Mortal Kombat 11 | Flawless Failure! Greedality!

Fighting game developers throughout the years have tried desperately to find a place among the gaming community for their games to thrive. We've seen the genre start off in a humble manner, and with basic functionality evolving into a more complicated spectacle of flash, and deeply involved mechanics. From there we've also seen the push for online competition, and casual play as well. We've seen the domination of Japanese fighters, and the rise of a select few American borne creations as well as the fall of both. What we haven't seen though is anyone in the business perfect the formula, and release a fighter that not only offers a tournament worthy challenge, but also proper value for what the consumer pays. It seems more, and more often that studios take away features that were once commonplace in a fighting game, and freely so, replacing them with blatant monetization schemes that take advantage of the community's goodwill. Fastforward to the here, and now and we find Netherrealm Studios releasing one of the most undeserving fighting games in all of fighting game history. A culmination of grind, and greed made manifest in an experience that does not take itself seriously enough.

My Favorite Fighting Games Of 2018

Often times I like to discuss things related to gaming on Twitter. I often share uploaded gameplay videos, talk about industry goings on, and even throw in my two cents worth about the direction gaming is taking. In the Twitter gaming moment I share here I briefly note the two good fighting games I enjoy. I realized I complain a lot about fighting games, and the corruption thereof, so I figured it was about time I let you know that not all was lost in the genre. I hope you enjoy the glance at this screenshot captured Twitter moment. Feel free to let me know what your favorite fighting games are.

INJUSTICE 2 (VERDICT)

Going from concerned to content I find myself greatly enjoying Netherrealm Studio's latest superhero fighting game spin-off. Everything from the story, to the online feels fair enough even though it isn't perfect, yet. There's plenty of rewarding offline content to enjoy each day, and plenty of fun to be had in the online competitive scene as well. Dare I say it, Injustice 2's online feels like a much smoother, and vastly more enjoyable experience than it's predecessor. As far as presentation goes the game itself is gorgeously rendered even on the standard PS4 console. Characters look much more appealing as do the stages, and the many special effects. Speaking of which the story was so cinematic in nature it could have easily been it's own animated film. It is that good. I liked the fact that in the story mode playthrough the player was never once subjected to mini-games. This made the story being told more cohesive, and worthy of the gamers' undivided attention. When it comes down to the details everything that Injustice 2 offered was leaps, and bounds ahead of the first game's content. It's nice to see a developer take fan feedback, and put it into production. I've even noticed that Ed Boon, and his team has tweaked boss fights so that they aren't too terribly oppressive which I'm personally thankful for. As of now Injustice 2 is my current favorite fighter, and I have already willingly sunk many hours into learning my favorite characters, completing the story, and grinding for loot. It's an experience I can easily recommend to any fighting game fan who's looking for that next worthy fighter.

Let's Talk - "Mortal Kombat X"

I had a lot of hopes riding on the release of 'Mortal Kombat X'. I hoped that it's new character variation system would be a blessing to the fighting game genre, and I hoped that it would revive my faith in the gaming genre that I grew up loving. Unfortunately as I poured hours of time into back to back playthroughs experiencing all that the game had to offer it became evident that MKX was to be another casualty in the growing trend of development half-assery. Everything from the story, to the actual kombat in the offline, and online scenarios suffered a fate worse than death. It was obvious that despite the effort put forth to push the graphics, and to make the variation system work that the game was lacking in so many ways. The roster, for one was so unbalanced with characters doing different amounts of damage per attacks, and throws that it made for a less than fair fight. That coupled with the button input delays in both the offline, and online environments only acted to add salt to the growing wound.

Mortal Kombat X - "Koncerns"

Me, and Mortal Kombat go way back, and I do mean WAY back. As an underage child I initially played the first game of Mortal Kombat in it's arcade cabinet form at Lakeshore Mall with friends when I could. This period of time in which I could do this was definitely the height of my fighting game career as it was the only time arcades really existed in the local area, and was the only time I got to experience fighting games in their natural form. It wasn't until much later that the home console version was released, and that I was able to sneak a copy of the Sega Genesis version home to play when my parents were unaware. From those two early pre-teen experiences my interest in the series peaked, and as I grew older (a good bit older) I made it a point to purchase every MK game that was launched thereafter, because of said experiences. Of course it goes without saying that some MK games were better than others as you more than likely know.

What you have to understand in regards to my later, more in-depth encounters with the Mortal Kombat series is that I grew up in a very strict christian home, and violent games of any sort were not permitted. In fact it wasn't until my 13th birthday that I was allowed to get my first fighter, "Street Fighter II: Championship Ed.", and that was only because I convinced my Mum that it had no blood or gore. I loved the ever loving hell out of that game, but that is a different story for a different time. As far as my history with MK goes it came to fruition more so in my late teen years when my parents let loose of their religious grip. It was a huge step in me being able to experience the video game industry's more mature offerings. You could say that Mortal Kombat paved the way for my video game freedom, and even opened up many more mature entertainment related adventures for myself ... Horror movies, and porn included!