposes of enjoying the work, accept the idea that people can create ice or generate fireballs with their hands, or enough strength to cut off human body parts "cleanly" is moderately common. What it doesn't allow for is people not behaving sensibly for the context they are in. Like for example the character, who is human in all other respects, and the "magic" of that universe" doesn't demand it, contorts their body inhumanly to make that fireball and only in that context. Yes, Mortal Kombat is a crazy universe, but nothing about it would give us the impression that the core fundamentals of balance and momentum would be different; gravity still works. There are just more tools to add confounding variables. Or more generally, that people presented as skilled fighters actually look like they understand the basics. If your character has something about them that justifies breaking rules, then yeah, ok. Like for stance and balance, if the character has a such a weird body shape that normal poses wouldn't make sense for them, or they have non-locomotive flight abilities so balance is a non-issue for them anyways. Then, OK, yeah I can buy it. But many of the characters in MK11 have no such justification, and yet break that rule anyways.

[@salty_3k506]

Yes exactly. Characters defying gravity is breaking the rules of MK's world. Firing a fireball isn't. And no one is complaining about that. But gravity is still a thing so this animation is just inacceptable.

[@vnaz2737]

Too much text

[@Freefrost]

So you are bothered by the charcters not punching with proper stance but isn't bothered by the fact that in all fighting games, you can stop someone twice your size charging torwards you with a big punch by poking him in the legs because you have "frame advantage"? Or the fact that everybody blocks in a nonsensical way just puttin their hands in front of their body and taking the full hit passively? As if somehow putting your hand in front of your face blocks an overhead just because you're standing. At this point its not suspension of disbelief, its just cherry picking.

[@vnaz2737]

@TaigaHolic same lmao

[@somedudeintheinterweb8665]

​@@Freefrosthmm good point but it's a damn *fighting* game. Imagine if a Jackie Chan fight sequence was directed by that guy who made that sh!t super shaky cam fight scene, it'd be an absolute travesty sure in universe it would makes sense that they would be fighting, logically speaking but you'd lose the clarity, the back and forth and progression of the fight. It's not about what's logical, it's about what's cool and fact is other games animate in a triple a game more than mkx does, which means, not just cinematic wise but in game *fighting* wise, it looks cool, which is the point of animation

[@TheNexDude]

It always felt slow and controlled to me like everyone's fighting underwater with weighted clothing. Overall I like how in depth this video is it's such an interesting watch.

[@jesuspernia8031]

As someone who does boxing as has experience in martial arts, these animations are atrocious. My coach would slap the shit out of the MK fighters for how they throw a punch. All off balance and slap-like.

[@scottchaison1001]

Don't say stupid things.

[@Blittsplitt5]

​@@scottchaison1001take your own advice corporate bootlicker

[@iswitchedsidesforthiscat]

​@@scottchaison1001???

[@chicoscience502]

smoke in mk9 drives me insane with how he just flails his arms around randomly in most strings

[@jesuspernia8031]

@@scottchaison1001 Don’t be a stupid person. But I’m asking for the impossible there with you.

[@superbn0va]

There is something about MK9 that makes the animation look more natural than the latest MK games, even MK1. I can't figure it out but the engine of MK9 is amazing and made me wish NRS utilized this engine more.

[@scottchaison1001]

Exactly.

[@dullroar2673]

I think the problem with NRS/MK as a whole is that they're hamstrung by their origins. The original Mortal Kombat used live action rendering to give what was pretty unprecedented levels of detail in characters. Five games of the series rendered things this way, so the series had an iconic look to its characters. Only so much can be tweaked with photo rendered characters. "Live action" renderings have much less wiggle-room for distortion before they look offputting. But 16-bit video gaming was much more primitive than 32-bit (and beyond), so this limitation wasn't as noticeable. It wasn't until the 3D era that the series started to show its age. Now that we're in the modern era, characters have very little room to change. Characters aren't photo rendered now, but the series is arguably defined by its wooden character action. The same distortions, framing, and other animation features other 2D-to-3D franchises have been able to use are too foreign a concept for NRS to consider. The studio repeatedly fails to make bold design choices and instead is content to wallow in safe bets always

[@scottchaison1001]

Nah, MK9 is great, I don't know what are you talking about.

[@apophis7712]

​@@scottchaison1001 MK9 was mid at best and the reason it even got so much praise was because it came after MKvsDCU

[@anderson9244MLG]

Sadly they never learned ☹️

[@porschephile2k3]

Revisiting this video after MK1 came out. I hope you do the same breakdown for that game. I think NRS games are getting worse animation-wise.

[@sethb023ify]

this video was a TREAT omg I'm subbing immediately.I have been on the MK animation hate train since 9 and I love how much more you pointed out that I wasnt even always able to see. 8 out of 8 would r8

[@scottchaison1001]

Don't say stupid things, MK9 is great.

[@sethb023ify]

@@scottchaison1001 nah.... No stupid things said mk9 is mid

[@scottchaison1001]

@@sethb023ify You say stupid things again. You like to say stupid things, huh? Sorry, mate. MK9 is great.

[@electric_boogaloo496]

Hmm, no mention to Tekken in regards to changing stances, or even how to animate 3d fighter right? That game does it the best of all. Check out Howarang's move list.

[@TheWenzg3791]

Cant believe that this is the only video on KZbin that talks about how bad the animations are in MK. I have always felt that something was off in their animations and this was the only video that I found that explains it. I only played until MK3. When Tekken 3 came out I was so impressed with the animations and played the Tekken series ever since.

[@puerquitoDeSatanas]

Yup...and Mortal Kombat 11 has come out and aghhhh same mistakes. You are so right. And the one that stand out the most for me is the poor payout in those fatalities 😔

[@Ayahuasca98]

>Johnny cage >only MK character with personality This is the only thing I disagree with you on

[@Refining1]

THANK YOU for making this video and breaking down what many have been saying for years! It actually turned me off from the franchise even though I have been big a MK fan since 1992. When Deadly Alliance was first showed before it's release, I said "it looks like claymation". It's cartoony and I never could get into it. Mortal Kombat characters' stances look really uncomfortable and the graphics are sub-par. They're wasting so much potential. They should take pointers from Tekken 7 which has amazing graffics and animation, as well as the ones you showed here. I'm loyal but I didn't buy/play Armageddon, DC, the Injustice games, or MK:X. I gave up. Really hope they fix this problem because it does make a significant difference. Animation is everything in a fighting game with human characters. Yiu have it down to a science and I really hope the Mortal Kombat developers take this for what it is--constructive criticism and a genuine admiration for the franchise, and really use it to improve such a great product.

[@degisndinga8853]

I stopped reading when you same mk has subpar graphics. Are you high or just need glasses

[@Demadragon]

5:36 - WTF IS THAT? That animation is just amazing! Im sold on that character even tho i dont know ANYTHING about him. It feels scary, dangerous and mad.

[@jacobjackson935]

I know I'm 4 years late but I'll say it anyway its ‘Painwheel’ from Skullgirls

[@mr_athrillaesq4283]

Man look at all these people defending NRS's shotty animation standards. Is this what I sounded like when I defended Suicide Squad as a great movie? Of course the answer is no. Suicide Squad was an epic movie with no narrative flaws what so ever.

[@carlosmunozochoa873]

it's the same shit, only smells different

[@Stavol2Dual]

you can love it but you can't defend it

[@ians4109]

reymart christian Cruz Lmao!

[@realislit8064]

lol

[@FixTheWi-Fi]

I have not seen a single comment defending the animation, and I'm pretty far down by now.

[@ShinAkuma]

I always called MK and Injustice as clay fighters. As juggling always felt like hitting a clay ball in the air multiple times. Now I understand why I felt that way.

[@acehood9953]

Such great games with great atmospheres and characters but unplayable due to the stiff comical animations.

[@scottchaison1001]

Imagine calling the games unplayable just for that. Don't say stupid things.

[@Blittsplitt5]

​@@scottchaison1001 Imagine defending mediocrity and spamming the same reply on every comment. Grow up

[@jokrwx3]

Am no expert on animation or games design but I always hated this game for the animation . Now finally I realized am not alone yet an expert pointing this out clearly just feel great

[@jinbraimoh]

Very well said. Each time I said mkx animations are very bad, they think am crazy. Still mad about how fucked up Lui kang looks.

[@Endorphinooos]

I just discovered your channel. Way to go! I'm not as a game nerd as you but I'm a player, and I spent time trying to be an animator. I did not understand the praises on mortal kombat new games, I found the animation flaws so obvious!! Thanks, I'm going to loose few hours of my life on your channel now.

[@Jadty]

Netherrealm should get some actual martial arts experts, or maybe a second team in Japan to design their animations.

[@IlokanoWarrior]

Classic MK when run by Midway did have martial arts experts, but they were forced to use similar moves for every character.... everyone had an uppercut, a low sweep a hard standing roundhouse or crescent kick, and a string of high punches that weren't strategic to the gameplay.

[@EricJacobusOfficial]

Flawless... analysis

[@danibrent3068]

Something about Mortal Kombat's animation always bothered me, and I didn't know why... But now it all makes sense. Thank you for these great analyses!

[@GilangD21]

i cant pinpoint the problem on mortal kombat animation before and ready to disagree with your argument, but after finish your video i can understand and my view just become like you on mortal kombat animation. good video dude.

[@_Adie]

"This game has so little personality" YES YOU HIT THE MARK SO HARD I love this video. I agree with it wholeheartedly. Short story: back when I didn't play fighting games seriously, I played a MK9 pretty much every day, and I loved it. I really did. But then I started playing other fighters (namely: Skullgirls and Guilty Gear X2), and after that I couldn't even look at the series. I still can't. I pretty much hate it now. (Other thing is that MK, with its fatalities and story mode, steals the spotlight from the games that really deserve praise for their mechanics and gameplay, the things that actually matter in a fighting game, like Guilty Gear or KoF) NRS games are just so slow and stiff to play, and the animations are so weird. I've always said that they're definitely amazing, well-made, packed with content games, but they're just really bad fighting games. (There's also an entire other issue of the fatalities themself and block button and all that gameplay stuff that I also hate about the series, but that's not the topic of the video.) I don't know if I want MK to be good or popular, but I definitely want it to be a proper fighting game.

[@Stavol2Dual]

Good points, its like sloppy fast food

[@jomsht7116]

reymart christian Cruz and you are 3rd Place For Being the most *REPETITIVE* Commenter on my List Congrats on making an excuse that did not help you whatsoever Tekken Repeats? So Did You.

[@jomsht7116]

reymart christian Cruz Honestly, i dont know why you are so angry You Said "Tekken Repeats" or maybe i misread Actually, my point is an Spam Arguement is more likely annoying than logical

[@jomsht7116]

reymart christian Cruz Meh, Popular Games Are Sometimes Overrated Plus Why Would I Be "Jelly " to A game i don't even like? That's just ridiculous I'm Done Wasting My Time On you What are you going to do CAPSLOCK me to death? Wrong Grammar Me? Well then sir keep talking to yourself cause i am OUT Have A Nice Day

[@bud389]

If you don't think the animations in MKX are amazing, there's really no helping you at this point.

[@161patox]

Beyond two souls better than heavy rain, now that's a good one haha

[@gabrieldocouto1317]

Even though MKX is my favorite fighting game, and the one I have the most hours put into, there is no denying you're absolutely freaking right lol

[@ColonelVirus]

Hahaha holy shit those fucking crouch kick animations... I have a friend who does Animations for and mo-cap clean up... he'll have a heart attack over this. Especially as NRS has such a huge budget.

[@lackusshock]

15:07 Ironically enough even though DOA5 doesn't have a button for stance switching, there is actually a minor gameplay element tied to the stances since it affects how close both players can get to one another (thus closed and open stanced combos.)

[@punkypoetboy]

Oh wow now that I look at it some of mk9s idle stance are better. Lui kang looks like he’s lazy compared to mk9

[@shawklan27]

Yep

[@Odinson42]

Glad I'm not the only one who felt MK animation was shit. Now I know how/why.

[@scottchaison1001]

You're wrong.

[@dracocrusher]

Street Fighter: Hey, watch this guys.... Yo, MKX! Act like you're going to fight someone! MKX: Oh- okay, you mean like this? (starts swaying) I'm-a gonna kick someone's ass! C'mon, I'm so ready to hit something! Tekken: Poor guy's been spending too many nights at the bar recently....

[@austinreed7343]

Dracocrusher KOF - I think there’s a purpose to the sloppiness...

[@TJXCooler100]

LMAO

[@gobzanuff5078]

Ever see nerds fighting each other?.. Just watch MK animation...

[@chevychelios4672]

Lmao

[@Ramsey276one]

If they ever CROUCH... XD

[@andreworders7305]

The fatalities are so overdone they're bad. You don't need 10 different killing blows, it redundant.

[@joedatius]

Honestly i agree. I understand why they exist since they're a staple but the focus on fatalities is just absurd at this point, they went from cool quick animations at the end to a fight to becoming literally multiple minutes long and are treated as the most important part of the game with so much of its marketing focused around it, hell its so bad they had to make Xrays which are just fatalities that don't kill you and they are easily the worse Super moves in video games because they take so god damn long to actually watch. I swear NRS has a fetish for making sure you're playing the game for as little as possible

[@IlokanoWarrior]

they really put too much energy into the fatalities and killing blows. Their's no balance between action and gratuitus violence.

[@DomoArigatoMrRobaito]

Wow... I never realized how much this stuff bothered me but I couldn't put the words to it. You hit the nail on the head. There was something that was just "Wrong" looking about the games, the idea of taking it seriously went out of the window.

[@BlackThunduh]

As a recent graduate in animation, I love this video. I've always had gripes with NRS' animations, long before studying. This video helps me better explain to others why I don't like that studio and how things could be SO MUCH better. Thank you!

[@gabealexander8878]

8:50-8:53 It's probably hard to make a standing overhead punch look cool, but Jax looks freaking stupid.

[@johnnythehipboy2002]

I can't believe they kept that for MK 11, it looks exactly the same

[@salty_3k506]

You can try to do such a punch yourself with your whole weight behind it, record it and just use that as a reference for the animation. They don't even do that for the animation, they're just guessing with no knowledge of anatomy, gravity, impact, etc, kinda sad. Anyway, trying to do the punch yourself might give you an idea of how it could look. Or look at other fighting games.

[@brothlick]

late to the party, but this video explains EXACTLY why I REFUSE to play these games. I cringe every time I see their animations. you got yourself another sub :)

[@MaoriGamerDood]

You know, while I still love watching this video even after 2 years. I Kan now Easily forgive this games miss steps Kause it really is fun. I was revisiting the game yesterday, learning Kombos and such. These points are still valid. But my main issue with MKX isn't really the animation, it's the underwhelming Soundtrack. These games need HYPE music like the Classic MK3 subway stage. That be SWEEEEET!

[@FierceLegendZ]

I've always thought mk animation was weird since I was a kid, then when I got my hands on tekken I immediately fell in love with the games animation and would pick tekken over mortal kombat even though I played both growing up

[@rundur4805]

I honestly didn't know there's a fetish for animations. Also, i never looked at it the way you did and i gotta say, after watching the video, i gotta agree with most.

[@sonic-bb]

Finally someone shares the same opinion. Mortal kombat X, for whatever reason is the golden sheep of modern mk fans. So any time I criticize it, I get told I'm stupid and crazy. I'm so glad I finally found a youtuber that noticed at least one of the problems I tend to point out

[@scottchaison1001]

MK9 is better.

[@sonic-bb]

@@scottchaison1001 agreed

[@scottchaison1001]

​​@@sonic-bbAnd to think someone told me that the animations in MK9 are the jankiest in the NRS games.

[@sonic-bb]

@@scottchaison1001 is just the mortal kombat x fans are crazy and delusional

[@scottchaison1001]

@@sonic-bb Exactly, I feel like nowadays people hate MK9 for no reason.

[@notgonnapay]

Two years later aaand... Yeah...it's still the same.

[@jasonsmith530]

I think mk11 has less fence punches

[@Maurrokh]

13:38 "What happened to the intestines?!" That disappointment in your voice made me laugh

[@Grom84]

Oh at least someone noticed it. i know that i'm a bit too late, but kitana's and scorpion's stance and animations bothered me the most, it seems that developers wanted to add a "character" into those animations but it looks sloppy.

[@rhaya-fortelaza]

I am now haunted by that crouching low kick. Oh. My, Gawd.

[@turbobooster9263]

Please do one for Mortal Kombat 1

[@TheDarioushurt]

did the weeb say he was done whit mk so he cant give you your opinions anymore

[@EggEnjoyer]

@@TheDarioushurtRight lmao. They won’t know what to think without another video breakdown. Which ultimately goes to show that animations aren’t a problem, if 99% of the people who play the games don’t recognize them as such

[@IlokanoWarrior]

@@EggEnjoyer it feels wrong, and currently MK1 is getting bad reviews. Casual fighting game fans which made a huge part of the sales of MK are moving away from MK1. The EVO tournament sign ups refelct this as more people are competing in SF 6 and Tekken, both of which have amazing animation and music and SF 6 has a very inovative world tour/story mode and so much more taht just makes MK1 look bad.

[@guigs828]

You know, I'd love to see A.B.I. do a Design Shop on Killer Instinct

[@manzanito3652]

That's why playing mk feels very stiff even if the controls are responsive and fluid. Great video.

[@WingXCustom]

Dude, I always knew something felt off or unappealing about Netherrealm's animations in Mortal Kombat 11 and Injustice 2, but I could never put my finger on it. Both games are some of the most gorgeous looking fighters I've seen visually, especially in their cutscenes. But when it comes down to the actual fighting mechanics... The animations look so stiff and off-putting. Almost robotic. I'm glad it's not just me. 😬 They need a new animation director or something.

[@ekx5120]

Thank God and you for this video. I don't want to but these games for this specific reason. The sad thing is I trule believed (in early 2018) that MKX and Injustice 2 were the 2 most beautiful fighting games I've ever seen. The textures, costumes, effects, voice acting... BUT THE ANIMATION?

[@BombermanGold]

You also forgot to note the Virtua Fighter series. Game regularly has characters switching how they stand depending on when they used certain spinning attacks. Heck, Jacky has a simple move that purposely switched how he stood so that he could mix-up which way his own spin attacks would go (in case the opponent side-stepped the wrong way). But Virtua Fighter does it really well because everything flowed together naturally... that and it is a full 3D arena fighter. This video is good. Should do a follow-up on exceptional fighting animations.

[@lrutubeusername]

Great video showing the terrible MK X animation, its just weird that it has so many dislikes. I am glad MK11 got a lot fixed. I like the stiff like animations in general that MK goes for, but XL is painfull to watch, not only in the weird poses and attack animations but the facial animation... and the eyes.. lol