The King of Fighters, like most of SNK's fighting games, has always fascinated me since their debut. The reasons are simple. Firstly because being able to play it was a luxury that was forbidden to me. Considering the price of Neo Geo cartridges at the time, you quickly understand the concern! Especially since the arcade, where I lived, was limited to two poor game machines from the 80s in a bar dominated by smoke, and we saw the number of terminals increase to ten during the annual funfair which had its truck dedicated. And as much to say that the latter only offered really arcade games, generally with accessories like Time Crisis, House of The Dead, car racing games, jet skis and others. The few fighting games that could possibly appear their noses already had their sequels released on consoles.
As a result, it was only very late that I was finally able to play a SNK fighting game without weapons with the excellent Capcom vs SNK on Dreamcast and especially its sequel on Playstation 2, the essential Capcom vs SNK 2. All those characters in game magazines that made me dream were finally in my hands! It was the great love between me, Joe Igashi, Terry Bogart, Kim, King, Ryo Sasaki and of course my two favorites: Kyo Kusanagi and the phenomenally classy Iori Iagami.
Then history and the economy came to get involved with the fall of SNK: the takeover of its activity had created a huge hole in the exits. Especially with us where they were already sporadic, and this created a huge void in me that SVC Chaos could not fill as this opus disappointed me, making me return to Capcom vs SNK2.
But it was on Xbox 360 that I was finally able to get my hands on a King of Fighters for the first time, a real, big one, tattooed with the number XII instead of the annual numbering.
And... disappointment. It was a real trauma to start this saga with one of his cursed children. And even if the XIII was better, I did not find the fun that I felt on Dreamcast or Playstation 2.
Suddenly, KoF XIV passed under my nose. To be honest, I didn't even know it was released before the announcement of KoF XV, of which you are reading the end of the intro of its test...
We are officially in the 4th narrative arc of the saga started in KoF XIV and which features Shun'ei, one of the worst characters in the series with his non-existent charisma and hidden by the majority of the other fighters. Not to mention his very "Meh" range of moves. Don't bother too much with the details of the story because, like any good self-respecting KoF, getting beat up is the goal of each of the protagonists divided into teams of 3. Just know that in the context of this story, you you will be entitled to a completely abused and farted boss, as has been the custom since the beginning of the saga. Even if it can be relatively affordable with certain characters or by practicing anti-game infâââââââââ soul.
Many faces will be familiar for the unavoidable fans of the saga since, unlike the previous episode which was full of new characters, only 3 will take their first steps in the arena in the presence of Dolores, Kronhen and Isla. It should also be noted that some team compositions have been more or less modified.
Attention, name dropping sequence to fill my quota of words in the article: Shun'ei, Meitenkun, Benimaru, Isla, Heidern, Dolores, Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, Chizuru Kagura, Ash Crimson, Elisabeth Blanctorche, Kukri, Krohnen, Kula Diamond, Angel, Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, Chris, K', Maxima, Whip, Antonov, Ramón, King of Dinosaurs, Leona Heidern, Ralf Jones, Clark Still, Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi, Ryo Sazaki, Robert Garcia, King, Athena Asamiya, Mai Shiranui, Yuri Sakazaki, Blue Mary, Vanessa, and Luong. Other characters are already planned via a paid DLC in the form of 4 teams. But in the lot, still no Kim... It's decided, I'm sulking!
The characters respond well, despite the fact that it is preferable to have a controller or an arcade stick suitable for fighting games (the Xbox Series X controller is clearly not suitable for). Whatever your favorite champions are, they all have their signature moves that made them famous, as well as a whole range of defensive systems such as the roll, the counter, the reverse and a host of others. But I would like to highlight one in the lot: the guard.
The latter is visually represented by a gauge that empties when the player blocks. The problem is that it takes little damage when the character blocks and that it fills up at a phenomenal speed, making it almost impossible to break guard. So it would be something to settle on the gameplay side, otherwise, I don't have much to complain about on that side, it's complete and rather mastered.
Because once hostilities have begun, we find ourselves admiring the Ureal Engine in all its glory. It's beautiful, well animated, the special effects are full of peepers. In short, SNK has not been idle from this point of view. If only the developers had also been able to grant some solo and local modes, such as a small Time Attack or a Survival, that would have been a good thing. On the other hand, the rating system would have deserved to be reviewed, because it is far too lax: "Are you getting popped like a punching bag? No worries, you have an A or an S." Even while intentionally pooping, I had a really hard time getting lower than a B.
Before moving on to the last part of this test, which is a little personal, I would also like to point out a few irregularities in the AI. At the same level (I always play in the middle difficulty for testing so I can gauge its accessibility and, if necessary, I increase it afterwards), some opponents will give you what you pay for while others will be more soft. But one character who clearly has an AI concern is Ramón. Indeed, the latter hardly attacks. He barely moves. On the games made for this test, each time I faced him, it was the same old story: it feels like hitting a fixed bot from training mode...
He is not the only one who is a little soft, but he wins the pompom as his inactivity is flagrant!
And I believe once again that I should have refrained from asking to test a fighting game. Since the time you've been reading me, dear reader: fighting games have evolved in a way that I don't like very much and in this KoF XV, even if objectively it's very good and complete in terms of gameplay, I don't not find the fun nor the dynamism of the versions made in sprites. Good 2D as I like them where the shots fly at full speed, to achieve madness on sprite animations which have no limits in their dynamism and their speed like those in 3D. So certainly, the feeling of finding Joe, Terry, Mai and the others is indeed there. But the game being strongly oriented online with rankings and game modes that are essentially focused on this perspective, I don't like that. Because as good as the network code may be, which remains a strong unknown, given that it was impossible to find any opponent in ranked, friendly, training or even a lounge, it remains an unwelcome odd for this type of a game that demands excellence and the purest fluidity that online cannot guarantee.
Locally, you can smash a friend's face, train and face the Story Mode which, by the way, is in the spirit of the fighting games of yesteryear. Even if I, on the other hand, prefer a more consistent Story mode with a real scenario like Netherrealms does so well with Mortal Kombat or Injustice. A real narration that adds consistency to the characters and events, and not slideshow pieces that contradict each other depending on who you win the game with. That normally is called Arcade mode, not Story mode.
I know, I sound like an old fart, but understand that when you love, seeing what you love go astray in fashion to the point of losing an essential part of its soul is painful.
Finally... I know myself. All it takes is a Rival Schools, Bloody Roar or a real MvC to show up and I'll dive back into it without hesitation!
- Shop now The King of Fighters XV on Xbox (test performed on Xbox Series X)
- Shop now The King of Fighters XV on PlayStation
- Shop now The King of Fighters XV on Steam
