mandead
Active member
Okay, I was going to post this in the 'What happens after MKX' thread, but I went off on a tangent and it's not really about that now. Because it ended up being such a long post, and I thought we could discuss it a little, I thought it warranted its own thread. I apologise to Taj/mods if they deem that not to be the case.
***THIS CONTAINS SOME STORY MODE SPOILERS SO PLEASE DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING YOU DON'T ALREADY!***
For those of us who have seen plenty of leaks/streams and know the disappointedly predictable ending of MKX's story mode, I've come up with this 'what if' alternative. It takes the existing story, expands it, and makes some modifications, but it's not a re-write or anything massive like that.
IMO, story mode should have been expanded to at least 16-18 chapters, with a greater emphasis on resolving side-plots/loose ends, and not leaving the more important NPCs out in the cold. There should also have been better correlation between comic and game storylines. I think everyone who has seen some of the leaked content can say they're disappointed with one or two of the roster choices, and personally I think Fujin was given a pretty shit deal. In fact, I'm tempted to say that NRS' trailers have been downright deceptive insofar as they seem to suggest that certain NPCs have a major role in the story, and may even be playable.
IMO, here's what the MKX roster should have been:
24 characters; 21 by default, 3 unlockable, + 1 pre-order DLC.
Story amendments:
Sonya would have been killed by Revenant Jax during the Netherrealm War, acting as a catalyst for Cassie's hero status and allowing Johnny to become a mentor figure. His personality would be toned down somewhat as he transitions from someone who never takes anything seriously to a widower who values the lives of his friends and daughter, in whom he sees Sonya. She would be in a number of flashback cutscenes, but never actually appear as a fightable character. This would effectively retire her character from the series.
Johnny would become a sort of older Luke Skywalker figure; a mentor/advisor figure for the good guys, no longer taking part in any of the action directly but helping to train the younger SF team and acting as a strategist from their HQ. This would effectively retire his character from the series as a playable fighter, but he would remain alive as a crucial member of the Earthrealm faction and Raiden's primary ally/contact among the mortals. Cassie would take her mother's place as leader of the SF team.
Jax would have his mortality (and arms) restored by Raiden and the SF team at the Jinsei chamber, at which point he would learn from Raiden that he killed Sonya. Feeling overwhelmed with guilt at his actions as a Revenant - which he has no memory of - Jax would retire to his farm as Jacqui takes his place in the SF team. This would effectively retire his character from the series.
Kung Lao would be an NPC just like Nightwolf, Kabal, Stryker, etc. His memory would live on via the White Lotus faction and in particular Kung Jin, but I think the MKX story got him about right tbh. No need to make a fuss over him; he's dead and wouldn't come back or be playable.
Liu Kang and Kitana would be NPCs just like all the other Revenants, and their MKX ending would stay pretty much the same as it doesn't really interfere with any 'improvements' to the story and sets them up nicely as major players in MK11. (Once restored to their mortality, Revenant characters would have no memory of their undead actions.)
Shinnok would remain as a manipulative force for evil and (initially) portrayed as the primary antagonist, as hinted at in the story mode trailer. This would be something of a red herring, however. He is scheming to abuse the power of the amulet to crush his opposition, which is basically everyone. His role would be very similar to how it is in the game, but there'd be a twist later on in the story which would prevent him from being able to assume his demonic form, and after being defeated by a temporary alliance of Raiden, Reiko and Kotal, he would meet the same fate as he does at the end of story mode. This would conclude Shinnok's storyline.
Reiko would basically be a warlord figure controlling the remnant of Shao Kahn's army; the 'Reiko Accords' would have been reluctantly agreed to by all major parties (Reiko, Kotal, Earthrealm, etc.) to maintain a general balance of power so as one side cannot dominate the others, but this would simply be a stalling tactic by Reiko until he was able to convince Havik to manipulate the blood magic in his favour. Raiden would know that Havik was an extremely dangerous and unpredictable foe, and after Shinnok's defeat Raiden and Kotal would attempt to convince Reiko to break ties with Havik and make sure he is not being manipulated by him. Predictably, Reiko's hubris and lust for power means he plays down all of this and suggests that Havik is not an issue, and they should concentrate on finding and killing Mileena, who has the amulet and presents a major threat due to her alliance with Edenia, led by the demi-god Rain and aided by Tanya. (Reiko is very powerful and has a large army, but he is realistic and knows he is mortal).
Havik - hinted at in the comics but not mentioned in any of the trailers - would be the game's true antagonist. He would successfully manipulate Reiko into Shinnok's path, resulting in the latter's death. Havik's only real goal is to spread chaos and discord, which he appears to do by setting different groups against each other and eventually poisoning the Jinsei chamber with the amulet once Mileena has been killed. Havik would kill Reiko in a cutscene by throwing him into the poisoned Jinsei chamber; being a mortal and unable to wield blood magic or the forces of chaos, Reiko would die horrifically. Once dead, Reiko's faction loses both its leader and focus, turning on itself as complete anarchy breaks out. This immediately destroys the fragile Reiko Accords; the army begins plundering and general destruction, and as word of this reaches Raiden he is able to piece together events in a vision (the deaths of Shinnok, Mileena, Reiko, the destruction of Kotal's race, etc.) and realizes that Havik was responsible all along. The good guys (Raiden, Fujin, SF team, Kotal) then team up to defeat Havik and restore order.
Havik essentially takes Shinnok's place in the final battle, being a more powerful, corrupted, demonic form of himself. As with Shinnok, you'd fight his normal 'human' form for two rounds, then his demonic form for one. (Obviously the 'human' form is the one that you can unlock and play as.) Once killed, the normal MKX ending happens (minus the Shinnok scene, which happens earlier on) with Liu Kang and Kitana being installed as rulers of the Netherrealm and likely major players in MK11. Raiden basically becomes an Elder God and vows to destroy anyone/thing that threatens Earthrealm, and Fujin (who would have a more pronounced role across the story, including a playable chapter) takes Raiden's place as protector of Earthrealm and leader of the White Lotus faction.
Sorry for the long post, but IMO that's a far, far more interesting story than the predictable rubbish NRS cobbled together. For the size and scope of the story they've crafted, it's a good 4-5 chapters too short and misses any kind of twist.
Let me know what you think, anyway.
***THIS CONTAINS SOME STORY MODE SPOILERS SO PLEASE DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING YOU DON'T ALREADY!***
For those of us who have seen plenty of leaks/streams and know the disappointedly predictable ending of MKX's story mode, I've come up with this 'what if' alternative. It takes the existing story, expands it, and makes some modifications, but it's not a re-write or anything massive like that.
IMO, story mode should have been expanded to at least 16-18 chapters, with a greater emphasis on resolving side-plots/loose ends, and not leaving the more important NPCs out in the cold. There should also have been better correlation between comic and game storylines. I think everyone who has seen some of the leaked content can say they're disappointed with one or two of the roster choices, and personally I think Fujin was given a pretty shit deal. In fact, I'm tempted to say that NRS' trailers have been downright deceptive insofar as they seem to suggest that certain NPCs have a major role in the story, and may even be playable.
IMO, here's what the MKX roster should have been:
- Cassie Cage
- Johnny Cage
- Jacqui Briggs
- Kenshi
- Takeda
- Kung Jin
- Fujin
- Raiden
- Scorpion
- Sub-Zero
- Ermac
- Reptile
- Kano
- Erron Black
- Quan Chi
- Kotal Kahn
- Mileena
- Rain
- Tanya
- D'Vorah
- Ferra/Torr
- Reiko [unlockable - 50% story mode]
- Shinnok [unlockable - 100% story mode]
- Havik [unlockable - win a Chaosrealm invasion battle]
- Goro [pre-order DLC; appears above the random select box as a pull-out menu for future DLC characters]
24 characters; 21 by default, 3 unlockable, + 1 pre-order DLC.
Story amendments:
Sonya would have been killed by Revenant Jax during the Netherrealm War, acting as a catalyst for Cassie's hero status and allowing Johnny to become a mentor figure. His personality would be toned down somewhat as he transitions from someone who never takes anything seriously to a widower who values the lives of his friends and daughter, in whom he sees Sonya. She would be in a number of flashback cutscenes, but never actually appear as a fightable character. This would effectively retire her character from the series.
Johnny would become a sort of older Luke Skywalker figure; a mentor/advisor figure for the good guys, no longer taking part in any of the action directly but helping to train the younger SF team and acting as a strategist from their HQ. This would effectively retire his character from the series as a playable fighter, but he would remain alive as a crucial member of the Earthrealm faction and Raiden's primary ally/contact among the mortals. Cassie would take her mother's place as leader of the SF team.
Jax would have his mortality (and arms) restored by Raiden and the SF team at the Jinsei chamber, at which point he would learn from Raiden that he killed Sonya. Feeling overwhelmed with guilt at his actions as a Revenant - which he has no memory of - Jax would retire to his farm as Jacqui takes his place in the SF team. This would effectively retire his character from the series.
Kung Lao would be an NPC just like Nightwolf, Kabal, Stryker, etc. His memory would live on via the White Lotus faction and in particular Kung Jin, but I think the MKX story got him about right tbh. No need to make a fuss over him; he's dead and wouldn't come back or be playable.
Liu Kang and Kitana would be NPCs just like all the other Revenants, and their MKX ending would stay pretty much the same as it doesn't really interfere with any 'improvements' to the story and sets them up nicely as major players in MK11. (Once restored to their mortality, Revenant characters would have no memory of their undead actions.)
Shinnok would remain as a manipulative force for evil and (initially) portrayed as the primary antagonist, as hinted at in the story mode trailer. This would be something of a red herring, however. He is scheming to abuse the power of the amulet to crush his opposition, which is basically everyone. His role would be very similar to how it is in the game, but there'd be a twist later on in the story which would prevent him from being able to assume his demonic form, and after being defeated by a temporary alliance of Raiden, Reiko and Kotal, he would meet the same fate as he does at the end of story mode. This would conclude Shinnok's storyline.
Reiko would basically be a warlord figure controlling the remnant of Shao Kahn's army; the 'Reiko Accords' would have been reluctantly agreed to by all major parties (Reiko, Kotal, Earthrealm, etc.) to maintain a general balance of power so as one side cannot dominate the others, but this would simply be a stalling tactic by Reiko until he was able to convince Havik to manipulate the blood magic in his favour. Raiden would know that Havik was an extremely dangerous and unpredictable foe, and after Shinnok's defeat Raiden and Kotal would attempt to convince Reiko to break ties with Havik and make sure he is not being manipulated by him. Predictably, Reiko's hubris and lust for power means he plays down all of this and suggests that Havik is not an issue, and they should concentrate on finding and killing Mileena, who has the amulet and presents a major threat due to her alliance with Edenia, led by the demi-god Rain and aided by Tanya. (Reiko is very powerful and has a large army, but he is realistic and knows he is mortal).
Havik - hinted at in the comics but not mentioned in any of the trailers - would be the game's true antagonist. He would successfully manipulate Reiko into Shinnok's path, resulting in the latter's death. Havik's only real goal is to spread chaos and discord, which he appears to do by setting different groups against each other and eventually poisoning the Jinsei chamber with the amulet once Mileena has been killed. Havik would kill Reiko in a cutscene by throwing him into the poisoned Jinsei chamber; being a mortal and unable to wield blood magic or the forces of chaos, Reiko would die horrifically. Once dead, Reiko's faction loses both its leader and focus, turning on itself as complete anarchy breaks out. This immediately destroys the fragile Reiko Accords; the army begins plundering and general destruction, and as word of this reaches Raiden he is able to piece together events in a vision (the deaths of Shinnok, Mileena, Reiko, the destruction of Kotal's race, etc.) and realizes that Havik was responsible all along. The good guys (Raiden, Fujin, SF team, Kotal) then team up to defeat Havik and restore order.
Havik essentially takes Shinnok's place in the final battle, being a more powerful, corrupted, demonic form of himself. As with Shinnok, you'd fight his normal 'human' form for two rounds, then his demonic form for one. (Obviously the 'human' form is the one that you can unlock and play as.) Once killed, the normal MKX ending happens (minus the Shinnok scene, which happens earlier on) with Liu Kang and Kitana being installed as rulers of the Netherrealm and likely major players in MK11. Raiden basically becomes an Elder God and vows to destroy anyone/thing that threatens Earthrealm, and Fujin (who would have a more pronounced role across the story, including a playable chapter) takes Raiden's place as protector of Earthrealm and leader of the White Lotus faction.
Sorry for the long post, but IMO that's a far, far more interesting story than the predictable rubbish NRS cobbled together. For the size and scope of the story they've crafted, it's a good 4-5 chapters too short and misses any kind of twist.
Let me know what you think, anyway.
