I have been a longtime fan of the King of Fighters series. Ever since playing the original KOF ’94 in the arcades. From the fantastic rosters to the refined move sets of each character, this series has never disappointed. The King of Fighters XV is no different. This latest offering by SNK Corporation has focused on gameplay and the story with some subtle refinements from previous iterations.
KOFXV will release on February 17 and boasts a character roster of 39 characters with DLC packs planned for release at a later date. The majority are returning from KOFXIV as well as some new and revived characters. The updated character models and set pieces are stunning and vibrant. The cell shading of the character models is spectacular and really added a layer of detail to their design. Traditionally with KOF they feature a 3-on-3 battle system which is nothing like any other fighter around. Other tag fighting games would have some kind of assist or tag mechanic. Alternatively the battles play out as a 1-on-1 with the winner carrying on to the next round until the opposing team has been defeated.
I found the battle system perplexing at first as I was just picking random characters and teams. After a couple of matches I realised I needed to be tactical with your choices because the roles can change. The characters in the bout can have one of three roles – the Point, Middle or Anchor. Each time a player on your team is defeated, your super meter is increased, so the order in which you place your characters is vital to your team’s success. The feature is good although it lacks a certain team harmony or unity that other tag fighting games bring.
One aspect I have always enjoyed in the KOF franchise is the simplistic controls. The King of Fighters XV is essentially a four button fighting game with Light Punch, Light Kick, Heavy Punch and Heavy Kick. With these four buttons players are able to unleash massive combos and spectacular special moves. A new feature added since KOFXIV is the Shatter Strike which is designed to defend and counter attacks leading into and extending your combos. However depending on the player and combo, I found I rarely needed to use it.
MAX Mode is another new system added to KOFXV. When a player has two or more power gauges, they can activate it using a specific button combination. This will grant the player increased attack damage and Guard Crush strength for a limited time. Rush combos are back and are still just as lethal. It is very easy to get caught out by spamming LP and initiating a Rush combo. I found myself on the receiving end of a few during a Versus match with my son. Rush combos are a great system for beginners and people new to the franchise, though seasoned pros to fighting games may avoid them as they can feel like a cheap win.
The variety of the menu in KOFXV is brilliant, especially with the return of online modes and matches. KOFXV features rollback netcode which essentially makes it easy as to set up rooms, customisable rules and other features used for online matches. Unfortunately due to my time zone and reviewing this title before launch I was unable to participate in a Ranked or Room Match. There is also an online training mode to practice in, not to mention a replay mode with the ability to search replays by character.
The story mode in King of Fighters XV follows on from 2016’s KOFXIV carrying on with Shun’ei as the story’s main protagonist. Unfortunately the story mode is a bit lackluster in its delivery, with a handful of cutscenes piecing together the narrative as the bouts don’t add much, if anything to the story. I found in some bouts, as well as the final boss fight, that the characters were massively overpowered and unbalanced. Maybe in a future update they could look at stabilising some of the tanked characters as well as the final boss.
Both the mission and tutorial modes I found lacking in depth. Tutorial mode is super simplistic and needs to flesh out when to use techniques such as Shatter Strike and MAX Mode. Whilst mission mode is very underwhelming with only five combos per fighter available, the gallery and DJ station are good inclusions. I found myself gravitating towards them every so often. I did need to manually check if anything had been unlocked as there is no in-game notification for such.
Overall, The King of Fighters XV is a very enjoyable game. SNK made some changes to try and separate KOFXV from its predecessors, but it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. The single player modes need to do more to introduce new players to the fighting mechanics. Online is where KOFXV will really shine and you can tell the developers spent a lot of time fine tuning, especially with rollback netcode. KOFXV has graphically kicked it into high gear however lacks the energy to draw in new players to the franchise.
This review utilised an Xbox Series X key provided by Koch Media. The King of Fighters XV is out on February 17 on Xbox, PlayStation, Steam and Epic Game Store.
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Written by: @Blustreak81
