Mortal Kombat 11 may have only come out yesterday and while it has been critically well received, there has been one persistent issue sticking in most people’s craw: the progression. This unbearable grind was present in the game’s towers and Krypt and the high difficulty made getting new gear quite a process. In a recent stream, NetherRealm disputed that it was driving players to purchase microtransactions and instead detailed upcoming fixes as well as giving away some free currency.
This process has already started via the game’s “tweak vars” that can update certain aspects of the game without a patch. Last night, NetherRealm pushed out a silent update that lowered health bars of the enemies within the Towers of Time as well as made most unblockable attacks less frequent. Doing this makes these grindy towers less punishing. But that is not all.
A bigger, actual patch is slated for either this week or the very beginning of next week that will go beyond changing these numbers. It will increase currency rewards and change modifier values that couldn’t be put in the tweak var update like making unblockable rockets blockable.
As a some sort of apology, NetherRealm is giving players 500,000 Koins, 500 Hearts, 1,000 Souls, and 1,000 Time Krystals. The first three currencies can not be purchased with real money and can be used to buy certain things in the Krypt. Time Krystals can be bought with real money and can only buy things like Easy Fatality Tokens and cosmetic gear. Despite the perception of pushing players to spend real money to overcome the grind, the game does not allow you to use that real money to purchase a gameplay advantage. Tyler Lansdown, community manager at NetherRealm, said as much for the studio’s games a whole.
“This game was never designed to encourage in-game purchases,” he said. “NetherRealm does not make games that way and we never have made games that way. We do not artificially drive people towards in-game purchases.”
Lansdown even took some responsibility for the confusion surrounding the towers, lamenting the fact that they couldn’t get the towers on stream to explain them. He explained that players would know more about how to use consumables in order to better tackle the game’s steep challenges. However, he also made it clear that the towers were indeed too difficult.
Derek Kirtzic, designer at NetherRealm, also cleared up some confusion around the Krypt. Many thought the Krypt was random which made it seem like one giant loot box, something NetherRealm said the game wouldn’t have. This isn’t entirely true since the boxes are the same for every player, but they are in different places. So everyone who finishes the Krypt will have the same exact stuff at the end. Kirtzic and Lansdown also stressed multiple times that they want to make the game fun for everyone and this loop wasn’t exactly showing that in the way they intended.
Mortal Kombat 11 Rejects
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Characters You Won't See in Mortal Kombat 11's Roster
Few fighting game franchises introduce as many new challenges as Mortal Kombat. This can be a blessing, but also a curse. You might get an evergreen warrior with your new addition, or you might get a generic reject. Not everyone can make it into MK11, but these guys definitely won't make the cut. -
Bo' Rai Cho
Perhaps a controversial pick due to his many appearances, but Bo' Rai Cho never felt like a genuinely popular character. His unique moves and drunken demeanor make him stand out, but that goofiness also leads to a clash with the rest of the cast. Mortal Kombat works best when it's as straight-faced as possible, and that means you can't have vomit attacks. -
Drahmin
Introduced in Deadly Alliance. This Netherrealm Oni relies heavily on his spiked club for combat. In the days between the original trilogy and the modern games, Mortal Kombat introduced character specific weapons to stand out. So, while Drahmin had a place back then, he'd need a full redesign to fit in now. -
Khameleon
Khameleon has made two weird appearances in the franchise so far. She was a new character in the N64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy. Then, after being left out of the "everyone in the pool" Armageddon, she premiered in the Wii version due to fan outrage. It would be very strange to see her pop up again unless she somehow ends up in the Switch version of the game. And that is pretty unlikely. -
Kira
Premiering in Mortal Kombat Deception, Kira is a recruit for the "new Black Dragon." She's a generically heroic character despite her resemblance to an MK version of Harley Quinn. With the Kombat Kids filling the roles of new heroes, we probably won't be seeing much of Kira going forward. -
Kobra
Kobra is Kira's counterpart in Deception. He's a fiery recruit that's most notable for resembling Ken from Street Fighter. Kobra was briefly mentioned in Mortal Kombat X, but only as someone who Erron Black killed before the events of the game. That probably rules him out as a future entrant in the tournament. -
Mavado
Debuting in Deadly Alliance, Mavado uses Kabal's hook swords and grappling hooks in combat. With both Scorpion and Kabal present in Mortal Kombat 11, it'd be hard to fit such a fighting style in without repetition setting in. Plus, in a game filled with flashy ninjas and otherworldly creatures, Mavado is just a dude. -
Sareena
Despite looking like a human, Sareena is actually a demon, and that's the most notable thing about her. She fights with a pair of knives and her only appearance outside of Armageddon was a Game Boy Advance port of Deadly Alliance and a brief cameo in MKX's campaign. She has some story significance, but she'd basically be a new character if they were to bring her back. -
Taven
Taven is one of two new characters introduced in Armageddon's Konquest mode. Since he only appears in Armageddon, he's also one of only two characters who's never had a fatality. There may be some hardcore Konquest fans out there, but considering that his greatest deeds are written out of the current timeline, he's probably not popping up again. -
Tremor
We will admit, Tremor is pretty cool. He's a ninja who controls rocks, making his debut in PlayStation action game Special Forces. His first appearance in the fighting series was as a DLC character in Mortal Kombat X. He might be the most likely candidate for a revival out of these 10, but NetherRealm's ninja quota is probably already spent for 11.
