Mortal Kombat 1 (2023)

Mortal Kombat 1 - Quick impressions after beating the story

Aight, I will be writing a full review for the game later, but as a diehard fan of the series, here are my first impressions after beating the story.

The game is really uneven, they did a lot of stuff (much) better than in MK11, but they also messed up (a lot?). This MK does a lot of stuff differently, not really better, or worse, so yeah, it's safe to say, that Liu Kang's timeline really is different.

The Bad:

• The story is really uneven, it started amazingly, but it got (much?) worse towards the end...
• ... so yeah, 2nd half of the story is pretty mid, like 5.5/10, the ending is horrible.
• The game really feels rushed in a lot of sections, at this point it's pretty certain they cut two characters (Ermac and Quan-Chi) from the base roster, and moved them to the DLC, Shang Tsung didn't need to be a pre-order character, either...
• ...Which really sucks, because the game has 22 base characters, so it's less than previous games, Kameos don't justify this, they also showcased 24 slots (1 is Shang Tsung), and talked about 24 in interviews, so it's really disappointing, I guess one Kameo is cut out, too. I feel a little cheated.
• The ending doesn't feel like an ending, the game just ends, the last boss is underwhelming as hell.
• Power level is all over the place (always has been), can't really feel any danger from the main villains, their motives and actions aren't really too fascinating.
• The tournament was pretty weird, Raiden just kicks some asses in front of Sindel, and advances further post screen, then he does nothing, after winning the whole thing.
• The story was much better, before they made any connections to the previous game, I wish it stayed like that, we really didn't need that multiverse multiple timelines bullshit.
• Some characters just disappear after they stop being important, it's like half of their plot is missing, lmao.
• No mini boss in arcade towers, the last boss is laughable, too.
• There are less customization options, you can't choose intros, or outros, less gear slots, just feels like less content.
• There is one less dialogue line when characters face each other, so yeah, conversations are shorter.
• There is less banter in general, which is boring and flat.
• Conversations between characters don't show up in towers, just what the f***? Seems like I have to play online to see them, but everyone skips them anyway, this needs a fix, like immediately...
• I didn't find any fancy towers with challenges, or modifiers, but I'm pretty sure stuff like that got moved to Invasions mode.
• Lazy trophies icons, they are all the same.
• You can't pin moves on screen, this is massively annoying and just horrible.
• Tutorials are much worse, than in MK11.
• I was hyped for Megan Fox voicing Nitara, but she is just ATROCIOUS, it feels like she recorded her voice lines on a broken iPhone during her lunch break and sent it to NRS just like that.
• I honestly feel like we had better fatalities, but it's 12th game, and I haven't seen all of them, so I don't want to judge.
• I struggled with some inputs, it has never happened before.
• Too many shops and currencies, just keep it simple, lol.

The good:

• Gameplay-wise, it's eons ahead of MK11, it just plays so good, so yeah, the most important part is polished to perfection, I will invest a lot of time in the multiplayer for sure.
• Combo potential in this game is off the rails.
• The game is just gorgeous, awesome models, beautiful animations, jaw-dropping stages.
• First half of the story is excellent.
• The game loads absurdly fast, you end up in a fight almost immediately, everything is just so smooth. Too bad we sacrificed banter for that...
• Johnny's chapter was awesome, I wanted to see the whole movie till the end.
• Amazing redesigns and reimagined characters, Reptile and Baraka are actual characters now.
• Every character is just too cool, I want to main them all, the roster is smaller, but it's amazing.
• Except Megan Fox, voice acting is really good.
• Can't tell if the story really is longer, but it felt like it.
• Kameo system is fun, it gives plenty of options, and thanks to it, we have more character representation.
• Humor is pretty on point, I smiled multiple times, lol.
• Good chemistry between characters (Kenshi and Johnny bromance is just too good).
• Characters just feel so alive and expressive, Johnny steals the show, he's just perfect.
• Fewer options to customize, but skins are very (very) high-effort and just incredible, sometimes less is more (can't even really say if it's less, I'm unlocking a lot of things, high-effort things, there are just fewer slots to customize).
• Character mastery system with cool unlocks.
• The game has that cinematic feel, it honestly feels like a movie, as it should be.
• Incredibly cool gimmicks for the last chapter (choose your fighter and hybrid enemies), that unfortunately hurt the plot.
• Transitions from character select to actual fights are badass, we sacrificed intros for them, tho.
• Invasions mode (Krypt replacement) seems just amazing, it might actually be the best post game content in the series (I loved MK11 Krypt with a passion, tho). It looks like you can unlock tons of stuff there, so my previous points about fewer cosmetics might be wrong. It looks like silly minigames and modified battles moved here, too.
• Seasonal content for invasions, good reasons to stick with the game for a long time.
• Hype DLC characters are coming (along with cut content =)).

In conclusion, they improved a lot of things, especially the gameplay, it's just awesome, and it's the most important thing. They also messed up some stuff, mostly in the story/lore department. Good news is, they can repair some mistakes with a patch (like pinning moves, or bringing conversations in towers). Some things are just handled differently, not better, or worse.

Did I have fun? Yes.

Was it worth the pre-order? Yes.

Is it better than MK11? Hard to tell at this point, I loved MK11, and I'm sentimental about it, but the gameplay of MK1 is miles ahead.

Will I spend a lot of time in MK1? Absolutely, invasions seems like endless fun, Multiplayer in MK games is always nice, Kombat league is back, and I can't wait for the DLC.

So yeah, these are my first impressions, Imma head back to playing, will post a full review in a month, or so.