I'm a very casual fighting game player, so I can't compare it to the previous games outright, like I know it plays generally different than MKX did, but from what I understand, MK is one of those fighting games that kinda overhauls itself with every release, though the core aspect of the game is still very MK.
I didn't keep up with the game after it's initial release too far beyond one of the DLC releases, but it has a pretty great story mode, like there's no other fighting game that does its story as good as Mortal Kombat, especially this one, it's really great for that, it looks amazing, and the gameplay is good. There is The Krypt which is changed from previous games to be kind of a mess to unlock accessory and skin stuff, but you can unlock stuff through the towers also that change every so often. It's a good game though and I heard it has good online too.
Can't say anything about the DLC if it's on disc or not with Ultimate, but that kind of stuff doesn't matter to me too much anymore.