#1145
Gameplay of the DLC character Tanya in the Steam/PC Port of Netherrealm Studio’s Mortal Kombat X.
I’ve warmed more to Tanya since her MK4 and Deception appearances, but I still find her a really undefined character. Even here she seems to be included because she’s a fan favourite, but even then I suspect she’s a fan favourite more because of who she is rather than what she is, which is to say that people like the idea of her rather than what is actually is.
Tanya’s different from her NPC version, but more in terms of movesets than overall design. I don’t have much to say about her, other than the fact that I still don’t really care for her as a character. Most MK characters have something about them that stands out; some trademark part of them which they can be defined by. Tanya however really doesn’t, with even her move styles being pretty general; one being an expansion on her generic fireballs, and the others being where she uses tonfas and a naginata respectively. I just…don’t get this character. I can see why they didn’t even want to put her in at first, and just wanted to leave her as a fanservice in the story mode.
Tanya here isn’t bad by any means though. As before, she mainly relies on kick techniques, still having Nitara’s splits move from MK Deception (not that she’d ever need it again, I suppose), and a spiral kick move which looks suspiciously like the one Cammy uses in Street Fighter. Not subtle to any extent I suppose, but it works well and suits her playstyle. She also has a couple of interesting teleportation moves, but I forgot to use them here for some reason, and she also has aerial versions of her spiral kick and splits kick moves. And, indeed, she can output some quite competent damage once you’re able to link her combos into her specials, as I found the timing for them a touch awkward, but I think on the whole I still did consistently less damage with her than with her NPC counterpart, which is kind of hilarious.
I do love her design though, I won’t deny, but I also get the impression that she gets away with being a mediocre character through her design alone. You don’t get a lot of dark(er)-skinned female characters in fighting games in general, and her design is quite reminiscent of the stereotypical depiction Cleopatra often receives, who Tanya definitely reminds me of at times here.
On the whole, I don’t really care for Tanya. Don’t have much else to say than that. That said, if they didn’t make her into a full character, I probably would be bitching about that, so I’ll just be thankful they tried to do something with her, even if it’s still not my cup of tea.
And, at the very least, I like her more than the next character.