I enjoyed it when it was campy/absurd violence instead of "realistic"

Yeah I agree with this. My only caveat is a couple of my favorite characters (Cassie Cage, D'Vorah) come from the era of "authenticity" became the norm. And I did enjoy the story of MKX despite it being one of the "authentic violence" games. Also complete sidenote but the emphasis on guest characters in the current era of MK really puts me off. Not really related but I needed to mention it.