Highlights
- Mortal Kombat 1 is undergoing significant changes, including a reboot of the universe, expanded movesets for characters, and a new mix of environments.
- Previous Mortal Kombat games had an overwhelming amount of content, causing completion times of over 100 hours. Mortal Kombat 1 should simplify achievements and not require excessive grinding.
- Players hope that Mortal Kombat 1 will prioritize enjoyable gameplay and cut down on time-consuming tasks, while still offering a fleshed-out experience.
There are a lot of changes coming to Mortal Kombat 1 and many are keen to see how they pan out. After completing a trilogy that began with the 2011 Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 1 has seen fit to reboot MK's universe into a new form. Characters, stages, the overarching plot, and even technical aspects like music and gameplay have been given a different feel. New features are to be expected when a fighting game transitions between entries, but this 31-year-old franchise is truly going for a fresh experience.
To that end, Mortal Kombat 1 has learned a lot of dos and don'ts from past titles. In response to complaints about Mortal Kombat 11's fighting feeling stiff and limited, characters have been given expanded movesets, more aerial abilities, and Kameo Fighters to supplement their battle prowess. The stage list has also been split between cleaner and brighter environments and Mortal Kombat's typical grim locales. However, whether a specific complaint has been addressed won't be known until Mortal Kombat 1's release, and getting it right would be novel all on its own.
Mortal Kombat's Achievements and Trophies Need a Do-Over
As a franchise, Mortal Kombat has been well known for plentiful content, especially compared to other AAA fighting games. Dropping its arcade support with the 2002 Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat was free to build out its modes on home consoles. While those efforts scaled back after 2011's Mortal Kombat, there are still many specialty arcade towers, alternative online modes, mini-games, and other surprises to find throughout each entry.
Unfortunately, with the jump to PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2011, NetherRealm Studios accidentally neglected a specific type of player. The sheer amount to do in every game caused Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal Kombat X, and Mortal Kombat 11 to launch with 50 or more Trophies and Achievements, and an additional 13 came with MKX's DLC. From data provided by the few players who could get all of them, fully completing Mortal Kombat X and 11 takes 40–60 hours, and completing MK9's Trophy list can easily take over 100 assuming it's even possible nowadays.
Achievements Shouldn't Be A Chore in Mortal Kombat 1
There are plenty of reasons why Mortal Kombat, of all games, takes so long to 100% complete. Many achievements expect players to try every major feature with every character, sometimes requiring leveling up player profiles or even multiple factions online. Finding secrets, completing the Krypt, and beating the latest MK story mode are all common time sinks, but seeing every Fatality and Brutality, not to mention going through every character's arcade tower and completing mini-games, can take forever. The worst offender is probably the Achievements to receive a certain amount of Respect from other players in the online King of the Hill mode, which was mercifully removed in MK11.
Any completionist would breathe a sigh of relief if Mortal Kombat 1 eases up on these requirements. Completing things like the story, tutorials, and arcade towers is expected, but Mortal Kombat 1 needs to make some cuts. Finding secrets is good, but anything out of the player's control like receiving Respect is bad. Leveling up online should give way to how other fighting games often require one online win, and then participating in a few more.
Of course, anything that is a massive, obvious time sink like completing hundreds of Living Towers or gaining enough currency to open hundreds of Krypt chests should be restrained. NetherRealm Studios can still make a fleshed-out Mortal Kombat game without demanding too much out of any players looking to say they've done it all.
Mortal Kombat 1 will be released on September 19 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
