Official Shaolin Monks Gripes List

[DCR]

i always thought of it as being a bonus....they could have left scorpion and sub-zero out and only have liu and kung as players only.

But the thing is, from the very beginning of production, we always knew there were going to be other playable characters. Hell, they could've at least taken the time to give the Scorpion/Sub-Zero bosses different palettes when you fought against them as those characters. God damn, there were some pretty confusing moments when my buddy and I played through as Scorp and Subby.

 

[SOL-740]

I’m definitely with you guys there. Story-wise, the whole Scorpion/Sub-Zero saga is my favorite aspect of the MK series, so it was a bit of a letdown to see them both get the shaft in story mode.

Also I formerly had one other gripe: while it was certainly a hoot and a half to get a glimpse of the final battle between Scorpion and the elder Sub-Zero in the opening MK1 cinema, I was at first annoyed that they never showed the money shot of Scorpion’s death blow as it was originally rumored. Instead it cuts back to Kang and Lao who are later told that Scorpion had offed Sub-Zero in passing. Some of the longtime MK geeks (like myself) have been dying to actually see (or possibly play?) that pivotal moment.

However I no longer hold that against the game after reading this bit during the live chat with the MK development team over at MK Online:

“That part of the MK history is a big moment, we want it to be perfectly cool and do the story justice, we couldn't get that into this game, but we will eventually see that moment in an MK game, even if it is a flash back.”

I was relieved to see that the folks at Midway are well aware of how anticipated that moment is by many fans, and no longer have a problem with only being teased in Shaolin Monks. I’d much rather wait for them to make it something really wicked, rather than getting it half-assed right away.

 

[Darth Anarcus]

My biggest complaint is in regards to the myriad of plot holes, and quite sloppy ones at that. MK team, DO YOUR HOMEWORK! The things you screwed up are downright embarrassing. I know that most people who play Mortal Kombat don't give a flying kick about the story, (understandable, as you play a fighting game to kick the piss out of someone) but to some of us who actually do care, it's just aweful. MKM: Sub-Zero, while it may have been a complete flop, had no continuity glitches at all. (EDIT: I take that back. It did have two continuity glitches: the deaths of Fugin and Quan Chi.) Special Forces on the other hand...well, that game offers absolutely nothing to the MK chronology, so it's okay. Shaolin Monks, on the other hand, completely messes up the MK continuity. It even reached a point where I was questioning the canonicy of this game. But you see, unlike the other two I just mentioned, this is a great game gameplay-wise. Hence, these plot holes matter quite a bit.

Here is a list of all of the plot holes I was able to find:

1. The deaths of characters who appear in later games, namely Jade, Reptile, Baraka, Ermac, Kano, Goro, Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn. Granted, you could simply write these things off as you do with all of the other games: the fatalities you perform on NPCs are not canon. But there is a problem with this in regard to Jade, Kano, Tsung and Kahn, because after performing the fatalities, their deaths are recognised by other characters. Hence, they appear to have really happened, which is wrong. And let's not forget the one character who should have died, but did not: Milleena. (More on her later.)

2. The costumes and appearances of certain characters--namely Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, and especially Reptile--which were not how they looked in MK1 or MK2. Liu Kang had short hair back then, Scorpion and Sub-Zero wore much simpler--and much more ninja-esque--costumes, (the ninja feel to those characters is almost gone now) Raiden wore his white outfit but without that blue...thing in MK1, (he had it in MK2, but it was shorted and of a completely different design) and Reptile was supposed to have appeared to have looked human back then. (In fact, his devolution was supposed to have been one of the major things about his character.) Another character who's appearance is problematic is Quan Chi, who appears briefly at the end. Now, he was supposed to have worn his MKM/MK4 outfit back then, and was not supposed to have those tattoos or that forehead jewel yet.

3. The introduction of the idea that the souls of Outworld's citizens are trapped inside the soul tombs upon death, rather than going to Heaven or the Netherrealm. This presents a problem, as Milleena--who was supposed to have been killed in MK2--went to the Netherrealm and made a deal with Shinnok who resurrected her in MK3. Assuming she died in Outworld offscreen, how would this have been possible?

4. Shang Tsung was supposed to have had his youth restored by Shao Kahn himself. (Although the way it was restored in Shaolin Monks was deffinately cooler.)

5. Reptile has red blood. His blood is supposed to be green.


The way it is set up now, one of three possible conclusions can be drawn:
1. Shaolin Monks is not canon.
2. Shaolin Monks is canon, thus appocryphizing MK3, MK4, MKDA and MKD.
3. Only certain parts of Shaolin Monks are canon, while others are not.

I think this problem needs to be addressed to the public by Midway so that we can know exactly what's going on.

 

[SOL-740]

Darth Anarcus

I present what I assure you is a friendly rebuttal, contrary to it's fanboy-ish tone. No flames necessary, I come in peace!:

1) You can't be serious about Fujin and Quan Chi "dying" in MKM. It's been established numerous times that the way it works with gods in the MK universe is that the way we see them in the game is a physical form they take. You can kill said physical form but you can't kill the gods themselves because... well they're gods! They just return in a new body upon death. Look at Raiden in the intro of MK Deception for conclusive proof. Also Quan Chi was Shinnok's most valued lackey at the time. Add to the fact that he died in the Netherealm itself. If Shinnok is ok with resurrecting Mileena, who to him is some random warrior to be used as a pawn to get close to Kahn, why wouldn't he resurrect Quan Chi, his right hand sorcerer who helped him conquer a decent chunk of the netherealm, and masterminded a plot to reclaim his amulet (granted Chi was secretly planning on stealing it for himself but still)?

2) Quoted from Shang Tusng's MKII bio: "Shao Kahn restores Tsung's youth and allows him to live." Shao Kahn didn't specifically have to have actually spouted the incantation and wave the magic wand personally. He could've very well just granted Tsung permission to undergo the spell that would restore his youth. After all we see him assisted by a couple of Shadow Priests during the ceremony.

3) Reptile has appeared in MK's 1-5 (not counting as Onaga in 6). In 1, 2, and 4 he's had red blood, whereas in 3 and 5 he's had green. I'm well aware that **"canonically"** Reptile is “supposed” to have green blood. This is one of those things you just have to chalk up to programming limits/laziness. I also want to note that while yes, from MK4 on Reptile begins to devolve, his human form is still just that: a human form. Even before his devolving began he still was a lizard-man when all is said and done. Look at him in MKII and 3. He pulls not only his ninja mask, but his human face right off any time he needs to use his real lizard mouth for a move (tongue fatality, or acid). Isn’t it just as well that when you fight him in this game he’s just fighting without his human disguise on? For heaven’s sake his alternate outfit in VS mode has him with his human disguise on. Would I have preferred he fight in the main game in his human disguise? Sure but that’s all just personal preference. Lizard Reptile sans human skin has his share of fans too.

4) By you’re rationale the only major character death that presents a problem is Jade’s. Kano is an optional battle that I’m fairly sure is not “canon” because: a) he obviously can’t die that early in the game and b) if you choose to skip that fight, him and Sonya are chained up in Kahn’s arena just like they’re supposed to be. In Mileena’s case, the last we do see of her is her and Kitana fighting their way into a portal, presumably taking their fight elsewhere in Outworld. There’s absolutely no conclusive proof that she survived her rumble with Kitana. Just because we didn’t actually see it happen, doesn’t mean it didn’t. That part's left completely open ended.

As for Tsung, not once in the game does any character make any mention that he’s dead. Not once. Go back and play that fight again if you don’t take my word for it. And finally as for Kahn, he “dies” in the exact same manner he does in the original MKII. In both MKII and 3 it’s never said how he “came back” from that. Mortal Kombat fans have never quibbled about it then, so why start now? I’ve personally always chalked it up to Kahn “playing possum”. He’s a bit of a sorcerer himself after all. Not much of a stretch for him to just crumble to stone and come right back after everyone’s gone, if he’s even still there after he “shatters”. After all, the Outworld tournament was just supposed to be a smoke screen to hide Kahn’s plan to have Sindel reincarnated. But that’s just my personal take on it, make of it what you will. It’s just one of those things that was never explained both then and now.

I completely agree that Shaolin Monk’s plot such as it is, is not presented in a very clear and coherent manner at all, especially for a casual MK fan for whom it could be downright frustrating. I think everyone was expecting it to completely explain in gross detail everything that happened in MKII. Instead I sort of see it as a “companion piece” to MKII and the fact that the game comes with a fully unlockable MKII only makes the overall package that much more complete. The way I see it, as of now the original MKII is still the source for the complete series of events that transpired in MKII. You get the lowdown on what happened with regards to each and every character that took part in the Outworld Tournament with but a few paragraphs of text with pictures. That’s been fine enough for MK fans for well over ten years, and it’s still fine with me.

Shaolin Monks is told completely from Liu Kang and Kung Lao’s point of view. The game is called Shaolin Monks after all. We see only what they see. So no we don’t get to see the further events of the Scorpion/Sub-Zero saga play themselves out (see my very own gripes post), and no we don’t see Kitana murder her sister, we don’t see Reptile’s bit of story in any way, and we barely get to see Jax’s little rescue mission at all. Would I have liked an MK beat em’ up that had story modes for every character in MKII that fully details their roles in the tournament, leaving no loose end? Damn straight I would! I can’t imagine any real MK fan disagreeing there.

But we got what we got, and looking at the glass is half full side of things:

1) We got to completely explore all of the Outworld settings in MKII. Seriously this is to me by far the coolest factor in the game. One of my all time favorite aspects of MKII was the insanely warped atmosphere of Outworld, something that’s been captured only in the games. And the MK team went all out in this department with every location familiar to MK fans recreated with obsessive and loving detail, and the brand new expanded portions of them are completely in tune with what we’re familiar with. There isn’t a shadow of doubt that this is what the lower floors of the Tower look like, and this is what the other rooms in the Kombat Tomb consist of etc. I think that this is what Ed Boon was reffering to when he spoke of the game's "nostalgia factor".

2) We finally got to see how younger Sub-Zero got his signature scar.

3) We got an interesting bit of sub-plot about the Black Dragon attempting to rescue Kano from Outworld, which while not a necessary detail in the slightest, is still a neat idea that just adds a teensy bit of an extra layer to the goings on in Outworld. Plus any excuse for a Kabal cameo (pre scarring no less!) is just groovy with me.

4) We got to play through both the escape from Tsung’s island, and the Tarkata attack on the Shaolin Temples that sets off Kang and Lao into Outworld to begin with.

5) We got to see how Sonya got captured.

6) We got to see Tsung regain his youth (which as you yourself said was badass scene).

And finally 7) I don’t care what anyone says, the opening cinema gave every die hard MK fan an orgasm, and anyone who claims otherwise is lying. Nuff said.

My humble apologies for the obscene length of this rebuttal. Also (and this part isn't really directed at Darth Anarcus) lest anyone else reading this mistake me for some obsessed freak with no life who just sits around playing MK all day, guess again. I just grew up with the series since the original first hit arcades. And MK ain’t exactly rocket science. Not trying to be too defensive there, but I also know how the minds of certain people who haunt message boards work (i.e. trolls).



**Completely unrelated note: that has to rank somewhere on the top ten most ridiculous words in the English language.

 

[Darth Anarcus]

Thanks for your explaination. It was most helpful. (But please, one N in "canon." And the correct term is "canonically.")

So now I guess the only thing left unexplained is just how Milleena went to the Netherrealm upon death, when she should have gone to Outworld's soul tombs like everyone else. (Unless of course Milleena and Kitana fought each other in Earthrealm or something.)

 

[SOL-740]

Heh, fixed the typos you mentioned. Thanks.

Still doesn't change the fact that "canonically" is a preposterously lame word. Come to think of it, so is "preposterously" to a lesser extent. Wow the English language kinda sucks sometimes.

Oh, and you're welcome!

P.S.

D'oh! I just realized something! Long before the last fight that we see between Kitana and Mileena, you (that is the player) actually destroy the Soul Tombs. Right after Shang gets his youth restored no less. So yeah, no Soul Tombs = free Outworld spirits.