That video was bullshit. No gameplay, just fatalities. Not sold on this yet.

shut up

I kinda hate storylines in fighting games. No thank you. I'm all set with just fighting. I would say the same thing about storylines in racing games, or any kind tournament type game like that.
I don't need a storyline in Mortal Kombat or Marvel vs Capcom anymore than I need one in Mario Kart.
I think there's a loose storyline in Smash Bros. too. Who cares? It's about having random characters fight eachother with friends.
I can get a story in an adventure game where it's far less forced.

I'm saying that I don't think storylines make it better. Single player is not pointless without a storyline. You go through the characters in the game one by one, right up the ladder until you beat it.
The story is tremendously limited since it has to wrap itself around that format.
It's ultimately the arcade ladder-climb format regardless of an injected storyline, so why bother?

Who cares? Wasn't there already a fighting game where they punch? Let's stop the presses.

Also, I can't get into fighting games without stories or good characters. Who am I playing as? Why? Why do I give a shit if I win or lose? Yeah, I'm not an ape. I'm close to it, but I like some method behind by violence, thank you. I don't have the attention span to give my time to a video game that is giving me nothing to think about back.

That attention span is probably Mortal Kombat's fault in the first place, but I digress.

I'm still weary. I'm more than likely going to get this game, just so that I have a fun fighter to chomp away a few hours with when bored regardless, but I'm not exactly expecting this to be a classic.

But everything they've given us so far has been indicative that they want to take the best elements of Mortal Kombat, and go back to them. The art-style, the characters, the special moves, etc. are all so familiar to anyone that played a MK game in the early to mid-nineties. They're introducing new gameplay modes that don't sound too offensive, either. Team Kombat could be a lot of fun, and this special bar isn't exactly the deepest tool, but it could be cool. The idea of souping-up your special moves is interesting.

I just view the genre differently then. I'm not worried about what the match means for the character or his/her traits.
I could care less about that aspect of it. I am playing to beat a friend or the computer and satisfy the competitive drive within me.
I will choose a character based on how good they are, not their backstory going into a 3 round slobberknocker.

I could care less why the worlds of Mortal Kombat and DC are coming together, or Marvel and Capcom, or various video game characters in Smash Bros.
I see it as them all being in the same game because it's a cool novelty that will please the masses, and as a result sell a lot of video games.

If people enjoy the storylines, that's fine but I personally don't see the need for them at all. Fighting/racing/sports games are a whole different thing to me than single player adventure games.

The mythology of mortal kombat is the selling point for me

I definitely get into the Mortal Kombat character archetypes and universe more. That's why I'd rather play MK and Street Fighter games more than any fighting game.
Because of their legacy and the world they populate. Sub Zero, Scorpion and the crew are just cooler.
In that respect, I enjoy the mythology but I'm not really interested in much of a storyline when I pop the games in.

There are 4569874367 fighters that don't have much story. In fact, there are more fighters that have less than there are with more. Even still, 99% of the ones with deep story don't really require you to follow it. Just press start and skip right past that shit.

Check out the Guilty Gear series and see what I mean. There's a (fucked up) story, but you're really only playing for heavy metal bat shit crazy action.

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So far i'm really digging the presentation overall. The models look great (the insides and all that x-ray stuff), the stages look awesome too.

i got a boner watching that

Can't even believe this is coming from you.

Online tag mode accepting guests almost makes me wanna apologize for everything I said about Boon. Almost.

Super Street Fighter 4 has probably the worst story ever. You seriously don't even know why most of these people are fighting. For example, Abel finds a puppy, and that's his story. When you beat the game, he comes back and pets the puppy. That's it? Want to know why Gouken wasn't around all this time? HE WAS ASLEEP! That's seriously the best they could come up with for Ryu and Ken's master. He just took a really long nap.

Fucking retards.

"There is a lot more individuality between the characters, and every character has their own unique style."

This is the comment that stuck out the most to me. My biggest problem with mortal kombat is that all the characters felt the same in every game, from the original 2d games, to the newer 3d ones. If that comment isn't bullshit, and the characters really do have a unique feel to them, they might just have a really good fighter here.

Also, I'm loving the return of traditional fatalities, as well as the new x-ray moves.

Love the updated backrounds too. Nostagiaaaaaaaaaa

Yeah that's what I mean. The newer games are better, but they all still feel the same. There isn't any drastic difference in their play style like in street fighter or tekken.

Yep, I will be buying.

Kung Lao's fatality put a smile on my face.

...I know, weird but that's what i honestly thought after watching that vid.
a huge step up. but the animations could use some work.

They're trying so hard.

looks like its kinda working.

Like I said, there's a trend with these fighters - expect it to continue. Though it's more tonally with this game (as with the games mentioned tonight played similarly). But the concept is the same: Optional Depth.

We'll riff about it later, forgot to mention it earlier.

I hear that. Look at most of the fighters that have come out in the last 2 years (barring DLC rereleases, of course):

SoulCalibur IV. Great update to a great engine. I especially like that turtling can be punished with an instant fatality.

Street Fighter IV/Super Street Fighter IV. You can play this almost exactly like Street Fighter 2 and be fine, or you can take advantage of all the extra insanity the system has to offer.

BlazBlue. There's like 8 million different things going on in this shit, gameplaywise. No 2 characters are alike at all. It's no wonder there were only 13 on the roster. Crazy ass game.

Tekken 6. Tekken's always been a fucking deep series, with most characters having 100+ sized movelists. 40 playable characters. Not as much innovation to the mechanics this iteration (Rage system, Bound system, timed counters), but everyone got a ton of new moves. Plus Eddie and Christie finally have different movesets.

A lot of what I like to call 'fighting game conservatives' piss and moan over the current design trends but most of them miss the point of videogames and often detest compromising with mechanics meant to be inclusive.

History favors progression. Very happy with these new fighters.

I'd have put Battle Fantasia on the list, but it was really just a place holder till BlazBlue came out. Feels sorta incomplete.

Not sure if anyone's posted it yet, but

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I noticed Sub-Zero dashing in to Scorp at the top of the video; is running out? Running made MK3/4 fast but I guess we'll live without it.

Some of the stuff--looking at you, Sektor--looks crisp and fast and fuck and OMGWANT. Some of it--hmm, Mr. Cage--looks a little sloppy. I'm sure this isn't anywhere near finished, though.

Can't wait to play this game

In hindsight, Shadow-Kick is the lamest move ever. A sliding side kick? Really?

BUT IT HAZ TEH SHADOWZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ