The FUNDAMENTAL FLAW Of Modern Mortal Kombat

Once upon a time there was a franchise called Mortal Kombat. A really good series that; despite containing some of the most iconic characters in all of gaming has a modern history of terrible stories. I say no more. There's no reason that Mortal Kombat can't tell good stories, and there's no reason for them to accept mediocrity. The way I see it, as someone who has just recently gotten into modern Mortal Kombat, removing the most major handicap holding them back from truly great storytelling is the first step. That being the chapter system. so come Mortal Kombat 12, they need to do away with this to at least give them a slightly better chance at bringing the best out of these games. Here's hoping Ed Boon doesn't come out of the woodwork and rip my head off.
Follow me on my only official social media
realTBP

[@Taishi9208]

As a lifelong MK fan, it was refreshing to see a new fan seriously enter the series through the entry I hate the most (MK11), get inspired to learn more about the series, and reach similar conclusions regarding the game's story (as well as why that is important; you made great points for why story matters when other people can be dismissive). We can agree to disagree regarding MK11's quality, but it's nice to see that fans such as myself are not crazy if you are able to see what we see too. Thank you for that, and excellent video.

[@TBP]

Nothing irks me more than people dismissing stories in games as being unnecessary. A story is more than people talking, it's the reason that I should give a damn about your world. I'll never care about a game of Tetris the same way I cared about the ending to Infamous 2.

[@billmcdermott9647]

@@TBP I’ve seen that myself people just shrug it off as “well it’s a fighting game so who cares if the story is good ?” Which I think is a terrible thing in my opinion

[@DrDipsh1t]

@@TBP a good story is how you build a fan base which means more $$$. I remember being a kid with MK II and buying MK merchandise. Buying the movie. Hell I went out of my way to sweet talk a friend to borrow their password to stream the latest movie. Get me in my feels and you got my wallet for reals

[@emerson-biggons7078]

@@TBP John Carmack would like a word with you

[@TheMarioMan247]

@@emerson-biggons7078 Carmac said it's expected, but not needed. That alone doesn't dismiss the idea (unless you have another interview i'm unaware of) A solid set up can set up a fun game but a GREAT story (if fused with the game play well) can take it to another level

[@Burl_Hurlbutt]

I think the biggest thing that turned me off from even playing MK11's story mode, was the fact that the writing was so nonsensical in the others, that it actively made me hate characters I either liked, or was indifferent to. Raiden being the most obvious example, it just felt like the writers were dead-set on having most of the characters die, so they made Raiden an absolute dipshit to achieve that. Raiden not only seems completely brain-dead and incompetent, but almost whiny and annoying, and it just makes it utterly unbelievable that such an absolute imbecile is the one chosen protector of Earth realm. Couple that with him having multiple annoying arguments with the elder gods, in which he acts like a little kid arguing with his parents, it just made me despise him as a character, something I kind of already felt, given that his absolutely insane decision making caused all of my favorite characters to fuckin' die.

[@fatkid504]

Yeah mk x and 11 have discouraged me from even touching the story modes

[@KasumiRINA]

I need to play MK11 story if it has Raiden even MORE imbecilic than the guy who ruins everything in MK9.

[@markhirsch6301]

Same thing in 9 really, but nine also had that scene where most of the cast get destroyed and killed in a cutscene, and night wolf loses, even though you win Which is the absolute worst aspect of 9's story that you can't even win, and they think just killing characters in cutscenes makes them look good.

[@GageFilms]

You nailed the issue on the head, but one strange thing that happened in mk 11, despite all of the contrived fights the one time de'vora tells shao Kahn to his face that she killed his daughter de'vora suddenly gains plot armor and shao can't fight her. De'vora's fight with past and present scorpion also ends with her winning despite the absolute badass she is facing. For some reason de'vora gets special treatment please tell me I am not the one who noticed.

[@TBP]

You know, I never even thought twice about how D'vorah got away with taunting Shao Kahn to his face. Yeah that's horrid plot armor. Although her surviving the attack by Scorpion did not make it past me. Especially because she doesn't even show up for the rest of the game, so they had no reason to let her survive.

[@joseph2000117]

Would have been good if at that point he killed her. Make the story just a little bit interesting

[@salty3069]

@@TBP They hate my boi kotal too! They f'ed him up both in x and 11 in story :( oh you already mentioned it lol sorry

[@BrendenTait8858]

Eh it's not that big of a deal D'Vorah is a bug she's slippery and hard to kill also I mean she escaped Shao Kahn's wrath because Kronika intervened and she managed to escape Scorpion through fleeing like a mad man she didn't beat any of them but she managed to escape both of them

[@lucaswest5078]

@@BrendenTait8858 I see what you’re trying to say but from a writing point of view, which is the main issue behind this, Dvorah faces next to no consequence for anything she does in these games. She kills 2 beloved characters in MKX while giving off an ‘I’m a bad butch’ attitude & in MK11 she causes many issues all the time for the characters & is ALWAYS shown mercy or given some sort of bug escape scenario. It’s okay for people to not be okay with this especially seeing as from what I can remember, she’s the only character whose been given this treatment, at least post midway anyway.

[@Gazpacho834]

In high school there was this event where some college representatives of different fields would bring an item(s) from that specific field. One of them had a fighting video game with ok mechanics but the characters and setting just felt bland since they had no story. The playable characters contained a cyborg, soldier, robot, and I can’t remember the rest. I told these guys they need to have a story or build their world as most people will go for other titles who have similar mechanics but have a decent story or world.

[@DrDipsh1t]

Need that "it" factor. Depending on your age (I'm early 30s), there was quite a few competitors as fighting titles: DOA, tekken, MK, street fighter, with well established fan bases that are dedicated to those worlds. And that's just off the top of my head, as I'm sure there were more.

[@CoralCopperHead]

@@DrDipsh1t Also early 30s, and... I have no idea what you're talking about, personally. I believe that there are people who got attached to the 'worlds' and 'stories,' but when I was playing those games, I couldn't really care. I was (and am) more interested in character aesthetics and special moves. Any plot and worldbuilding is just a nice side-dish.

[@alamo134]

True. That's why I find it refreshing in MK9 when Kung Lao's chapter ended (with his contrived death), the player is forced to play as Liu Kang once to fight Shao Kahn before moving to the next chapter. I wish would add a twist like this if they're still insisting to use chapters for storytelling.

[@thesnipersmith3436]

So basically, keep the chapter in game but remove the part where you have to use only one character per chapter, I agree, they should use multiple characters in all chapters, not just one

[@drivanradosivic1357]

Tag team should return. Some minigames are also wanted to have. Imagine a pose off minigame of Johnny with other characters and a Chess with duels thing like earlier. possibilities are many.

[@MrLachapell]

Forget about all that , just have a cohesive story and have the player play anyone at any given moment ,

[@zero1zerolast393]

The issue is far worst than you think. Starting with mk x, they set a rule that you can only fight each character 2 in a story.

[@TBP]

I never noticed that, but I guess it makes sense because I don't remember having to fight Baraka every other fight in MKX.

[@zero1zerolast393]

@@TBP I think there are a few exception to their rule, but for the most part, they restrict themselves badly

[@levenskiberry3622]

They have to do what w b tells them to do otherwise w b will drop Netherrealm Studios so none of this is Netherrealm Studios fault

[@zero1zerolast393]

@@levenskiberry3622 I'm pressing x to doubt that. Why would they restrict them to that extant without any good reason for it?

[@ryakuthearmynekodude]

Honestly i feel if they did a story like deception, like adventure/open world where you travel around the realms with a character MADE for that mode like shujinko (i think that was his name) the story would be alot better, they could implement things from the menu into that story mode like the crypt, maybe after you finish the game you can walk around as a character of your choosing, idk, but that type of gameplay would be alot better

[@stevenwhuntva]

I was thinking this, but kern the playstyle more toward SF6's World Tour mode. I've had so much fun in World Tour.

[@badconnection4383]

Mortal Kombat is one of those franchises that has genuinely interesting lore, but poorly handled stories. I mean there is a reason why it was shocking to see Kano in Snow Blind running his apocalyptic fight club because the Kano we know is as threatening as a Fallout Raider on level 1 but that is because he is never given enough room to BECOME a threat.

[@UnrealNeoBat]

I think the problem with fighting games stories in general (Weather it be shows, movies, comic, and even games) is that they add way too many major characters in on a single story arc. I think they should build up the story by smaller arcs and each small story arc should only star 2 or 5 major characters before going to the big arc.

[@thoparchive6154]

Another problem is that you're always fighting someone every 1-3 min because the only major interacted gameplays that the players are offer are fights in (mostly) one on one in boxed arenas. Because of its genre and the interactive medium, you got to write ways to revolve lots of fights in between results to pausing or detracting from its story. It's not possible to write a compelling narrative without having a secondary gameplay.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

That really wouldn't work given the nature of fighting games.

[@diorsawaaj]

King of Fighters kinda does that with its different sagas

[@PsykohsiX]

I love Mortal Kombat to death. But the stories (especially in MK11) just didn't work because of how bad the power scaling is. This is especially exploited with the chapter system now that you bring it up. I propose two things that could help Mortal Kombat: Bring back Konquest and revamp it. Rework the Chapter system so that the chapter is only telling a story. Not dictate who you play. That way if a character you previously played obviously couldn't beat the next opponent you switch to the opponent and continue the story. This also helps give at least every base roster character a place in the story

[@theghostofsparta4528]

Shut up

[@Ishuduh]

Johnny Cage comes from a bloodline of people who literally trained to fight gods until they could straight up, well, fight gods. Thats what the green stuff is

[@entombedthrower443]

I agree. I fucking hated MK11 even tho I was so excited for it, and the worst part of the game for me was surprise, the story mode. It was just boring to me, and the pointless character swaps pissed me off even more

[@fiammaorsmth9840]

Don't forget about the very idea of implementing time travel. Sure, mirror matches. But time travel just sounds like the most basic route to go after running out of ideas.

[@depressedbreakfast2614]

@@fiammaorsmth9840 Easy cop out to gain a fresh slate for a new start.

[@brucenatelee]

What they should have done to allow the villains to win is to make it so that when you win, you technically didn't. They don't get knocked down and you don't have a quip, but they stand up and do something to imply they actually beat you, even if it's like a cheap shot or something.

[@siwap3809]

facts, sekiro does this if you beat genichiro at the beginning

[@lunanyx8592]

I stayed up all night binging your videos on Twisted Metal, God of War, and MK. As a loyal subject to the king of snarkstyle, I wanna say that your videos are unparalleled in entertainment and thought provoking content.

[@jonahhudson2052]

No reptile = not playable

[@AntiSocialismo50]

👍

[@Me-jx1mo]

When you say something so right that even Jesus agrees with you

[@jonahhudson2052]

@@Me-jx1mo It's just a fact

[@skibot9974]

6:45 I’d say Venom 2 was meant to be a comedy. Hell Sony even made a romantic comedy commercial for its DVD release

[@ZeroStako]

I agree. I believe a way that they can circumvent this would be to allow Players to make chocies. For example, being able to choose a Group of characters to follow through a story, which is tighter and contains less useless fights. Then the stories of the groups could come together to present different outlooks on the overall events, so that the narrative can become present. It would also make sense, as recently they've tried to de-antagonize Netherrealm and present their point of view, instead of just stating "Bad guys here". Alternatively, they can just make a mini-campaign for all Lead characters in the main story. That would leave out characters, which are not required for the plot, but I'm okay with that. We're at a point where not much else can happen in the world of MK, and I'd rather have cool stories, than more grand events, which force timeline resets again and again.

[@JX8424Dad]

Can’t believe only 18k subs. You are primed to blow up, and I’ll be happy to see it happens when it does. Amazing content, just keep it up.

[@depressedbreakfast2614]

My hopes for MK:12 Gameplay: • Have it play basically the same as X because for me and a lot of other people it was the most fun game to play. • Use MK11’s meter system and fatal blow mechanic (but make it be present from the start of the match and make it not come back if you miss) also maybe rework the krushing blow mechanic and include it (I thought it added a bit of spice to the gameplay) • have some way to punish projectiles to avoid zoning. Perhaps to use a projectile move it will cost 1 meter bar and to preform the amplified version of it it will cost 2. Or it could be something like: you get stunned if you use 2/3 in a certain time frame. • copy and paste injustice 2’s gear system with a few tweaks: > remove the stats on the gear, that way it is purely just cosmetic so you can make your character look however you want. > Remove the ability customization and simply give the characters all of their ability’s from the get go. > remove the ability to get duplicates and show all of the gear pieces for the character and how they can be acquired like in MK11 > remove the loot box mechanic from injustice 2. Story: •hire better qualified writers and ditch the story chapters framework. • have more moments where we can play as villains. Getting to play as the villains and wreaking the heroes was my favourite part of aftermath and it’s why I enjoyed it so much.

[@BrennySpain]

Personally both injustice games implement the story mode very well I think. Especially the second game when there’s 2 different endings and if you have to choose between 2 different characters to fight your opponents throughout certain points, it makes a lot of sense to unlock both of them. Seriously I still hope we get injustice 3 someday but if not I’ll be fine with just the 2 main games for now.

[@BrennySpain]

@George Larish true but there are a few things don’t a little bit differ as I said before…

[@theghostofsparta4528]

@George Larish who gives af

[@vondervent]

I strongly agree. My favorite modern Mortal Kombat moment was by far the first fight against Shao Kahn... it was so sudden and unexpected it broke the formula and made you play as a character outside their chapter. Really cool moment and even though the newer games do have moments like that at times, it still ultimately isn't better than a [story] mode focused on the narrative.

[@claysoggyfries]

Nothing is better than Mortal Kombat 3. (MK3,UMK3,MKT) Best engine, sprites, gameplay.

[@soktherat777]

This is honestly the main reason I rarely touch the story modes. The other issue this chapter system causes is the game ramps up difficulty as you play through the story and at times you'll get stuck playing a character you either dislike or have no idea how to play which can take you completely out of the experience. I usually just stick to the Towers or get my ass handed to me online.

[@takedatakahashi9812]

The retcons are my biggest problem they retcon thier own retcons in the same game

[@redcoat491]

I would love to see a format like MK Deception come back. I loved the way the world worked. If not, Armageddon had a good story mode.

[@wren8253]

Totally agree with all of this. It’s a shame because you can see the potential. It’s very frustrating.

[@gamer_god7312]

Tbh I really liked to PS2 trilogy of MK especially with how deep the lore going on outside the main conflict for example with DA like the stories going on with Reptile, Nitara, and Cyrax and that side story doesn’t have much to do with the Deadly Alliance duo outside the fact the duo started that story but it does it’s own thing. But cool vid tho

[@siegfriedc2332]

I agree with a lot of what's said here, but one thing that irks me about these fighting game story modes, is how the arcade/ladder modes will portray and order the end bosses in an awesome way (I.e. Shinnok's transformation, death animation, and recall MK9's boss version of Shang Tsung, and Kazumi in Tekken 7), but the story mode will suddenly make all the above so underwhelming by comparison, and u don't even fight said bosses in their given order either, and certain bosses won't even be portrayed like bosses in story either. It just feels wrong to me, especially remembering how hard these bosses were in the older games.

[@petertracycarroll]

I’m actually surprised that in the 90s and early 2000s The villains we’re more complex than they are now

[@KBXband]

I want four things from MK. 1) A means of playing the villains in Story Mode, maybe having an arc that takes place between story beats of the heroes that shows the bad guys actually winning some fights. Like Baraka and Reptile. 2) Consistency in the plot. They retconned a few things between 9 and X and between X and 11 and it frustrated me. The fact they totally rewrote characters from the OG timeline like Sindel, Jade and Scorpion means they are disregarding the OG franchise and throwing those more dynamic plots away. 3) Screw off with the chapter system like you said. Remember Konquest Mode in Deadly Alliance? It filled in all of the plot points between each character aside from the main ones like Nitara, Kenshi, Mavado etc and added more to the plot 4) STOP MAKING QUAN CHI WEAR HIS MK:DA OUTFIT. HE HAS THOSE TATTOOS FOR A REASON AND STOP MAKING QUAN CHI THE OVER-ARCING BAD GUY SCHEMER. HE DOES NOT BELONG IN MK9 AS PROMINENTLY AS HE WAS.

[@cliff402ful]

It doesn’t help that the story is so inconsistent and full of retcons. Plus the fact that the studio can’t even be consistent with their voice actors.

[@ssjduncan7682]

This KZbinr right here knows our pain, why can't netherealm see us? I mean alot of people are complaining about this, it better not be in mk12

[@depressedbreakfast2614]

It’s annoying as hell but I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t change. Just on IP alone they know that they are going to make a ton of money. In a company’s eyes why improve if you know that you have guaranteed millions no matter what.

[@petertracycarroll]

The thing I hate most about NRS is they seem to make all there characters worse people like Kung Lao used to be someone who never wanted the pressure of being the champion but was forced to give up his while life only to loose to lui kang probably destroying his entire self image but now according to Neatheralm he’s a lazy stuck up A hole who skipped classes and everyone hates the whole point of Kung Lao is that he worked just as hard maybe even harder than Lui Kang to honour his ancestors and it still wasn’t enough why should we care or feel sorry for him if it turns out he never even tried There’s also Rain who’s just a wasted character in the old timeline he went from Anti hero to villain with little context but in the Neatheralm era he’s just a villain when him as an anti hero was honestly the most interesting And then there’s Kabal who was actually handled really well in MK9 but was absolutely demolished in MK11 they basically took mavados personality and gave it to Kabal so instead of being a redeemed black dragon who cares about his friends he’s just a scumbag trying to make quick money And I don’t even need to say anything about Sindel

[@monsieurm3989]

As a life long MK fan I have no disagreements here. Just about everything you mentioned rings true. There is so much potential for this characters and antagonists that get thrown aside so this character for this chapter can slap this guy to pad out the story

[@jmaster4941]

You know it's bad when a new fan like you and a longtime fan like The4thSnake agree about how bad the chapter system is. Just let me play as the villains please! Also nice to see that you found Stryker's chapter enjoyable. It made sense for him to fight threat after threat because he's a SWAT officer in a warzone. He's my favorite character and they did him justice.

[@SaviorGabriel]

I'm starting to think that the longer MK goes on, the more I hate it's story. It's a shame as I always felt MK's story in its early days contributed so much to its success. It was rather deep for its time, but easy enough to follow. Now I feel it's getting too convoluted.

[@patrickkanas3874]

In all fairness to Johnny and Cassie beating Shinnok in MKX, Johnny explains that it turns out he's descended from a special race of humans that were bred by the elder gods. Because of this him and Cassie have that green shade ability, which allows them to overcome the power of the elder gods

[@fightingmedialounge519]

Not much better to be honest.

[@BronzetheGolden]

Doesn't work on lesser beings Absolute nonesense. Midway Timeline better

[@banjo9158]

Something that doesn't have too much to do with the video, but still does: i wish you could talk more about what you think about the story of the 3d era games, deadly alliance, deception and armageddon, what do you think about their takes on story modes, how it could be improved to a new game, what do you think about their stories, compare if their better or worse than the modern era MK games story mode, etc...

[@etoxedge8736]

since you binged the whole series, I'm curious if you think the personalized stories (Shujinko in Deception or Taven in Armagedon for example) were better formats? Yes konquest in of itself didn't tell us what was going on with everyone but it told us what we needed to know

[@TBP]

You misunderstand. I binged "most" of the series. I played Armageddon, but Deception is still on the list

[@crimsoneye575]

The story and gameplay in a story mode should complement each other, the way I see it. Create unique gameplay situations within the story mode, else it's just arcade mode with lots of cutscenes.

[@nicks288]

All I want still is Shaolin Monks 2. Or a remake of the original.

[@tomcurl8034]

My biggest complaint about Mortal Kombat 11 is that Cyrax Instead of becoming a permanent ally and full playable character just mimics his sacrifice from the Mortal Kombat 10 comics which in that context is justified because at the time there was no way to undo his cyber conversion but considering the time bending shenanigans of that game he should have fought for his humanity and both he and sector should have been fully playable and cyrax should have fought for his agency as a person and his humanity instead of self sacrifice again like in the comics because now there was hope to help him

[@Chanceislink]

I would also say that the constent use of the 2d era instead of the 3d era is also a problem

[@TBP]

I appreciate the fact that they've made a bunch of new characters in the past few games. But they definitely should have been better about blending the eras after MK9. I didn't even know who Nitara was when I saw the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie.

[@zakeermcconnell388]

@George Larish just say you never played it dude.😐

[@mrAPchem]

This video is spot-on. Not only is it the case that most people do not use Story Mode to help them decide what character to play as their main, but even for the people that do use Story mode for that purpose, MK11 had not only a Practice Mode, but individual Character Towers and Character Tutorials for everyone in the game, which are much better options for picking a main. Furthermore, looking at Mortal Kombat's movies, I can't think of a single character that had two consecutive fights, let alone four of them. Even though certain characters might have had four fights, they were all spread out as needed to fit the story, not the other way around. It wasn't until MK11's Aftermath DLC that any of the villains felt legitimately powerful - because they actually won fights for the first time!! If NRS is hell-bent on character chapter-mode style narratives in their Story modes, the best way for them to do that would be to have a two-tiered system, like what we currently have in MK11, in which players can choose between playing the main story (that hopefully would not be character chapter based) or playing individual character arcs that explain each character's backstory (good and bad guys) as well as their unique contribution to the events of the story. Mortal Kombat has the very best lore in all of fighting games, but if it continues to use this antiquated chapter system, that statement will no longer be true.

[@andrewmettler2228]

The Vita version of MK9 (yeah, there was a Vita version of MK9, yes, it is very good, and yes, I own a Vita) had these things called challenge towers where each fight was basically a different challenge, like, beat this guy without getting hit, or dodge King Lao's hats 10 times, or whatever. I think something like those could be a cool way of letting the player experience every fighter to try and find a main, kind of like what story mode is in ostensibly for. Just make it less like a series of mini-games and more like maybe one-off fights that actually teach you the fighters. (They may have already done this in 10 or 11, I don't know, I haven't played those.)

[@andrewmettler2228]

It occurs to me that I'm basically describing the regular tower mode. It sounded like a great idea in my head though.

[@Superhermit]

Interesting assessment. I love the lore and story of the behind the games, but often disappointed or underwhelmed after. But what is your thoughts on fixing this issue? Playing only as one or two characters like Shaolin monks would be cool if they could make both 2D+ 3D fighting work. Or even take another stab at a Mythologies style 2D fighter quest. I would appreciate if you can revisit this topic in comparison to other fighters like Tekken, Street Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom. Fighter games that had a narrative behind the scenes, but until recently, just got a real story mode in the latest entries.

[@AmyraCarter]

I've not played the majority of MK games (I'm terrible at them and fighting games in general), but story mode should be reserved for other games, and have character stories be told as a sideshow, kinda like how it was done originally.

[@nikboyd8636]

That is a valid criticism but first they actually have to write a good story without time travel before they can do that

[@pauliewalnuts829]

I wish MK would have an RPG like campaign like Deception.

[@kalega311]

I don't think the chapter system limitation is bad. It's a fighting game. If you want a different style of narrative w/ MK characters, then you'll need a different genre of game. Unless NRS does something like Konquest mode again. But I'm all for an MK WRPG or Metroidvania.

[@ManiacMayhem7256]

It's bad in how it limits you to one character. Did you not watch the video?

[@yunehversomi1458]

You have to wonder how any of the fighters with no onscreen wins still have the confidence to strut around like hot shit and talk smack. The moment Kano sees Sonya or anybody else, he should be high tailing it out of there.

[@stefanradebach2889]

I honestly can't help but feel like NetherRealm Studios, for some reason, has a strong dislike for the 3D era of MK hardly any character there outside of Kenshin is explored and it became REALLY apparent when instead of having the next major villain be like Onaga they instead invent Kronika and the "titans" thing out-of-nowhere who serves basically as a plot device to reset the timeline after only THREE GAMES just to avoid doing anything from the 3D era. It also doesn't help that they don't even care what they are writing about because THEY WILL more often than not retcon things like character backstories, plot elements and even characters themselves like with Sindel that showcases the lack of respect they have for the things they write about which makes it impossible for anyone to care about the stories, characters and the writing if nothing ever matters.

[@ragnarok1984p]

Chapter system can go , what needs to return are skimpy outfits for female fighters like they had in older games and partly in MK9 (them bandages Mileena wore) So they can add another nonsensical reason for Cassie and Jacquie to fight when they report for duty wearing tactical micro-bikinies of the same color it should go down like this : Cassie: OMG Jacquie I thought we agreed that I wear olive-drab on mondays and you wear navy blue WTF girl ? Jacquie: Well "girl" I decided I look stunning in olive-drab and decided to wear it all day every day navy blue and that other stuff would look better on you pale ass anyway Cassie-doll . Cassie: Doll? I get you want to wear what you think looks good on you given that the choices for that are limited but you couldn't even call to tell me you're such a bi*ch. and so on and on you get the gist until they FIGHT. Also damage effects from MK9 could make a comeback maybe not open wounds where you can see the bone but torn clothes ruffed up hair and bruises would be fine detail that the character is in a fight getting worse with damage taken instead them looking pristine before and after the fight they won with minimum health left .

[@KasualZenkai]

13:35 the actual biggest plot hole is that Kronika exists at all in Aftermath. Kronika is a Titan which apparently exist outside time meaning that if she was killed by Liu Kang in the original story mode then Kronika shouldn't actually be in aftermath at all

[@dr.feelgoodmalusphillips2475]

On the writers being that incompetent to write a decent story part. If you saw what they did to Sindel and the retcons on characters making up their mind on who killed Jerrod, there's your answer.

[@wintersoldier164]

i really wish to play the midway games. I grew up playing only mk 9 and mk 11. I still love the series, and heard about the things in the older games, but i wish i could experience them first hand

[@slumpedzen]

After being a fan for over a decade I PRAISE you for this I’ve been thinking this for so long nrs is fumbling😭 another thing in the story they really need to learn is when a character takes an L after you beat them that doesn’t mean they have to take the L in the actual story some characters like kotal khan wouldn’t be so much of a joke if this was the case

[@Kitsune-ur6vz]

Your explanation really displays the issue they also have with power scaling the characters. As you said, having a character be dominant for 4-5 fights and then all of a sudden getting their asses handed to them (sometimes by a character they already beat) really messes up the idea of which character is fundamentally stroner than the other. Would you mind doing a video on what you think the powerscaling for these characters should be like in your opinion.

[@nigelbhebhe2805]

I think Nether Realm f*cked up by having Liu Kang as the time keeper, because gow else is the One Being going to be established if at all?

[@armorbearer9702]

They need to start building on the storymode. They need to have the cutscenes and minigames affect the story. For example, there is a fight in Injustice between Deathstroke & Shazam. Before the fight, Deathstroke exploded a landmine on Shazam. Shazam should start with 95% health to show he took damage from the bomb.

[@Perdix64]

I do sorta feel like Street Fighter 6 might finally break that with the City Tour mode.

[@tristanjones7682]

Speaking of which will it be possible to check out the tekken series in the future?

[@KasumiRINA]

MK9 revolutionized fighting game storytelling with that chapter system, at first I hated it but after playing MKX I "got" what 9 was trying to say. MOST other fighting games followed with that as prior their stories were arcade mode with maybe a unique semiboss and ending, sometimes prologue (see Tekken, SoulCalibur, Dead or Alive), and chapters let you make a cohesive story without having the player guess order of endings and how canon each is. I think DoA5 and Injustice did it the best, and Tekken 7 done it the worst... interestingly, by actually putting story forward it meant you play half the game as Heihachi (who's one of my mains), and some battles with randos... other characters got NO role in main story just separate one stage with a cutscene... that was horrid, and made me want classic arcade-like story mode in fighting games back... MK just rolls with what worked before as they have a good experience with running franchise to the ground... thrice.

[@Harvey_Mod]

This was well put. I've always been a fan of the MK lore but yeah, the chapter system ought to go to allow better story telling

[@chrisbuttonshaw2088]

I agree to a point. The chapter system needs to stop the RULE of "MUST BE 4 FIGHTS & IN A ROW". if they randomized the layout of length and & when it would work better.

[@skyslasher2297]

8:33 Except its worse since you can still justify the 4 fights options without having Scorpion jump the gun by just having us fight Frost in the flashback then Sub-Zero and replace one of the SF fights with Divorah then fight Quanchi and kill him

[@ChaseSchleich]

I wish they'd give us a 3D space to explore in the story mode. Let us actually move around the world. Now that the series has been rebooted, have MK12 take place on Shang-Tsungs island during an MK tournament. Make the story an actual tournament and allow us to explore the island. There could be a bunch of stuff to collect like skins, brutalities, banners, icons, etc... It would require a greatly expanded and malleable to make it possible, but i think it's possible.

[@Wolfie_wolf94]

I wish they could go back to the conquest style story mode like deception and Armageddon had

[@spaghettidude2984]

Lowkey wish they'd give another chance to the "konquest". In my opinion, the mk universe in deception's "konquest" had the most charm of any game combined.

[@charleschamp9826]

If character and story did not matter in fighting games then that whole Functions quote from Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite would not have made anyone upset and the most popular fighting game would probably be some fighter maker on Steam or something. Also I don't hate time travel stories in and of theirselves, but more how they're used to reset a bunch of shit. Makes the events of previous games feel like they suddenly weren't worth keeping up with cause any and all pay off they could have had is now out the window. Look at Scorpion for example, having him be reverted back to normal, then have to figure out how to be a person again while dealing with the repercussions of what he did while under that idiot Quan-Chi's thrall could have been interesting. But no, a game into that they kill Hanzo off, then bring a Scorpion that's still a subservient revenant, and act like "Hey look, your favorite is back!" like it's something to celebrate. I'm a Sonic fan, I'm used to characters being stagnant, but Jesus Christ.

[@ko55579]

PS2 Mortal Kombat did the stories modes the best. Soulcalibur VI is the best modern fighting game.

[@UnrealNeoBat]

1:40 If it weren't for Mk vs DC there would be no Injustice or future MK games.

[@doppelgangerfa2920]

The worst part of the chapter system is how the characters don't get hurt at all during the fights which defeats the whole purpose of playing mk in the first place

[@LightgunLegends]

Appreciate your comment air, but have to say Since MK9 story modes have been amazing and watched and played them multiple times. Overthinking these things lessens the enjoyment. Of the greatest story mode in video games.

[@Uber_Rush]

might be a lil controversal but I liked they way deception had is story mode being a bit of an open world , course I haven't played it for years so I could be wrong

[@fireflyhighh]

I really do not get why they dont get rid of the chapter system and just... have a combo trial mode? Mk is the only popular modern fighting game that i know of that doesnt have this. I feel like that is a much better solution to getting people to actually learn the characters than what is currently there. This also allows the story mode to actually have a real story lol

[@Tyler-kc6qc]

You should try playing Mortal Kombat Armageddon story mode. In my honest opinion it's the only example of MK story mode done right. (If you haven't already)

[@tomcurl8034]

Story mode definitely needs to do better about giving the antagonists time to shine as both characters and as fighters

[@1fulsniperlegend]

How does one do a story mode in the games if not from the chapter system they did a rpg mode in deception but that was on one character a new character in the series, great video i just wonder how does one do a story mode in these types of games

[@TheIkranRider]

You are so right on on this. The chapter system does need to go if it's not done proper justice! I mean the reboot was just awful! It can make Sonic Heroes or Sonic Adventure be experts. The thing is they need to think of a story and characters first and then add in the flights later, and make filler that matters, but is always terrible especially in anime! And by the way I am actually a fan fiction writer and most of my podfics can be found here about Mortal Kombat. I hope you did a follow-up video on MK1 which I'm sure is just as awful.

[@aaronatkinson177]

mortal kombat should have stayed in the hands of midway if only they didn't go out of business and the mortal kombat license was handed over to neitherrelam

[@billmcdermott9647]

Send this to Ed Boon

[@alang.bandala8863]

Why da fuck every AAA game tried tk be a Hollywood movie?

[@Overlord367]

moral combat story in a nut shell:punch it.that not working?punch it again!still not working?!….well I’ve done all I can do.

[@lextonmanakaja6283]

Should have used Scorpion to get passed Motaro.😁

[@kinskins1538]

I think what you want is something similar to Street Fighter V cinematic story mode where you change character every round. In theory it should tell a more cohesive story and jobbers would be completely eliminated, and while that is true for the most part in SFV's case, the gameplay itself just isn't fun. That's why I prefer NRS way of prioritizing gameplay over the story, at the end of the day it's still video game first. Shifting characters every round is very disorienting, as a result it's almost impossible to get interested in the story. While NRS stories suffered because of the chapter system, it sure as hell made us engage on the story regardless of the quality.

[@WEAREALLJUSTMEAT]

deception did it best with shujinkos shape-shifting ability

[@callisoncaffrey]

I had to completely opposite opinion. You've made a good point though. I'm convinced. I'll be voting for you in the midterms.

[@mkarg5012]

What would make something interesting to my eyes would be a system where they allow sub-stories written by only a small team and focusing on lesser character to give them more depth and also stretch out the universe. But instead of being one smaller character would be a group where you jump from one character in a single fight to another and so on until you reach some kind of boss. Since it's mk it would be bangers is these smaller character could actually die and kill others (like a one-off) or just make the boss of the chapter a fan favorite that would inevitable mean that they're set to die by the end.

[@mkarg5012]

Mk has a lot of smaller and fan-hated characters that could easily become something more interesting if at least they would get a moment of shine. Like in mk deception where you learn to play evil characters but story wise those are mentors to the protagonist. If they where to stick to these linear storie mode one off then make at least 2 chapters focusing on evil characters to prove how they're winning, hell, you can even make the starting chapters about evil dudes but besides. A system where a writer has freedom to tell a specific story for a small group could be more easily creative and also allow for more interesting plot points that would be in pair whit the "main story" and will make players wonder "Wich one is canon"

[@paws-h8p]

I never thought of it this way dude, but you make some solid points for sure.

[@gropatapouf5998]

I absolutely love the chapter system, fan of it. I quit MK because MKX was my favourite story wise. They introduced new cool kids, Liu Kang was finally awesome as an undead Emperor, Hanzo and Kuai finally got to an agreement, huge fan. And my favourite character finally matures and got the main attention: my elder Johnny. Then MK11 throw everything in the dumpster. And MK1 r*ped the dumpster. Goodbye netherrealm.

[@alphagirl5212]

Really want to know your thoughts with MK 1 now that its out

[@thegeekhustler]

I hope we don't get Fire God Liu Kang's story in MK12. We already had two-ish reboots, of some sorts. Great writers can redeem just about any character, 2D Era or 3D. If we had Fujin and Raiden trying to undo Shang Tsung's conquest of all realms, it can be a crazy way to progress this new-ish storyline.

[@Csumbi]

agree with the chapter system removal, though to me the franchise has other major problems, lore wise, gameplay wise, and many others that would be too long to list here. I am a long time MK fan, but the last 2 games killed almost every bit of enthusiasm i had for the franchise. Unless they do something mindblowing, like bringing back Kreate a Fighter or letting go of the chase for realistic graphics and embracing the stylized world like SF6 did, im just not that interested in the future of MK anymore, it has been ruined in my eyes. But at least there are the classic games that retain the spirit of MK.

[@inferior3199]

As far as I know Venom 2 did try to lean on a more comedic tone from what I remember. Some commented how that might have been influenced from the tone of some of Venoms comics in the 80s and 90s.

[@JohnWilliams-wl9px]

it was Venom flat out as a character is goofy. I don't like the films but I have admit Venom himself is accurately portrayed.

[@ObliviousAdobo]

Scorpion's Revenge was just some mediocre fan service retelling, I think BOTR was the better movie overall. Biggest issue I have with Scorpion's Revenge was most of the story changes felt frivolously moot or lame or dumb similar to a lot of MK9's story problems. BOTR actually stays much more faithful to the games' stories and didn't just feel like it was trying to circle jerk fans with the title character like Scorpion's Revenge.

[@scottchaison1001]

Don't say stupid things.

[@fatkid504]

It's such a let down. I'm sure with most fans the lore of mk is super cool and interesting to see but the hard left into time travel and time warping just put em in the corner with mk9. I skip the stories now cause I'm just not into it. They lost that darkness aspect that the earlier games had. Idk I think they need another redo on the path they took story wise

[@depressedbreakfast2614]

Considering the ending of Aftermath that’s exactly what we’re getting, a fresh start, different than anything we’ve gotten before. Let’s hope they can stick the landing.

[@MildlyAggressiveOni]

If they absolutely have to keep the character chapter system, I’d prefer if it’d function closer to Soul Caliber 6, with a main story that only focuses on a small portion of characters, but then every character gets their own individual stories. This hypothetically could actually make villain characters seem threatening, and give characters less important in the main story their own time to shine.

[@kizunadragon9]

interesting take. Most people praise MK's story and how they gave a fighting game an actual narrative.