So i almost always say im going to get into a fighting game when these things come out, but i always end up getting distracted or just plain stuck on learning combos and crap. Hell when SF4 came out i convinced myself to buy a stick and i even have a stick mod i picked up when MK9 came around but for some reason i never gave it much of a chance on consoles. Now that this new one is out and the fact that i already picked up MK9 on steam for like 5 bucks last year im thinking of giving it another go to get some use out of the expensive ass stick that is basically brand new in my closet. Thanks for any help or advice, heres a picture of my stick i have from when i bought it, im guessing this is still the layout for MK sticks and would work fine on the PC version, right?

I would suggest to play the story, aside from being really fun one you also get to test out many characters. Also just go practice and watch some videos online so you can learn how to play with a specific character.

Seriously just watching some vids or going to the combo list and trying them out, over and over and over will pay off. You especially have to get use to the run mechanic which can be troublesome but like I said just keep practicing and it will come out naturally.

I recommend trying to focus on one character and learn their moveset. It can help you understand why you use certain moves and what strengths or weaknesses a character can have. This informs everything you do. For example, do you like teleporting characters? Do you like to play a character with a projectile? Combos come after but that's the important basic thing to get. I would focus on this kind of strategy before stringing together a combo because it's actually more important to get first.

Some characters are pretty versatile in MK. I really like Jax because he has a variety of moves for different situations so I recommend him. But there are many choices.

To be clear, are you playing 9 or X?

@artisanbreads: Have 9 but getting X i think.

@sanity: The thing that has always had me coming back to MK was having a couple buddies to play with locally. It really helps to have that sense of competition to drive you to learn new stuff.

@l1ghtn1n: Thanks, tons of great info there, going to dive in a bit after work tonight.

Cool. I love 9 (even playing it rather recently) but I do think X is friendlier and has it's own quirks too.

The variation system is X is really cool and I think encourages you to also think more about what the strengths and weaknesses of a given character are even though they are adding more depth to learn. I really like the system. It's helped me with some fighting game concepts just seeing it and learning moves for different characters. It's really cool to be able to play a Jax with more projectile attacks vs some opponents for example while for others I want the better grab and up close moves.

The combos in X are also friendlier and easier to get off. I really commend that game to you if you're willing to pay the price. I am really enjoying it and I'm not the biggest fighting game guy. But I loved MK 9 and this game is even better for the most part (I do like 9's story more). It is no doubt an improvement gameplay wise for me and that's the most important thing.

As a total novice in fighting games MKX seems cool. Started the story mode just mashing buttons and finished it being able to block and do simple combos. Also I'm playing with DS4, dpad on xbox 360 controller is NOT optimal. Seems that after 30 years of vidja games there's still new things to learn :).

MK9 looks rough graphically on PC after playing MKX, assets are way better in the new one.