Quick Look: Mortal Kombat 11 (Nintendo Switch)

More impressive than the PC version?

This does not seem like an ideal way to play this game. Also, stories about the culture of crunch at Netherrealm Studios coming out on twitter seem real bad so I'm glad I hadn't bought it yet.

@doncabesa: links to this?

@elite49: https://threader.app/thread/1120717830838681600 This is just one thing I've read about it but there's a few more out here. Honestly between this, Epic, and Rockstar... it's getting bad out there.

@elite49: https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121119595279077376 Found some more!

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121119595279077376

This is what I saw Danny Odwyer retweet.

That now deleted tweet about Miguel... what the fuck?

I don't have any other way to play this except on the Switch, so this actually doesn't seem that bad if it's the only option for me.

Man, NetherRealm seems to be run by some real shitbags. The thing that checked me was the "please don't boycott; that only hurts developers because the bosses always pay themselves first".

At least the truth is out there now. Hoping the game journalists like GiantBomb et al. are able to hold NRS to account.

Thanks for bringing up the working conditions at Netherrealm. I had no idea. Workers deserve better.

so it turns out, maybe every game doesn't need to come out on switch?

Yikes, the resolution is so blurry. I kept squinting my eyes thinking I was losing my eyesight. I don't really see the appeal of playing this version.

Those stories about NRS are... disappointing, honestly. They seemed like a bunch of silly goofs over there. For some reason it didn't even occur to me that they might be working their employees raw.

Geez the graphical downgrade ain't worth getting on a Switch.

Ooouufff. I thought my my screen was blurry or the stream just wasn't going HD, this is quite the downgrade. And I'm watching it on my small phone screen. But hey, it's running pretty well so kudos to them for pulling it off.

This krypt part gives me N64 flashbacks

@hassun: i mean the pc version crashes most of the time i look at the customize menu. Every time it shows subtitles they overlap, everytime theres a new chapter in the story mode the chapter title stays on the screen until i skip the entire scene... it actually just crashed after i beat a tower.

I still like it but it is *rough*.

I can see the difference but I honestly thought it would have looked a lot worse. Actually considering getting my second copy for this

The lighting is what makes NRS games look killer. This BotW vaseline stuff makes it look like a PS360 game.

I'm usually not one to claim a modern game looks like a PS2 game, but the Krypt part definitely looks like it.

You know what - the missing bridge fighting sucks, but if switch was the only Konsole I had for whatever reason, family or financial, I would be super stoked to be getting a fully featured version available.

I don't give a toss about the Krypt, especially with how terribly grindy it is. Otherwise the game looks really good for the hardware. Once the "XL" version comes out I'll probably get the Switch version.

Also, instead of deleting the internet settings they could have just put it into airplane mode.

@wightnnerdy: The appeal is for someone like me. I dont own a PC powerful enough to play it right now and I don't use my PS4 anymore for anything so my PSPlus expired like a year and a half ago. I'm not going to sub to PSPlus for one game, but I have the online for Switch so I'm excited that they gave me the chance to play it.

This looks so dirty compared to the other versions of the game that I've seen, but yeah, it still is pretty impressive that it runs at 60.

how many characters in this game have the fuckin' side switch, "yoo-hoo now I'm over here!" ability? swear I've seen it on at least three, is that how it's always been?

Maaan!

This looks baaaad!

As a graphics junkie, hard disapproval!

"And, now, you know, out there, friends" says it all.

Thanks Jason and Jeff.

And to think, I was actually thinking about getting a copy.

@darkswordsman: Doom on Switch was pretty much the game that made me realise this.
It "ran", but the controls just felt so cramped and compromised (something about the joystick travel on the tiny handheld joycon joysticks) that made aiming near impossible.

Given the hardware limitations being what the hardware limitations are, i'm glad the priority was given to performance over presentation. I imagine the % of MK sales going to switch won't be the majority, but there'll still be a pretty healthy market out there of people who currently are using the switch as their main/only gaming console, so it makes enough sense.

( not taking into consideration discussions of crunch / working conditions / moral ethical discussion, in getting the game to multiple platforms. but i'm glad that discussion is out there for people to know about of course and make up their own minds. )

@doncabesa: Holy crap, that's such an incredible bummer (especially because I already bought the game -- although as someone else said, it is equally an incredible bummer that if you boycott the only people really punished are those run ragged). I think this surprised me because I made the same mistake as others in thinking NRS is just a bunch of goofballs, instead of realizing that the video game industry is filled with a lot of affable people but is still a hellscape of worker abuse in apparently every big, hugely profitable company. Hopefully through these troubling and downright upsetting stories there is at least the benefit of unionization happening sometime soon. As Austin Walker (I think) has said several times: you aren't ACTUALLY tenable if the only way you can get your game done and out is by working people to death, no matter how much your game makes.

What did you all expect? It's a switch playing a next gen title of course it's downgraded but the fact it's even on a Nintendo console is pretty wild. Nintendo still owes me an apology for SNES mortal kombat which i still put ungodly hours into and was better than the terrible looking genesis game.

Most of you are acting like you suspected something more than what the switch is capable of handing, this isn't like a ps4 where years down the road they have found insane ways to push the technology it is limited by the hardware and things like this are going to be more common until they increase the hardware potential.

@zoofame:

I agree with your assessment, there.

But, there's nothing coming out for months (AAA, I mean)!

What do you expect them to cover?

I can't blame them.

(I would prefer more on "we the revolution").

@dasakamov: Serious question: why would you expect Giant Bomb to hold them to account? Giant Bomb does not exactly engage with issues in the industry in a way other outlets do. There will be another silly chat with Ed Boon at E3 where, if it gets mentioned at all, it will be mentioned for under 10 seconds and not brought up again.

I would say if you don't have any other platform besides a Switch or you always play on the go, then get the MK 11 Switch version.

The fights looked fine but wow the Krypt seriously looks like textures didn't load in, and the chests requiring souls to open is inconsistent with the other versions of the game. Feels like the Krypt in the version played here is actually bugged somehow. Like those textures really look like they never loaded in. Wild.

And yes Jason, the spiders in the Krypt will kill you.

Edit: Spoke too soon... the fights are the only part of this that look acceptable. Also, really not a good look when the game hard crashes during a thirty minute quicklook.

The ladies seem less booby compared to earlier games. Especially compared to MK 2011. Interesting how the times have changed. Here is a picture of Jade from MK2011 for reference. Quite the difference from MK11.

I haven't picked this up yet but I was under the understanding that brutalities cannot be done until they are unlocked.

Wow, this does not look good.

Buzz, your girlfriend! WOOF!

*game crashes* I think the textures finally loaded. :P

Also for everyone saying this looks like shit: blown up like this, it absolutely does, but in the same way that 240p DS screenshots looked like dogshit blown up on a 1080p screen. This probably looks more than serviceable in handheld mode on the Switch's lower-res screen, and it still miraculously plays at 60fps during fights. Seems more than good enough for what it is.

Edit: @zoofame They just cover what they enjoy. It's not like they're showering it with unconditional praise. Jeff, Brad, and Jason all have a deep nostalgic love of MK and this is, by all accounts, a very good MK game. They're not being shy with their criticisms about the economy and they understand the problems, but they just enjoy playing it. GB is a personality-driven site, not a clicks-driven one.

It's just not enough to simply cut people's heads off these days! I remember this finishing move from an old Samurai Shodown game, where Nakoruru just stabs the dude in the heart, while saying sayonara in a whispery voice. That I found genuinely creepy! This is just silly...into it though!

@twoarmed: Giant Bomb has *never* been shy from exposing the gritty underbelly of the games industry, at least in the 8 years I've been a subscriber. Jeff has mentioned numerous times why he was fired from GameSpot (Eidos Interactive forced the magazine to terminate him as "punishment" for not giving their video games a "high enough" score) -- and this despite the fact that GiantBomb and GameSpot offices are in the same building, and that GB remain on good terms with many GS staff.

Konami's inhumane staffing practices also received a lot of harsh reaction from GB staff. Additionally, Patrick Klepek and Austin Walker both frequently wrote articles on the toxic attitudes at play both behind the scenes in the industry and among gaming culture, and the Bombcast and Beastcasts both often criticise business and executive decisions often.

Also, to counter the "but GB won't say anything bad about their friends," claim, remember that Cards Against Humanity's Max Temkin *used* to be a frequent guest on GB live shows until rape allegations were brought against him, after which he was completely and utterly blacklisted from this site.

@zoofame: Just to clarify, the game doesn't actually have loot boxes, or even much in the way of microtransactions. People (myself included) misinterpreted how the game's currencies and Krypt worked. The game has issues, but MTX cashgrabs aren't one of them.

Edit: WOW, the Switch Krypt looks BAD. I thought the PC Krypt was jacked, but damn!

@drrandle: Union time.

Holy shit, this looks so bad on Switch. My friend is in for a fun time only having a Switch to play on.

I know its cool to hate on naruto games or anime games in general but the special moves in those games are just as impressive as the kills in MK games. Wonder what makes people ga ga over MK and not those. Im guessing the mature ie blood and gore makes it seem more adult then the less grounded explosions or anime which get associated with well not adult.

Wow. This needs to be quoted ad nauseum.

@dasakamov: I guess I do not provide as much weight to occasionally talking about something every month to six months on the Bombcast for 10 to 20 minutes once it has blown up because of the work other sites are doing to actually cover and investigate industry issues as "engaging with industry issues the way other sites do". And yeah, I do not weigh Jeff being fired for that as Giant Bomb engaging with industry issues either haha.

Yeah it's not great. A step down from Injustice 2.

Then again, MK9 and MKX were even worse.