ohhh I'd wondered what they were going to do with the Sub-Zero announcer voice with Onslaught's sunset

they're giving it out to anyone with a linked WB account

"4k movies are available for story mode for free " my TV can't do 4k though, if I'd wanted them I'd have gotten them

advanced view in the move list is now the default, nice

ah it's finally here? awesome, I can watch the story on YouTube at last

yeah! I like playing it though. One fight in, Cyrax is kind of fun? Not "so fun I must play" like Reptile was, but pretty fun. I like that you can throw dud bombs. Probably won't work on AI, so I haven't tried, but I'm probably going to fall for them online even knowing they're there.

Not that I'm complaining exactly but did Sektor get two chapters? Why?

actual subtitled sound effect: "goooong" for a gong ringing

I love the subtitles in this game

people like to hate on it but I love the multiverse thing going on

it's a nice fix to the problem of Liu Kang creating too many redemptions. Need antagonists? Find a worse titan!

since the alternative would be to lean harder into "the world tries to shape itself a certain way", which if you push too hard raises questions about free will. Best as a subtler thing that's possible to alter.

(also this opens up potentially every ladder ending in the franchise having a true timeline somewhere and that's just funny)

(how about original MK Raiden? Have a nice day...)

I don't even play either and I want these Rain and Tanya skins

...I am just now noticing Scorpion's mask doesn't have anything actually securing it to his head

since a scene just made a point of him removing it to talk and then putting it back on

everyone else has a mask visibly attached. Scorpion's just sits on his face lol

oh okay we're leaving Sektor in charge of the Lin Kuei. Because that has a history of working out well. But hey, what did I just talk about?

There's a plot hook to keep an eye on

oh hey you DO get the story skins! nice!

......what the

activity in story chapters now counts for quests!

except it didn't actually register that until the game was prompted to give me a reward, in this case, the shrine.

I cleared the entire daily list in my expansion run

....oh no, brutalities in the seasonal store. permanently so you can earn them any season

Noob appears to have one on his teleslam there

well

I know what I'm saving for...

...correction, not all activities in story fights count

I guess they don't fulfill "win fights" because they lack a finisher screen

....wait, now I'm confused about Scorp's mask. Because when viewed on the model in photo mode it does have a strap around the back of his head. But he just pulled it straight off, not up and over, in the story cutscenes.

The magic power of "we really want this character's full expression visible for a few seconds"

overall: I had fun! Liked the glimpse into another timeline, liked the fun they had with alternate character dynamics. Like how the Lin Kuei could tip easily into full villain or antihero territories depending on plot events. But speaking of the Lin Kuei...

I was originally perfectly fine with the changes to Cyrax and Sektor. It was clearly something they were playing with (see: Janet Cage in the final base chapter and later the Kameo roster) and I thought nothing more of it. Their voice actresses did a fantastic job.

just another "hey look new timeline" thing

I still like them both but the part that bothers me is the Sub-Zero/Sektor relationship. And I don't mean that as a Sareena fan. It makes sense. When they're not at cross purposes they've got the same ruthless ambition and that's been true in every timeline. Great villain/situational antihero couple in concept

but the only timeline where they are is conveniently the one where Sektor is a woman. And it really has me hoping that wasn't the reason for the design change.

Because that's a shitty reason for a gender swap

and if it is it's super confusing because /gestures at Tanya/Mileena

I honestly hope it really was just them playing with character design for the sake of it

(funnily enough there are actually at least two timelines with female (or at least AFAB, Havik's timeline certainly wouldn't care, silver linings) cyber ninjas. A coin flip Liu Kang wasn't interested in rigging, then, in-universe)

it's funny seeing comments of this video I'm watching where people miss the tournament stories when that's kinda been a big criticism of fighting games almost always going with the tournament trope

also see the two being so hot headed and dumb in the endings, I'm just like "...yeah they deserve each other" and also "Bi Han is likely gonna be using those shadows and such for a lot of bedroom stuff, isn't he?"

Haven't seen Sektor's ending yet but yeah, it's a pairing I'm surprised hasn't been played with until now. (also I'm sure I've been seeing shadow clone bedroom shenanigans headcanon in the previous timeline so you have plenty of company!)

tournaments are an easy way to narratively justify fights that would be difficult to write in otherwise! So I get why a bunch of fighting games fall back on them.

but, hell, even back in the Midway timeline they abandoned tournaments after the second game

yeah, it was just flat out war after a while