Mortal Kombat is a game franchise that heavily borrows from other games. The most obvious has to be using Tekken's one-button-per-limb system. Playing Mortal Kombat X can give me the feeling that it's an improved version of Mortal Kombat 4. The game's variation system would remind me of Street Fighter Alpha 3 or the more bloated Capcom vs. SNK 2 (which had SIX variations CAPSNK groove).
MKX decided to be more clever with the variations, giving them names. For example, Shinnok's variations are Necromaner, Imposter, and Bone Shaper. My personal favorite is the Bone Shaper. The whole idea of three variations felt bloated for an MK game. However, the variation system fit because of the X in the title. The variable X is used in mathematics to represent an unknown variable. Choosing a specific variation can change the way you play a character. Shinnok has access to a long-range projectile in Bone Shaper, but NOT THE OTHERS. I'm using Shinnok as an example since I'm having fun using him compared to how I HATED his gameplay in MK4.
As I was playing MKX, I had to research how EACH variation was used. It makes me think what playing style suits me. As a Liu Kang player, I always swapped between Flame Fist and Dualist (for the guilty pleasure of BURNING opponents via the Hot Mess variation). Each variation made me think, "What advantage and what disadvantage will I have." It made me think about what Brutality I would want to perform -- since some Brutalities aren't available in other variations.
I had complaints about how the Variation system can make things "more complicated". However, given the X in the title, the Variation System fits it pretty well. It's pretty much like how Street Fighter Alpha 3 introduced the X-Ism (the events during the Street Fighter II serise), A-Ism (the events BEFORE the Street Fighter II series), and V-Ism (which replaced Super Moves with the Custom Combos). It was exploring another fun way to play the game every now and then!
Comments
Post a Comment