Star Powered Kombat 2.

After gushing about my love of the Mortal Kombat series on Tuesday, I figured it would be appropriate to write a follow-up after I got my hands on the newest game, Mortal Kombat X.  Keep in mind these are the impressions and opinions of someone who isn’t skilled at fighting games, nor a hardcore gamer in the slightest.  This is just a “review” by someone who grew up with the games, likes the setting and characters, and is reliving a small part of his teenage years by ripping his video game enemies to pieces.

I like it.  I really like it.  Mortal Kombat X (on Medium difficulty) is just easy enough for a casual gamer like me to get by while still being challenging.  Whether I’m button mashing or memorizing combos, I feel pretty bad-ass and I’m having fun.  With little more than a cursory glance at the move lists, I feel like I can jump right in to any character and get a feel for them.  I’m not going anywhere near Online matches, as I’ll likely get my butt handed to me in a matter of moments, so the single player options are keeping me satisfied.

But what I like most has nothing to do with game mechanics, difficulties, or even how joyously gory the Fatalities are.  Seriously, those things are so over-the-top they’re almost comical, but in a way that appeals to people like me, who enjoy their splatter as far from reality as possible.  Anyway, what I like the most are the characters, and that has been what’s kept me glued to Mortal Kombat over the years.  All the newcomers, whether they’re servants to a new emperor or offspring of established cast members, feel like they belong among the veteran fighters.  Aging certain characters, killing off others, and generally moving things along makes the setting feel fluid and alive, as opposed to a stagnant nostalgia-fest or even a (ugh) reboot.  Story mode did not disappoint me, even if it pained me to see some of my favorite fighters… well, play for yourself and see.

Don’t ask me anything about the quality of combo systems, fight mechanics, online leaderboards, or any of that stuff.  I’m not qualified to talk about it.  I enjoy Mortal Kombat X because it feels like a natural progression for a series I’ve been following for decades.

And I did not expect to enjoy playing Kotal Kahn as much as I do.  That dude is a beast.