Kombat Kontinues

Kudos!

I often remark to myself about how evergreen fighting games appear to be in comparison to other genres of game that we take for granted as always sticking around. You can take a look at series' like Call of Duty and figure that every game franchise out there has plodded along, spitting out entry after entry, with no relief. But for every Call of Duty there's a DOOM, which went on a such a giant Hiatus after 3 that people honestly thought that franchise was good and buried, or Wolfenstein, which suffered from the same agonizing wait for fans. Or maybe even franchises like Resistance, which still haven't resurfaced from the depths of existence to delight it's fans once more. Action adventure series God of War went through a total reimagination before it could come back to our screens, horror franchise Resident Evil didn't take quite as long off but there was a time when it's future looked iffy. By comparison, most fighting games out there seem utterly steadfast in their dedication to keep coming out.

And I mean that in the best possible way, mind. This isn't a situation like for most sports games where each title becomes progressively less innovative until we reach the point where those games periodically remove a feature each entry so it can be reintroduced a few games down the line as a revolutionary upgrade to the package. (We all know the grift off by heart at this point, it ain't fooling nobody!) Fighting games, specifically Mortal Kombat, have been kicking around since the days where the fighters were rendered with cut-up FMV stills plastered over the world because that was the only way to get vaguely realistic-looking human models in the product. To think we've evolved from an age where a human actor dressed up like Jean Claude Van Damme and had his picture taken doing multiple kicks and punches, to an age where a 3D model of that same character is simply being slathered in a Jean Claude Van Damme realistic skin as pre-order content- well, that's just wild!

When last we touched upon the world of Mortal Kombat, and it's admirable insistence on maintaining some form of a coherent narrative, I'm pretty sure most everyone was wandering where the franchise could possible go next. Mortal Kombat 11 had gone to almost Smash Bros Ultimate levels of expending every last ounce of energy it had throwing everything at the wall. Every character that could feasibly exist was brought back into the fold, with younger and older versions available for fans of either; the story was a time bending assault on the senses that jumped more sharks than the Jaws franchise, and it seemed as though every single loose end met some sort of resolution and was wrapped up. Of course there's always room for the technology to improve, but spectacle games like this are almost always about the scope to go one step ahead, without that scope how does one continue?

But I guess there is an exception to that 'constantly get bigger rule'. Every console generation appears to get one freebie 'reset opportunity' wherein a fighting game can get away with scaling back on the scope of it's title in order to focus on the fundamentals and reimaging them, or reinforce them, making use of the powers of the engine available. Maybe we want a new fluid feeling to the way that hits are thrown and connect, a greater emphasise on visual aplomb or a new level of gore that expands the gruesome ways in which our favourite characters can be 'Finished.' I'll expect improvements in all of these areas as we move on from Mortal Kombat 11's flurry of cast members and bombast into a relatively more sedate 'prequel' game: Mortal Kombat 1.

Indeed, Mortal Kombat 1 is set to be a reboot for the franchise that will reset everything back to square one with all the characters driven back to their primordial states; or perhaps even before such a time given that Scorpion seems to potentially be a living person in this game, as opposed to the undead vengeance driven spirit he has been throughout the franchise. Now those who've been kicking about the Mortal Kombat franchise for a while might furrow their brow at that news striking a long lost memory in their heads, and let me help elucidate as to why that might be. Perhaps those people are confused because this has already happened. Mortal Kombat 9 was a reset for the franchise that framed it's entire narrative as a remake of every previous game's narrative into one conjoined epic campaign which to this day remains the benchmark for quality fighting game storylines. An example the same company would follow again to deliver the indomitable 'Injustice' Games.

So it would seem that this time Mortal Kombat are committing to something of a harder reboot which won't just retell what has been but go it's own way. If I'm reading the rather spare teaser trailer we got, then it might even be a prequel detailing the events of how the tournament came to be in the first place- or perhaps they'll go another direction entirely. There is also the possibility that this story is instead a total world reset following the time bending events of Mortal Kombat 11, and what follows will be treated as a complete fresh start totally free from the tournament altogether. This seems like high concept speculation for a Mortal Kombat game, but Neather Realms love to put as much effort into their action stories as their moment-to-moment gameplay; it's part of what makes their games so entertaining to a fighting game Neanderthal like myself.

Of course, we can't have there be a Mortal Kombat game out in the world without it also involving several cameo characters who touch on popular culture in a way that is endearing and dating for the era of internet around the release of each game. That's pretty much fighting game tradition at this point. And if the leaks that have already hit the internet are to be believed, then we've got a testosterone fuelled 'gun show' coming for this game. John Cena's Peacemaker, shiny metal helmet and giant revolver in hand, will be bringing his excellent wit and earnest 'zealout dumb guy desperate to be the good guy' routine to this world. (Maybe with an Eagley cameo if we eat all our greens!) Then there's a character so iconic his every word and scene is in the process of being turned into memes as we speak, Homelander from 'The Boys'. And finally, cartoon Markiplier himself: Metroma- uh, I mean Omniman. (Very different characters. Different vibes.) A line-up of muscly larger than life characters like that almost seems to clash with the more sedate and mature tone that the teaser implied, but perhaps we can take these leaks as confirmation that the silly bloodbathed undertone of this franchise will very much not be diluted in the pursuit of 'something new'.

As moths are attracted to bright lights, fighting game franchises are attracted to new hardware generations; which is why I doubt anyone is surprised that we're currently looking at a year full of a new Street Fighter, a new Tekken and now a new Mortal Kombat game. (There's actually no confirmation that Tekken 8 is going to make 2023, but given it's competition seems ready to go the team better get a move on if they don't want to get lost in the dust.) Selecting the series you are most interested in is like boasting about your religion in a multi-cultural forum; fights are going to start. Still, as someone who is terrible at all fighting games and just likes to be around for the spectacle, the violent viscera emblematic of the Mortal Kombat franchise will win me over any day of the week. Welcome back, Nether Realm, we've all been anticipating you! 

Mortal Kombat Joker and Fan Feedback

That's nice of you to say; but you of all people should know: There's plenty wrong with me.

In recent years, Netherrealm have been part of a huge revolution for what we consider to be 'fighting games'. At their insistence, modern fighting games must involve customization, a decent story and a least one guest character in order to remain competitive in this market. Since this new regime was established all the way back with Injustice, we've seen strong stories in the Mortal Kombat games, customization making it's way to DOA and Smash Ultimate rewriting the book when it comes to what folk expect out of a 'crossover'. Many think of this as a new golden age of Fighting games and, although their sheer number has waned significantly, I have an inclination to agree. And that is why I became interested when I saw Netherrealm announce their next crossover character to Mortal Kombat, the clown prince; Joker.

As I somehow managed to cram onto this blog before, there are a great many Jokers from throughout the years that all ring with a vaguely different theme/motive/modus operandi and yet they are all still instantly recognizable as the same being. It makes Joker one of the most diverse and malleable characters that one can step into the shoes of, so it makes sense to bring him into the wildly customizable world of Netherrealm fighters. It makes so much sense, in fact, that they already did it with their other two Injustice games. Those two titles went drastically different directions from each other with their depictions of Mr. White, with the first title leaning towards the 'micheieveious' angle of the Joker with the later appearing more 'murderous and pyscotic'. (Although in such an overt manner that many compared him to Jared Leto's lamentable version from Suicide Squad.)

With all that in mind, it was a valid enough train of thought to wonder which direction the team would end up with for this latest entry. Unfortunately, early leaks and teases seem to tease that the crew were heading for a depiction that didn't seem to capture the essence of the iconic character. He seemed off in the subtlest possible ways, his hair was too neat, his build was too bulky and his face too ordinarily-proportioned; he just looked like a prep-kid in fancy dress. Needless to say, these early looks weren't very well received and that left Netherrealm with an interesting conundrum. They had a character depiction that no one was happy with but still had several months until his release; they could cross their fingers and hope the wider rollout would go well or listen to the minority of folk who had seen the leaks and rework things behind the scenes. It wouldn't be until the Game Awards that we got to see what they choose.

As we can see from the official reveal, the team have worked in small ways to improve the Joker design and bring it closer to the most commonly recognized image of the Joker; the one from the animated series. His figure has been slimmed down, his chin and cheeks have been bought out slightly and even his voice is a dead ringer for Mark Hamill's. (It might actually be him, I don't know.) Some might complain about how this isn't too creative from the team, but most just shook their heads and were happy about being provided a design that they were familiar with, and therefore were comfortable with. But the whole thing got me thinking about the idea of fan feedback and going to the effort of 'redesigning'. For Netherrealm the changes weren't that much of a big deal, a few tweaks here and there in a manner that most folk would have never noticed if they weren't looking for it; but some other recent high profile instances have proven far more involved.

Recently you might have heard about of a little impending disaster known as the 'Sonic: The Hedgehog' movie. Another ill-advised video game movie that had the misfortune of messing up one of the key aspects of any adaptation; the main character. Despite having over a decade's worth of 3D material to work with, the studio decided to go with their own unique design that ended up looking horrible and spawning a wave of bad reactions from prospective fans. The studio actually reacted to this backlash, surprisingly, and managed to cobble together a brand new Sonic render to feature throughout the movie that was much more faithful to other adaptations. The only real cost to the studio was delaying the movie and, probably, paying overtime to the animation studio; and the cost was genuine pleasant surprise from the community and a push to actively support this movie. (Whether or not that will actually happen remains to be seen, but by acting the Studio have given this movie the best chance at life.)

Another recent example, which is inexplicably linked, comes in the form the recently released; Cats. This was another ill-conceived idea of realizing a stage production with no real plot into a movie with no real plot and the result was a total mess. (Amazingly.) The real point of contention for most audiences, however, was the choice to remodel the cast as horrific cat-human hybrids. Cats was panned upon release and no one could quite believe how ugly the whole affair ended up being. And the worst part? These effects were conjured by the same VFX studio that bought Sonic to life. Now, there isn't anything inherently wrong with the animation (at least from a technical level) but it was deeply flawed in terms of direction and that was something that every pointed out as they mocked the movie relentlessly.

The studio responsible for Cats were aware of the public issues with this movie in advance, however, due to how poorly the initial Internet reveal went. Universal Studios made it known that changes were coming to the movie to alter the visual effects before the final product came out, though most were unconvinced that anything would come of the changes. Seems the cynics were right this time, as Cats performed so abysmally that Universal prematurely axed their Oscar-push for the movie. Unfortunately, this also partially provided an excuse for the VFX team 'at fault' to undergo significant layoffs right before the holidays.

Fan feedback can be a tricky beast to feed, especially when we are talking about products that haven't been released yet. From the outset it should be simple; listen to the fans, their the one's buying your product afterall, but it's not always so simply black and white. Just because a decent number of folk who saw your product found themselves physically revolted doesn't mean you should immediately change the  final draft. Perhaps they aren't the audience you were targeting (As I suspect is the case for the Sonic movie) and perhaps that extra workload could have unforeseen real-world consequences. (Like the mass layoffs.) It's a tricky beast which requires cool heads in order to tame; and those who make the ultimate choice must always be mindful of one truth: There isn't always a right answer.