Gore on tap -- dumbing down Mortal Kombat

DeBane

New member
It began with those insultingly easy 'combo breakers'. It then continued with those wholly unrewarding X-ray 'super' attacks and their idiot-friendly input commands. Now it's metastasised to the franchise's patented finishing moves; which are not only no longer hidden finishing attacks only a select few dedicated players are privy to, but are now being casualised to facilitate little Timmy bearing witness to Islamic State -like video game executions at the mash of a button and without so much as a neurological pathway ever in danger of being created -- Fatalities Easier Mortal Kombat X

Where will this utter dumbing down of the franchise end? Will MKXI adopt a Dragon's Lair Arcade type custom controller? Perhaps Wii balance board compatibility? Kinect voice commands? A baby rattle shaped Wiimote...??

Why must MK (and games in general) continue to become less and less rewarding and more and more indulging of the player, to the point where watching a game played via a stream or on YouTube for a couple of hours is all the 'play time' one really needs to experience the game?

Was ← ← → really that hard? Are modern day video gamers that casual?

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EDITED BY TAJ GILL: Last part was unnecessary.
 
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It's nice for kiddies to see gratuitous brutality in HD without even having to think about how they're doing it. It keeps their formative minds clear to absorb said gore (read: become inured to it) and thus prepares them for future Velcro-ing to tank armour in the Middle East. :love:

You should be old enough to know that 1-button Fatalities isn't anything new to the franchise.
None of us can be that 'old' if we're playing video games about extracting the intestines of our opponents through their mouths, can we? :tee:
 
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It's nice for kiddies to see gratuitous brutality in HD without even having to think about how they're doing it. It keeps their formative minds clear to absorb said gore (read: become inured to it) and thus prepares them for future Velcro-ing to tank armour in the Middle East. :love:

You have no idea how the military works, do you? Nothing NRS does to MK has any effect on how the military works at all. But nice attempt at trolling though.
 
Dude... my country has 2 planes and 4 catapults, we ain't gonna invade any country anytime soon...
 
I'll give this thread a chance to get into a serious discussion because there is potential on the topic, but if it doesn't, expect it to be locked.
 
You should be old enough to know that 1-button Fatalities isn't anything new to the franchise.
Except in the old days, you needed a cheat menu to do it...and keep in mind, the internet was just beginning to grow during those days as well, so if you didn't have internet access and weren't lucky enough to have either the strategy guide or the issue of GamePro/EGM that had those cheats, you missed out...and this is despite the fact that GameFAQs was established in 1994, and TRMK's very own [MENTION=1]Patrick McCarron[/MENTION] has been a contributor to that site since circa 1995 or 1996 (I know because his name is on the credits of MK FAQs on that site dated to that period).

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The gore is a side attraction.

At the series inception gore was a crutch. The gameplay and mechanics were okay but the gore was the main attraction.

As the series has progressed it has become a fundamentally solid and outright great fighting game. The gore is there simply because it is a series staple. It is no longer the main attraction.

TLDR: Who Cares.
 
I agree with OP. I liked when fatalities when difficult to preform. You had to know beforehand that you were going to attempt one before even beating the opponent. The timer was strict, the commands were hidden and the inputs were complex.

As a hardcore MK fan, the Fatality Trainer bugged me. But easy fatalities downright make me sad. Fatalities aren't rewards anymore. I'm seriously waiting for NRS to go ahead and just make them mandatory.
 
Are those links supposed to mean anything? Just means you can google.
Sorry for wasting your / our time. :patriot:

The gore is a side attraction.
At the series inception gore was a crutch. The gameplay and mechanics were okay but the gore was the main attraction.
And this model has changed... how exactly? For any trailer you watch for MKX has more blood split than at your average vampire jamboree. And if you're suggesting the majority who entertain this franchise do it for its deep, rewarding, 'flawlessly' net-coded, highly competitive play, I think you should quit using Adam Sandler as your comedic coach.

Fatalities aren't rewards anymore.
That's right. They're now little more than morbid indulgences. You know, kinda like watching Hostel or A Serbian Film for titillation.

But chin up, Charlie. You get 'better' rewards now; like, DLC and "Achievements!" :shot:
 
I agree with OP. I liked when fatalities when difficult to preform. You had to know beforehand that you were going to attempt one before even beating the opponent. The timer was strict, the commands were hidden and the inputs were complex.

As a hardcore MK fan, the Fatality Trainer bugged me. But easy fatalities downright make me sad. Fatalities aren't rewards anymore. I'm seriously waiting for NRS to go ahead and just make them mandatory.

Which is why Sub-Zero's Mortal Kombat 2 fatality will always remain my favorite, two inputs in a short amount of time... Pfff, when was the last time we needed two inputs?
 
even though 1 button fatalities is an option.
i hate that its even an option.

i could understand if the game was for all ages but it has an 18+ rating.
(yes kids will get their hands on it either way but still..)

if you cant perform the commands then your an idiot.
if your too lazy to learn and remember the fatalities then gtfo
 
I can understand why NRS has decided to make easy fatalities with them trying to cater to the more casual audience. It's a reasonable idea for giving those who want to play the game for its mindless violence a chance to experience fatalities with ease after just picking the game up. That being said, I do also find it pretty unnecessary. Like the member above said ^ the fatality inputs are hardly the most difficult aspect in the game, so it's not exactly necessary to dumb down the game even more than it probably has been.

But even though it's an unnecessary addition, does it really even matter? The game isn't a staple just for its gore, MK9 proved that with its competitive scene and is first and foremost MK is a fighting game, not a gore gallery. So will an easier input on fatalities even make a difference? Hell no. Unless you feel the need to assert your videogame alpha male over the casual players by flexing your almighty fatality biceps while they watch in horror and awe (lol), it really makes absolutely no difference. The core game is still solid, we've got tons of new and returning features and, in my opinion, the sequel to best fighting game story to date. Fussing about fatality inputs is incredibly trivial when looking at the game as a whole.

TL'DR: The developers have understandable intentions for the inclusion of 'easy fatalities' even though it's ridiculously unnecessary. But despite this, it's such a small detail that it's even more unnecessary to complain about it.
 
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