I feel secure in saying that I prefer the MKDA/MKD method of storytelling, since at least every character get a modicum of development each game because a lot of arcade endings became canon or semi-canon at the time. What we have here is not wide enough in scope for such a big universe, and a lot of characters are left for dead while only a handful are done justice. These 2-hour movies that the MK story has transformed into are pretty to look at, but a huge nosedive in quality for the lore.
I disagree very strongly. If one of the chief complaints with MKX is that certain stories feel very rushed (e.g. Civil War), giving Kotal Kahn five minutes of screentime instead of the thirty or so that he has in MKX wouldn't have solved that at all, it would have made it
worse.
MKX's story could have felt much, much bigger than it does. Take out three of Sub-Zero's four fights with the bratpack, give him a fight vs NPC Sektor, give him Scorpion's flashback fight, and give him a fight vs NPC Noob Saibot. Take out Kotal Kahn's fights vs Tanya and Rain and give him a flashback that fleshes out Reptile, Ferra/Torr, and Ermac. Cut Jacqui's piece of shit chapter. Etc.
What we got isn't a function of its "movie-like" approach, that's a function of at times lazy writing, at times poor writing, and probably a smaller budget than we were led to believe.
Outside of a better job with the cutscenes, this isn't even an improvement over MK9, which had a more broad storyline that involved far more characters and hosted a more compelling threat (they failed with Shinnok here, as far as making him more interesting or more dangerous than Shao Kahn).
I really don't see how you can say that. MKX is a better story than Injustice, which was already infinitely superior to MK9.
Kotal Kahn is single-handedly more interesting than every MK9 character combined. Characters have legitimate on-screen development (Johnny, Sonya, Kotal, Kung Jin, Takeda, Scorpion, Sub-Zero) that isn't just text on a bio card.
Hell, Sindel did more than Shinnok in MK9 and she was only a secondary villain.
Sindel didn't do anything except make herself, MK9, and NRS look like a joke in one of the silliest scenes in recent gaming history. She kills a bunch of characters because reasons, and then she gets killed by Nightwolf. Who's Nightwolf? Some random shmuck whose biggest contribution to the story up to that point had been losing to Scorpion.
Shinnok was a more credible threat than every MK9 antagonist put together from the first 30 seconds of his introduction. His dialogue, his movements, his appearance, his motivations and backstory all combined to make him feel like a significant threat. Now... did he live up to expectations? Absolutely not. Not even close. And I'm very disappointed with that. But does that justify saying that
Sindel was a better antagonist? No, it doesn't. I think that you're letting your disappointment cloud your judgment.
But the worst part is something that was also a problem in MK9 and will probably, unfortunately, be a problem in future games: bad writing in regards to plot armor. You're telling me Sub-Zero alone can beat all four kids, each of which seemed to take out all of Kotal's inner circle? What a mess.
"You're telling me in MKD, Ermac alone can take out Johnny Cage, Jax, Sonya, Kung Lao, and Kitana? Even though Johnny Cage is strong enough to beat Shinnok by himself in the next game? What a mess."
Or should I bring up the fact that Shujinko beats
everybody? Is that the kind of story telling you want to go back to? One protagonist running around beating up
everybody?
You seem incapable of giving NRS any credit at all in your present state. Are there dumb fights in the game? Yeah, there are. Are there as many dumb fights in the game as MK9 had? Not even close. You were hoping for an earth-shattering improvement, and instead we got a mild improvement. I was, too, and I'm disappointed as well, but I understand that I'm disappointed because my expectations were very high, not because MKX is literally shit.