It all began in 94, delivered big in 98, took the fighting world by storm in 2010, Went 3D in 2016, and it’s making a big comeback in 2022! KOFXV is finally here, and releasing on PS4, 5, xbox series x s, and on pc with windows, steam and epic game story, marking the first time a kof game is releasing on both console and pc simultaneously. So let’s find out if this latest entry in the long running series is worth the wait. Before blabla
Officially announced during EVO 2019, KOFXV is releasing next week, and you will be glad that SNK took the time it did to release a polished product. KOF15, is as its name implies the 15th main entry of the KOF franchise that started in 1994 with KOF94. Since then, The 3 vs 3 fighting game series have gathered a large number of fans and followers and even stemmed a number of titles and spinoff. The previous game of the series was the niche yet still wildly praised KOFXIV.
When KOFXIV was released, however, it was almost unanimously panned for its graphics. The game was SNK’s first foray in 3D graphics and it did show with outdated looking models and bland colors. KOFXIV despite its amazing gameplay and massive roster, was the subject of many jokes comparing it to PS2 era fighters. Now SNK definitely took that to heart when making KOFXV as the game is stunning to look at. Using the true and tested Unreal Engine 4, KOFXV characters look colorful, beautiful and absolutely alive. The game’s art style mimics SNK’s early games, where the character are a blend of anime and painting style, reminishent of shinkiro’s drawings. The game managed to come out even better looking that the SNK’s previous fighting game Samurai Shodown. The characters are not the only thing that thrive on UE, as the lively stages and the effects look better than ever. If you have played the previously 2 betas then you have an idea on how beautiful the game looks, as online videos do not do it justice. Surprisingly SNK was able to polish character models and effects even more since the beta release.
KOFXV offers a respectable roster of 39 characters on launch with 12 more coming as paid DLC in the first year. While less than the massive kofxiv selection of characters, it still is a big fighting game roster when you compare it to other modern fighters at launch. The selection of characters is a combination of old and new comers, Including the return of many fighters not seen for years, like ash crimson, yashiro, chris, shermie and others. A new kof game will not be the same without brand new characters and that role is filled with the newcomer Isla and dolores, as well as semi new warrior Krohnen who happens to snk’s way of bringing back k9999, a character that was problematic back in 2001 due to how close he resembles the tesuo character form Akira.
Gameplay wise, KOFXV took everything that worked in 14 and made it better. Those who played 14 will feel right at home, but SNK managed to tweak things enough to cause a massive change in the game Meta. Lets start with the main game mechanics first before we get into the subtle massive changes. KOFXV iS a 3 vs 3 game, Each player will get to choose 3 characters and the order in which they are used. Once the first character is defeated, the second takes his/place. A match is won once all 3 fighters of the enemy are defeated. KOFXV also has super meter which fills when doing successful moves or getting hit. Each level in this super meter can then be spent either using a super move or using EX moves. These amplified special moves where exclusive to when a player activates the max mode in 14, done by pressing HP and LK, can now be done outside of max mode similar to KOF13. This change has massive repercussion on how meter is used, and also reduces the importance of the Max mode. As back in 14, many players would use the same strategy, which has them go into a string of low kicks before cancelling into max mode and doing crazy combos. Speaking of Max mode, and similar to 14, there are 2 ways on activating this timed buff. By pressing lk and HP you get into normal max mode which turns your max meter into a timer. During max mode players can do ex moves without using the super meter, and can also super cancel their lv1 super in a lv 2 then a climax. Maxmode activation, unlike 14, also grants the player a damage buff. The second way to activate the max mode in inside a comboc. This activation is called quic max mode, and while the timer for it is a lot shorter, it allows players to extend combos. Both max mode and quick max require 2 super meters to activate.
The new mechanic that is the highlight of KOFXV is the shatter strike. Done by qcf and C+D this defensive and offensive mechanic, looks like normal CD attack but with armor and purple hue. When done on an airborn opponents, he or she will then fly to the wall and bounce off giving the attacker a juggle opportunity. The shatter strike uses 1 meter of super, and gives you back ½ meter if the attack is successful. It is too early to say how players will end up using this new mechanic which makes me excited to see the countless tournaments already announced for the game.
But one of the major changes in the game, that was never advertised is the ability to easily grab an opponent after you get knocked down. These wakeup grabs are so strong that they completely changed the meta of the game form kof14. This was done in order to make defense easier which is quite interesting and might be welcoming to new players. Attacking players will now have to think twice before knocking their enemy and running toward them hoping to hit them with a meaty on wake up.
As far as game modes go, KOFXV offers a number of possibilities both online and offline. Starting with offline, players have access to versus mode, story mode, training and mission. Story Mode allows players to experience this chapter’s new story. Fans hoping for an extensive mode with many cutscenes like netherrealm studios mortal kombat 11 or even capcom’s sfv will be disappointed. Story mode is pretty much arcade mode with couple cutscnes and an ending, similar to KOFXIV and samurai shodown before it. The endings are beautifl lighlt animated images with text with one scene with voice overs. It is worth noting though that the team endings in KOFXV are the longest of any SNK games, providing tons of details and cameos about the cast. In what seems like a first, some endings are completing each other and most of them could actually be canon. Another new cool feature in KOFXV is how every character has a nicely done intro when they start the match, where the announcement present them giving away some story bits. The game is also full with story interaction between character which is beautifuly animated in 3d, unlike the previous games where the interaction was done with text and couple images. As much as I appreciate the story bits and details given in the endings and interactions, I cannot help but feel somewhat disappointed that SNK has yet to embrace a cinematic story like many other fighters have done in this day and age, especially that KOf has some of the best lore and stories in any fighting game. Here is hope SNK will add more story details and modes post launch.
Versus mode allows players to fight each other or against the CPU. However SNK found a way to enhance this experience and makes this mode easy to use in local tournaments. Versus mode now comes with a tournament option. Once selected you get to choose how many players are participating and you can enter their names, then as the tournament organizer you can set who plays against who, with the player name shown on the game screen on top of the their character’s lifebar. It’s a little extra that will do wonders for tournament organizers.
Training mode is an essential part of any fighting game and SNK definitely found a way to stand pout against the competition. This was made by adding tons of little easy tweaks that make the whole experience superior. For example, you can now see whether the move you use is positive negative or neutral, which is a very useful information when labbing a character. You can also change a character from within the training mode, without having to go the select screen and wait for the game to load. Now granted this was tested on the PS5 and it definitely uses the SSd capabilities of the console, as not only in training mode, but also during normal play, the loading is incredibly fast.
Mission mode is similar to its counterpart in kof14. Each character has 5 or 6 combos that you need to perform to clear that certain fighter. These combos are generally useful and can be seen as a base for players wanting to take their gameplay to the next level. Difficulty wise, mission mode is on par with 14 and is far from the crazy hard and infuriating kof13 mission mode.
Now let’s get to Online! Online play. A game in this day and age will live or die by the quality of its online. And up until the online beta, many were worried about the quality of the netcode, judging form SNK’s past 2 games, KOFXIV and Samurai Shodown. Luckily SNK put all those worries to rest with the second open beta which included a tuned and amazingly playable GGPO netcode. During the beta I was able to play against people in south America almost flawlessly and I am located in Morocco. The KOFXV netcode is by far the best online experience I have had in any modern fighting game. This is obviously based on the open beta as I was unable to test online with the full game since the game has yet to release and was unable to find people online. Now that the netcode worries are out of the way, let’s talk about online modes. KOFXV online offers both a ranked and casual match. Casual match has you take on players around the world in unracked sets. You can set your team in the online options so you do not waste time going to the select screen. You can however choose to do so and change your team every single match. But the big change here and nice surprise is the ranked mode. Up until now snk games really lacked the drive for players to go in ranked mode. Every time a game launches rank kmode will die after few months as players prefer to match up, when they can, in casual matches. The netcode of those other games was definitely a factor, but so was the progression. SNK is aiming to change all that with a new progression system. Winning matches in ranked earns you victory stars, once you nobtain 5 stars your rank will increase. Your rank can also increase if you enter a promotion match. Achieving the top rank increases your star limit and unlocks something called the star scrambles, these are intense battles with a number of stars at stake. There are also daily boosts and bonuses to incite people to go into rank mode on daily basis. This is definitely an interesting take and one that snk hopes will get players to compete for the top ranks. It is worth noting that both casual and ranked allow you to go into training mode while you wait for the servers to match you up with an opponent, something that was not available in the beta.
Besides casual and ranked, KOFXv also offer room matches where you can either create a room or lobby, or join one. This mode allows you to play in a winners stay mode while other players waiting for their turn can spectate. This mode, while is straight to the point, still inferior to the superb KOFXIV lobby system. n online training mode is also available where you can match up with a friend and train online. Replays for your matches can be reviewed and a leaderboard section is also available form the menu. Looking at the extensive oline modes in KOFXv really shows that SNK is really serious about the competitive side of the game.
A KOF game will not be complete without a gallery and this one is divided into both movie and sound section. The movie side includes all the game’s cutscenes and unlocked endings as well as the anime intro by the world renown artist Masami Onbari. After completing story mode with all the teams I still lack a large number of movies to unlock. These are the ones that you need a special team to be able to view them, and the game only gives you a hint, like 1 or 2 characters from a team, which will make the single player experience lasts longer for those of us who want to see all the endings and story bits. The sound section includes the voices of all the characters in the game.
Least but by no means least is the DJ station. SNK games are known for their catchy music and outstanding themes and KOFXV is no exception. The game offers a wide variety of beautifully perfomed themes for each team. If that was not enough, the game is full of special occasion themes that play when certain characters fight each other, like an awesome remix of good bye esaka, when kyo fight iori, or the ridiculously catchy Club M theme remix when Terry fights Andy. Speaking of music SNK included a full mode dedicated to SNK’ mastery of songs, Dubbed the DJ station, this great feature allows players to listen to the game soundtrack as well as choose which theme to play on which stage. But that was not enough for SNK as they also included every KOF OST from KOF94, as well Samurai shodown and other SNK titles. Most of the OST will need to be unlocked though and will add a definite longevity to the game’s single player aspect.
After waiting for the game for years and spending that last few days extensively playing it, and I can say without a doubt that KOFXV is a complete package and an amazing game. While I do feel SNK missed an opportunity by not giving us a proper story mode like other fighting games what we have here is plenty. This is the KOF we always wanted when 14 came out. With a robust gameplay, great roster, and amazing online experience, KOFXV is indeed the biggest KOF and one that has the potential to be thee best game of the series.
