Board Thread:Mortal Kombat X/@comment-25163804-20150213063527

The latest Kombat Kast was revealed, and there was a bunch of stuff for Reptile and Kitana fans alike to rejoice. I will be analyzing this stream, from the concept art to the gameplay to the X-Ray and Fatality that was shown. We'll start with the concept art that was shown, particularly the alternate costumes. I won't show all of the concept art pictures, but if you do want to see the concept art, go to http://netherrealmstudios.tumblr.com/ and check it out.



The first thing I wanted to talk about was Kitana's costumes, which include some with a very royal theme, and even a few with hoods, before the current design is shown. However, an alternate is also shown, which seems to be inspired by MK9 Kitana, albeit covering up a lot more. I personally liked the idea of a hood on Kitana, but the costumes that did have the hoods didn't really click with me. The alternate costume, however, is a very nice touch to Kitana, especially since it looks



really good. I feel like I'd personally use this costume quite a bit.

Next, we get a look at Reptile's design process. Some of the earlier concept were much more reptilian than the final product, which included a few designs that had tails, and one that had a throat sac. While I wasn't a fan of the throat sack, I did feel that the tail would've been nice, especially for a few attack possibilities. But, I

digress. Another series of concept arts included some ninja-esque garbs (even one with a similar pose to Sub Zero's render in MK9), and one even had a cobra-type hood, which was very cool in my opinion as well. Reptile's alternate costume is shown as well, and it is very similar to some of the other ninja costumes, albeit with less on the top in way of clothing; more bare, if you will. Asides from that, the costume is awesome and personally one of my favorite alts.



One thing worth noting is that Reptile actually seems to have larger claws on his feet, potentially allowing him to slash at his foes with deadly precision, like that of a raptor dinosaur.

While the Kombat Kast are on break, they left the roster available for us to see the current (as of February 12th, 2015) MKX roster. There are 14 characters on screen, including Pre-Order bonus Goro, and what appears to be a random select option above Ferra/Torr. Something I think is worth noting is that Reptile, Kitana and Kung Lao are all next to the new characters, while Ermac



is sitting above with the rest of the returning characters like Raiden and Quan Chi. I am not sure why this is, but it was too suspicious for me not to notice. Also, Goro is featured on the roster, but is not used at all in this stream, though he may be used in the next Kombat Kast. We also get a look at the new stage select, which not only sports a new design but also sports a new stage, which is subject to the Background Breakdown later in the stream. Also worth mentioning is the name of the 'Snow Forest' is now the 'Dead Woods', meaning that the name of the stages could change at any



time. I suspect, then, that we might get a name change for the 'Destroyed City' once MKX releases, or maybe a name change for several other stages, as the Jungle also gets a name change to the 'Kuatan Jungle'. When we enter the battle between Kitana and Ermac, we get to hear a dialogue between the two, which goes like this: '''Ermac: "We know you." Kitana: "We have fought before, construct." Ermac: "The memory is gone."''' My guess is absorbing Shao Kahn caused a strain on Ermac's memory, preventing him from remembering anything from the past.

As we enter see the demonstration put on by Kitana, we note that her special moves that stay include her ever popular Fan Toss, Fan Lift, and a couple of new moves, like a move



that allows Kitana to leap into the air, slashing at her foes. This, when meter burned, adds a second slash, allowing her to take her foes even higher up into the air. We also see her leaping slash in action, which is a move very similar to Mileena's Leaping Pounce from MK9, but with a slash of the fans. Something to note is when attempting to back dash without enough stamina, the stamina bar flashes red and makes a sound, notifying you to wait for the bar to fill up. This is very handy when you are in the heat of battle and not sure if your stamina bar is high enough.

The Royal Storm variaion, as it is called, adds a lot of spinning and wind-based attacks, like an buffed version of her Upraise special move called the Fan-Nado, which sends a whirlwind about mid-screen at the foe to lift them up, but when meter-burned gives a full-screen whirlwind that allows Kitana to catch zoning foes. This is only available in the Royal Storm variation, though the move itself is usable in all variations. A returning move, Square

Wave, is also only available in this variation, and when in use on the ground does not force Kitana into a jump first. It is still usable in mid-air, however. Her hover move allows her to fake out foes and stay in the air for a few moments longer, and is in all variations. She also has a parry in the form of a spin, which reflects all projectiles at her foes, and said projectiles keep their effects. This defensive manouver can be held down for



a long period of time, good for hitting slow projectiles or making a foe come close, only for you to strike. After this variation is shown, we see Kitana's Assassin variation, which not only includes black makeup round the eyes, but several new moves, including a parry. It parries most attacks excluding ranged moves and low attacks, but can be delayed, letting Kitana hold the parry for a long period of time. This could get extremely annoying, especially with the damage that is done from this attack. The result of attacking in this parry is three stabs to the back, each doing around 5%



damage to the foe. Kitana also gains a new move: Sharpen. This attack allows her to temporarily boost the damage of her moves that involve her fans like Fan Toss, and allows her to save meter by allowing her to use the meter-burned Assassin Strike without actually burning meter. The Sharpened version of this attack also does more damage than the Meter-Burned version of the Assassin Strike, which



means if you can fit a Sharpen and an Assassin Run, that would be an ideal means of doing damage. However, the Meter-Burned version of this attack gives Kitana armor while using it, so the Meter-Burn is not completely useless.

After this, we get a character 'un-reveal', telling of who will not be in the final game. The character un-revealed is Jade, who Kitana feels great sorrow for, even to the degree of the next variation being called 'Mournful.' She uses Jade's Staff and Glaive as weapons. In this variation, she trades her fan throw for the Glaive Throw, using Jade's Glaive as a throwing weapon. This attack has almost exactly the same properties as in MK9, except it can be used in the air, which has it being thrown diagonally at the opponent, and it can be controlled mid-throw. Before we continue, Kitana's dialogue with Kung Lao is... not very nice. '''Kitana: Kung Lao. Kung Lao: You seek a challenge, Kitana? Kitana: Yes, but you will do. '''Note to self: Kitana's quick



with the burns. Anyway, Kitana's Staff Stab is almost identical when not meter burned. When it is, she plants the staff in the ground and kicks the foe in the face. Kitana's X-Ray was accidentally shown in the stream, and it is brutal!



It is a multi-hitting X-Ray where she spins, fans-out at the foe, then knocks them into the air. She then throws her fans like darts at the foe's neck, stabbing them. Kitana then catches the foe's head as they fall, forcing the fans in even further. She then



pulls them out and knees the foe in the face, ending the X-Ray. Another move that appears in Mournful Kitana's arsenal is the Shadow Kick, which, when Meter Burned, adds a staff strike that sends the foe flying. That is it for most of the Kitana stuff, now let's jump on the scaly bandwagon and talk about Reptile.

The first variation we see, deceptive, has him not wearing the mask, and him speaking to Quan Chi: '''Reptile: Quan Chi... Quan Chi: The last of a forgotten race. Reptile: Your last memory will be of teeth! '''I don't think Quan Chi is a good meal, Reptile. Anyway, most of his special moves return from MK9, with a few new moves included. Returning moves



include both Acid Balls fast and slow, the Acid Spit, which when meter burned sets a toxic pool on the ground, damaging a foe that stands in it. When meter burning the Acid Balls, Reptile puts them in place, trapping the foe and allowing Reptile to pressure them from range. He has a new overhead move that strikes at close range, popping the foe up when meter burned, and the leaping overhead we have mentioned earlier, that seems to have variable ranges as in the Reveal Trailer it hits full-screen, while in the stream it has about half-screen. The Dash also returns as well.



Worth noting is that the Acid Ball has two different Meter Burns: A boost in speed (or slow...ness) for the Acid Ball, and setting the acid ball as a trap. The Deceptive Variation features invisibility, which can vary between a cloak and complete invisibility, depending on how long the button is held. When Meter-Burned, the trick becomes an instant, complete invisibility, though I don't see why you would do that.

Next is the Noxious varaition, and needless to say, it's not pleasant. It provides a constant gas cloud that does will do damage over time if you stay close to Reptile, and can boost the damage of combos. This gas cloud can be enhanced to do more damage over time with a



special move, which when meter burns allows the cloud to do even more damage. This could be very... very... cheap. However, on its own the cloud doesn't do that much damage, perhaps only one percent damage per second. This is all that is unique for the Noxious variation, but while this was short, my personal favorite Reptile variation is next.

Let me preface this by steering into another game briefly. Injustice. It is one of my favorite games ever, and one of the first fighting games I got decent at. My best character in that game is The Flash, and his trait was to slow down time (except for himself) to create combos that usually are not possible. Well, in Reptile's Nimble variation, you can do just



that. Reptile can slow down the foe while speeding himself up using a currently unnamed move, which allows incredibly long combos to happen. I would not be surprised if Reptile's damage output is lowered by any degree in this state.

And now, it is time for the Background Breakdown, for a new stage: The Crossroads. Before we get into that, I would just like to say something; NetherRealm is not keen on censorship, and I applaud them. We



can clearly see that Cassie Cage, as she walks away, flips off the God of Thunder, Raiden. That's some serious balls, lady, especially since he's apparently your mentor. The Crossroads has only three interactibles: A body that can be thrown, a stony stalagmite that can be jumped off of, and a pillar that can be leapt off of. Design wise, it's impressive. Interactives wise... it could be better.



Finally, we get the fights, which Derek wins for a second time in a row. However, there is one noteworthy thing: I said in my Reptile analysis that I think the head would be split open by Reptile... and I was absolutely correct, the head is split perfectly down the middle (Which seems very unusual to me, but it's Mortal Kombat) as Kitana falls back, dead. And with that, this analysis is concluded. Thoughts? Opinions? Comment down below, and thanks for reading. 