Fighting Games Friday: Katching Up with the Kombatants (Updated)

The road to Mortal Kombat 11 has been refreshingly short. Developer NetherRealm Studios announced the title at The Game Awards in December last year, after rumors about its existence circulated for months (nothing stays secret for long on the internet these days). The actual reveal occurred in mid-January, and was dated for an April 23rd release. This gave the developer only a short time to reveal all the characters, meaning there’s been a barrage of news nearly every week since January. That’s good, since it’s kept the game on the minds of fans and near the front page of gaming websites.

This also means I’ve had trouble keeping up with all the reveals when there’s also been news about other fighting games to post about. NetherRealm likely made this decision because most characters are returning from previous games, and thus don’t need much of an introduction considering Mortal Kombat X released a mere four years ago. It also didn’t help that the element of surprise was ruined when the roster was leaked in two different ways: Through its Steam database and from an anonymous source on Reddit. Seeing characters in action is exciting on its own, so this didn’t dampen the enthusiasm. The game releases in a little over two weeks, so it’s time to get up to speed on the cast.

Some returning characters look nearly identical to their appearances in the previous games, but others received notable changes. One character who’s changed is Jade, who appeared in the Mortal Kombat 2011 reboot but missed the last game. She retains several of her moves, but her main appearance was altered for one big reason: She was one of several characters who died for real in MK 2011. Despite this game dealing with time travel as a not even subtle way to bring back characters from previous games, it doesn’t appear that she’ll be among them. Her grey skin in her default outfit shows her undead state, but each character has customization options, so she can be made to resemble her older self. There’s no confirmation about whether she’ll retain her old scantily-clad outfit, though, for the sake of “boner culture.”

Noob Saibot has also returned after missing the last game, though he doesn’t appear to have any significant changes. His dedicated fans would likely rage if he received too many alterations, so that’s a good thing.

Most characters revealed since the last time I posted about the game are returning from MKX, and have minor adjustments to their default appearances. This includes Johnny Cage and his (and Sonya Blade’s) daughter Cassie Cage, Jackson Briggs and his daughter Jacqui Briggs, Erron Black, and Kotal Khan. Of them, Jacqui has received the biggest changes to her appearance and character judging from the trailers, likely to address her lack of character development in the previous game’s story.

Liu Kang and Kung Lao are also both returning in the game, though with a twist. Thanks to the power of time travel, they’re returning from the past, though the “Old Skool vs. New Skool” trailer shows how their zombie forms from the current games will also be included. This also applies to other characters, like Jax, Johnny Cage, and Sonya.

Meanwhile, Cetrion joins Geras in being one of the new characters introduced in this game. She’s an elder god whose move set utilizes the power of the Earth, as insinuated by her green skin tone. Another new character is the Kollector, a four-armed blue-skinned individual who cares only for his high status with the Outworld Empire. Nostalgia is a huge selling point for fighting games, so it’s no surprise that you can count the number of brand-new characters on one hand — including non-playable (for now, at least) final boss Kronika.

Joining Shao Khan as a DLC character will be another well-known villain throughout the franchise: Shang Tsung. What’s even better here is how Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa will be reprising the role from the first Mortal Kombat film from 1995, lending his voice and likeness. It’s a shame they haven’t shown him in action, and that he’s DLC despite the game’s initial roster not being that large.

It was previously confirmed that MK11 will inherit the custom variations feature from Injustice 2, where players can customize character outfits and abilities. It was well liked outside the grind required for some equipment in Injustice 2, but the big concern was whether MK11 would allow for them to be used while fighting other players online, thanks to potential character balancing issues. It was confirmed to Game Informer in the cover feature for their May issue that they’ll indeed be scaled back for online modes, where characters will have two preset variants for techniques, somewhat similar to MKX. Fortunately, the customized outfits can still be used. Given this info and reports of the online modes working well during the beta, fighting other players through the internet may not be an issue come launch.

MK11 will be upon us in just over two weeks, and we might know the entire initial roster. My hesitance there is due to a “Revenant” version of Kitana showing up briefly in one of the trailers, though there’s currently no indication that she’s playable. If she is, she could be a DLC character. The other DLC characters, including Shao Khan and Shang Tsung, should be shown soon, and don’t be surprised if guest characters eventually join them.

Update (04/08/19): The Official TV Spot for the game confirmed that Kitana will indeed be a playable character. The bio NetherRealm provided specified that she rules Outworld as a revenant alongside the also-revenant Liu Kang, but the ad shows her old human self in action. This could mean both the human and revenant iterations (Revenant Kitana was shown in a blink-and-you’ll-miss it frame in an earlier trailer) will be included, like Liu Kang and Kung Lao. We should find this out when NetherRealm shows her off on a stream later this week.