Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

  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 ...

  I remember back when I called Movie Thulsa as "Wrath-Amon" -- back when I saw Conan the Barbarian (1982) as a child . It was a shock for me (or not) to realize that the "Skeletor" I kept seeing on the cover of the Conan comics was actually closer to the LITERARY THULSA DOOM . I thought about talks about Movie Thulsa also being like "Skeletor" with the skull symbol. It was kind of a "HUH?!" for me. However, one could look at the helmet itself. This is the phenomenon called pareidolia, where one sees things by resemblance. Thoth-Amon was obviously LOST in translation . The Movie Thulsa had this helmet trick. Sure, the close-up showed part of the late James Earl Jones' face. However, one should notice that while NOT A LITERAL SKULL -- Movie Thulsa's helmet has a skull-shaped facial opening with a noseguard. From close, the face doesn't look like a skull (because the human self is revealed) but... However, several screenshots of Movie T...

  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'm such a nitpicker -- to the point that my own storywriting falls apart! It's already known that I'M NOT A PROFESSIONAL WRITER. I wrote my own assessment as to why the Dragon Ball Z movies aren't canon . I watched the Dragon Ball Super: Broly film and thought about how Broly is now supposedly canon now (due to the late Akira Toriyama's involvement). This reminds me back when I borrowed some VHS (back when they were still the thing) and VCDs of Dragon Ball movies. For example, I watched Dragon Ball Mystical Adventure and Dragon Ball The Sleeping Princess . I remember criticizing Dragon Ball Mystical Adventure for its creation of Emperor Chiaotzu and having Tien (who was made a royal servant) kill Master Shen (to defend Chiaotzu) with a Kikoho. However, that's not how the events unfolded in the actual Dragon Ball series. Master Shen was somehow never heard from again. The last Tao Paipai was show was during the Cell saga -- being too sc...