Kuai Liang definitely seemed to have aged quite a bit between MK3 and Deadly Alliance

Many did. 1997-2002 is quite a jump without any conflict. At least, in MK years lol.

Ed Boon himself said in an interview that we'd see an MK4 kharakter.

I am pretty sure he wasn't talking about Quan Chi. Quan Chi doesn't count as an MK4 kharakter anymore. He is the new Scorpion/Sub-Zero. He is always there, now.

I don't care about this timeline thing, personally.

MKX can be 1 year or 4u5y57845hfkgd5757 years after MK9. It doesn't matter because regardless of that.... Trollanya, the epic Edenian troll is 885678klhjkd59 years old, like Kitana and Jade. She is almost immortal.

Tanya had the biggest, fatest kameo in MK9.
I am sure Tanya escaped the koliseum after Shao Kahn's defeat!!

My friends, let's keep our fingers krossed for Tanya.
Tanya in MKX.

Guys, can someone help me out here?

Why does Ed Boon dislike the Midway period? Wasn't he still the one responsible for leading the team/ coordinating the project?

It would be a real shame. The graphics kinda sucked sometimes because of the lack of funding, but the stories and characters were way more interesting than the old 90s counterparts.

FYI

Oh, and MKDA is 10 years after MK1.

It was a tumultuous time for Midway during those 10 years. I'm not an expert on how it all went down but my understanding of it is this:

Once Midway stepped away from the arcade business, things started getting more and more hectic financially for them. They had a hard time finding their footing in the console market. Mortal Kombat was one of their flagship franchises, certainly their most relevant. Midway put a lot of pressure on the MK team because the MK team was essentially their life raft keeping the business afloat.

What that means is, budgets were low, deadlines were swift, and the pressure and tension was high on creative because their jobs were at stake and they all knew it. It wasn't a very fostering time for inspiration or creativity, it was suits breathing down your neck to not fuck up. Couple that with exactly what MKDA was, which would have had to been a very steep learning curve for the development team, creating that type of fighting game on new systems.

That sort of desperation did lend to some really interesting ideas in how to approach the story, and those games do have their upsides and I'm sure Boon and co know that. But on the character side, I think when Boon looks at the likes of Hsu Hao or Kobra it probably just takes him back to a time where he wasn't in love with where he or the series was at, and he wishes he had more time.

I think once WB bought the franchise, you can see how reinvigorated (and proud) they were of the series again, and MK9 I think is a perfect example of what they're capable of when giving the right time, money, and autonomy to do what they think is best. It's just that no one likes to remember the time they were sinking with the ship.

@ JaymzHetfield

Thanks for the answer. I was around when MK1 first came out and we all loved that game. I played the games on my PC growing up until MK4. Then, I totally forgot about the franchise until a few years ago. I found out that they released MKDA, MKD and MKA and I read all the bios, endings and theories in one night!!

I thought the story was almost perfect and I really really care for the 3D characters. Sure, some are bad, like Kobra, Hsu Hao or Darrius and Mokap was a bad joke. But I'd rather see the rest of them (like more than 20) in the new game instead of ANY character from the 90s. Well, maybe except for Ermac and Noob Saibot

I would definitely be sad to not see any of those era of characters presented in a refreshed 2D form. When I look at what they did for characters like Stryker in MK9 is really shows NRS's potential for fleshing out characters that were not necessarily on the mark or uninspired originally.

Whatever the case, I think that era is going to get a lot of attention in story mode, even if there aren't many playable characters from it. Judging from Quan Chi's intro holding Moloch's head, the story is going to be largely about how that era has become undone, and many of those characters will be seen again, which I'm very excited about.

All of that said, I couldn't disagree more with the people who want to see classics like Kung Lao or Raiden retired from the series permanently. Those characters are the lifesblood of the series. I'm all for making room for the obscure and new characters, but certain characters are built into the DNA of the series and should remain so. I don't think I'll ever understand the fans who wanted this to be MK4-2, especially the ones who simultaneously complain about the series retreading itself.

Nicely put.

I think that's a tough call, on the respect stuff. I agree that Quan Chi rolling in with Moloch's head is shocking and sets a particular tone, but it's probably too early to say that their function in the story will be as punching bags.

Moloch in particular had an important relationship with Quan Chi so him holding his head I think is mostly to say "Things are going to be very different" rather than "Fuck these 3D era characters, amirite."

Aside from that, death in MK, we all know, especially now, is just a pitstop. I've always felt that anyone who completely ditched an MK game because one character wasn't in it probably wasn't that big of a fan in the first place. I think we'll see later era characters portrayed favorably in the story.

Yeah just because Moloch (a character who is damn near the bottom of the 3D era list, for most people) is out of the picture doesn't mean all the rest will get the boot.

I'm actually sad he's dead. I thought he was a great, fresh new sub-boss who perfectly fit the dark tone MKDA had.

Moloch was in use as a name for a demon far longer before it appeared in Mortal Kombat. I doubt anyone named their kids after Moloch.

Just imagine how all the little Hsu Haos feel.

You took the words right out of my mouth. Great read!

I believe Boon said in an interview back in June that the MKX story timeline would pick up where MK9's left off, and then progress in intervals (but he didn't make it sound like they would necessarily be in chronological order)

Again, i don't think all those events will be erased. Certainly i'd expect some references here and there, some events the same just largely the rest will be different.

Definitely i'd like to see the "old classics" like Liu Kang and Sonya sit one out to make room for new and returning 3D-era characters, but only to have them return later. It just wouldn't be the same without their presence permanently.

I'll say that mk takes place maybe a year after at least. Sonya and Jax needed time to appeal to the government creating the OIA. Recruit Kenshi and Cyrax. Then a total of ten years happen from MK1 To the start of MKDA