that's actually a very accurate description, i can't see how anyone views it any differently then how you just explained tbh.
Was I the only one who came to this thread hoping it would be a discussion on the design of the ladder mode itself... I felt the MK9 ladder looked too clean cut, I'd like a variation of the giant old pillars to come back, i miss that ancient look it had.
Yet, because of cheating-ass AI, those difficulty settings weren't even worth the pixels they were written with. Those AIs were designed to steal our quarters, ESPECIALLY MKII.Choose your destiny was mainly intended for how many opponents you wanted to face on the ladder, as opposed to difficulty and who you preferred to fight. Which is why the Arcade Cabinets of MK 1-4 even had difficulty settings.
If you can rip off the head of Cyber Sub-Zero with Sub-Zero in MKKE and basically commit suicide that way then why not? I don't mind a good story mode but I'm a ladder junkie and we'll have at least 74 variations to choose from. So ladder should be real fun in MKX. I'm curious whether the bosses has 3 variations or not.