I want to talk about Mortal Kombat XL, just kind of some random thoughts and impressions. I've been playing MKX since it's release last April, and it's a really good game, but I've had issues with it since day one. Online was awful in the beginning, it got kinda better, and I must admit that I haven't been online since it was improved most recently, frankly, it's too late for me to care about it. Speaking of online, I hate that certain character skins are unlocked online. No other way, just online. Screw that, well there goes a few skins for me, what about the players that don't have an internet connection? Just screw them, NetherRealm Studios?
Anyway, let's talk about MKXL, the "complete" version of the game. So sixty U.S. dollars gets you the original MKX content, the first Kombat Pack (playable characters Jason, Predator, Tanya and Tremor), the second Kombat Pack (playable characters Leatherface, Alien, Triborg and Bo' Rai Cho), The Pit arena and all the skin packs that were previously released. Sort of. Well you're screwed if you want Gold Scorpion, but hey, that's for the Kollector's Edition of the game, so fair point on excluding that. Also, you have to buy Blue Steel Sub-Zero and Krimson Ermac separately. Why are the mobile skins not included? It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't blatantly show Injustice Scorpion, a mobile unlock, in the damn announce trailer while advertising you get all of the skins. I have the mobile app, I've unlocked all the skins, but that's some shady business.
You still need to unlock everything. I guess that's fair, but the previous installment's (Mortal Kombat on PS3 and Xbox 360) Komplete Edition had everything unlocked from the beginning, so why change that? Then again, the "Komplete" Edition of that game isn't complete seeing as how the PlayStation Vita got exclusive skins. Let's talk about the characters from Kombat Pack 2. Bo' Rai Cho, great choice, Triborg, trying to please all of the cyber-ninja fans with one character, okay I guess, Alien, goes with Predator, why not? Leatherface. Who in the hell asked for Leatherface? Forget for a moment that most of the fans wanted another Mortal Kombat character (Fujin or Li Mei...), Leatherface doesn't even go well with Jason, the other Horror Icon in the game. I get that they didn't want to re-use Freddy from the previous game, but what was wrong with Michael Myers from Halloween or Ash from Evil Dead? Leatherface. I'm very open with the roster choices for an MK game, and I get why guest characters are a thing, but nobody wanted Leatherface. Except maybe Ed Boon.
Anyway, the game plays well, looks decent, sounds great, and everything else I've mentioned before, and will likely mention again in a proper review. I know A LOT of people find this to be the best Mortal Kombat game to date. Sorry, I'm not one of them. Don't get me wrong, I really like the game, but it's not my favorite, nor do I consider it the best. Gameplay is a HUGE part of what determines the best in the series, but so does story (yes, story in MK is VERY important, to me at least) and impact, MKX or XL, is not the top in all three categories, or even two out of three. A case can be made for it having the best gameplay, it's story is good, but not great, it's impact is not at the top of the MK list. It didn't start it all like MK1, it didn't improve dramatically like MK2, and it didn't save the franchise from certain death like MK Deadly Alliance or MK (2011).
Is it worth sixty dollars? I guess so, if you are a big MK fan, but if not then I'd probably hold out until it's cheaper considering you still have to buy a couple of skins if you want them all.
Final score: three and a half Zombie Liu Kangs out of five.
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