Fighting Games Friday: The Aftermath of Kombat Time

There hasn’t been much fighting game news in the last few months, something undoubtedly tied to the current COVID-19 pandemic. It’s been a grim reaper for fighting game tournaments this year due to the trouble with holding gatherings. This is less because they fear sick people will attend (though that can be a problem with types who don’t want to miss specific in-person tournaments for the world) and more due to carriers who don’t even know they have it potentially spreading it. Better safe than sorry. Developers and publishers have been forced to make their announcements online now because of this. Most weeks have been empty, but this was one was actually a bit crowded.

NetherRealm Studios, it turns out, isn’t done releasing Mortal Kombat 11 downloadable content kontent following the material released through the season pass, hence the announcement of the Aftermath expanision this week. The main attraction this time around will be additional story content that will provide more background on what happens with characters like Shang Tsung, Raiden, and Liu Kang following the main game’s story. Sheeva and Fujin will also return, and will be playable characters in all modes. They’ve received updated looks, but classic-ish equipment sets should be included for in-game purchases.

I haven’t played through MK11’s story, so I can’t begin to tell you how open its ending actually was for an expansion. But it’s a testament to how well NetherRealm’s fighting game stories have resonated with an audience with the MK games (and Injustice titles, by extension) that they’re providing more through DLC. No other fighting game developer has presented stories anywhere near as well, though not for lack of trying. Street Fighter V’s didn’t quite nail it, while the Guilty Gear Xrd series’ might have been too “anime” for the larger audience.

The newest character receiving the most attention here is another guest: Robocop. To be specific, this is the most popular incarnation of Robocop from the late 80s/early 90s films, with Peter Weller reprising the role. Good thing Weller isn’t as popular as Arnold Schwarzenegger, the latter of whom did not reprise the voice of the Terminator in this game. But that shouldn’t ruin the inevitable Robocop vs. Terminator matches that will happen by the dozens as soon as Robocop arrives. Feel free to swap the Terminator there for Spawn, but it’s a real shame those Ash Williams rumors didn’t pan out, perhaps due to a licensing deal that collapsed behind the scenes.

Other new content will include new stages, the return of Stage Fatalities in certain stages that can be triggered at the end of a match, and, best of all, the return of Friendships. They look so good that  Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon couldn’t help but share one in GIF form, and I can’t blame him.

Aftermath will arrive on May 26th, a mere two weeks from Tuesday, as a separate download and a retail release that will include all the content so far. Some of you might still be under stay-at-home orders by that time, so you might have a good opportunity to try it out. MK11 is, thankfully, one of the fighting games with actually-solid online play, so it should go without a hitch.

Ultra Instinct Goku will arrive as a DLC character for Dragon Ball FighterZ on May 22nd (that’s two weeks from today), the second character arriving as part of this third FighterZ Pass following Kefla. This is the most powerful canonical incarnation of Goku yet, not including fusions, which might justify how they’re providing yet another iteration of Goku — the sixth, if you’re keeping count and include Goku Black. The short teaser doesn’t show much of UI Goku’s move set, even less than the usual character trailer, but it does show his Akuma-like pose for his win stance. Shun Goku Satsu indeed.

Iroha, previously announced as a DLC character at Evo Japan, will arrive in Samurai Shodown on May 13th — next Wednesday. She represents how development priorities can shift over time, from the point where game director Nobiyuki Kuroki said she wouldn’t be made available initially in this game due to her outfit and character type contrasting with the tone. Needless to say, they got flexible. They haven’t toned down her outfit fanservice one bit (no surprise in a game where they increased Charlotte’s), but we’ll see if she still refers to the player as their servant, as she did in Samurai Shodown VI. Truly, they held nothing back.

This was a busy week for news compared to previous weeks, despite how only one of these came close to qualifying as “big.” Whether this pace will be maintained in lieu of tournaments and E3 2020 remains to be seen. If not, I’ll have some editorials ready in place of them, similar to previous weeks.