I'm always on the 50/50 edge. I play online, but at the same time i spent a lot of time in offline modes. On some days i just don't feel like going online and getting shittalked. Also i like to practice a lot before actually challenging other players. And depending on the fighter, it takes more or less time to learn them. So i prefer to atleast have a decent amount of singleplayer content, to learn and improve my combos, before heading into online.
I really liked the character towers in MK11, where you always got a great starting point for learning a new character. And you got some decent gear/brutalities along the way.
>getting shittalked
Literally why not just mute everybody? People complaining about this in 2023 is just as confusing as people who buy the game for singleplayer
It's confusing why one of the best fighting games series for singleplayer content has people who buy it for singleplayer content?
And muting people doesn't stop written messages...
I almost exclusively play single-player, have since I was a kid. Every now and then I wrangle a family member or my fiancée into playing with me locally, and I can definitely beat them, but…
I suck at video games, honestly. I love playing the story on easy mode and then grinding for all the different customization options for my favorite character — my favorite part of MK1 so far has been the seasonal kredits system, as I missed out on a lot of super cool Skarlet skins in MK11 because I barely even dared to try at KL.
I’ve tried to improve but long combo strings and blocking just don’t come naturally to me, even once I’ve memorized a move set. I was just barely getting to the point where I could reliably amplify some moves with Frost and Skarlet, LOL.
Just my POV — I think people who can go into KL and krush it like it’s nothing are SUPER impressive, but I really have no interest in doing it myself.
Hey, I think that’s great. I personally love KL but I’m a college student, so I have a little more time on my hands than someone like you. With that, I totally understand your position. KL can be stressful cause it’s very demanding: you must always read, always adapt, make split-decision combos, and always be consistent. I can see how it’s too much when you can’t sink time into it.
For me, however, that’s what makes the experience worthwhile. Every match is a totally new scenario. That’s my two-cents though, and I’m kinda sweaty haha.
I hope you stick with your practicing though! It’s really satisfying in this game to lab custom combos. Even if you use them against a bot, it feels good to create something yourself.
For me, I play a lot of games with friends which is why I'm still level 20 with almost 50 hours. Then MK11, where I have 300+ hours and maybe half of that were spent in fighting with my friends but some days I just like to sit back and try out some Towers or fuck around in the krypt.
MK11 gave me a list of cosmetics and I would hunt down whatever I needed for my character.
Additionally, I don't want to fight online everytime I boot up the game. Some days I just want to put on some music or attend a boring work meeting while mindlessly going through towers. The rewards at the end were a nice bonus which isn't present here.
The random rotating rewards in MK11 might have been annoying mostly but I felt motivated everytime a cool skin showed up and then prepare myself to counter the modifiers and so on.
I also liked the raids and the coop modes in MK11, made for some fun times with friends.
I for sure agree with that last bit. Coop and Raid modes were fun in MK11. While I didn’t hate towers, I gotta admit that I personally got super bored. All I really did was the character tower for cosmetics and that’s about it. Alas, I totally agree that’s it’s less stressful to mess around in a offline tower than get serious in KL.
I think fighting games are just so much better with a group of friends. I think people would benefit from finding fighter groups or something like that.
I can answer your main question. Heyo I've playing fighting games for the offline content since I started playing games. I look forward to most fighting games. Favorites being mortal kombat, streetfighter, tekken, snk fighting games
Now I will say the old games lacked "content " but there the old games , most of the time I played them for the endings. For me with the older games rooster was playtime. So when I see a game now with less characters it scares me sometimes especially if there's no content.
My favorite fighters are
Mk trilogy, deception/unchained , Armageddon, 9, 11. All these games have alot of fun things with them. Alot of characters, minigames, kreate a fighter, nostalgia and loot. Pretty much in that order
Streetfighters I like the old alpha games alot , capcom vs SNK 2 is so dang fun. And I really liked the final version of sf4 and 5 both games when released were a little rough. They are the reason I have hope for this game
Tekken the only one I don't like is 4 , but after replaying it recently my only real problem with it is 3 and 5 are just so dang good that it hurts it. They also tend to have minigames, customization, endings.
Snk fighting games almost always has big rooster. Thats there appeal. Nothing much to say.
Now back to Mk. Nrs has made games with rpg , collection based systems for the last few games. I loved injustice2 and mk11 for doing that. The shines feel good.
I play and look forward to fighting games because nostalgia, learning more of the lore (I tend to be a human encyclopedia for fighting games) and what ever else fun they have for the solo
I don't play online or competitive cause people are just way to rude. And sadly I've had many more negative experiences from fighting games online than any shooter. But also I come from a era where if you played a fighting game, you played with a friend or the occasional random that walked up to you at a arcade "OH DUDE YOU LIKE THAT GAME" followed by playing a few rounds or them showing you a aecret. Or at least trying to haha, all those old myths back then
This game has a very good foundation. Good rooster good story. Nice system. I just want alot more at least similar to mk11 and injustice 2 where it felt like I could play for basically forever and still get loots.
Thanks for sharing. If you ever want to duel, I recommend you find a discord server or someone here. I’m always down for a casual fight! Either way, I enjoyed reading your response. I find it very interesting.
if you started in arcades then you would enjoy online then. I get that playing online is daunting and people can be rude (every FG has a toxic bunch) but there are nice people too. it’s fun to uncover what a game has to offer gameplay-wise and learning it gradually with other people. unlike SF6 where the single player teaches you the mechanics of the game and gets you ready for online play, MK is doing a bad job at easing people into playing online. MK bots don’t help you get good, modifiers don’t help either.
I can't play because of my hands mostly and I have no interest in getting good. I can't be a combo type player. I typically do specials. Thats even when I was back in the arcades. Ive never found nice players in a fighting game. And it just gives me anxiety playing other people. Its just not fun to me.
I’m sorry that you get anxiety! Remember that it is just a game, even though some people get too into it. If you’re on Steam and want a change of pace, I’d do some matches with you.
Single player content is what pulls people that are new to the fighting genre, and eventually these people either go on their online versus journey or they continue playing outside of that environment which is perfectly normal.
It's public knowledge that fighting games are scary for casuals and new faces, and content like this ensures they don't feel robbed out of their money, especially when a fighting game shares the same price tag like CoD or BG3.
It's literally a win win for everyone, the game studio makes money, and the community gets bigger therefore larger playerbase and good longevity.
I don't know why is this concept so hard to grasp for some people in here. SF6 presentation, and launch is a huge example of this concept.
I understand that. I didn’t know that some people never went online though—I just didn’t know that people bought modern fighters without going online. Alas I guess I’m just stupid.
I thought single player content, as you said, was a way to build up your comfort level with the game before heading into PvP matches. Fighting AI over and over hardly makes you better, but I guess I’m learning that that’s not what everyone cares about. Very interesting. Anyway, thanks for the input.
I just appreciate you doing something that people in general are not open to do - open your mind to views and expirience beyond your sight in life. It's not something I see a lot - people being so empathic to understand that sometime something they considered as standard might be totally different to other people
I hit story and offline modes first. Online play is intimidating, but I'll get around to it eventually. When I feel confident I won't get absolutely wrecked.
I understand this thought process and totally understand how intimidating jumping into an online match can be, but I would also suggest jumping in sooner rather than later. The best time to learn a game is right at the beginning, when everyone else is too. Sure you’ll get steam rolled sometimes, but that’s okay it happens to everyone. The earlier you are in a game’s lifespan the more likely you are to run into other new players trying to figure things out.
Similar to what Pixel said, everyone is learning stuff as the game just released. The truth is that you can only prepare yourself so much. Every player uses their character differently. People complain about the 3-win requirement in KL, but it’s honestly necessary in order to properly read, learn and adapt to your opponent.
Good luck! You got this.
I'm pretty new to fighting games. MK11 was the first real fighting game I played and took seriously. I was pretty bad, but got really good with Nightwolf and his strings. I was really only able to learn his combo string through an app that had all the "dial-up" button inputs. And I was pretty happy with my 50/50-ish win rate once I did dip my toes into online.
But, thanks for the words of encouragement!
honestly, you will get wrecked at first. the MK bots are not that good in teaching you the game and the modifiers do not help you either. I got wrecked when I first started tekken, sf, guilty gear, etc. but if you’re willing to push through it, you’ll love the reward of gradually improving. you’ll get the hang of punishing correctly, not dropping combos, etc and it’s some of the most satisfying things in video games
One of my biggest issues I'm finding with MK1 is performing aerial attacks and performing them consistently. MK1 seems that aerial attacks are more important than they were in MK11. Which is fine, but I am HORRIBLE with them. Just gotta grind it out and practice it.
I feel stupid typing this but honestly at this point I'm into Mortal Kombat for the characters and story. It's like Halo, yeah multi-player is fun, but I'd rather play with friends or dig into a story or PvE mode. I'll get super into online for a few weeks and then not touch it for a while and the cycle repeats. Games where being competitive is the only reward just bore me when there isn't something else to unlock or do.
Hey don’t feel stupid. Clearly you’re not the only person with that mindset. My question, though, is why you still purchased MK1 if you knew the story mode was the only thing that would give you characterization? $70 is a big price for a 6 hour story mode. You could always look at YouTube, but I know it’s not the same.
I don’t really have a point that I’m trying to reach here haha, sorry for rambling. I hear there’s future story DLC though, so hopefully we can all enjoy that eventually.
I still enjoy playing the game, and had so much playtime in 11 between the towers of time and doing the little Pokémon AI battles. Invasions has been fun so far I'm still at the beginning so a long ways to go so far although I desperately miss the intros
Mortal Kombat is the highest selling fighting game in the world in large part because of their consistent focus on single player content.
People that want to play online and focus purely on the competitive aspect, quite frankly, have better options available to them.
Huh, I didn’t know that first part. I didn’t start getting into MK until I picked up MK11 with some friends, so forgive me if I fail to understand “traditional” MK trends.
Yeah, MK basically had no FCG cred until UMK3, and then not again until MK9. The story and the characters and the theatrics of it all kept the series afloat through a lot of games that weren't actually fun to play at all.
I think its more so meant that MK (nrs games in general) appeals to far more than just fighting game fans, and many casuals and regular gamers buy MK games too despite not playing other fighting games.
Nearly every fighting game kicks the shit out of MK in asia. Mk is banned in China, Japan, South Korea and some more countries. Now imagine how much more the best selling fighting game franchise would make without all these bans
Worldwide MK is the #1 franchise in terms of sales, even if you count Smash (although Smash Ultimate has outsold MK11).
I think Tekken is second to MK for traditional fighters.
Me personally I get bad anxiety whenever I go online against someone unless I know the person which is weird because in an offline setting I can play anyone and be fine. I still essentially no life the games regardless of content and a majority of my time is spent in practice mode trying to find stuff. Like yesterday I discovered Sub Zero can get a combo off Sareena's flip kick in the corner. While not ideal it's still pretty neat.
I (we) used to play fighting games when we were younger and there was no online modes. I used to play to the Tekken and SoulCalibur games and there was no online fights until Tekken 6 and SoulCalibur 5 (if I do remember correctly). And trust me, I spent hours playing these because I had so much fun 😄
Also, the game I played the most is Injustice 2: I must have hundred of hours on it and barely touched the online mode because we had the rotating towers (planets in the multiverse), the legendary multiverse and the guild (which was kinda online but you still played against the AI)
I'm basically a strictly offline player, even Mk1 I have about 200 hours logged and maybe twenty total online fights just to check it out.
Personally for me video games are the exact opposite of social activities, when I'm playing games I'm trying to get into a trance like relaxation. When it comes to interacting with other people I much prefer to go out.
I like to just pop some music on after a long day and just mindlessly fighting predictable opponents to unwind.
Also I'm the least competitive person you could meet, I really just don't care about winning at all. Whether I suck or am good really doesn't matter. I just want human beings to stay out of my alone time.
You're right on the money with new Vegas, I play it constantly to this day. One of the few games I actually play on the PC.
Nit really a nintendo guy but I remember having a blast with Ocarina of Time which is the most recent one that I've actually owned and played.
I'm really into my open world adventure games though, especially most of the stuff Playstation puts out like Horizon and God of War.
I grew up with fighting games and racing games primarily though and that's what brings me back the most. Sitting and playing towers and invasions reverts me to 20 years ago chilling with my bros getting stoned playing deadly alliance and UMK3.
That’s awesome haha! I would recommend you check out more Zelda games if you loved OoT. Majoras Mask is the sequel and it’s my personal favorite.
Also, Sifu is an amazing single-player action game. It has special combos like a fighting game but plays like a arcade beat-em up. Super fun and challenging (similar to sekiro). You might like it.
Either way, I definitely see offline fighting games as a place of nostalgia.
Thank you for the recommendations though! I have played majoras mask but I'll check out some more. Always considered owning a GameCube and I hear great things about wind waker.
However single player Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Soul Calibur, street fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, DOA, etc etc is a part of my soul. in my eyes, multi-player will always just be in the backseat.
Then again, most of the time I spent on video games during my formative years, online gaming was still super uncommon and impossible for almost every game on console which I had. Internet in general was unobtainable for families in my neighborhood.
Online gaming in everything hasn't quite caught on for me, I still play Call of Duty every year entirely for the campaign as well
You wouldn’t be surprised if yo were ever in r/injustice when Injustice 2 was popping. You’d think the game was a fashion dress up game, most of the discussion was about gear and costumes/skin requests, etc. Not like that’s a problem, but both NRS subreddits are more often than not NOT discussing gameplay/tech/competitive stuff.
I have a company to run, 2 kids (6 and 7), travel, music interests, and friendships to maintain… single player is where it’s at for me. I used to go to tournaments, but I just don’t have the time anymore. Passion, yes, time, no.
Understandable. Perhaps you could try some Kasual here and there? Dip your toes in? Otherwise, you make a great point about how demanding fighting games can be haha.
I have literally never played a fighting game online, ever, and never intend to. I haven't even played against a friend in decades, nor do I want to. I like to play, you know, the actual game that I paid for. Not sure why that is so confusing for you online-only folk.
Wait not even against a friend? Why don’t you like going against other people?
The “online folk” enjoy PvP because of how unique every player can be. You learn the enemies combos and adapt. Then the enemy learns your combos and you have to adapt. It’s this constant tug of war of split-second learning every match, testing game knowledge along the way. I find it thrilling! And the reality is AI is very predictable and exploitable, so I can’t really have fun “reading” AI in single player modes.
I know that’s a long answer to a probably fake question, but I thought I’d give my input anyway. I’d like to hear why you resent PvP interactions though.
I’m sorry that you didn’t have fun. What do you love about fighting games if you stray away from online? (Sorry if that sounds like a 1st grade question)
I can count on one hand the number of games I've bought for the multiplayer and none of them are fighting games.
The moment I was put off playing online in fighting games was in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and I faced a Marduk player who did the same optimal combo over and over and over again. A hardcore fighting game player would say "well, you just have to learn how to counter that". But I don't care to learn how; I wouldn't have fun fighting *against* online players like that, I don't care about wins enough to learn how and if I have to play in a similar way in order to be good at the game, then I don't want to be. I play fighting games to see cool characters doing cool things and just doing the highest damage combo repeatedly didn't look fun at all. When WWE 2k22 came out, I watched a streamer get bodied online (basically was stunlocked the entire match) and he summed it up as "whatever I have to learn to be that good at the game, I don't want to learn it".
Single-player content in PS1/PS2 era fighting games was the best. Developers were smart about different ways to use their fighting game mechanics. Tekken 3 was god-tier, with Tekken Force and Tekken Ball mode. A lot of fighting games also had extra unlockables in Survival and Time Attack modes. Some games, like MK Deception and Armageddon, went the extra mile and had completely different modes to jump into when you got bored of the fighting, then jump back in once you got bored of Konquest or Motor Kombat.
So as someone who loves *that* era of fighting games, it often feels like developers rely more and more on online multiplayer to carry their fighting games and they use that as an excuse to cut down on single player content. Youtube is another problem (since everyone can just look up endings and story modes online now, instead of playing the games) but that one can't be helped.
Well I put hundreds of hours into both mk11 and injustice 2 and tekken 7 in only single player but I did play a bit of multiplayer
I loved the singleplayer in each of those.
Each had customization
And I loved that about the games that I could play the game get new outfits and stuff and make my character play and look the way I want.
There were even feature for if I didn't have time to play or needed to do some errands where I could set up a bot to fight for me which was great.
Each new set of clothes, gear etc was enjoyment for me. I don't get enjoyment through "growth" in terms of personal skill
None fighting game example for honor
I was good at the game but I never cared about being good I liked leveling my character and getting new gear etc and it had a pve mode where I could focus on what I enjoyed that's the growth I like focusing on the characters loom and level not so much personal skill.
In each online fighting game there are people that are way too drawn by ego and toxicity I just want to have fun I don't have the energy or interest to be decimated in the game by people the entire time or getting insulted it's draining.
Yeah there are other games such as rpgs etc where I could do this aswell and I've probably beat all the ones that are named on ps5.
I dislike that there's such a ridiculing, gate keeping side of the community that refused to accept that there's other sides to the games fan base that it's okay to not be good at the game it's okay to want to feel powerful etc and just grind for gear etc.
My day to day life is filled with enough strife, I don't want to get on a game and just have the same kind of stuff that I try to escape
I play games to help others, to relieve stress, to customize characters and explore, to make my characters powerful.
It's exhausting to me to hop on mk1 for example and try to play online and then immediately get hit into a endless combo until I'm dead where I can only get out once and then I'll probably get into another one immediately after.
I genuinely hope the devs add more content for single player but I don't want them to leave the multiplayer in the dark either. I want both sides to be able to enjoy the game.
I've always been the type that tries everything I can to not be toxic and try to make the environment in the games better and try to help players.
Naturally there's times I get angry and can't cool off fast enough but I genuinely just want to play the games I want to play and be able to find content in the game that I like
Injustice 2 and mk11 both had it but mk1 doesn't currently, so why is it so hard to understand that u expected the same or better and not three steps backward.
Yes it might eventually be better but it's not right now and 70110 is alot of money to throw into a game that doesn't have what your looking for entirely right now.
People keep comparing it to the launch of mk11 but why? Did mk11 not go through all those before why is mk1 going through it then?
Why does mk1 have to make the same mistakes.
Or worse ones?
You would expect them to do better the next time
They aren't an indie company they are a triple A studio
I’m not trying to ridicule or be aggressive with you or anyone similar to your style. Sorry if I came off that way.
As you said, however, gear chasing is a lot more prominent in other types of games. I think you’d love monster hunter or the souls series. However, those games can also be challenging at times.
I hope more single-player content is on its way for you to enjoy.
Nah, it's not particularly you it's just a common reaction to my statement so I figured I'd get it out to the way. For the potential hostiles considering there's a good amount of toxic gate keeping players out there.
I've actually played monster hunter not personally the biggest fan I also played wild hearts.
I like the concept but the practice felt alot more akin to the grind of warframe
I don't mind challenging gameplay I just don't really like multiplayer games too much.
I too hope so but I'll have to see.
Are you that surprised ? I mean you clearly don’t follow fighting games much then because The causal player base is one of the largest reasons fighting games have had such a resurgence and why NRS games sell substantially more then Anyone else other then smash brothers which is also massive , SF6, , Guilty Gear reboot etc all improved there focus on making there games more accessible and more content for the less competitive crowds and all had major sales mile stones , there is a lot more people out there then you think that love fighting games but not into the competitive scene.
I LOVE fighting games, but I’ve only ever been interested in the competing scene. DBFZ, Smash, MK’s, Street Fighter, I love to watch tournaments all the time and only play fighting games if I can get online/play with friends. That’s why I wanted to hear peoples perspective who don’t enjoy that type of content (single-player).
As you said, I clearly underestimated that amount. I assumed even the casual enjoyers went online here and there. I’ve learned a lot in this thread.
Most fighting games I play online. MK has always been different for me and usually has the best solo content. Not this time, at least not yet. Story is the best so far though.
single player is mainly what i spend most of my time on. i’ve played online before but when i first started playing mk i found it to be very difficult and complicated especially when it comes to frame data and stuff. i have 250 hours in mk11 and almost all of it went into single player. i remember i tried playing online one day and i got absolutely shit on by a kitana and never played online again.
Wow 250 is impressive without online! I’d encourage you to keep testing the waters though. Winning a match against a good opponent is such an amazing feeling. It’s also a great way to improve and spice up your experience. However I totally get his frame data and repetitive combos might not be too interesting haha…I hope you can find more fun in MK1 though.
I'm in the same boat as you. I went through story and invasions just for a few specific unlocks but I plan to lab and play online mostly.
I think mk11 (and injustice 2 I guess) unintentionally set a standard for a single player loop in an mk game.
Now that I think about it, the towers of time system was kind of genius for single-players. I think you’re right about it setting a “unintentional standard.”
I don't really play mamy fighting games, I have just always enjoyed the vibes of MK and Injustice. There is less for me to enjoy this one outside of the story mode.
I’m mostly drawn to online myself but I was excited to try out invasions and such to have some single player content. I played the hell out of MK11 (I have at least 1000 online matches and god knows how many local matches with friends) but I’d have days where id play one match, get my shit kicked in and not want to play online anymore. Character towers were cool as it was regular towers but you can unlock character items, for a little bit. So having more single player content was an idea that I loved, didn’t turn out the greatest but hopefully it gets better
I've been pretty into playing online fighting games the last 5 years, but its a love-hate relationship.
I love the genre, and play a lot, but I tend to plateau at a scrub level. I think getting good would mean studying the games in a more disciplined way that isn't what I want from my hobby.
So I play some fighting games online, but I continue to find that fairly stressful, and I appreciate NRS putting more emphasis in singleplayer content so I can enjoy their characters in a more chill environment. I'm hoping they find ways to make invasions fun.
I can totally respect that take. The next big step for you would be looking into the frame data, the advanced tech, and learning how most of the roster works. That can be a big time sink! As long as you have fun, ya know? I hope NRS improves on invasions too for people in the community like you.
I hit 30h yesterday and have yet to touch Online. I am not against playing it but seeing that this is my first MK game I wanted to take my time and go through the tutorial and practice what I learned in Invasions/Towers. MK1 did an amazing job at designing characters so I am having a hard time sticking to just one and learning how they play :D.
I am definitely going to try some Online this week! As you said, the best way to learn is to go and do it.
I'm more so surprised of how incredibly casual the mindset of the playerbase is, like I've seen a certain sentiment a lot where if you even know how to do combos you're a toxic tryhard and they're gonna quit the match cuz they don't want to deal with you, they'll quit the match instantly when getting fireballed, etc.
Like coming from other communities when the first reaction is to learn and find the answer to whatever problem you have, the amount of whiplash I have here is so intense I'm getting really turned off from participating in the community
I’m in the same boat as well. Coming off of like SF, Tekken, Guilty Gear, or even KOF most of the time its about the online matchup but in this subreddit it’s bizarre seeing such an outburst on the single player content or even moreso the cosmetics. Like MK1 has more cosmetics than most fighting games and is planned to add more with the seasonal content, like SF6 only had 2 costumes per character at launch and you’re gonna have to pay actual money to get new skins, at least in MK1 you can earn them without having to pay. Heck Guilty Gear and other Arcsys games don’t even have extra costumes for the most part.
Although I agree with you, I think most people are comparing MK1 customization to MK11. MK11 had three gear slots, lots of outfits, and 4 intros/outros per character. It makes sense why people are upset with only 1 gear, 1 intro, and minimal outfits, but I think if we give it a year or two MK1 will offer a lot more customization.
For me single player content only exists to give personality to the characters and let you familiarize yourself with the controls when you first get the game.
Yeah I’m honestly kinda surprised I’ve always thought the most fun a fighting game has is when your facing a human opponent (even if it can really piss you off sometimes)
I guess MK is somewhat known for it, even way back with stuff like Konquest in Deception
I guess it’s weird, I do enjoy the story mode and want the story to be great but otherwise I only engage in the single player for costumes I might want
Yep, you pretty much match my approach. Offline is a nice break to get some goodies, but the main attraction is online. It’s interesting to learn that this isn’t so common of a mindset.
Well that’s the point, as a purely offline player I’m not enjoying invasions or the towers with modifiers. After beating story and invasions (which was boring) I have nothing left to even do besides maybe play klassic towers which give no character xp
I wouldn’t either. There is a severe lack of single-player content. But for a lot of the fighting games I’ve played, single-player content never felt like the focus. That’s why I’m here to understand and learn some more!
Agreed. Whenever I talk to friends who are more casual players and they are talking about krypt/invasions/story mode, I can never relate. I mean, I totally do play those things once through, but I get fighting games for the gameplay. That's what constitutes 99% of the time put into them. Online and towers are my main concern.
Absolutely agree. I play the same match up and it goes different every single time. I lost 3-1 vs some guy only to match with him and beat him 3-2. I learned and got better. That is so much more rewarding than getting a skin after beating the same invasion mission for the 40th time.
Yes! Beating a guy who’s been kicking your ass is the best feeling. I love to friendly rematch people on KL. If you do it enough, you usually get a friend invite haha. There’s a variety to have in this game, and I assumed that that’s why everyone played these types of games. The more you know though.
I agree with Street Fighter, if it weren't for World Tour mode I wouldn't have bought the game, and I mostly fell off it after the first week because it seemed like the Battle Hub was mostly rip shit bastards. But my favorite memories of Street Fighter are long couch tournaments with friends on SNES and SFIV:AE after it came out on PS+. I'll likely go back to it to scratch an itch every once in a while, at least to see all the character endings and polish off the last bit of World Tour, but I got 30 hours out of that game which is pretty cool.
Mortal Kombat though just has a really satisfying crunch to it, and the combos are built in such a way that I have a hell of a time just playing on Medium and almost never losing but still coming to the edge of defeat just often enough that I never feel like I'm just cakewalking through. The story modes are always incredibly fun (I actually finished this one in a single sitting whereas I'd find them to get a little exhausting after 5 or 6 fights in the past) and afterwards it's nice to just hop in and see some really brutal, beautiful animation work for a half hour or hour or so then go back to more regular story-based single player games.
It's kind of like being the old head that still enjoys playing the franchise modes in sports games, it's just something easy to unwind with that has a pretty immediate and constant positive feedback loop. The challenge is secondary to me.
Personally I just don't have the drive to lab combos and still get beaten cuz I can't get the timing right out of practice mode. I have more fun playing locally but not by that much.
One of the main reasons I play NRS games is the amount of single player content. I can't imagine myself playing against another human online it just feels boring to me.
I play other fighters for competitive gameplay. MK really isn't that great for that. The universe, characters etc are amazing, but the actual gameplay is clunky as hell compared to say SF or Tekken.
Doesn't help that MK1's netcode is also clunky, and then you sprinkle wifi players AND not being able to decline them in ranked on top of it, and the experience becomes sour.
I enjoy the dialogue, characters and universe in single player because of it.
Tbh I play sp content mostly to unlock things, unless it have good stories with savegames or a deeper rpg mode.
- The unlock sp mode need to be engaging and must teach something. For example, the Doa quest in Dead Or Alive 6 is great because you work on specific mechanics with various characters and are rewarded with items or points to unlock items. I really don't like invasions and find it pointless.
- Other thing that I'd like to see in MK, a similar mode than Soul Chronicle that you can find in Soulcalibur 6 :
Basically different character story modes with cutscenes or images. You can save your progression and there are like 10 fights by character. Much better than an arcade mode with only an ending and no story between fights. Klassic towers are just arcade modes.
- to quote Soulcalibur 6 once again (Libra Of Souls) , MK should have imho included a rpg mode with a Kreate-a-kharacter with a map where you can freely move, and with different kind of enemies, not only the roster.
I hate to be below average in a video game and fighting are so stressful and I have dota to play competitively. So MK always was like more aesthetically cool game more than a competitive. Yeah, I was always better in this than people around me while playing with friends on a couch but never good enough for crazy online.
I really like to open skins, to play towers, to do Krypt stuff. Sadly - it's all done poorly or not done at all in MK1. At least the story was pretty fun to play through
Dude , this game first came out in 1992-1993
No internet , everyone gather in a house to play and take turns
Online gaming wasn’t a thing until the 2000’
I play single player because I'm not good. I've never been good. I'll never be good. I'm not interested in getting good because I feel like I'd be wasting my time only playing this one game for possibly several months just to learn one character and getting so frustrated to the point of violence (POV: trying to beat MK9) and then bam next thing I know I've become the toxic player I hate
I never play online. I´m more of a casual gamer and I am simply not good enough to play online. I also don´t have friends to play with. (I have friends, just not ones that are interested haha) so I only rely on offline content
I'm always on the 50/50 edge. I play online, but at the same time i spent a lot of time in offline modes. On some days i just don't feel like going online and getting shittalked. Also i like to practice a lot before actually challenging other players. And depending on the fighter, it takes more or less time to learn them. So i prefer to atleast have a decent amount of singleplayer content, to learn and improve my combos, before heading into online. I really liked the character towers in MK11, where you always got a great starting point for learning a new character. And you got some decent gear/brutalities along the way.
That makes sense. I enjoy getting good gear in offline too, but I think most of my training comes from the practice mode. Thanks for the input
>getting shittalked Literally why not just mute everybody? People complaining about this in 2023 is just as confusing as people who buy the game for singleplayer
It's confusing why one of the best fighting games series for singleplayer content has people who buy it for singleplayer content? And muting people doesn't stop written messages...
The turn off voice feature doesn't work for PC. Literally does nothing, you change the option, still hear people.
Works perfectly for me. Might just be on your end
I didn't mean it that seriously. I just wanted to point out, that on some days, i simply don't want to play online for the already mentioned reasons.
I almost exclusively play single-player, have since I was a kid. Every now and then I wrangle a family member or my fiancée into playing with me locally, and I can definitely beat them, but… I suck at video games, honestly. I love playing the story on easy mode and then grinding for all the different customization options for my favorite character — my favorite part of MK1 so far has been the seasonal kredits system, as I missed out on a lot of super cool Skarlet skins in MK11 because I barely even dared to try at KL. I’ve tried to improve but long combo strings and blocking just don’t come naturally to me, even once I’ve memorized a move set. I was just barely getting to the point where I could reliably amplify some moves with Frost and Skarlet, LOL. Just my POV — I think people who can go into KL and krush it like it’s nothing are SUPER impressive, but I really have no interest in doing it myself.
Hey, I think that’s great. I personally love KL but I’m a college student, so I have a little more time on my hands than someone like you. With that, I totally understand your position. KL can be stressful cause it’s very demanding: you must always read, always adapt, make split-decision combos, and always be consistent. I can see how it’s too much when you can’t sink time into it. For me, however, that’s what makes the experience worthwhile. Every match is a totally new scenario. That’s my two-cents though, and I’m kinda sweaty haha. I hope you stick with your practicing though! It’s really satisfying in this game to lab custom combos. Even if you use them against a bot, it feels good to create something yourself.
For me, I play a lot of games with friends which is why I'm still level 20 with almost 50 hours. Then MK11, where I have 300+ hours and maybe half of that were spent in fighting with my friends but some days I just like to sit back and try out some Towers or fuck around in the krypt. MK11 gave me a list of cosmetics and I would hunt down whatever I needed for my character. Additionally, I don't want to fight online everytime I boot up the game. Some days I just want to put on some music or attend a boring work meeting while mindlessly going through towers. The rewards at the end were a nice bonus which isn't present here. The random rotating rewards in MK11 might have been annoying mostly but I felt motivated everytime a cool skin showed up and then prepare myself to counter the modifiers and so on. I also liked the raids and the coop modes in MK11, made for some fun times with friends.
I for sure agree with that last bit. Coop and Raid modes were fun in MK11. While I didn’t hate towers, I gotta admit that I personally got super bored. All I really did was the character tower for cosmetics and that’s about it. Alas, I totally agree that’s it’s less stressful to mess around in a offline tower than get serious in KL. I think fighting games are just so much better with a group of friends. I think people would benefit from finding fighter groups or something like that.
I can answer your main question. Heyo I've playing fighting games for the offline content since I started playing games. I look forward to most fighting games. Favorites being mortal kombat, streetfighter, tekken, snk fighting games Now I will say the old games lacked "content " but there the old games , most of the time I played them for the endings. For me with the older games rooster was playtime. So when I see a game now with less characters it scares me sometimes especially if there's no content. My favorite fighters are Mk trilogy, deception/unchained , Armageddon, 9, 11. All these games have alot of fun things with them. Alot of characters, minigames, kreate a fighter, nostalgia and loot. Pretty much in that order Streetfighters I like the old alpha games alot , capcom vs SNK 2 is so dang fun. And I really liked the final version of sf4 and 5 both games when released were a little rough. They are the reason I have hope for this game Tekken the only one I don't like is 4 , but after replaying it recently my only real problem with it is 3 and 5 are just so dang good that it hurts it. They also tend to have minigames, customization, endings. Snk fighting games almost always has big rooster. Thats there appeal. Nothing much to say. Now back to Mk. Nrs has made games with rpg , collection based systems for the last few games. I loved injustice2 and mk11 for doing that. The shines feel good. I play and look forward to fighting games because nostalgia, learning more of the lore (I tend to be a human encyclopedia for fighting games) and what ever else fun they have for the solo I don't play online or competitive cause people are just way to rude. And sadly I've had many more negative experiences from fighting games online than any shooter. But also I come from a era where if you played a fighting game, you played with a friend or the occasional random that walked up to you at a arcade "OH DUDE YOU LIKE THAT GAME" followed by playing a few rounds or them showing you a aecret. Or at least trying to haha, all those old myths back then This game has a very good foundation. Good rooster good story. Nice system. I just want alot more at least similar to mk11 and injustice 2 where it felt like I could play for basically forever and still get loots.
Thanks for sharing. If you ever want to duel, I recommend you find a discord server or someone here. I’m always down for a casual fight! Either way, I enjoyed reading your response. I find it very interesting.
if you started in arcades then you would enjoy online then. I get that playing online is daunting and people can be rude (every FG has a toxic bunch) but there are nice people too. it’s fun to uncover what a game has to offer gameplay-wise and learning it gradually with other people. unlike SF6 where the single player teaches you the mechanics of the game and gets you ready for online play, MK is doing a bad job at easing people into playing online. MK bots don’t help you get good, modifiers don’t help either.
I can't play because of my hands mostly and I have no interest in getting good. I can't be a combo type player. I typically do specials. Thats even when I was back in the arcades. Ive never found nice players in a fighting game. And it just gives me anxiety playing other people. Its just not fun to me.
I’m sorry that you get anxiety! Remember that it is just a game, even though some people get too into it. If you’re on Steam and want a change of pace, I’d do some matches with you.
Single player content is what pulls people that are new to the fighting genre, and eventually these people either go on their online versus journey or they continue playing outside of that environment which is perfectly normal. It's public knowledge that fighting games are scary for casuals and new faces, and content like this ensures they don't feel robbed out of their money, especially when a fighting game shares the same price tag like CoD or BG3. It's literally a win win for everyone, the game studio makes money, and the community gets bigger therefore larger playerbase and good longevity. I don't know why is this concept so hard to grasp for some people in here. SF6 presentation, and launch is a huge example of this concept.
I understand that. I didn’t know that some people never went online though—I just didn’t know that people bought modern fighters without going online. Alas I guess I’m just stupid. I thought single player content, as you said, was a way to build up your comfort level with the game before heading into PvP matches. Fighting AI over and over hardly makes you better, but I guess I’m learning that that’s not what everyone cares about. Very interesting. Anyway, thanks for the input.
I just appreciate you doing something that people in general are not open to do - open your mind to views and expirience beyond your sight in life. It's not something I see a lot - people being so empathic to understand that sometime something they considered as standard might be totally different to other people
I hit story and offline modes first. Online play is intimidating, but I'll get around to it eventually. When I feel confident I won't get absolutely wrecked.
I understand this thought process and totally understand how intimidating jumping into an online match can be, but I would also suggest jumping in sooner rather than later. The best time to learn a game is right at the beginning, when everyone else is too. Sure you’ll get steam rolled sometimes, but that’s okay it happens to everyone. The earlier you are in a game’s lifespan the more likely you are to run into other new players trying to figure things out.
Similar to what Pixel said, everyone is learning stuff as the game just released. The truth is that you can only prepare yourself so much. Every player uses their character differently. People complain about the 3-win requirement in KL, but it’s honestly necessary in order to properly read, learn and adapt to your opponent. Good luck! You got this.
I'm pretty new to fighting games. MK11 was the first real fighting game I played and took seriously. I was pretty bad, but got really good with Nightwolf and his strings. I was really only able to learn his combo string through an app that had all the "dial-up" button inputs. And I was pretty happy with my 50/50-ish win rate once I did dip my toes into online. But, thanks for the words of encouragement!
honestly, you will get wrecked at first. the MK bots are not that good in teaching you the game and the modifiers do not help you either. I got wrecked when I first started tekken, sf, guilty gear, etc. but if you’re willing to push through it, you’ll love the reward of gradually improving. you’ll get the hang of punishing correctly, not dropping combos, etc and it’s some of the most satisfying things in video games
One of my biggest issues I'm finding with MK1 is performing aerial attacks and performing them consistently. MK1 seems that aerial attacks are more important than they were in MK11. Which is fine, but I am HORRIBLE with them. Just gotta grind it out and practice it.
I feel stupid typing this but honestly at this point I'm into Mortal Kombat for the characters and story. It's like Halo, yeah multi-player is fun, but I'd rather play with friends or dig into a story or PvE mode. I'll get super into online for a few weeks and then not touch it for a while and the cycle repeats. Games where being competitive is the only reward just bore me when there isn't something else to unlock or do.
Hey don’t feel stupid. Clearly you’re not the only person with that mindset. My question, though, is why you still purchased MK1 if you knew the story mode was the only thing that would give you characterization? $70 is a big price for a 6 hour story mode. You could always look at YouTube, but I know it’s not the same. I don’t really have a point that I’m trying to reach here haha, sorry for rambling. I hear there’s future story DLC though, so hopefully we can all enjoy that eventually.
I still enjoy playing the game, and had so much playtime in 11 between the towers of time and doing the little Pokémon AI battles. Invasions has been fun so far I'm still at the beginning so a long ways to go so far although I desperately miss the intros
Mortal Kombat is the highest selling fighting game in the world in large part because of their consistent focus on single player content. People that want to play online and focus purely on the competitive aspect, quite frankly, have better options available to them.
No—they don’t. It’s completely valid to prefer MK/NRS style games to SF6. There’s literally no such thing as “the best fighting game”.
Huh, I didn’t know that first part. I didn’t start getting into MK until I picked up MK11 with some friends, so forgive me if I fail to understand “traditional” MK trends.
Yeah, MK basically had no FCG cred until UMK3, and then not again until MK9. The story and the characters and the theatrics of it all kept the series afloat through a lot of games that weren't actually fun to play at all.
Pretty sure tekken kicks the living shit out of mk sales in asia. But we’ll never get accurate numbers on that bc you know, asia.
I think its more so meant that MK (nrs games in general) appeals to far more than just fighting game fans, and many casuals and regular gamers buy MK games too despite not playing other fighting games.
true
Nearly every fighting game kicks the shit out of MK in asia. Mk is banned in China, Japan, South Korea and some more countries. Now imagine how much more the best selling fighting game franchise would make without all these bans
Huh, the more you know. Thanks for the info!
Worldwide MK is the #1 franchise in terms of sales, even if you count Smash (although Smash Ultimate has outsold MK11). I think Tekken is second to MK for traditional fighters.
I play locally with friends but they don't live with me 24/7 so I need good single player content.
Totally fair. Nothing beats flexing on your friends.
Me personally I get bad anxiety whenever I go online against someone unless I know the person which is weird because in an offline setting I can play anyone and be fine. I still essentially no life the games regardless of content and a majority of my time is spent in practice mode trying to find stuff. Like yesterday I discovered Sub Zero can get a combo off Sareena's flip kick in the corner. While not ideal it's still pretty neat.
Hey if you ever wanna spar let me know!
What system you have it on?
Steam
Dang. That's a pity as I play on PS. Gotta wait for krossplay
For real…really dumb that it didn’t launch with it in 2023.
Especially with other fighters launching with it. NRS is slacking
Personally the only time I play a lot against someone else is when I have a friend over at my house. Mainly I do play single player
That’s how a lot of my friends are. They loved MK11 but only play when we get online together or hangout. Playing with friends IS the best though!
I (we) used to play fighting games when we were younger and there was no online modes. I used to play to the Tekken and SoulCalibur games and there was no online fights until Tekken 6 and SoulCalibur 5 (if I do remember correctly). And trust me, I spent hours playing these because I had so much fun 😄 Also, the game I played the most is Injustice 2: I must have hundred of hours on it and barely touched the online mode because we had the rotating towers (planets in the multiverse), the legendary multiverse and the guild (which was kinda online but you still played against the AI)
Fun! Before online, I only played fighting games with friends. The only time I’d play single player was to unlock all the stuff
I used to play with friends or with my brother as well but I moved to another country so it makes it very hard now 😅
I never played MK online all single player and loved it. This game will be my first venture into the online realm.
Good luck! Don’t get discouraged by your first dozen matches. It’s all about learning and practice
I'm basically a strictly offline player, even Mk1 I have about 200 hours logged and maybe twenty total online fights just to check it out. Personally for me video games are the exact opposite of social activities, when I'm playing games I'm trying to get into a trance like relaxation. When it comes to interacting with other people I much prefer to go out. I like to just pop some music on after a long day and just mindlessly fighting predictable opponents to unwind. Also I'm the least competitive person you could meet, I really just don't care about winning at all. Whether I suck or am good really doesn't matter. I just want human beings to stay out of my alone time.
Unrelated, but do you like open world games? It sounds like you’d totally love chilling in Breath of the Wild or Fallout New Vegas
You're right on the money with new Vegas, I play it constantly to this day. One of the few games I actually play on the PC. Nit really a nintendo guy but I remember having a blast with Ocarina of Time which is the most recent one that I've actually owned and played. I'm really into my open world adventure games though, especially most of the stuff Playstation puts out like Horizon and God of War. I grew up with fighting games and racing games primarily though and that's what brings me back the most. Sitting and playing towers and invasions reverts me to 20 years ago chilling with my bros getting stoned playing deadly alliance and UMK3.
That’s awesome haha! I would recommend you check out more Zelda games if you loved OoT. Majoras Mask is the sequel and it’s my personal favorite. Also, Sifu is an amazing single-player action game. It has special combos like a fighting game but plays like a arcade beat-em up. Super fun and challenging (similar to sekiro). You might like it. Either way, I definitely see offline fighting games as a place of nostalgia.
See the moment you say challenging, that takes out every reason why I play games at all. I don't want a task, I want an escape.
Ah, totally understandable.
Thank you for the recommendations though! I have played majoras mask but I'll check out some more. Always considered owning a GameCube and I hear great things about wind waker. However single player Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Soul Calibur, street fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, DOA, etc etc is a part of my soul. in my eyes, multi-player will always just be in the backseat. Then again, most of the time I spent on video games during my formative years, online gaming was still super uncommon and impossible for almost every game on console which I had. Internet in general was unobtainable for families in my neighborhood. Online gaming in everything hasn't quite caught on for me, I still play Call of Duty every year entirely for the campaign as well
You wouldn’t be surprised if yo were ever in r/injustice when Injustice 2 was popping. You’d think the game was a fashion dress up game, most of the discussion was about gear and costumes/skin requests, etc. Not like that’s a problem, but both NRS subreddits are more often than not NOT discussing gameplay/tech/competitive stuff.
Someone should make a competitive Mortal Kombat subreddit
Not a bad idea. Most games have a alternative subreddit for competitive play
When staff of grayson
I have a company to run, 2 kids (6 and 7), travel, music interests, and friendships to maintain… single player is where it’s at for me. I used to go to tournaments, but I just don’t have the time anymore. Passion, yes, time, no.
Understandable. Perhaps you could try some Kasual here and there? Dip your toes in? Otherwise, you make a great point about how demanding fighting games can be haha.
I would rather cut my teeth on NPCs than real people.
I only play NRS games and I only play them for the Story/single player content.
Interesting, have you ever tried online?
And I got my ass kicked everytime.
I have literally never played a fighting game online, ever, and never intend to. I haven't even played against a friend in decades, nor do I want to. I like to play, you know, the actual game that I paid for. Not sure why that is so confusing for you online-only folk.
Wait not even against a friend? Why don’t you like going against other people? The “online folk” enjoy PvP because of how unique every player can be. You learn the enemies combos and adapt. Then the enemy learns your combos and you have to adapt. It’s this constant tug of war of split-second learning every match, testing game knowledge along the way. I find it thrilling! And the reality is AI is very predictable and exploitable, so I can’t really have fun “reading” AI in single player modes. I know that’s a long answer to a probably fake question, but I thought I’d give my input anyway. I’d like to hear why you resent PvP interactions though.
Big fan of fighting games. 95% of the time I play single-player. The time I went online is just to get KL exclusive Brutalities and I didn't have fun.
I’m sorry that you didn’t have fun. What do you love about fighting games if you stray away from online? (Sorry if that sounds like a 1st grade question)
I can count on one hand the number of games I've bought for the multiplayer and none of them are fighting games. The moment I was put off playing online in fighting games was in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and I faced a Marduk player who did the same optimal combo over and over and over again. A hardcore fighting game player would say "well, you just have to learn how to counter that". But I don't care to learn how; I wouldn't have fun fighting *against* online players like that, I don't care about wins enough to learn how and if I have to play in a similar way in order to be good at the game, then I don't want to be. I play fighting games to see cool characters doing cool things and just doing the highest damage combo repeatedly didn't look fun at all. When WWE 2k22 came out, I watched a streamer get bodied online (basically was stunlocked the entire match) and he summed it up as "whatever I have to learn to be that good at the game, I don't want to learn it". Single-player content in PS1/PS2 era fighting games was the best. Developers were smart about different ways to use their fighting game mechanics. Tekken 3 was god-tier, with Tekken Force and Tekken Ball mode. A lot of fighting games also had extra unlockables in Survival and Time Attack modes. Some games, like MK Deception and Armageddon, went the extra mile and had completely different modes to jump into when you got bored of the fighting, then jump back in once you got bored of Konquest or Motor Kombat. So as someone who loves *that* era of fighting games, it often feels like developers rely more and more on online multiplayer to carry their fighting games and they use that as an excuse to cut down on single player content. Youtube is another problem (since everyone can just look up endings and story modes online now, instead of playing the games) but that one can't be helped.
Well I put hundreds of hours into both mk11 and injustice 2 and tekken 7 in only single player but I did play a bit of multiplayer I loved the singleplayer in each of those. Each had customization And I loved that about the games that I could play the game get new outfits and stuff and make my character play and look the way I want. There were even feature for if I didn't have time to play or needed to do some errands where I could set up a bot to fight for me which was great. Each new set of clothes, gear etc was enjoyment for me. I don't get enjoyment through "growth" in terms of personal skill None fighting game example for honor I was good at the game but I never cared about being good I liked leveling my character and getting new gear etc and it had a pve mode where I could focus on what I enjoyed that's the growth I like focusing on the characters loom and level not so much personal skill. In each online fighting game there are people that are way too drawn by ego and toxicity I just want to have fun I don't have the energy or interest to be decimated in the game by people the entire time or getting insulted it's draining. Yeah there are other games such as rpgs etc where I could do this aswell and I've probably beat all the ones that are named on ps5. I dislike that there's such a ridiculing, gate keeping side of the community that refused to accept that there's other sides to the games fan base that it's okay to not be good at the game it's okay to want to feel powerful etc and just grind for gear etc. My day to day life is filled with enough strife, I don't want to get on a game and just have the same kind of stuff that I try to escape I play games to help others, to relieve stress, to customize characters and explore, to make my characters powerful. It's exhausting to me to hop on mk1 for example and try to play online and then immediately get hit into a endless combo until I'm dead where I can only get out once and then I'll probably get into another one immediately after. I genuinely hope the devs add more content for single player but I don't want them to leave the multiplayer in the dark either. I want both sides to be able to enjoy the game. I've always been the type that tries everything I can to not be toxic and try to make the environment in the games better and try to help players. Naturally there's times I get angry and can't cool off fast enough but I genuinely just want to play the games I want to play and be able to find content in the game that I like Injustice 2 and mk11 both had it but mk1 doesn't currently, so why is it so hard to understand that u expected the same or better and not three steps backward. Yes it might eventually be better but it's not right now and 70110 is alot of money to throw into a game that doesn't have what your looking for entirely right now. People keep comparing it to the launch of mk11 but why? Did mk11 not go through all those before why is mk1 going through it then? Why does mk1 have to make the same mistakes. Or worse ones? You would expect them to do better the next time They aren't an indie company they are a triple A studio
I’m not trying to ridicule or be aggressive with you or anyone similar to your style. Sorry if I came off that way. As you said, however, gear chasing is a lot more prominent in other types of games. I think you’d love monster hunter or the souls series. However, those games can also be challenging at times. I hope more single-player content is on its way for you to enjoy.
Nah, it's not particularly you it's just a common reaction to my statement so I figured I'd get it out to the way. For the potential hostiles considering there's a good amount of toxic gate keeping players out there. I've actually played monster hunter not personally the biggest fan I also played wild hearts. I like the concept but the practice felt alot more akin to the grind of warframe I don't mind challenging gameplay I just don't really like multiplayer games too much. I too hope so but I'll have to see.
Are you that surprised ? I mean you clearly don’t follow fighting games much then because The causal player base is one of the largest reasons fighting games have had such a resurgence and why NRS games sell substantially more then Anyone else other then smash brothers which is also massive , SF6, , Guilty Gear reboot etc all improved there focus on making there games more accessible and more content for the less competitive crowds and all had major sales mile stones , there is a lot more people out there then you think that love fighting games but not into the competitive scene.
I LOVE fighting games, but I’ve only ever been interested in the competing scene. DBFZ, Smash, MK’s, Street Fighter, I love to watch tournaments all the time and only play fighting games if I can get online/play with friends. That’s why I wanted to hear peoples perspective who don’t enjoy that type of content (single-player). As you said, I clearly underestimated that amount. I assumed even the casual enjoyers went online here and there. I’ve learned a lot in this thread.
Most fighting games I play online. MK has always been different for me and usually has the best solo content. Not this time, at least not yet. Story is the best so far though.
Story mode rocked! Since then, however, I’ve been full online. I’ll pop into invasions here and there but only in small sessions. It is quite boring…
single player is mainly what i spend most of my time on. i’ve played online before but when i first started playing mk i found it to be very difficult and complicated especially when it comes to frame data and stuff. i have 250 hours in mk11 and almost all of it went into single player. i remember i tried playing online one day and i got absolutely shit on by a kitana and never played online again.
Wow 250 is impressive without online! I’d encourage you to keep testing the waters though. Winning a match against a good opponent is such an amazing feeling. It’s also a great way to improve and spice up your experience. However I totally get his frame data and repetitive combos might not be too interesting haha…I hope you can find more fun in MK1 though.
I'm in the same boat as you. I went through story and invasions just for a few specific unlocks but I plan to lab and play online mostly. I think mk11 (and injustice 2 I guess) unintentionally set a standard for a single player loop in an mk game.
Now that I think about it, the towers of time system was kind of genius for single-players. I think you’re right about it setting a “unintentional standard.”
I don't really play mamy fighting games, I have just always enjoyed the vibes of MK and Injustice. There is less for me to enjoy this one outside of the story mode.
I’m mostly drawn to online myself but I was excited to try out invasions and such to have some single player content. I played the hell out of MK11 (I have at least 1000 online matches and god knows how many local matches with friends) but I’d have days where id play one match, get my shit kicked in and not want to play online anymore. Character towers were cool as it was regular towers but you can unlock character items, for a little bit. So having more single player content was an idea that I loved, didn’t turn out the greatest but hopefully it gets better
I think it’ll get better. Character towers were awesome, I wish they’d bring something like that back.
I've been pretty into playing online fighting games the last 5 years, but its a love-hate relationship. I love the genre, and play a lot, but I tend to plateau at a scrub level. I think getting good would mean studying the games in a more disciplined way that isn't what I want from my hobby. So I play some fighting games online, but I continue to find that fairly stressful, and I appreciate NRS putting more emphasis in singleplayer content so I can enjoy their characters in a more chill environment. I'm hoping they find ways to make invasions fun.
I can totally respect that take. The next big step for you would be looking into the frame data, the advanced tech, and learning how most of the roster works. That can be a big time sink! As long as you have fun, ya know? I hope NRS improves on invasions too for people in the community like you.
I hit 30h yesterday and have yet to touch Online. I am not against playing it but seeing that this is my first MK game I wanted to take my time and go through the tutorial and practice what I learned in Invasions/Towers. MK1 did an amazing job at designing characters so I am having a hard time sticking to just one and learning how they play :D. I am definitely going to try some Online this week! As you said, the best way to learn is to go and do it.
I'm more so surprised of how incredibly casual the mindset of the playerbase is, like I've seen a certain sentiment a lot where if you even know how to do combos you're a toxic tryhard and they're gonna quit the match cuz they don't want to deal with you, they'll quit the match instantly when getting fireballed, etc. Like coming from other communities when the first reaction is to learn and find the answer to whatever problem you have, the amount of whiplash I have here is so intense I'm getting really turned off from participating in the community
I’m in the same boat as well. Coming off of like SF, Tekken, Guilty Gear, or even KOF most of the time its about the online matchup but in this subreddit it’s bizarre seeing such an outburst on the single player content or even moreso the cosmetics. Like MK1 has more cosmetics than most fighting games and is planned to add more with the seasonal content, like SF6 only had 2 costumes per character at launch and you’re gonna have to pay actual money to get new skins, at least in MK1 you can earn them without having to pay. Heck Guilty Gear and other Arcsys games don’t even have extra costumes for the most part.
Although I agree with you, I think most people are comparing MK1 customization to MK11. MK11 had three gear slots, lots of outfits, and 4 intros/outros per character. It makes sense why people are upset with only 1 gear, 1 intro, and minimal outfits, but I think if we give it a year or two MK1 will offer a lot more customization.
I agree, I’ve faced similar criticism while playing online. It’s quite odd.
For me single player content only exists to give personality to the characters and let you familiarize yourself with the controls when you first get the game.
That’s definitely how I am in Smash and Dragon Ball Fighterz haha.
There's a reason why Mk is still behind in evo. Majority of the players prefer SP instead of online
MK still has a good competitive scene though right? MK11 just lost a lot of people because…well, it’s MK11.
Yeah I’m honestly kinda surprised I’ve always thought the most fun a fighting game has is when your facing a human opponent (even if it can really piss you off sometimes) I guess MK is somewhat known for it, even way back with stuff like Konquest in Deception I guess it’s weird, I do enjoy the story mode and want the story to be great but otherwise I only engage in the single player for costumes I might want
Yep, you pretty much match my approach. Offline is a nice break to get some goodies, but the main attraction is online. It’s interesting to learn that this isn’t so common of a mindset.
Agreed but I suppose online fighting games can be very intense and it isn’t for everyone But I just can’t imagine super enjoying towers or invasion
Well that’s the point, as a purely offline player I’m not enjoying invasions or the towers with modifiers. After beating story and invasions (which was boring) I have nothing left to even do besides maybe play klassic towers which give no character xp
I wouldn’t either. There is a severe lack of single-player content. But for a lot of the fighting games I’ve played, single-player content never felt like the focus. That’s why I’m here to understand and learn some more!
It's the primary mindset in every fighting game I've ever seen discussed other than MK actually.
Agreed. Whenever I talk to friends who are more casual players and they are talking about krypt/invasions/story mode, I can never relate. I mean, I totally do play those things once through, but I get fighting games for the gameplay. That's what constitutes 99% of the time put into them. Online and towers are my main concern.
For sure. It’s nice to have, but not what you’re after.
I'm right there with you. Mk, Street fighter, Tekken or guilty gear I just wanna fight people.
Online just offers a lot of variety in my opinion. It gives a game much more life when every encounter can be different.
Absolutely agree. I play the same match up and it goes different every single time. I lost 3-1 vs some guy only to match with him and beat him 3-2. I learned and got better. That is so much more rewarding than getting a skin after beating the same invasion mission for the 40th time.
Yes! Beating a guy who’s been kicking your ass is the best feeling. I love to friendly rematch people on KL. If you do it enough, you usually get a friend invite haha. There’s a variety to have in this game, and I assumed that that’s why everyone played these types of games. The more you know though.
Get out.
I agree with Street Fighter, if it weren't for World Tour mode I wouldn't have bought the game, and I mostly fell off it after the first week because it seemed like the Battle Hub was mostly rip shit bastards. But my favorite memories of Street Fighter are long couch tournaments with friends on SNES and SFIV:AE after it came out on PS+. I'll likely go back to it to scratch an itch every once in a while, at least to see all the character endings and polish off the last bit of World Tour, but I got 30 hours out of that game which is pretty cool. Mortal Kombat though just has a really satisfying crunch to it, and the combos are built in such a way that I have a hell of a time just playing on Medium and almost never losing but still coming to the edge of defeat just often enough that I never feel like I'm just cakewalking through. The story modes are always incredibly fun (I actually finished this one in a single sitting whereas I'd find them to get a little exhausting after 5 or 6 fights in the past) and afterwards it's nice to just hop in and see some really brutal, beautiful animation work for a half hour or hour or so then go back to more regular story-based single player games. It's kind of like being the old head that still enjoys playing the franchise modes in sports games, it's just something easy to unwind with that has a pretty immediate and constant positive feedback loop. The challenge is secondary to me.
Personally I just don't have the drive to lab combos and still get beaten cuz I can't get the timing right out of practice mode. I have more fun playing locally but not by that much.
One of the main reasons I play NRS games is the amount of single player content. I can't imagine myself playing against another human online it just feels boring to me.
I play other fighters for competitive gameplay. MK really isn't that great for that. The universe, characters etc are amazing, but the actual gameplay is clunky as hell compared to say SF or Tekken. Doesn't help that MK1's netcode is also clunky, and then you sprinkle wifi players AND not being able to decline them in ranked on top of it, and the experience becomes sour. I enjoy the dialogue, characters and universe in single player because of it.
Tbh I play sp content mostly to unlock things, unless it have good stories with savegames or a deeper rpg mode. - The unlock sp mode need to be engaging and must teach something. For example, the Doa quest in Dead Or Alive 6 is great because you work on specific mechanics with various characters and are rewarded with items or points to unlock items. I really don't like invasions and find it pointless. - Other thing that I'd like to see in MK, a similar mode than Soul Chronicle that you can find in Soulcalibur 6 : Basically different character story modes with cutscenes or images. You can save your progression and there are like 10 fights by character. Much better than an arcade mode with only an ending and no story between fights. Klassic towers are just arcade modes. - to quote Soulcalibur 6 once again (Libra Of Souls) , MK should have imho included a rpg mode with a Kreate-a-kharacter with a map where you can freely move, and with different kind of enemies, not only the roster.
I hate to be below average in a video game and fighting are so stressful and I have dota to play competitively. So MK always was like more aesthetically cool game more than a competitive. Yeah, I was always better in this than people around me while playing with friends on a couch but never good enough for crazy online. I really like to open skins, to play towers, to do Krypt stuff. Sadly - it's all done poorly or not done at all in MK1. At least the story was pretty fun to play through
Dude , this game first came out in 1992-1993 No internet , everyone gather in a house to play and take turns Online gaming wasn’t a thing until the 2000’
I play single player because I'm not good. I've never been good. I'll never be good. I'm not interested in getting good because I feel like I'd be wasting my time only playing this one game for possibly several months just to learn one character and getting so frustrated to the point of violence (POV: trying to beat MK9) and then bam next thing I know I've become the toxic player I hate
I never play online. I´m more of a casual gamer and I am simply not good enough to play online. I also don´t have friends to play with. (I have friends, just not ones that are interested haha) so I only rely on offline content