Board Thread:Mortal Kombat X/@comment-81.246.1.226-20160118124109

New MK games see new characters come and old ones go. Some of the new characters develop into mainstays, many are relegated to side plots and secondary characters, and a few are never seen again. With the game jumping 20 years ahead, we get sort of a new generation of characters, but also have to accept that some of our all time favourites are now getting on in age, and will eventually become secondary characters or dissappear altogether. Given this evolution, it's sort of fun to see what people's evaluation are of the new crop of characters and which ones will possibly develop into the new leading characters. Because honestly, of the 4 young heroes I only really see Cassie Cage as having a strong enough combination of background, playability, etc to become the next Liu Kang/Scorpion/Sub-Zero/other long term favourite. The story mode already suggests we finally bid farewell to Mileena, Quan Chi and Baraka (The equivalent of "storm trooper with a name"). i also hope we've finally had every ninja style and colour variant to avoid future crap like Ermac, Noob Saibot and whatever junk was randomly thrown in over the years, or complete misfits like Meat. The jump makes sense in an age of DLC and expansions. And makes room for more coherent story lines now that MK is the ultimate fight franchise. Here's my take, but I ask the question more out of curiosity of other opinions than profer my own (as honestly all new characters are fairly blank slates now)

D'Vorah - One of the stronger characters in terms of future developments. The Kytinn race is one that lends a lot of opportunity in terms of story, but also playability and development of original moves, fatalities and brutalities. Developers could have a field day with this. Unfortunately she was already revealed as a double traitor, and in all cases a follower, which makes it hard to turn her into a future main-line character. Her unique nature of combat - Frailer, but better at a distance and utterly destructive when you put in the hours of practice - also make her a bit of niche character that some players will revert to time and time again as a sign of their level of "MK Skill" (as in, if you can beat the game with D'vorah, you got skill). My hope : mainstay as a secondary character, possible development of another Kytinn character ?

Jacqui - Impossible to replace Jaxx with a female. Sure, we haven't seen a whole lot of what has shaped or will shape her, so her strength of character can improve, but the legacy she carries can't be translated to a female body (it's like having Sheeva over Goro or Kintaro - didn't work). The whole appeal of Jaxx was raw power. AT the same time her MKX style will make it hard to make her over completely in future games. At best she is Cassie's BFF, a run along similar to Johnny cage in the first two games.

Kung Jin and Takeda - I lump these two together because I feel so far they are hard to differentiate. Kung Jin again brooding over his past ancestry, as Kung Lao before him did over the old Kung Lao, already basically makes him the saddest sack of sh*t I've seen in MK so far. I like the Archer bit, but the whole prince of thieves with a staff just screams too much Alladin for me. Unless he's juggling monkey's and and magic lamps, I don't want to see more Kung Lao spin offs unless it involves bladed hats and tons of carnage. Kung Lao as a character was never strong, but at least it still had that Shaolin Monks vibe going on. Takeda following Kenshi has more promise. Because he was estranged from Kenshi quite a while, and has a strong adherence to Hanzo's teachings. While among players Ronin Takeda takes preference, it's Lasher Takeda in a Scorpion-esque style that may be the future here. Especially if at some point we may have to do with Scorpion (or Kenshi, but he was so deus ex machina a toned down version of him is actually a plus). This combination of elements, with the right story-line, could make him a strong player and fan favourite.

Erron Black - Seems too forced of an introduction. The lone gunslinger in MK ? I don't really see where he fits in. Just an acolyte of Kotal Kahn ? He is a mysterious one, so I guess you could come up with a cool story line that sheds new light on him, but it would take some serious thinking to think up one that makes him interesting enough as a standalone to justify the awkwardness of his character in the MK universe, which was never that much about guns. Cool look, wrong game type of thing ?

Ferra/Torr - As weird, but less awkward in the scheme of things than Erron Black. The strength of this one is the immediate like/dislike you have towards this character. From Ferra's shrill annoying voice, to Torrs brutal appearance. It's hard to fight this character and not form an immediate opinion. That said, both the comical nature of the character, and the sluggish liking to previous sub-bosses like goro, kintaro, motaro and bosses like SHao Kahn, Onaga and Blaze will make it tougher to also provide an interesting backstory, and without that, just like Erron Black, he ends up as just another Kotal Kahn acolyte and therefor hard to see as a long staying character or future fan favourite.

Kotal Kahn - Another Kahn for outworld. Milder at first, but becoming fiercer. I'm not sure on the character itself yet, but I love the premise of the stalwarth in this conflict and future ones. The ruler that isn't in the line of fire, but everyone still has to dance around and deal with. The South-American Indian background is also one that offers a lot of room for creative development in both character and playability. I even love the name "archtec". Kotal himself, especially representing the Sun God, I can't really form an opinion on yet. I guess if he develops into something slightly less sluggish (too many boss types are just made sluggisch to emphasize power and the beauty of what we have here is actually that Kotal in no way should be like, or likened too Shao Kahn, but develop into very much his own character. Not the evil part of the equation, but the one that can influence any plot in any way. With the right treatment of his "archtec" background into how he handles as a playable character, I'd love to see Much, much more of him.

Cassie Cage - I could see Cassie being the new protagonist for a good while. Befitting for the child of two characters that never amounted to more than supporting roles throughout the franchise, and yet somehow were always there. Johnny Cage was always the comical relief to a more serious story with Raiden and Kang as the protagonists, while Sonya already managed to make herself oblivious dissappearing in MKII, only coming back when the special Forces was already embodied by the powerful Jaxx and the game was rife with stronger female characters. MKX story line does a nice job of finally giving both center stage and introducing Cassie as the result of that. By combining this double legacy she becomes a very playable character from the beginning, combining that vengeful nature of SOnya with the comical relief of Johnny, and turning two charicatures into a likeable character. Of course it still has to become a stronger, leader-type character to come to fruition, which means fading out johnny and Sonya as playable characters again.

So give me some opinions on how you see the future after MKX ? What do you think of the new characters and how "durable" they are toward the future. Which characters do you see dissappearing with the time jump and being replaced, and what are other good avenues to pursue ? I imagine the black dragon will be taking a beating with kano getting on in age and kabal pretty much ripe for the garbage can. I'd love to see a coup there with some younger characters. What about the Lin Kuei post Sub-Zero ? Surely it can't be about Frost ? That would be a waste. 