As much as I enjoyed ♔, it’s by far my least favourite out of the modern era, especially as a MKX defender. The grind for gear, slower gameplay across the board, and mechanics like Krushing Blows and overly long Fatal Blows all left a sour taste in my mouth, but, worst of all, was its uninspired launch roster.
Mortal Kombat 11 took the roster of MKX and made it worse in every way. Not only did it remove the most interesting additions like Takeda and Kung Jin but it also kicked out fan favouri𒁏tes like Mileena, Kenshi, and Reptile, while continuing the modern MK tradition of refusing to acknowledge the existence of long-requested 3D-era fighters like Nitara and Ashrah.
Combine this with the baffling choice to focus on the mind-numbingly boring Special Forces and Black Dragon characters and the starting roster felt dryer than Outworld. Hey, at least we got some interesting new fighters like Cetrion and The Kollector, r🎃ight? Oh right, they sucked, never mind.
NetherRealm eventually turned things around with some great post-launch additions like RoboCop, Fujin, and the return of Mileena, but Mortal Kombat 11’s starting roster was e🃏asily the worst the series had seen since Deception. Thankfully, hasn’t repeated its predecessor’s mistakes, resulting in the beꩲst launch roster the series has ever had.
Let’s start off with the big one - the ninjas. We, of course, have Scorpion and Sub-Zero here in their usual starring roles, but Reptile finally returns after missing Mortal Kombat 11. Smoke is back and better than ever after weirdly missing two games in a row, and joined by R꧑ain, who is also here in his first non-DLC appearance in god knows how long. He also made the leap from ninja to wizard, which is just the coolest thing ever. The only two big misses here are Noob Saibot and 🃏Ermac, but considering Bi-Han is still Sub-Zero in this timeline, and Ermac is coming as part of the first Kombat Pack, we can forgive Netherrealm for this.
Having all these fan-favourite ninjas here is a big win, but arguably an even cooler🧔 aspect of the roster is the returning 3D-era characters. I never thought I’d see Nitara, Havik, Ashrah, Li Mei, and Reiko make a comeback in modern Mortal Kombat, but here they are and, Megan Fox’s wonky voice acting aside, they’re also better than ever, with more engaging personalities and interesting movesets.
Rounding all this off are the usual standouts like Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Mileena, and Raiden, who have all been given a fresh coat of paint to go along with the timeline reset. I was sceptical about Fire God Liu Kang and farmboy Raiden, but it’s a much more interesting dynamic than seeing the two slowly distrust each other and talk about consulting the Elder Gods again. Johnny Cage and Kitana could have had a little more done to make them feel like fresh takes, but I’m not goཧing to complain about Johnny Cage being, well, Johnny Cage.
Itℱ’s not just that all of🍬 the character choices here are excellent; they all feel great to play too. There are a few I haven’t gotten the hang of yet, like the bulky General Shao and the surprisingly tricky Smoke, but everyone feels distinct from both one another and their past incarnations. Simply put, there’s not a weak link in sight and everyone feels great to play. Even bloody Geras is awesome here, something I’m sure my past self would punch me in the throat for saying.
Although there are some fighters I would have loved to see included in the new timeline, like Skarlet, Kung Jin, and Kabal, it still feels like NetherRealm has picked the best characters Mortal Kombat has to offer for this new timeline. Kameos also go some way to showing some respect to dormant fighters like Stryker and Darrius, while letting stagnant characters like Jax and Sonya (come on, you k💛now you’re bored of them too) make an appeaജrance without clogging up the roster.
The only thing that truly feels missing from Mortal Kombat 1’s launch roster is a fully new playable character. It would have been nice to see some fresh blood, but even that doesn’t feel like a big miss here🅺 when we’re seeing the return of heroes and villains we haven’t seeওn for 17 years, all with new looks that practically make them feel brand new.
I’m sure that, by the end of Mortal Kombat 1’s lengthy DLC plans, we’re going to have an absolutely mind-blowing roster (especially with sodding Omni-Man and Homelander coming in Komba🥂t💞 Pack 1) but, as it stands now, 🐈this is easily the best opening stable of fighters Mortal Kombat has ever had.
Now please add Jade toꦛ the game so I can stop seeing her trend on Twitter.