Fighting Games Friday: It’s Mortal Kombat! 12! Minus 11!

There was no one online in the gaming sphere who didn’t know that a new Mortal Kombat game was coming. If hints from franchise co-creator Ed Boon didn’t push it into worst-kept secret territory last year — notably the 30th anniversary year — Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav outright confirming it was coming during a financial briefing firmly placed it there. It was one of the most boring ways to confirm a game’s existence. But it speaks to the continued popularity of the franchise that the reveal generated much excitement regardless, with an all-CG trailer at that.

Mortal Kombat 1 is, as the name implies, yet another alternate retelling of the old Mortal Kombat tale through a different universe. The story plan was teased in the ending and especially the downloadable content campaign from Mortal Kombat 11, in which Liu Kang becomes the Fire God and is entrusted with a new future for Earthrealm by Raiden. It perhaps says something about the franchise when its story needs to be rebooted twice, but this isn’t a surprising development. When the previous exploration of another reality was poplar enough to relaunch a franchise with the 2011 Mortal Kombat installment, it’s worth doing it again. This is also a good move for marketing purposes, because the fighting game audience loves familiarity and NetherRealm Studios has a new cutthroat batch of leadership atop Warner Bros. Discovery to impress.

The trailer may not show any gameplay, but Netherrealm made sure to release a trailer that would impress fans regardless through the characters shown. In addition to Liu Kang himself and Great Kung Lao, the ancestor of the Kung Lao most fans know, shown in MK11’s ending, a mortal Raiden, Kitana, Mileena (shown to still have monstrous teeth, if anyone was concerned), Scorpion, and Sub-Zero were shown. Johnny Cage was also confirmed, who will have a Jean-Claude Van Damme skin as an homage to the franchise’s one-time origins as a Bloodsport game adaptation. (Capcom should be taking notes to include this option for Guile in Street Fighter 6.) Shang Tsung will also be included as pre-order DLC, and details imply that he won’t be unlockable as an option.

Hints regarding how NetherRealm won’t simply be telling the same story yet again are all over the teaser trailer, beyond the aforementioned changes for Liu Kang, Raiden, and the Great Kung Lao. Both Scorpion and Sub-Zero are shown to be wearing Lin Kuei badges, suggesting that they’re allies. The Internet Streets seem to believe that Kitana and Mileena’s positionings in the carriage implies that the latter is the heir to the throne while the former is on guard duty. Note the uncertainty there, because it’s tough to tell precisely how things will turn out. But I certainly hope the team is willing to subvert story expectations.

Additionally, Amazon Italy might have leaked a bunch of characters coming as part of the first season of DLC, which will include Quan Chi, Ermac, and Takeda, with guest characters Homelander (from The Boys), Omni Man (from Invincible), and Peacemaker (from… Peacemaker). They should all fit in well for the game, but it’s surprising to see so many of them as part of the first season. The Kameo assist characters will include Tremor, Johnny Cage, Khameleon, Mavado, and Ferra. This perhaps implies that Cage will be part of the main roster and a Kameo character, maybe different versions of him like The King of Fighters’ Strikers.

Mortal Kombat 1 is set to release on September 19th, making for as quick a period between announcement and release as MK11 before it. The game will release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, skipping PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, on PC courtesy of QLoc Interactive, and Nintendo Switch courtesy of Shiver Entertainment and Saber Interactive. You know a port for a considerably less powerful console has to turn out well if two companies are handling it. Hopefully it’s better than some infamous handheld MK ports. Gameplay showing more of the gore teased in the trailer and just how the Kameo assist mode will work should be shown shortly, because it’s not like they’ll have much time before September.

Asuka R. Kreutz was confirmed for Guilty Gear Strive after being heavily hinted by Arc System Works for a couple of months, and is planned to arrive on May 25th. The character arriving is no surprise, but it’s a big deal that the mysterious person once known only as “That Man” will finally be playable after being merely referenced throughout the franchise for so many years.

Arc appears to have made sure that a character so powerful and mysterious wouldn’t be easy to play. It’s hinted in the character trailer, but the gameplay video and the tutorial-ish starter guide fully show how complicated his move set will be. It’s like they listened to all the people who thought Strive was too easy to play, and are offering a character who channels the Blazblue franchise.

No Skullgirl is complete without her skeletons, and Marie has brought plenty of friends along with her!

Is it just me or do these skele-buddies seem to have a bit more personality than her boss mode minions…?#Skullgirls #SkullgirlsMarie pic.twitter.com/zzWr0urndd

— Skullgirls (@Skullgirls) May 18, 2023

Marie is finally being shown off in Skullgirls through social media videos. I won’t even pretend to know much about Skullgirls outside playing it a few times, but it’s still worth acknowledging how remarkable it is that a fighting game released over a decade ago, at a time when Street Fighter IV was still hot, is still being supported with content. Future Club plans to demonstrate their development progress with her through a series of videos from here on.

Sylvie Paula Paula is the newest downloadable character to release as part of The King of Fighters XV’s second Season Pass this week, who looks pretty similar to her The King of Fighters XIV iteration outside new threads which are far easier on the eyes. (Her old outfit and color scheme is also available.) I won’t pretend to know much about how she plays either, because I struggled to wrap my head around her move set in KOFXIV. I do know that a portion of the SNK fanbase hates her with a burning passion, though she is a villain in the storyline.

All the news from just this week alone shows how great of a time this is for fighting games, beyond three massive games in the genre being due for release over the next year. It will be a fun time. It will be an even more fun time to try and find opportunities to learn how to play all of them as a working adult.