Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

  Mortal Kombat certainly has a lot of mythologies going on. I previously discussed how Shao Kahn could be based on the Bull Demon King , and Shinnok was probably based on Tongtiao Jiaozhu . It's easy to think of Shang Tsung as that evil corrupted Taoist priest based on his outfit from the very first game. However, thanks to AI, I started discovering more characters. True, there was the White Bone Demon in Journey to the West but the character was female. Now it's time to present another character called Shen Gongbao, a character with whom Shang Tsung (and perhaps Lo Pan in extension, who inspired Shang Tsung) was based upon! Shen Gongbao is one of the most vile villains in Chinese mythology. Tongtian was a fallen Elder God. The Bull Demon King was a brute force that required the Judgment of the Elder Gods. Shen himself was a villain who had some skulls. Shang Tsung's trademark projectile was a flaming skull. Shen was actually a jaguar demon disguised as a human. Both are a...

  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'...

Mortal Kombat is a game that deep in the Taoist and Buddhist context . However, one can think that Chinese mythology plays a deep role in the Mortal Kombat universe. For example, the Elder Gods themselves are often accused of being useless and lazy. This is an ignorance of the concept of Wu Wei -- which the Elder Gods practice themselves.  Wu wei means – in Chinese – non-doing or ‘doing nothing’. It sounds like a pleasant invitation to relax or worse, fall into laziness or apathy. Yet this concept is key to the noblest kind of action according to the philosophy of Daoism – and is at the heart of what it means to follow Dao or The Way . According to the central text of Daoism, the Dao De Jing: ‘The Way never acts yet nothing is left undone’. This is the paradox of wu wei. It doesn’t mean not acting, it means ‘effortless action’ or ‘actionless action’. It means being at peace while engaged in the most frenetic tasks so that one can carry these out with maximum skill and efficiency. ...

Mortal Kombat X's Story Mode can be divisive. Was it all that bad? I confess that Mortal Kombat X has better gameplay than Mortal Kombat (2011) often called Mortal Kombat 9 . I would like to share my thoughts that Mortal Kombat 9's Story Mode was practically Mortal Kombat Trilogy written. Mortal Kombat X is a rewrite of Mortal Kombat 5/Gold with a touch of Tekken 3 . The time skip of 25 years was another issue. It's easy for people (including myself) that Shinnok was a victim of "injustice". It's because Shinnok is potentially more powerful than Shao Kahn -- but that Midway (and later Netherrealm Studios) is overly dependent on Shao Kahn! The Story Mode begins with Johnny Cage and the Netherrealm Invasion. I thought it was a breath of fresh air to have both Johnny Cage and later, Cassie Cage, defeat Shinnok. They had a temporary advantage which they COULDN'T just summon at any time. The "green energy" only surfaces if Johnny of Cassie see a love...

  Mortal Kombat like any game, would always have a history of ups and downs. Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance was a daring experiment, but one can say that it was a game with JUNK CHARACTERS . One of these characters is Hsu Hao of the Red Dragon. The Red Dragon clan in Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance was an interesting concept. The Red Dragon was also a PLOT DEVICE meant to make Kano look cooler. Hsu Hao may get a lot of hate. However, the Red Dragon's Hsu Hao, as hated as he is, actually HAD A SERIES OF PRETTY DIGNIFIED DEATHS. Hsu Hao was an interesting concept DONE BADLY. The fact that Hsu Hao originally had his cybernetic heart ripped off by Jax -- wasn't just a random thing! Hsu Hao actually was a DANGEROUS INFILTRATOR for the Red Dragon in the Special Forces. Hsu Hao died while in the line of duty! It was an honorable way to kill an OTHERWISE HATED CHARACER. The reboot timeline from Mortal Kombat (2011) to Mortal Kombat 11 didn't feature the Red Dragon. Kano would be MORE ...

  Mortal Kombat (2011) is a game that's celebrated for being a franchise reboot. However, no game is ever free of blot. One could think that Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was a junk game -- a mistake to be learned from ! I wrote about Motaro being reduced to a cameo . I wanted to reimagine what if Motaro was in Mortal Kombat (2011)  and what possible ramifications would it have to the OVERALL PRODUCT. Mortal Kombat 3 was already infamous for breaking the balance. Motaro was added and the character was already known for his BRUTAL DIFFICULTY. Motaro was even more difficult than Shao Kahn. One could observe that Motaro was practically NATURALLY IMMUNE TO PROJECTILES . The huge body size, the huge hitbox (both front and back) and the MASSIVE DAMAGE MOTARO DID were all factors that made him worse than Shao Kahn. I found his look cool (at first) but the guy is a COMPLETE NIGHTMARE. Mortal Kombat (2011) introduced several new technical fight features. The story mode showed that Mot...

  It's no secret that I don't want to play the first eight entries of Mortal Kombat anymore . Mortal Kombat (2011) or Mortal Kombat 9  had given a lot of stuff that defined the entry. Sure, I'm skeptical about Mortal Kombat 1 where I call it a BAD FANFICTION that feels like NetherRealm Studios hired me to write it UNSUPERVISED! Earlier, I wrote an entry on how Mortal Kombat X fixed Mortal Kombat 4 . It's highly possible that NetherRealm Studios revisited Mortal Kombat Trilogy and discovered ways that they could fix the game. One could consider that we had the fifth generation console (PSX), the sixth generation console (PS2 and I no longer long to replay the 3D era), and the seventh generation (PS3). The news that Mortal Kombat Trilogy might be included in the Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection (and I have no intention to replay the older games). Now, I'd like to write where Mortal Kombat 9 managed to fix Mortal Kombat Trilogy (given the leap of technology) while high...

  Mortal Kombat 4 is often considered to be a low-tier game. MK4 was disliked presumably due to it not knowing WHAT TO DO. The dodge mechanic is utterly slow and near-useless. The final boss fight with Shinnok was underwhelming -- especially with Goro from the home versions. MK4 came out in 1997 while Mortal Kombat X came out in 2015. I remember getting a refund when the PS3 version was CANCELLED. Apparently, when John Vogel (?) said to save up some money because NetherRealm had something special -- Mortal Kombat XL wa that compensation package. Sure, not all costumes were included and I NEVER unlocked the costume I coveted the most -- REVENANT LIU KANG!  Given the difference between 1995's fifth generation console (PS1) and the eighth generation console (PS4) would mean, "Hey let's revisit this and GIVE IT AN UPGRADE!" NetherRealm Studios revisited Mortal Kombat Trilogy and made the huge wonder Mortal Kombat (2011) . It was time to visit MK4 again and try to improve ...

I'm not the biggest of Mortal Kombat 11 . However, I still like the game to a certain extent -- despite feeling that Aftermath was plain HIGHWAY ROBBERY. The return of Friendships was something that made me say, "Shouldn't we have had those instead of Babalities in Mortal Kombat (2011) ?" It's time to look at the hit or miss! Mortal Kombat II up to Mortal Kombat Trilogy featured Friendships. Some of them were a hit. The others were pretty much a miss or just plain OOC. It's probably due to the time constraints as well as memory constraints. Some of them had a repeated friendship with a different variation. Who can remember the doll friendships in Mortal Kombat II by the palette swapped ninjas? They were followed up by Klassic Sub-Zero, Hanzo Scorpion, and Reptile doing a jack in the box -- their own versions! I found that rather dull and boring. Some Friendships didn't even match the character. Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates had some questionable ones. Ni...

  No video game franchise is without its flaws. I only played Mortal Kombat back then -- hoping that its violence could help me "man up". However, I ended up liking Liu Kang (my fave) even if he wasn't always the main character. Sure, I'm not impressed with how Mortal Kombat 1's timeline turns out -- especially since various reincarnations aren't working IMHO. I'd like to revisit a game that revived the franchise -- and a game that badly needs to be REMADE. I was so upset with Mortal Kombat 1's bloatedness that I became, "No PS5! I DON'T CARE!" However, I'd be lying to say that Tekken 8 isn't getting me tempted to get one! Tekken 8 looks much better and is getting better reviews. Mortal Kombat 1 is pretty much NOT a good reboot IMHO. Now, time to really talk about how Mortal Kombat (2011) made me forget the first eight games. The punch/attack scheme has been more charming (at least to me)  Mortal Kombat started out with the use of...

I remembered the frustration of fighting Motaro. He's a huge Centaur making him the most irregularly shaped fighter for the game. It was something new to have him as a non-playable character (except for Mortal Kombat Trilogy) and he was probably the hardest character to defeat. He couldn't be harmed by projectiles where they automatically bounce back at the opponent. He was an irregularly shaped fighter so by Armageddon, they turned him into a Minotaur. A lot of his attributes like immunity to throws and projectiles got removed for a reason. I guess they wanted fans the chance to have their revenge on him.  Mortal Kombat (2011) was a 2.5D fighting game, not a 3D fighting game. Motaro could have been integrated as a non-playable character in Arcade Mode. Why I think he wasn't included was because of his shape. The X-Ray moves were meant to hit humanoid characters and a lot of them were impossible to implement on him. They could have made him a special and unique boss ...

Above is a screenshot I got from Twitter . It was alleged that Raiden vaporized Kintaro but that was NEVER said in-game. What were the chances of those happening? Apparently, it was either canon or it was done AFTER the second tournament. Raiden wasn't allowed to compete since he still held his Thunder God status. Instead, it seems that Kintaro was tasked to lead the extermination forces. Instead, Raiden ended up killing Kintaro. It was also said Kintaro supposedly murdered Johnny Cage. This may have outraged Raiden AND he ended up killing Kintaro. I could imagine an enraged Raiden vaporizing Kintaro. It would be a violation of the tournament rules IF he did it during the tournament. The original timeline's Mortal Kombat II tournament was a false one -- one designed to serve as a distraction. That was heavily changed during the reboot. Shao Kahn's challenge was recognized as legitimate by the Elder Gods. Kintaro probably wanted to settle scores and ended up killing Johnny C...

  Mortal Kombat was a game was nearly crushed because of a lack of evolution. I looked into the history and pointed out the problems of the 3D games. One of them was the overly repetitive use of high and low attacks (and that's why I prefer the use of one button per limb like Tekken ), and the DAMN ANNOYING palette swap. Ed Boon gives this explanation himself : Boon continued to detail the history behind the so-called "palette swap ninjas" in a Twitter thread. Boon said, "As the most recognizable Mortal Kombat characters, the origin of "palette swap ninjas" came from both a fantastic story rivalry and a technical solution we needed to fit the game in the limited amount of space (memory) we had. One reason we made them ninjas was to get two fighters out of the same motion shoot & memory footprint. But we did have some unique frames made exclusively for one ninja. For example, we felt giving them different stances was worth the 7 extra frames of animation...