168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mortal Kombat 1’s story is great, until the third act. A lot of the quieter moments between often understated characters are shoved aside for yet another reality-level threat, all of which is solved by our usual suspects in a big fistfight that felt tired two games ago. When so much of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fire God Liu Kang’s new universe feels fresh, thanks to its complete reset that retells origin stories in a more𝓀 personal light, pivoting at the last moment to such stakes feels at odds. But the sequel had hope, with the seeds planted for a smaller story to follow… until the post-credits scene.
Spoilers for Mortal Kombat 1's story.
Not every loos♛e end gets tied up when we beat Shang Tsung and Quan-Chi and avert the unravelling of Liu Kang’s new timeline. Scorpion and Smoke have left the Lin Kuei to form the Shirai Ryu after Sub-Zero’s betrayal, with the Lin Kuei clang forsaking its oath to protect Earthrealm, devoting itself to an immoral and selfish lust for power instead.
Once the dust settles, our band of heroes, namely Kensಞhi, Johnny Cage, Kung Lao, Liu Kang, and Raiden, go their separate ways, with Liu Kang saying he must help Scorpion and Smoke with their new clan. MK2’s future seems clear, a grounded story about a clash between brothers, rather than a multiversal collapse.
Then the credits fade away and reveal Havik and a band of multiverse villains standing amidst the mountain of corpses left behind at the end of the story, saddened that it ended so soon. In what feels like a slapstick superhero parody, the camera zooms into his face and he declares that he wants more, a bloodlust that stretches across realities.
I’m not sure if this is a bad joke or an honest set-up for the future of the series. On the surface, it promises to embrace the potential of endle꧟ss possibilities brought about by endless universes, but the t🐟rue reality of such infinity is that stakes cease to exist.
Everything that can happen, developer NetherRealm can use. That makes the story little more than a sandbox of nothingness, chucking a bunch of action figures together. Your favourite could perish but then be back moments later after stepping through a portal, and if Liu Kang’s universe falls apart, we can just hop to another and see what t𓂃hey’re up to. It’s hard to get invested in infinity because it’s endless in scope, meaning that nothing is permanent and there’ll🃏 always be an easy way to get out of controversial decisions. Scorpion dies? Bring another one in.
The prospect of unravelling the minute deta🌃ils of a universe we’re familiar with and getting to know its characters on an intimate level is much more enticing, understanding their motives, flaws, and where they find meaning. It grounds stories based in unfathomable magic where gods battle with sorcerers of untold power, rather than stretching everything too thin to the point of breaking. The best parts of MK1 are not old Raiden re-appearing or seeing a woman version of Scorpion only to die minutes later, it’s watching Kenshi and Johnny Cage fight over a family heirloom.
Cage bought an ancient swoꦰrd for three million dollars, and his ego and greed are too much to understand Kenshi’s plight. It’s his family’s, and he needs the sword to𓂃 rally his people and break free of the yakuza, but a dated movie star who sees it as nothing more than an ornament can’t possibly grasp the true gravity of the situation. That sword reflects both of their arcs. Cage is pushed into scenarios time and time again where selfish paths are opened up, the possibility of power and fame dangling in front of him, and he is forced to confront who he is. He chooses selflessness.
That selflessness forges a new path, one that culminates in handing Kenshi his family’s sword. Kenshi meanwhile learns to open up and to be more trusting, rather than walling his feelings off and stoicly masking the truth. Their story ends with the two being close friends, Kenshi guided by the spirits of his ancestors and Cage the hero he was always meant to be. I care far more about their sub-plot than yet another ‘good Mortal Kombat heroes but evil’ finale.
The Lin Kuei offers similar potential. Scorpion is Su🦹b-Zero’s brother in this new timeline, but the two clash as they always do. Sub-Zero has forsaken their father’s goals 🐻for their clan and wants nothing more than power, choosing the selfish path where Cage chose to be selfless, and we have yet to see the fallout. Scorpion and Smoke were rarely seen in the story, with little time left to explore their relationship o♉nce the multiversal wheels started turning, but in the brief snippets we got, I fell in love with the pair.
Where Sub-Zero shuns Smoke for being adopted, Scorpion offers a hand. There’s more brotherly love between the two, despite not being related by blood. It’s a story that would undoubtedly be heartwrenching, Scorpion likely unable to reconcile with his now lost brother. However, leakers claim that Havik's bloodthirsty rampage will unfold in a future DLC, doubling down on all the worst qualities of MK1's story. Hopefully, that's where it ends, and NetherRealm puts aside the multiverse and time travel for good.