Recent reviews by AnarchoPangolin

I may not be some super sweaty gamer or FGC pro, but this is one of if not my all-time favorite MK titles. It's got unprecedented levels of individual expression with all the unique Kameos allowing you to customize your playstyle and build combos and mixups that you enjoy. Character gameplay design is at an all-time high in my opinion. The sheer breadth of tools on offer for even the simplest characters is truly impressive, especially when you add Kameos into the mix. Even just building your own combos with different Kameos, seeing what wacky stuff you can do with different combinations is super fun and engaging. It feels like Mortal Kombat on crack, and I love it.

I will say I don't like the art style as much as MK11, but it's still super solid and everyone looks great, even if it's not my personal taste. It also bears mentioning that WB's monetization model in this game is definitely gross, though I've seen far worse even in recent fighting games (looking at you SF6).

Invasions are a bit of a mixed bag. Probably the most mixed of all game's content tbh. They can absolutely be tedious and grindy if you insist on collecting absolutely everything through PvE alone. But ultimately they're no worse than previous games' comparable systems and far better than most, especially since the recent patch added a lot of unique minigames and challenges to them. The variety on offer really helps cut the monotony of the game mode, at least for a casual like me. They've given us a lot of truly dope skins for free through seasons, which is more than I can say for literally any other MK title. It's true there are a LOT of simple color swaps. With the sheer number of skins they offer every season--at least 3-4 per character with a base roster of 22 characters, rotating out every 6-8 weeks on average--it's unrealistic to expect everything to be a totally unique model. I don't even want to think about what level of crunch that would require. But instead they play around a lot with materials, patterns/prints (some extremely detailed), skin textures, and particle effects to make them feel unique even though they're all based on the same few models/silhouettes. Even the crappier seasons (I'm so, so sorry they did you so dirty, Mileena) gave us a few gems. I feel like that's pretty impressive in its own right, but that's just me I guess. As much as I love seasons for what they are, I do wish they relied a bit less on FOMO manipulation tactics to keep people playing, though. It can be frustrating to miss out on a skin you might have really wanted, especially for folks like me who are casual more out of necessity than preference.

Balance can be a struggle, but that's just the eternal struggle since the dawn of fighting games as a genre, and at least they're more proactive than some other companies in this regard. *coughCAPCOMcoughARCSYScough*

All in all it's an excellent title, one of the best fighting games of the last decade+ with everything taken into consideration. Even for someone like me who only dips her toe into ranked every now and again, there's lots of content on offer just about any time I pop in. This is what I hoped MK11 was going to be, only better. A solid 8/10 in my book. Looking forward to many more years with this gem.

In theory I should hate this game with the passion of a thousand burning suns. It's a shooter. It's super grindy and doesn't have much story. It does a really terrible job of explaining itself and I'm constantly having to look stuff up on the wiki or asking questions in my clan or on message boards just to find out how to get or do anything. In any other game that by itself would have me frustrated and bored in nothing flat and results in summary defenestration of the perpetrator, let alone the game's other sins.

But there's just something about it that keeps pulling me in. I don't understand how bloody fun the combat is despite being of a genre I generally detest. I don't get why I put up with doing the same mission 10-20 times to get the blueprints for one frame (and that's nothing compared to what it takes to farm up a Prime frame/weapon or some of the weapons).

Is it because motherf*cking space ninjas with magical powers? The pure cool factor? The absolutely stellar character and art design? The fact that it looks gorgeous running on a wristwatch? The fact that almost everything in the cash shop is earnable in game with enough time and effort and most of the coolest things you straight up can't buy (except maybe from other players)? The sheer joy of bouncing around the environments like a ninja bunny on crack? I just don't know.

Why can't I quit you, Warframe?