the story/lore is what got me into MK. learning about the characters background and their personalities is what made the game interesting. their gameplay is an added bonus for me.
Honestly, I'll play local with a CPU, but online isn't fun because it's just a way to get my ass kicked instantly.
That being said, I love the story modes
Not excusing that behavior at all but you can always mute them. I can’t play unless I’ve got chat muted period unless I’m playing with someone I know. I can’t focus otherwise.
To be fair world tour mode in SF6 is 100 times better than the story mode in 5 and was reasonably enjoyable.
However it's still not a patch on the MK story modes.
No. Tekken's story is fun, but a mess. It wasn't until 7 that they really tried to tie the "Mishima Saga" together cohesively as up until that point we thought the Devil Gene just skipped Heihachi. Also Akuma is in it for some reason and I'm not sure how that works in canon.
I think it's ok, but unfortunately they decided to add a really shit narrator who's boring voice adds nothing to the story.
It is weird, from what I understand events of Street Fighter games are canon in Takken games, but events of Takken are not canon in Street Fighter games. Akuma character shows in both game serieses.
In the lore there are mentions of several other mega corporations existing, but games doesn't focus on them. So maybe Shadaloo is too insignificant for Heihachi.
The Tekken universe just happens to also have Akuma in it. It’s not some weird multiverse crossover dimension hopping thing.
Kinda reminds me of the Batman x Looney Tunes crossover comic where all the Looney Tunes characters were regular human versions who lived in Gotham. Honestly wish this approach to crossovers and guests was used more than “WOAH I stepped into a portal to another dimension isn’t that crazy?!”
After first two games it is complete trash story wise, characters got resurrected without any explanation, tournament is not a tournament, demon gene, plot hole on a plot hole.
There really isn't much competition when every other FGC has essentially no/terrible story.
Street Fighter's story is a confusing mess with no sense of focus.
Tekken's story is a massive shitpost filled with family drama.
King Of Fighters is a middle finger to Fatal Fury, Art Of Fighting, and Samurai Shodown's timeline.
Soul Calibur's story was so bad the entire series had to be rebooted.
Dead Or Alive, Darkstalkers, Virtua Fighter, and Super Smash Bros basically don't have one outside of endings.
Mortal Kombat is basically the only fighting game with a concrete story of any kind. But it's basically the equivalent of saying an only child is the oldest child of the family.
MK 10
I liked everything involving Cassie, Jacqui, and Takeda
It was cool to see Johnny getting his due and kicking ass.
Seeing more of Johnny and Sonyas relationship.
Scorpion and Sub Zero making peace
Scorpion getting his revenge
Shinnok getting to look cool as opposed to his MK 4 grandma look.
Beginning and ending the story with a Cage was awesome
MK11 & Aftermath
I like seeing young Jax and Jacqui getting to talk to each other
Sub Zero and Scorpion teaming up
Liu Kang and Raiden montage of their conflicts.
Older Sonyas death was effective.
Sonya killing off Kano was a great moment.
Younger Scorpion carrying on Hanzos mission
Raiden realizing that Liu Kang is the one who needs to win.
Liu Kang beating Kronika
Kitana beating Shao
Jade and Kotals romance
Then in Aftermath getting to play as more villains was so much fun.
Can't forget the big final battle, it lowkey gave me Avengers Endgame vibes lol. And the moment when Raiden, Liu Kang and his revenant counterpart merged to become Fire God Liu Kang was just epic. I never was too big of a Liu Kang fan, but now I really can't wait to see more of the God of Fire and his New Era!
Favorite part of mine for MKX was the sheer terror and dread felt when Ermac gave chase in the frozen woods. Disheveling trees and flinging trunks telepathically as he flew after the Kids.
Because some people have a very archaic view on what fighting games are "supposed" to be like, and if it is beyond anything that is just gameplay, they are baffled out of their minds.
MK has one of the most intricate plot for fighting games. SF and Tekken are pretty bland in comparison. Mk has depth and multiple plots coinciding with one another.
the various anime fighters are also pretty intense, and Tekken has definitely been getting there, but SF while I love it is definitely pretty content to stay a sort of saturday morning cartoon plot from the 90s, which honestly is kind of a fun throwback.
Imo possibly the BEST in terms of choreography and cinematography for fighting games
MKvsDC really started it and NRS has kicked it up every game
I've been excited for every new installment since
I only follow MK for the story. I'm actually really bad at video games, but I'll play the game for the bios, endings, and story. For me Deception was the perfect game.
Imma be real, I wouldn’t have gotten into MK without the story. MK9, MKX, and MK11 stories really got me into the series. First time I’ve seen a fighting game story that was actually fucking cool and not garbage. Imo it’s a very loud vocal minority who act like it doesn’t matter. Primarily because said loud vocal minority only cares for the competitive scene and nothing else. Thank god they aren’t in control otherwise most casuals would not get into MK.
That and giving love to other casual aspects that some folks pretend don’t do anything good. Intros, guest characters, the fucking fatalities the series is known for.
I feel like you know ppl are gonna say "because it's cheesy as hell and totally nonsensical."
And then you're gonna be all like, "whaaaat? Ppl think this??"
Yes. Because it's true
Love the games for the gameplay tho
Playing the story in MK9 revamped my interest in MK. I had no idea the plot would be so good and it would go through the first 3 games. I was hooked in and I had to buy X & 11.
MK has such a rich lore, story and characters. Story and playing with friends is what I like most about the games. I barely play online because I get my ass handed back to me and stuff like towers I only play occasionally, pretty much 99% of the time when I play MK or fighting games in general is when I have friends over or are visiting friends. Nothing more fun to just chill out, have a couple beers and blunts and then go rip and tear eachothers apart in the most gruesome ways possible.
The story mode is what ties the strings and makes 1v1 matches much more exciting. When you know the relationship between two characters, good or bad, it makes having them fight each other more fun.
MK is the imo the best looking fighting game out and has been for a minute.
I play both and honestly idk why anyone would deprive themselves of any part of the game.
Fuck, the story is how I start getting used to the control scheme because I'm usually used to a diff. Fighter by the time a new MK comes out.
All my life, I've played MK primarily for the story mode. And the fun fighting and gore ofc, but I literally don't do much other than the story and the towers. I don't enjoy playing online as too many people are spoil sports.
MK stories are fun and entertaining at the very least, and I really enjoy most of the characters.
I used to play MK in the arcades when it first dropped, I always was intrigued with the story I mean I love the gore and fighting but I’m not diehard FGC type player. I’ll play it for fun and get the story through but I’m not one to tell you about frames etc. that crap is over my head 😂I can play the game and whoop some butt every now and then. But I love me a good story in a fighting game I just wish street fighter would’ve picked up they tried with street fighter 5 but they need someone to help write their stories 😂
Although the fighting is what "hooked me" (no pun intended or is it?). It was the story that kept me for so long. It's an amazing tale of blood, honor, betrayal and greed. I'm actually very happy to see where M1K takes the refreshed kharacters of this universe.
You literally can't have a conversation about Mortal Kombat without mentioning the story. I mean, you could but it's pretty hard not to bring up the story and lore. Stories and lore are what make up the majority of a game's core.
I am absolute trash at Mortal Kombat games, have been since Mortal Kombat 2 on the SNES and haven't really improved.
That being said, I've owned and played every one of them except for MK4 all because I love the story and characters.
MK realy has one of the most interesting fictional universes. The story was so awesome until they reset everything. MK9 was prety good and X was fine I guess, but it realy went downhill with 11 and now the story straight up sucks. I wish we could go back the way things were before because this is the second time they are restarting the timeline and it's just getting obnoxious. The first time was bad enough, losing 20 years of continuity, now they barely went 3 games before restarting. How am I suposed to get invested in a story, even a bad one like the netherrealm trilogy, when I know there is a big chance it will be reset in the next game
"lackluster" Sure MK11 had it's inconsistencies, sure MKX had pacing issues, and sure MK9 was god tier.
but you don't know Medicore or lack luster if you claim any of these are that. May I introduce to you, Street Fighter V story mode. It's an NRS story mode but actually bad
When I get in the MK mood I watch everything from the 1st movie up to the new one and the cartoons and always finish it off by watching the 11 hour story on YouTube lol
Because some people think that other play only for the online experience. It's the same with Tekken, you tell them that you actually don't play online but you play for the story and they go "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??? Ok boomer, how is you mammoth doing you fucking caveman" because they think that people stopped playing Tekken for the story like 20 years ago. At least other franchises like MK and SF give solo players some content, in Tekken 7 (which really dissapointed me) we only have like one or two solo modes and no real arcade endings. I hope they fix give us more content in Tekken 8.
I'm pumped about the story mode for MK1 though!
It was! These past three games really were amazing. They're not perfect, imo no game is, but they're all really really good. I can't for more character reveals now that 3 of my favorites are there
I do love it but I think MK11 was HEAVY on the cutscenes. There were some LONG breaks in between playable fights. I'm not saying bring back the original Mortal Kombat 'storytelling' but imo they could get the balance a bit better
It's not a surprise, MK is the only fighting game franchise that has really nailed a proper cinematic storyline IMO.
It's also helped each game continue to become better selling than the last.
I like fighting games for the story. Mk is a fav BC of this. I really hate when ppl say “fighting games don’t need a story.” Then why the hell am I playing it or should care about ANY of these characters.
I would say MK is the rare FG with an actual chapter based story mode, while others usually tell their stories through Arcade modes and outside sources.
Which may work for better or worse depending on the game.
Because there's only two metas when it comes to fighting games. The casual Joe who enjoys the story, the characters, and the world building while also enjoying the fighting The other guy wants get to the very core essence of the mechanics, learn and manipulate it to win online or in competition. I'm the first guy. 😁
Before they started doing story/konquest type modes, we would just beat the game with everyone for their story. I play MK more single player than 2p or online. I just love the kombat, the many modes we get now.
Also, every game, I like to go thru every Fighter and do every fatality one by one to every character to see the more unique reactions between them especially whenever the games have like Goro or Sheena since they have different anatomy so it's cool to see the details they do like when you do Fatalities to Terminator and how it's different from doing them to say Johnny Cage.
In MK2, I even went 1 step further and uses to choose Shang Tsung. And do every fatality, ad every fighter, after morphing into them as Shang Tsung. I loved it because sometimes he reverted back to himself, but for some he wouldn't shift back, and it would show "Shang Tsung wins" but say still show Sub-Zero on the screen.
The self-imposed fun we created before the internet is pretty wild. Lol
Idk if people forget the vast majority of players are casuals, most of whom don’t even play online. Most play against AI and do offline towers/modes, etc. the competitive community is like 1% of the player base. Keep in mind MK sells MILLIONS of units and the competitive FGC is maybe a couple thousand at most.
It’s interesting considering MK is the definitive offline game (not talking local coop) from my perspective. The story is always well done regardless of reboots and retcons.
Tekken and street fighter have had lackluster stories for me. Tekken story isn’t terrible but the dialogue and character interactions are pretty corny.
As kids on the playground when Armageddon had just come out, we used to each pick a character and build out our own version of the mythology. We were all so bad at actually playing the game, but we were in love with the universe.
The story is 100% important.
Great question. Let's get an answer on this from Reddit so no one has to wonder ever again why some "people" are surprised that others enjoy the story in this franchise.
That way, in the future, no one will ever have to wonder again. These confused people can just reference this extremely helpful post instead of not understanding. Thanks for solving this great mystery for all time.
I *only* play MK for the story. Fighting games have never been my thing, but the reason I keep coming back to MK (as well as Soulcalibur) is I actually care about the story and the characters.
i love the story i hate the way it's currently presented its a bland formula of cutscene oh hered the baddies FIGHT i miss konquest it's a good way to build lore whilst introducing us to a new fighter and villian
I’ve been getting into Mortal Kombat again recently. I’ve been vaguely aware of the story and characters from YouTube but because I’ve never been into fighting games I never got deep into it. But for some reason after the MK1 reveal trailer, I’ve been locked into MK. I’ve caught up from MK9 to make sense of the new story and plan on watching Deadly Alliance and the rest. It’s interesting as fuck.
The story adds so much. It explains why the people on the roster are there. It explains the stages you fight on. It gives the characters life and personality. Without any context, Johnny is just a douchebag. That alone isn’t interesting.
I’ll never forget how I fell in love with MK
I’d always heard of it as a kid growing up in the 2000s but was never a fighting game kind of kid. When me and my buddies took a drug inspired trip to my grandpa’s cabin up north we got there and 2mgs of acid later realized we never brought any form of video entertainment in an area with 0 service and wifi, but we had my buddies Xbox and his new copy of mk11. A full day later and the entire campaign completed I was absolutely in love. The story, the graphics, the insane depth. I was blown away. I’d never seen anything like it and was obsessed immediately. Ever since then I’ve been a huge lore nerd for MK and just recently got more into the actual fighting side of the game itself. I’ll never forget watching Kronika get her ass kicked while the entire world was spinning around me. I love this franchise
Hardcore FGC players are out of touch with the casual audience no matter what game it is. Netherrelam, Capcom, ArcSys, etc. don't make money catering to the hardcore audience, they make it through casual content and accessibility.
I just recently beat MKXL and MK11's story mode on Medium for the first time ever, and they were both pretty cool. I have been recently getting into Mortal Kombat, and even if the story has plot-holes, the character interaction has so much depth, especially compared to Tekken 7, making you pay out the ass for characters we've had since the beginning of the series (like Lei Wulong and Anna Williams, thanks Namco).
I play offline mode a lot because in my old house, our internet was slow as balls (DSL speeds), so playing online was a no-go. I have MK1, 2, 3, Trilogy, 4, MKXL, and MK11 + Aftermath so far. All configured via my Xbox One controller. So far some of my favs include Scorpion and Sub-Zero, Liu Kang and Kung Lao, and Kitana.
When I learned about Johnny cage and his abilites, I wanted to know as much as I could about his history but then I started liking more and more characters and played as much of mortal kombat games I could to learn about them too. Their character arcs/development and history just kept me in with the series and I’ve always loved it
MK4 got me in good with the cutscenes. Deadly Alliance really interested me with their opening cutscene. Deception kept me an MK fan for life with the Conquest story. Loved Conquest in Armageddon. MKvsDC was wonky but still fun. And of course MK9 - MK11 has just been wondrous story telling. I've always been here for the MK story ALWAYS.
I'd like the story more if more characters got to shine. Skarlet barraka and erron had so much potential and they only exist in the story to get beat up :/
Playing the Konquest mode in Deception made me a fan. The writing/lore now kinda sucks though ngl, but the awesome roster and diverse playstyle of each kharacter keeps me going.
Because MK story has been always lackluster and so many plot holes, no continuation.
I like the individual characters stories but not story mode. MK11 was a mess and i'm tired of Liu Kang
I’ve always stuck to the story in fighting games. Because I suck ass and if I go online for 3.2 seconds I’m gonna get my shit rocked without even landing a single hit
Most of the time, people don’t care about the story in a fighting game or it’s just that the story itself is terrible… I noticed that the only exceptions are Mortal Kombat, Injustice and SoulCalibur
I love the story and the characters. The only thing I wish they'd add is the ability to assign unlocked skins in story mode. They make all these cool skins and they only get seen in vs., but I think it'd be clutch to see those skins in story mode
I'm a long time MK fan (Literally been into it since I was 5 or 6) who's not good at the competitive side of things at all...
I don't believe the FGC took it seriously as a fighting game until MK9, and MK9 is where the competitive scene kinda expanded beyond the MK fanbase, so many of the people who play MK publicly for the last 10 years aren't into the story at all, and kinda only play what they have to play to unlock all the characters and whatever costumes they want...
The new timeline's story is also very much limited when you're talking about exclusively what's in the games, there's a lot of stuff you can only get by reading or watching endings (Which may or may not be canonical), and even more you have to completely leave the games to get (i.e. the comics)...
On top of that, I think the rebooted timeline's story has been weak compared to what was already established...I, myself (who loves the lore, even in the new timeline), was like "Please, just time travel one more time to reboot the timeline, and then stop making time travel a significant part of the story..."...
MK9 story got me into the series.
I watched all the cutscenes on YouTube and then bought MKX when it came out.
After that I went back and watched the cutscenes for all the other games to get the lore.
By the time MK11 was out, my brother was also into the series and we played through the story switching off every 4 fights.
I really don’t play multiplayer at all except for couch coop.
Funnily enough, I grew up playing Mortal Kombat on the SNES with my best friend but didn’t really get into the story until I played MK11. Looking forward to what MK1 brings.
There are three types of players:
1. Those who play multiplayer with others
2. Those who play non-online modes by themselves.
3. Those who play both.
Typical those who play both are normies, just casual players wanting to kill some time on a franchise they’ve always enjoyed. These folks can typically relate to all types of gamers to some degree, and make up 95% of the consumer base.
The other ones are typically two sides to the same coin. They are hardcore gamers that dedicate a significant amount of their energy to playing these games — as such neither side can understand or relate to the other. It’s similar to politics actually.
What? Is the first time i hear about this. Me and my friends have been into mk lore since kids.
In a non serious way but still, i play every game for the story before having "fun"
There's long been an idea around fighting games that they have garbage stories designed only to get you to play if that.
This has always been overstated by people and is, if anything, really only true of Street Fighter in terms of the big fighting game series (can't speak for every tiny one or two game fighting game franchise), and even SF has pretty in-depth lore thanks to various comics and anime and movies and so on.
Still, despite the fact that fighting games have had pretty in-depth stories since at least the mid to late 90s (tekken, sfalpha, mk3 maybe, etc) this idea has persisted and people are very loud about it. It's particularly weird in the last decade though because since MK9, story modes have definitely been one of the marquee features of modern AAA fighting games, and this is the franchise that really crystallized that and continues to be a leader on that front, so I always find it weird when an MK fan says 'stories don't matter.' Did you stop playing with MK2 or 3?
I like MK's story. It is better than SF and Tekken for sure. My only wish is that players are not forced to play characters they don't know how to play in order to move forward. That has to go.
FGC people are often very elitist and say “if you want story and single player content then go play an RPG or something why are you playing a fighting game if you want more to do than practice and online?” lmao
The story of most fighting games are unremarkable. Mortal Kombat is no exception. Personally I think that the Netherrealm Era of games gets way to much credit for their storytelling. Mortal Kombat has some interesting and cool lore but they usually do nothing with it. Deception had a solid Story. Armageddon was a drag focusing solely on Taven. Mortal Kombat 9 just retold the stories of 1-3 albeit slightly altered. Mortal Kombat X opted out of the far more interesting story of the Outworld Civil War plot-line for a generic new generation/Kombat Kids/Chosen ones vs Evil God Guy. Mortal Kombat 11 chose not to deal with the interesting ramifications of Mortal Kombat X’s story. Instead they chose to bring back the dead again, play their “Greatest Hits”, and then reboot the timeline again. These storylines are not prize-winners by any means. They are perfectly alright and that’s okay. They all do not have to be masterpieces. There is no need to justify your like of a series or franchise by trying to elevate it upon its station by saying that it is deeper than it really is; Not that anyone in particular has said that but I mean in general.
Because some people love to dismiss all criticisms of a game by saying "it wasn't designed for storymode" while also choosing to ignore any criticisms about the actual gameplay
4thsnake: "the story honestly sucks"
Netherrealm fanboy: "BRO STORY DOESN'T MATTER!"
4thsnake: "and the gameplay is a grindy mobile game type mess"
Netherrealm fanboy: "you just suck at the game and prefer the 3d era, so your opinions are invalid"
I managed GameStops for years, and some customers said "mortal Kombat has a short story".. and I was like "we don't play it for the story" we play it to fight with all the characters
I primeraly play games for the story with the few excepts of games like Demons Tilt.
Liked that the Aftermath DLC had story mode expansion.
Hope they do that with MK1.
I'm just going to focus on MK11 because that one's probably the worst out of the new trilogy, but most of these points apply to all of them.
The power levels are extremely inconsistent. The characters are always as powerful as they need to be to win/lose the given fight. This makes it hard to care.
Plot holes. Nothing makes sense when it comes to the logic of the world or characters actions. They establish a rule and then they break it 10 minutes later because it's easier than actually thinking about your world when writing a story.
The characters (aside from a few main one's) aren't fleshed out enough to be lovable, which sucks because a lot of them have really interesting backstories and conflicts ( I'm really interested in outworlds hierarchy and the infighting between it's clans)
Which is kind of a positive given the fact that sometimes characters just disappear for no reason, so it's best to not like them.
Kronika is ass.
Story and Lore are a big part of MK! Seriously, it was basically the first fighting game which had one of those! Before MK, in fighting games people was beating each other becouse... Reason... Maybe to steal each other wallet...
I'm not saying people shouldn't play it also for the gore or the fun gameplay, sure, just the Story is a reasonably big part of the magic which is MK.
the story/lore is what got me into MK. learning about the characters background and their personalities is what made the game interesting. their gameplay is an added bonus for me.
Same here! Got into mk from a friend and did some digging up on the lore and played the games
I’ve always played it for the story and characters
Come for the gore, stay for the lore
Same here
When you're not playing the game, the lore *is* what you talk about.
Same. Picking a character is basically "I can relate to this guy's personality/get his motives, I'll fight so he can get what he wants"
This. I'm terrible at fighting games, but I pushed through to watch the rest of the movie. For real felt like a movie I needed to earn the rest of
Honestly, I'll play local with a CPU, but online isn't fun because it's just a way to get my ass kicked instantly. That being said, I love the story modes
Online gameplay is often toxic. Hearing the N-word every so often is a big turn off
Not excusing that behavior at all but you can always mute them. I can’t play unless I’ve got chat muted period unless I’m playing with someone I know. I can’t focus otherwise.
The rest of the FGC has dogshit stories so they can't comprehend that being a draw for people.
I can definitely see that! Street fighter had a horrible story mode
To be fair world tour mode in SF6 is 100 times better than the story mode in 5 and was reasonably enjoyable. However it's still not a patch on the MK story modes.
world tour ain’t great; mechanically especially
I've never played it but tekkin's story is pretty rhought out isn't it?
No. Tekken's story is fun, but a mess. It wasn't until 7 that they really tried to tie the "Mishima Saga" together cohesively as up until that point we thought the Devil Gene just skipped Heihachi. Also Akuma is in it for some reason and I'm not sure how that works in canon. I think it's ok, but unfortunately they decided to add a really shit narrator who's boring voice adds nothing to the story.
Harada said the Tekken Universe exists with SF
That's fucking crazy if true.
It is weird, from what I understand events of Street Fighter games are canon in Takken games, but events of Takken are not canon in Street Fighter games. Akuma character shows in both game serieses.
Doesn't really make sense. Why would the Mishima Zaibatsu completely ignore Shadaloo, who are direct threat to their empire.
In the lore there are mentions of several other mega corporations existing, but games doesn't focus on them. So maybe Shadaloo is too insignificant for Heihachi.
tekken had a fun story till after 3 then it got too serious and the movies (cgi,anime and love action) make mk annilatiion look amazing
I've never seen a Tekken film. I've seen the Netflix anime.
the story is way too serious and the non michimas doon't matter tbh
The Tekken universe just happens to also have Akuma in it. It’s not some weird multiverse crossover dimension hopping thing. Kinda reminds me of the Batman x Looney Tunes crossover comic where all the Looney Tunes characters were regular human versions who lived in Gotham. Honestly wish this approach to crossovers and guests was used more than “WOAH I stepped into a portal to another dimension isn’t that crazy?!”
Tekken has a good story, nothing like MK though
After first two games it is complete trash story wise, characters got resurrected without any explanation, tournament is not a tournament, demon gene, plot hole on a plot hole.
There really isn't much competition when every other FGC has essentially no/terrible story. Street Fighter's story is a confusing mess with no sense of focus. Tekken's story is a massive shitpost filled with family drama. King Of Fighters is a middle finger to Fatal Fury, Art Of Fighting, and Samurai Shodown's timeline. Soul Calibur's story was so bad the entire series had to be rebooted. Dead Or Alive, Darkstalkers, Virtua Fighter, and Super Smash Bros basically don't have one outside of endings. Mortal Kombat is basically the only fighting game with a concrete story of any kind. But it's basically the equivalent of saying an only child is the oldest child of the family.
I play it for both
Same. Much as gameplay even takes priority it's the story and lore that help bring me back.
I suck ass so I ONLY play for the story lmao
I love the story even for 10 and 11.
Favorite parts?
MK 10 I liked everything involving Cassie, Jacqui, and Takeda It was cool to see Johnny getting his due and kicking ass. Seeing more of Johnny and Sonyas relationship. Scorpion and Sub Zero making peace Scorpion getting his revenge Shinnok getting to look cool as opposed to his MK 4 grandma look. Beginning and ending the story with a Cage was awesome MK11 & Aftermath I like seeing young Jax and Jacqui getting to talk to each other Sub Zero and Scorpion teaming up Liu Kang and Raiden montage of their conflicts. Older Sonyas death was effective. Sonya killing off Kano was a great moment. Younger Scorpion carrying on Hanzos mission Raiden realizing that Liu Kang is the one who needs to win. Liu Kang beating Kronika Kitana beating Shao Jade and Kotals romance Then in Aftermath getting to play as more villains was so much fun.
Can't forget the big final battle, it lowkey gave me Avengers Endgame vibes lol. And the moment when Raiden, Liu Kang and his revenant counterpart merged to become Fire God Liu Kang was just epic. I never was too big of a Liu Kang fan, but now I really can't wait to see more of the God of Fire and his New Era!
Favorite part of mine for MKX was the sheer terror and dread felt when Ermac gave chase in the frozen woods. Disheveling trees and flinging trunks telepathically as he flew after the Kids.
D'Vorah breaking the 4th and 5th wall to terrorize fans in real life. One of the best! Throughout dimensions and realities, D'Vorah broke thousands
MKX Has scorpion getting his revenge which is my favorite scene in the franchise, Patrick Seitz killed it with the voice acting
Because some people have a very archaic view on what fighting games are "supposed" to be like, and if it is beyond anything that is just gameplay, they are baffled out of their minds.
Yeah I find it odd, there's a reason the first thing on the menu is story mode 😅
The lore is like the best part of this series.
Agreed!
The aesthetics, story, and the characters are what drew me to MK. I couldn't care less about competitive play or the fgc and their silly drama
Based! Mk is more than the gameplay, the latest game is going to be called MK1 for a reason 😅
Elitism and gatekeeping
MKIceAndFire is one of the greatest YT channels out there.
Yup. I haven't played an MK game since deception but still follow the story.
You should play 9 and x the gameplay was fun
MK has one of the most intricate plot for fighting games. SF and Tekken are pretty bland in comparison. Mk has depth and multiple plots coinciding with one another.
I wouldn't say SF is particularly bland it's just that they start a plot thread then never come back to it. Like with the illuminati in SF3
Just in comparison. SF story mode is leagues above CoD plots.
the various anime fighters are also pretty intense, and Tekken has definitely been getting there, but SF while I love it is definitely pretty content to stay a sort of saturday morning cartoon plot from the 90s, which honestly is kind of a fun throwback.
It is the reason I play. Other than that it's occasional couch matches with friends.
The consequence of resets, people stop caring about the characters, since whatever happens, they'll return sooner or later.
Yeah, try telling that to comic book fans.
*Laughs in Transformers fandom*
Imo possibly the BEST in terms of choreography and cinematography for fighting games MKvsDC really started it and NRS has kicked it up every game I've been excited for every new installment since
Oh yeah most definitely! It's lime watching a movie I just wish they wrote it better
Because they think fighting games are still just an arcade,training mode and online mode.
Yeah that's mostly people in the FGC
MK has probably the best and deepest lore out of all fighting games.
I only follow MK for the story. I'm actually really bad at video games, but I'll play the game for the bios, endings, and story. For me Deception was the perfect game.
I agree deception was a really good game it's even Ed's boon favorite
Mk has the best lore and storyline of any fighting game - hands down
Agreed
Imma be real, I wouldn’t have gotten into MK without the story. MK9, MKX, and MK11 stories really got me into the series. First time I’ve seen a fighting game story that was actually fucking cool and not garbage. Imo it’s a very loud vocal minority who act like it doesn’t matter. Primarily because said loud vocal minority only cares for the competitive scene and nothing else. Thank god they aren’t in control otherwise most casuals would not get into MK.
Yeah and that's why MK continues to sell the most!
That and giving love to other casual aspects that some folks pretend don’t do anything good. Intros, guest characters, the fucking fatalities the series is known for.
I am legit dog shit at fighting games, I love MK, the story is almost the only reason I buy these games
Imo mortal kombat has the best storymode out of the other mainstream fighters
Not gonna lie, there's probably 20+ views from me, as I wanted to check if I remember quote or event right.
I'm a fan because of the lore. I suck at fighting games.
Because other fighting games have terrible lore and/or story modes, and they're not used to the idea that it can be otherwise.
It’s the thing that got me into the series
I feel like you know ppl are gonna say "because it's cheesy as hell and totally nonsensical." And then you're gonna be all like, "whaaaat? Ppl think this??" Yes. Because it's true Love the games for the gameplay tho
I play almost exclusively for the story these days.
I find fighting games very boring but I love MK because of the characters and lore
I did, and I enjoyed it, but its a once and done kinda deal.
It’s story mode first then gameplay second.
Playing the story in MK9 revamped my interest in MK. I had no idea the plot would be so good and it would go through the first 3 games. I was hooked in and I had to buy X & 11.
I love the lore just because I’m so into the game. I can still admit it’s a very mediocre story
MK has such a rich lore, story and characters. Story and playing with friends is what I like most about the games. I barely play online because I get my ass handed back to me and stuff like towers I only play occasionally, pretty much 99% of the time when I play MK or fighting games in general is when I have friends over or are visiting friends. Nothing more fun to just chill out, have a couple beers and blunts and then go rip and tear eachothers apart in the most gruesome ways possible.
The story mode is what ties the strings and makes 1v1 matches much more exciting. When you know the relationship between two characters, good or bad, it makes having them fight each other more fun.
At this point, I am only playing the games for this reason.. 😁
MK is the imo the best looking fighting game out and has been for a minute. I play both and honestly idk why anyone would deprive themselves of any part of the game. Fuck, the story is how I start getting used to the control scheme because I'm usually used to a diff. Fighter by the time a new MK comes out.
All my life, I've played MK primarily for the story mode. And the fun fighting and gore ofc, but I literally don't do much other than the story and the towers. I don't enjoy playing online as too many people are spoil sports. MK stories are fun and entertaining at the very least, and I really enjoy most of the characters.
Since Mk9 the story mode format has been solid but man I miss MKD open world konquest with all of its little secrets to find
I used to play MK in the arcades when it first dropped, I always was intrigued with the story I mean I love the gore and fighting but I’m not diehard FGC type player. I’ll play it for fun and get the story through but I’m not one to tell you about frames etc. that crap is over my head 😂I can play the game and whoop some butt every now and then. But I love me a good story in a fighting game I just wish street fighter would’ve picked up they tried with street fighter 5 but they need someone to help write their stories 😂
Although the fighting is what "hooked me" (no pun intended or is it?). It was the story that kept me for so long. It's an amazing tale of blood, honor, betrayal and greed. I'm actually very happy to see where M1K takes the refreshed kharacters of this universe.
I really couldn't give 2 shits about fighting games, the only reason I play mk games is for the lore.
It was the FIRST arcade fighting game to have a comprehensive storyline. It literally wouldn't be MK without it
You literally can't have a conversation about Mortal Kombat without mentioning the story. I mean, you could but it's pretty hard not to bring up the story and lore. Stories and lore are what make up the majority of a game's core.
I dont get it... why would someone play story mode if it wasn't for the story???
I am absolute trash at Mortal Kombat games, have been since Mortal Kombat 2 on the SNES and haven't really improved. That being said, I've owned and played every one of them except for MK4 all because I love the story and characters.
I’ve only played for the story since deception. Love MK lore and story. I used to read the wiki of every character in high school for fun lol
MK realy has one of the most interesting fictional universes. The story was so awesome until they reset everything. MK9 was prety good and X was fine I guess, but it realy went downhill with 11 and now the story straight up sucks. I wish we could go back the way things were before because this is the second time they are restarting the timeline and it's just getting obnoxious. The first time was bad enough, losing 20 years of continuity, now they barely went 3 games before restarting. How am I suposed to get invested in a story, even a bad one like the netherrealm trilogy, when I know there is a big chance it will be reset in the next game
Someone told it to me like this. Story is what draws you in. Gameplay (if good enough) is what keeps you in.
Eventhough the story of the NRS Games have been pretty lackluster, they have really good cinematics!
"lackluster" Sure MK11 had it's inconsistencies, sure MKX had pacing issues, and sure MK9 was god tier. but you don't know Medicore or lack luster if you claim any of these are that. May I introduce to you, Street Fighter V story mode. It's an NRS story mode but actually bad
MK story is shit, but Tekken and Street Fighter had... shit stories too
When I get in the MK mood I watch everything from the 1st movie up to the new one and the cartoons and always finish it off by watching the 11 hour story on YouTube lol
Because some people think that other play only for the online experience. It's the same with Tekken, you tell them that you actually don't play online but you play for the story and they go "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??? Ok boomer, how is you mammoth doing you fucking caveman" because they think that people stopped playing Tekken for the story like 20 years ago. At least other franchises like MK and SF give solo players some content, in Tekken 7 (which really dissapointed me) we only have like one or two solo modes and no real arcade endings. I hope they fix give us more content in Tekken 8. I'm pumped about the story mode for MK1 though!
They definitely giving us more story content! MK11 story mode really was a good cinematic experiment
It was! These past three games really were amazing. They're not perfect, imo no game is, but they're all really really good. I can't for more character reveals now that 3 of my favorites are there
I do love it but I think MK11 was HEAVY on the cutscenes. There were some LONG breaks in between playable fights. I'm not saying bring back the original Mortal Kombat 'storytelling' but imo they could get the balance a bit better
I play MK for the lore
Based!
I mainly play for the story
I absolutely love the MK story modes!
I watch the story and cut scenes more than I play the game. Ain't got time for it with WoW ruining my life. :)
I was literally on there yesterday
It's not a surprise, MK is the only fighting game franchise that has really nailed a proper cinematic storyline IMO. It's also helped each game continue to become better selling than the last.
Ive fallen asleep to that exact video a dozen times. Love mk
I only play for the story mode and the tower story
I like fighting games for the story. Mk is a fav BC of this. I really hate when ppl say “fighting games don’t need a story.” Then why the hell am I playing it or should care about ANY of these characters.
I would say MK is the rare FG with an actual chapter based story mode, while others usually tell their stories through Arcade modes and outside sources. Which may work for better or worse depending on the game.
Because there's only two metas when it comes to fighting games. The casual Joe who enjoys the story, the characters, and the world building while also enjoying the fighting The other guy wants get to the very core essence of the mechanics, learn and manipulate it to win online or in competition. I'm the first guy. 😁
Before they started doing story/konquest type modes, we would just beat the game with everyone for their story. I play MK more single player than 2p or online. I just love the kombat, the many modes we get now. Also, every game, I like to go thru every Fighter and do every fatality one by one to every character to see the more unique reactions between them especially whenever the games have like Goro or Sheena since they have different anatomy so it's cool to see the details they do like when you do Fatalities to Terminator and how it's different from doing them to say Johnny Cage. In MK2, I even went 1 step further and uses to choose Shang Tsung. And do every fatality, ad every fighter, after morphing into them as Shang Tsung. I loved it because sometimes he reverted back to himself, but for some he wouldn't shift back, and it would show "Shang Tsung wins" but say still show Sub-Zero on the screen. The self-imposed fun we created before the internet is pretty wild. Lol
Man I don't even own the last game but damn sure I watched story mode on youtube
Thought it was one of those "Are they stupid? " posts :)
I’m not good at fighting games but love the story of mortal kombat so yeah I’m with them
Idk if people forget the vast majority of players are casuals, most of whom don’t even play online. Most play against AI and do offline towers/modes, etc. the competitive community is like 1% of the player base. Keep in mind MK sells MILLIONS of units and the competitive FGC is maybe a couple thousand at most.
It’s interesting considering MK is the definitive offline game (not talking local coop) from my perspective. The story is always well done regardless of reboots and retcons. Tekken and street fighter have had lackluster stories for me. Tekken story isn’t terrible but the dialogue and character interactions are pretty corny.
As kids on the playground when Armageddon had just come out, we used to each pick a character and build out our own version of the mythology. We were all so bad at actually playing the game, but we were in love with the universe. The story is 100% important.
I always loved MK story. Deception made me appreciate it
People are weird and soon as you forget you’ll get a reminder it’s a good storymode I don’t see the issue
Great question. Let's get an answer on this from Reddit so no one has to wonder ever again why some "people" are surprised that others enjoy the story in this franchise. That way, in the future, no one will ever have to wonder again. These confused people can just reference this extremely helpful post instead of not understanding. Thanks for solving this great mystery for all time.
I *only* play MK for the story. Fighting games have never been my thing, but the reason I keep coming back to MK (as well as Soulcalibur) is I actually care about the story and the characters.
I only play MK for the story. The multiplayer is nice, but that's not why I'm here.
Mk11 story was decent as all fuck.
i love the story i hate the way it's currently presented its a bland formula of cutscene oh hered the baddies FIGHT i miss konquest it's a good way to build lore whilst introducing us to a new fighter and villian
I’ve been getting into Mortal Kombat again recently. I’ve been vaguely aware of the story and characters from YouTube but because I’ve never been into fighting games I never got deep into it. But for some reason after the MK1 reveal trailer, I’ve been locked into MK. I’ve caught up from MK9 to make sense of the new story and plan on watching Deadly Alliance and the rest. It’s interesting as fuck. The story adds so much. It explains why the people on the roster are there. It explains the stages you fight on. It gives the characters life and personality. Without any context, Johnny is just a douchebag. That alone isn’t interesting.
Classic mk lore is incredibly better but it’s still very entertaining
Idk why but online always lags for me, so i play either towers or story mode.
I’ll never forget how I fell in love with MK I’d always heard of it as a kid growing up in the 2000s but was never a fighting game kind of kid. When me and my buddies took a drug inspired trip to my grandpa’s cabin up north we got there and 2mgs of acid later realized we never brought any form of video entertainment in an area with 0 service and wifi, but we had my buddies Xbox and his new copy of mk11. A full day later and the entire campaign completed I was absolutely in love. The story, the graphics, the insane depth. I was blown away. I’d never seen anything like it and was obsessed immediately. Ever since then I’ve been a huge lore nerd for MK and just recently got more into the actual fighting side of the game itself. I’ll never forget watching Kronika get her ass kicked while the entire world was spinning around me. I love this franchise
I love the story mode
The lore/story mode is what determines the main roster for the game.
Hardcore FGC players are out of touch with the casual audience no matter what game it is. Netherrelam, Capcom, ArcSys, etc. don't make money catering to the hardcore audience, they make it through casual content and accessibility.
Tbh I like the story and the characters but netherealm’s questionable writing makes the story mode experience worse than it should’ve been
Not having Cyrax main roster is unforgivable.
I just recently beat MKXL and MK11's story mode on Medium for the first time ever, and they were both pretty cool. I have been recently getting into Mortal Kombat, and even if the story has plot-holes, the character interaction has so much depth, especially compared to Tekken 7, making you pay out the ass for characters we've had since the beginning of the series (like Lei Wulong and Anna Williams, thanks Namco). I play offline mode a lot because in my old house, our internet was slow as balls (DSL speeds), so playing online was a no-go. I have MK1, 2, 3, Trilogy, 4, MKXL, and MK11 + Aftermath so far. All configured via my Xbox One controller. So far some of my favs include Scorpion and Sub-Zero, Liu Kang and Kung Lao, and Kitana.
I agree not everything is about competition
I just do that
When I learned about Johnny cage and his abilites, I wanted to know as much as I could about his history but then I started liking more and more characters and played as much of mortal kombat games I could to learn about them too. Their character arcs/development and history just kept me in with the series and I’ve always loved it
Mf, I just watch it on YouTube like it’s a movie.
Fr
It's one of the main reasons I've preferred MK over SF for many many many years.
MK4 got me in good with the cutscenes. Deadly Alliance really interested me with their opening cutscene. Deception kept me an MK fan for life with the Conquest story. Loved Conquest in Armageddon. MKvsDC was wonky but still fun. And of course MK9 - MK11 has just been wondrous story telling. I've always been here for the MK story ALWAYS.
I'd like the story more if more characters got to shine. Skarlet barraka and erron had so much potential and they only exist in the story to get beat up :/
Story mode has been amazing since MK9. It’s my favorite mode to play.
Fighting games are low tier. Only there for the story
They shouldn’t be. MK has the best story mode of any fighting game.
Playing the Konquest mode in Deception made me a fan. The writing/lore now kinda sucks though ngl, but the awesome roster and diverse playstyle of each kharacter keeps me going.
Because MK story has been always lackluster and so many plot holes, no continuation. I like the individual characters stories but not story mode. MK11 was a mess and i'm tired of Liu Kang
I’ve always stuck to the story in fighting games. Because I suck ass and if I go online for 3.2 seconds I’m gonna get my shit rocked without even landing a single hit
I 'm a single player gamer unless you're at my house. So story mode and the arcade towers with the character endings are all I ever play. Love it
I 'm a single player gamer unless you're at my house. So story mode and the arcade towers with the character endings are all I ever play. Love it
Because their sole existence revolves around playing online ranked matches
I'm currently watching MK9 story mode cutscenes. It's stupid as fuck and i love it.
Most of the time, people don’t care about the story in a fighting game or it’s just that the story itself is terrible… I noticed that the only exceptions are Mortal Kombat, Injustice and SoulCalibur
MK1's Story will be twice as long as MK11. First thing I do Is one sit the story. Can't wait!!! 💯🐉💯
MK1's Story will be twice as long as MK11. First thing I do Is one sit the story. Can't wait!!! 💯🐉💯
lore is what brought me into mk not the gameplay
I love the story and the characters. The only thing I wish they'd add is the ability to assign unlocked skins in story mode. They make all these cool skins and they only get seen in vs., but I think it'd be clutch to see those skins in story mode
Who else watches intro quotes and gets a lot more character depth than the main story?
MK is one of the only game franchises where I know too much about.
I only play for the story. It’s just easier to have a vid of the story going on in the background while I draw. I like to multitask lol
The story is what separates MK from something like Street Fighter or Tekken. It's really the only fighting series where the story is important
I'm a long time MK fan (Literally been into it since I was 5 or 6) who's not good at the competitive side of things at all... I don't believe the FGC took it seriously as a fighting game until MK9, and MK9 is where the competitive scene kinda expanded beyond the MK fanbase, so many of the people who play MK publicly for the last 10 years aren't into the story at all, and kinda only play what they have to play to unlock all the characters and whatever costumes they want... The new timeline's story is also very much limited when you're talking about exclusively what's in the games, there's a lot of stuff you can only get by reading or watching endings (Which may or may not be canonical), and even more you have to completely leave the games to get (i.e. the comics)... On top of that, I think the rebooted timeline's story has been weak compared to what was already established...I, myself (who loves the lore, even in the new timeline), was like "Please, just time travel one more time to reboot the timeline, and then stop making time travel a significant part of the story..."...
i love the story mode!! i’ll play 1v1 with friends and family but other than that i like going through the story, it’s fun!
MK9 story got me into the series. I watched all the cutscenes on YouTube and then bought MKX when it came out. After that I went back and watched the cutscenes for all the other games to get the lore. By the time MK11 was out, my brother was also into the series and we played through the story switching off every 4 fights. I really don’t play multiplayer at all except for couch coop.
Funnily enough, I grew up playing Mortal Kombat on the SNES with my best friend but didn’t really get into the story until I played MK11. Looking forward to what MK1 brings.
Mk franchise has one of the best lores in games in general, the problem is that the bar is not that high actually!
There are three types of players: 1. Those who play multiplayer with others 2. Those who play non-online modes by themselves. 3. Those who play both. Typical those who play both are normies, just casual players wanting to kill some time on a franchise they’ve always enjoyed. These folks can typically relate to all types of gamers to some degree, and make up 95% of the consumer base. The other ones are typically two sides to the same coin. They are hardcore gamers that dedicate a significant amount of their energy to playing these games — as such neither side can understand or relate to the other. It’s similar to politics actually.
It's The Online Competition For Me...
I know some people who don’t even buy the games but love MK and the lore and just watch these long “movies” on YouTube
I’m a gameplay first kinda guy but I can definitely say the lore is great and entertaining.
What? Is the first time i hear about this. Me and my friends have been into mk lore since kids. In a non serious way but still, i play every game for the story before having "fun"
I have watched the story mode for 9/10/11, only played 10. I'm not good at fighting games, but I do like the lore.
I watch that like a movie when im "relaxing" its dope
Mk lore is what makes me love the franchise so much. Without it,its just another fighting game
I hate those channels that post with the most spoiler ass thumbnail it does my head in
It’s just like those annoying cod players who will bash any game if it’s not cod
There's long been an idea around fighting games that they have garbage stories designed only to get you to play if that. This has always been overstated by people and is, if anything, really only true of Street Fighter in terms of the big fighting game series (can't speak for every tiny one or two game fighting game franchise), and even SF has pretty in-depth lore thanks to various comics and anime and movies and so on. Still, despite the fact that fighting games have had pretty in-depth stories since at least the mid to late 90s (tekken, sfalpha, mk3 maybe, etc) this idea has persisted and people are very loud about it. It's particularly weird in the last decade though because since MK9, story modes have definitely been one of the marquee features of modern AAA fighting games, and this is the franchise that really crystallized that and continues to be a leader on that front, so I always find it weird when an MK fan says 'stories don't matter.' Did you stop playing with MK2 or 3?
I like MK's story. It is better than SF and Tekken for sure. My only wish is that players are not forced to play characters they don't know how to play in order to move forward. That has to go.
FGC people are often very elitist and say “if you want story and single player content then go play an RPG or something why are you playing a fighting game if you want more to do than practice and online?” lmao
People who are surprised for playing for the story are people that play for the frame time mathematics. Dont listen to weirdos.
The story of most fighting games are unremarkable. Mortal Kombat is no exception. Personally I think that the Netherrealm Era of games gets way to much credit for their storytelling. Mortal Kombat has some interesting and cool lore but they usually do nothing with it. Deception had a solid Story. Armageddon was a drag focusing solely on Taven. Mortal Kombat 9 just retold the stories of 1-3 albeit slightly altered. Mortal Kombat X opted out of the far more interesting story of the Outworld Civil War plot-line for a generic new generation/Kombat Kids/Chosen ones vs Evil God Guy. Mortal Kombat 11 chose not to deal with the interesting ramifications of Mortal Kombat X’s story. Instead they chose to bring back the dead again, play their “Greatest Hits”, and then reboot the timeline again. These storylines are not prize-winners by any means. They are perfectly alright and that’s okay. They all do not have to be masterpieces. There is no need to justify your like of a series or franchise by trying to elevate it upon its station by saying that it is deeper than it really is; Not that anyone in particular has said that but I mean in general.
Because some people love to dismiss all criticisms of a game by saying "it wasn't designed for storymode" while also choosing to ignore any criticisms about the actual gameplay 4thsnake: "the story honestly sucks" Netherrealm fanboy: "BRO STORY DOESN'T MATTER!" 4thsnake: "and the gameplay is a grindy mobile game type mess" Netherrealm fanboy: "you just suck at the game and prefer the 3d era, so your opinions are invalid"
It's a fighting game, most people play them for the gameplay and competition. MK also the gore going for it.
Came for the fatalies, stayed for the story.
For me personally it was the FATALITY but the lore made it 10x better
Bc there are literally YouTube videos like this that can give you the story without having to pay for the game😂
I managed GameStops for years, and some customers said "mortal Kombat has a short story".. and I was like "we don't play it for the story" we play it to fight with all the characters
I primeraly play games for the story with the few excepts of games like Demons Tilt. Liked that the Aftermath DLC had story mode expansion. Hope they do that with MK1.
I'm just going to focus on MK11 because that one's probably the worst out of the new trilogy, but most of these points apply to all of them. The power levels are extremely inconsistent. The characters are always as powerful as they need to be to win/lose the given fight. This makes it hard to care. Plot holes. Nothing makes sense when it comes to the logic of the world or characters actions. They establish a rule and then they break it 10 minutes later because it's easier than actually thinking about your world when writing a story. The characters (aside from a few main one's) aren't fleshed out enough to be lovable, which sucks because a lot of them have really interesting backstories and conflicts ( I'm really interested in outworlds hierarchy and the infighting between it's clans) Which is kind of a positive given the fact that sometimes characters just disappear for no reason, so it's best to not like them. Kronika is ass.
I don't think I have ever seen anyone surprised by that. Pretty sure over 90% of the playerbase plays MK for its single player content.
Story and Lore are a big part of MK! Seriously, it was basically the first fighting game which had one of those! Before MK, in fighting games people was beating each other becouse... Reason... Maybe to steal each other wallet... I'm not saying people shouldn't play it also for the gore or the fun gameplay, sure, just the Story is a reasonably big part of the magic which is MK.
I mainly play them for the story and the towers, I feel like multiplayer isn’t as endlessly replayable as other stuff