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Mortal Kombat 1 (2023) Official Gameplay Trailer


The very first gameplay footage of NetherRealm's new Mortal Kombat 1 was showcased at Summer Game Fest 2023 (hosted by Geoff Keighley). The trailer features Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Scorpion, Raiden, Johnny Cage, a sighted Kenshi, Kitana, and Mileena, as well as cameos from Goro, Sonya, Kano, Stryker and Jax.

Main gameplay:
  1. Kung Lao vs. Sub Zero
  2. Johnny Cage vs. Kenshi
  3. Scorpion vs. Liu Kang
  4. Raiden vs. Kenshi
Shorter gameplay clips:
  • Sub Zero vs. Raiden
  • Mileena vs. Liu Kang
  • Kung Lao vs. Johnny Cage
Kameo characters (may also be main cast):
  • Goro
  • Sonya
  • Kano
  • Stryker
  • Jax
 

Comments

As someone who was playing MK1 in arcade, I'm glad for the pacing in the recent games. A lot of people i know have been hoping they make the next mk more approachable, not everyone can be a competative gamer. Seems SF6 has struck a good balance there.

I find the graphics of the kameos to really stand out negatively compared to the rest of the backgrounds and better detailed main uniforms. I suspect they had to sacrifice poly/textures to meet GPU memory limits of consoles. But certainly some scenes in the trailers graphics-wise did look like a step back from MK11. Liu kang's hoodie, some of the trashmobs fighting at the beginning of the scene with the monks fighting. Kano's classic outfit, stryker, etc. I also felt that the zoomed closeup of kitana and mileena just looked a little flat compared to the graphic details in the past. I just recently replayed the campaign in MK11 and was still impressed with how close the graphics in cutscenes were to gameplay, the transitions to the fighting stance in story mode was barely noticable.

I think the game looks great, don't know if they'll have much time to increase or work on flat textures etc. with only 3 months to go. But I will say i was hyped on the cinematic trailer, but a bit dissappointed with the gameplay reveal.. I think it mostly came down to the distinct lack of quality in a few character outfits/models and the kameo fighters..

My 2cents
 
This game definetely offers more than MK11 but ironically looks like MK11 in terms of movement and speed. New Yakuza Kenshi looks dope with the spirit in action, not a big fan of funny living forest, so lively like a wood for chill. Not a big fan of the camera angle in actual gameplay too, seems a bit far from the characters, which makes the game looks like injustice-ish imo. Goro looks awful, even Jax seems bigger than him, i didn't like the ninja designs, are they also brothers to the Krypt Guy? Marketing words of Ed Boon, which is where i begin to have big problems, he kept saying things like "new universe, New begining, everything is different" etc then one of the very first things they put on the table was like "all the classic costumes and fatalities are back" fine, let's look at the gameplay then, seems like we have something New like Air combos, teamed up x-rays and that is all for the new category. Breakers, Kameo fighters, overall movement and the gameplay speed are coming from the old ideas. Story is kinda BS this New fire God dude was able to create a new universe and still bothering himself with procteting the earth? Go and rule some Galactic colonies or something like that bro what the hell are you doing? Live the small jobs to average gods, jesus. Things on the story looks a bit hardgoing to me with no reason, making Scorpion SZ and the Krypt Guy brothers seems kinda like that, diseased Mileena? Casual Lao, inexperienced Raiden can still control and summon and control electric power? Can't imagine experienced version though. Anyway i am gonna pre-order and play the game but this is not why i am expecting from NRS after four years of making.
 
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and no to the same 5 hit combos
Not even day 1 bud. You've seen literally 3mins of gameplay and making assumptions like that.

Very easy to make a claim like that in hindsight, but i'm sure many people thought MK11 looked/played insanely good on it's first 3min gameplay reveal as well.

For all we know it's going to devolve into 3hit string kameo launcher air combo ender.
 
Rewatching the trailer this afternoon and noticed something. I'm curious if they're returning to MK9-style special amplification. Every instance of a move being amplified shows the flash at the startup of the move instead of post-use amplification like Injustice / MK11.
 
The game wasn’t that slow, it’s just that the game lacked the combo potential which they seemed to pick back up. MK11 never was a “slow” game. The game and animations also felt very fluid.
I think it's fair for people to have their own preferences for the speed of a fighting game, though. Some people will prefer the breakneck pace of something like MKX or UMVC3, other people will prefer the slower footsie/neutral gameplay of something like MK11 or SFV.

Some people want to fly or run all over the screen and shove mixups down their opponents throat nonstop, others prefer walking back and forth patiently to bait a gaffe in neutral.

Not everyone has to agree on what the 'ideal' FG speed/movement style is and that's ok.
 
Not even day 1 bud. You've seen literally 3mins of gameplay and making assumptions like that.

Very easy to make a claim like that in hindsight, but i'm sure many people thought MK11 looked/played insanely good on it's first 3min gameplay reveal as well.

For all we know it's going to devolve into 3hit string kameo launcher air combo ender.
Nobody liked mk11 combo system from the get go but in this trailer I saw Raiden 30 hit combo Kenshi's ass without repeating a single move
 
Nobody liked mk11 combo system from the get go but in this trailer I saw Raiden 30 hit combo Kenshi's ass without repeating a single move
Many of the things shown off in the gameplay were VERY intentional. You can't tell me they didn't show off the following as clear responses to MK11 complaints:
  1. Scorpion spear allowing a combo without being amplified
  2. Long ass combos across every character
  3. Strings into kameos into further strings
  4. That bomb ass Raiden / Kano combo which lasted an eternity and used TWO kameo assists during it.
  5. LOTS of launchers (Scorpion string, Sub string, Sub aerial bash that ground bounced, Kenshi spectre, Liu explosion, Liu amplified dragon fire, Sonya kameo leg grab, Raiden string, Raiden amplified electrify, Kitana fan lift, Goro kameo punch walk, Mileena ball roll, Kung Lao kameo spin). And that's just in the trailer. There may be more in the gameplay showcase that Boon talked over.
 
I think it's fair for people to have their own preferences for the speed of a fighting game, though. Some people will prefer the breakneck pace of something like MKX or UMVC3, other people will prefer the slower footsie/neutral gameplay of something like MK11 or SFV.

Some people want to fly or run all over the screen and shove mixups down their opponents throat nonstop, others prefer walking back and forth patiently to bait a gaffe in neutral.

Not everyone has to agree on what the 'ideal' FG speed/movement style is and that's ok.
That is true, but I do like reading and responding to their opinions. It’s fun to challenge other people’s opinions and get my own opinions challenged as well.
 
I dunno about footsie heavy. Imo it says fuck you to footsie if you can call an assist and run at the opponent for a 50/50.
There wasn't a lot of that in the trailer or gameplay they showed. That's not to say that it won't happen, but there's also no run button, and a lot of the assists actually featured an animation where the main character takes a knee/pause.

It seems logical that there might be some drawbacks to just tossing assists out constantly in the neutral. Depending on the assist, it could be punishable/have a bunch of recovery if not used in a combo, or depending on how fast the meter depletes, then you could end up losing a lot of damage after you hitconfirm, etc.