No.
18charactersss
I'd much rather have 25 characters with 3 variations each than 30 characters with none.
Variations make this game, IMO. They add so much. Multiple ways to play the same character, more chances at your character having a great set of tools, more interesting mirror matches, making old characters fresh again by stretching them thin from a creative and design standpoint... the list goes on.
		
		
	 
 From a gameplay standpoint, I really get it and appreciate it.  It's not something I dislike, it's just what I blame for some roster wonkiness.  Another problem is the perhaps over abundance of Special forces characters. The story has grown me an appreciation for Kung Jin, but i still think they might have had someone different in his place. Or Jax's place, or Jacqui's place.  I know it's a matter of personal preference but these military driven characters are just super boring.
Even as a massive fan of Ermac, I find it baffling he was included on the roster and irrelevant in the story (same Erron Black).  I'm glad they survive and the opportunity is there to play them again.  Their gameplay is fantastic.  But why make them playable if they aren't in the story.
Definitely, there was definitely a gap between the creative team and the design team.  They likely built the roster, possibly just in terms of gameplay, before they wrote the story. 
it's just so strange to see Li Mei, Tanya, Sareena, and Rain and Frost get this unusual amount of attention.... more so than, say, Reptile, Ermac, Erron Black, etc.  YOU EVEN FIGHT AGAINST THEM!  Why can't you play as them. WTF?  To be clear,  I don't care about almost any character except Ermac, but I am sympathetic to the people who end up getting this kind of tease.