Weirdly enough for a strange sort of reboot of the series, this really feels like the Mortal Kombat formula finally fully stagnating. I can't think of anything this game does that the other Netherrealm entries haven't already done far better and more memorably, and the Kameos and welcome attempts at appealing to fans of the 6th gen era of MK don't really save the game from feeling like it takes away more content and depth than it adds anything new or meaningful to the franchise. It feels like the creativity is going bankrupt and the franchise just reached a point where it's doing nothing beyond "doing the job" and going through a boring checklist for what makes up a functional Mortal Kombat game that will appease the fans for a short period of time before they feel like going back to the better games also available on the same modern consoles - or other better fighting games for that matter.

I enjoyed playing it enough - at the end of the day, it is the average Mortal Kombat gameplay and I think it's fun. I like the series. But it just feels barren and undercooked overall and I feel salty about it. Just made me wanna go back to Street Fighter 6 really.