The King of Fighters XV

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
King of Fighters XV
)
The King of Fighters XV
multiplayer

The King of Fighters XV

Xbox Series X/S. This is also the first game in The King of Fighters series created using Unreal Engine 4, and the first to implement GGPO rollback networking. Taking place after the events of The King of Fighters XIV
, the narrative primarily revolves around two fighters with multiverse-related supernatural powers, Shun'ei and Isla, among other returning heroes facing revived threats. King of Fighters XV generally received praise for its character roster, team-based gameplay, and smooth online performance, but criticism for its story mode, complex tutorials, and mechanics.

Gameplay

Kyo (left) using Shatter Strike against Iori.

Like its predecessors, The King of Fighters XV uses a fighting system involving teams composed of three fighters. The parry system also returns under the name Shatter Strike. It also reincorporates the common MAX Mode system where fighters can use stronger techniques once energy bars are filled. Unlike in previous game, but now just like super moves prior, characters can now use MAX/EX versions of special moves, with or without entering MAX Mode. The game features a wide variety of online modes, including Ranked Match, Casual Match, Room Match, and Online Training.[1]

The single button "Rush" from The King of Fighters XIV reappears and is updated to help newcomers perform combos and special/super moves easier. Shatter Strike was designed mainly as a defensive system but it can be used offensively when making use of guard points. Destructoid compared Shatter Strike with a fully charged Focus Attack from Street Fighter IV.[2] In XIV, combos from quick activation were the main way max mode was used so the gauge consumption was increased from 1 to 2 to prevent players from being overwhelmed. A neutral state in XIV was not seen often so in XV attack power and guard crush are increased when neutral is activated. Since Max Mode activations in neutral were almost nonexistent in King of Fighters XIV, the developers are giving more incentive to players to not just use it as a combo extender.[3]

Plot

The story focuses on the next King of Fighters tournament held after

Chizuru Kagura gathers Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami in order to look after the seal of the snake demon Orochi.[4] Shun'ei, a teenager with mysterious powers resembling Verse's, enters the tournament again alongside Meitenkun and Benimaru Nikaido to better understand his powers, the Amplified Specters. During the tournament, they encounter a rival team led by a girl with similar powers to his own and also another Amp user, Isla. Isla is being mentored by a woman named Dolores who wishes for her and Shun'ei to stop the appearance of more Amp-related creatures like Verse, believing Ash Crimson's time-traveling in a previous tournament
, which Dolores' disciple, Kukri confirms it to have caused their appearances and connected to distortions across the multiverse. However, a new Amp creature born from Isla's Amp power, labeled as Re Verse manifests as the tournament progresses and targets the fighters, pulling them into another world. Following Re Verse's defeat, the mysterious goddess Otoma=Raga appears and attacks the teams. Upon Otoma=Raga's defeat, the fighters escape back to their world and are crowned the new King of Fighters champions, whereas Isla finally warms up with Shun'ei at the same time their respective Amps are fully under control, such as Shun'ei can finally take off his headphone safely. As confirmed by Kukri earlier, defeating Otoma=Raga and Re Verse does not erase the revived fighters’ existences once they survive the two entities’ rampages.

Characters

The King of Fighters XV launched with 39 playable fighters, consisting of 13 teams with three fighters each. Additional characters were made available via seasons of paid downloadable content: Season 1 consists of 12 fighters spread across four teams, while Season 2 consists of six individual fighters. Much like Samurai Shodown (2019) and SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, the DLC teams' involvements in the storyline are canon. The game features two non-playable bosses in the initial release, and two free playable DLC boss characters who are part of special boss challenges.[5][6]

Newcomers are marked in italics.

Initial Roster

Hero Team
Sacred Treasures Team
Fatal Fury Team
Orochi Team
  • Yashiro Nanakase
  • Shermie
  • Chris
Art of Fighting Team
  • Ryo Sakazaki
  • Robert Garcia
  • King
Ikari Warriors
  • Leona Heidern
  • Ralf Jones
  • Clark Steel
Secret Agent Team
Super Heroine Team
G.A.W. (Galaxy Anton Wrestling) Team
Rival Team
  • Isla
  • Heidern
  • Dolores
K' Team
Non-Playable Bosses
  • Re Verse (Sub-Boss)
  • Otoma=Raga (Final Boss)

DLC Roster

Teams (Season 1)

Garou Team
  • Rock Howard
  • B. Jenet
  • Gato
South Town Team
Awakened Orochi Team
Samurai Team

Single Entries

Free Update / Boss Challenges

Development

Due to positive response to the marketing of

Unreal Engine 4 to provide a better presentation.[12] They decided to make XV while they were still working on XIV but only started development after Samurai Shodown was completed.[3] At Evo 2019, SNK announced that the game was in development.[13] The game's creative director is Eisuke Ogura, who has previously worked as an artist on the series, beginning with The King of Fighters 2001. Most notably, he served as the main illustrator for The King of Fighters XIII and XIV. The director of King of Fighters XIV, Yasuyuki Oda, serves as the producer for the title.[14]

Originally, the game was set to be released in 2020.

Leona Heidern, while also confirming a 2021 release.[17] The team focused on improving the visuals and increasing the fast-paced gameplay by adding new elements.[14] The game was developed for PC and ninth generation of consoles, and supports ray tracing on these platforms. The PlayStation 4 version was also created with fans of The King of Fighters XIV in mind: SNK wanted to release the game while the console was still popular and expects this version to be used during major tournaments. Much attention to the character lineup was given due to the worldwide popularity of the series. In total, around 400 people were involved with game's development.[18]

In February 2021, Oda announced on his personal Twitter account that the team is working on implementing rollback-based netcode for the game.[19] The team aims to improve the gameplay and graphics while also providing a more interesting story than the one from XIV.[20] SNK later confirmed that they were using GGPO for their rollback implementation.[21]

In promoting the title, anime director Masami Ōbari (who previously worked on Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture and 1995 Technōs' Neo Geo fighting game title Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer along with the OVA adaptation) created and directed a short anime based on the series, with his animation studio, G-1Neo, producing the short anime.[14] Yusuke Takeda and Hirotoshi Takaya have also worked on the short. In an interview with Famitsu, Ōbari has stated that he wanted this anime to be his best work yet, and that his team worked closely with SNK on the character design to make sure it has feature film level of detail put into every frame of animation.[22] The song "Now or Never" by Steven McNair plays during the short, and is also used as the main theme of the game.[23]

Cast and scenario

Character design is being handled by Tomohiro Nakata, who is also working on The King of Fighters All Star. Many returning characters received cosmetic changes. For example, Kyo Kusanagi was altered to overall look closer to his earlier appearances in the series, but different in other parts of his design like his jacket and gloves.[24][25] The decision to revive characters killed off in previous KOF games was made during XIV's development and was based on XIII's themes of energies connecting the past to the present through space and time and Oda wondering how that would affect things in the future. The deceased characters returning for XV were chosen based on fan requests and the aim of the roster was for it to have a 'fresh and festive feel'. They feel like the gathering of the KOF Heroes as well as the return of Team Sacred Treasures and Team Orochi helped them achieve this feeling. They brought back Clemence Bellamy, the story mode announcer from XIV, to appeal to the "tournament-likeness" of KOF and acknowledge that he was well received.[3]

Previous KOF heroes Kyo,

Rock Howard, and says that his story could end up being as fun to write as Rock's. Oda feels that unlike the older fighting game protagonists, Shun'ei has a one-of-a-kind world view, and his values change as he grows older.[26] In regards to Isla, SNK wanted to introduce a rival to Shun'ei, so they let the design team to come up with whatever they could think of. The resulting draft had an impact on Oda, as it is very close to the final result, but he was initially worried about putting a character with that type of design into a fighting game. According to Eisuke Ogura, Isla is "not very much into actual fighting", and has a special and abnormal dance-like style.[27]
Despite Shun'ei being the protagonist the story will explore Isla's character as well.

Meanwhile, the character of Krohnen has been noted to have multiple similarities with K9999 from The King of Fighters 2001 and The King of Fighters 2002 due to his similarities with the character of Tetsuo from the manga Akira and had to be removed from the franchise based on copyright issues.[28][29] Although SNK did not confirm his identity, artist Hiroaki was more open about it, calling him the revival of K9999.[30] Among other characters, the previous subboss, Antonov, became a playable character as a regular member of the cast. Oda stated that he was further changed based on the team's idea in regards of a manager.[31] The series' official website was updated with story prologues during development of the game.[32] Although the game gave closure to Shun'ei's character arc, SNK is not satisfied with the result, believing they could still focus on his role again.[18]

Release

In June 2021, SNK announced that the game would be delayed to the first quarter of 2022, due to rising cases of

Koch Media.[36] A demo became available in Tokyo Game Show 2021 featuring a total of eight playable characters.[37]

Downloadable content for the game include Terry Bogard's design from Garou: Mark of the Wolves and Leona Heidern's classic look from The King of Fighters '96 to The King of Fighters 2003. Other releases of the game include a two disc soundtrack and a 119-page artbook.[38] Oda claims the game is being developed in order to be enjoyed for years after its release.[39] As such, additional characters are planned to be added as downloadable content, with four teams set to be released in 2022.[40] The first, Garou Team, was released on March 17 for most platforms, but was delayed until the next day on Steam.[41] In addition, a free update on April 14 added Omega Rugal as a playable character to the game, and introduced the new Boss Challenge mode. Players who beat the stronger boss version of Rugal are rewarded with music, alternate costume, and a new stage.[42] The second, South Town Team was released on May 16, along with music from KOF Neowave in a DJ Station Update. The third, Awakened Orochi Team was released on August 8 . The fourth, Samurai Team was released on October 4. Six additional characters were also released as paid DLC throughout 2023, along with a second Boss Challenge and a patch adding cross-platform play to all platforms.

Reception

The King of Fighters XV received "generally favorable" reviews, with a better score than the predecessor, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[43][44][45][46]

rollback netcode, and roster, but heavily criticized the lack of content, insubstantial tutorialization, reused six year-old animations, and called its story mode "utterly bare bones."[52] Shacknews similarly lauded the visual redesign, netcode, training modes, gameplay mechanics, music, and existing roster while panning its inaccessibility, overpowered mechanics, and the absence of major characters in the roster.[57] GameSpot praised the distinct playstyles, team-based gameplay, large roster, new modes, and the online play, and criticized bad AI and the lack of substantial iteration over The King of Fighters XIV.[49]

Producer Yasuyuki Oda believes that the players’ response to the game was overwhelmingly positive, which allowed them to properly work on early issues such as the online play.[60]

The PlayStation 4 version of KoF XV was the 8th bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 9,062 physical copies being sold. The PlayStation 5 version sold 2,414 physical copies in Japan throughout the same week, making it the 22nd bestselling retail game of the week in the country.[61]

During the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated The King of Fighters XV for Fighting Game of the Year.[62]

References

  1. ^ "The King of Fighters XV launches February 17, 2022". Gematsu. 25 August 2021. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  2. ^ "The King of Fighters XV: Impressions on a fast, faithful, and solid slugfest". Destructoid. 23 November 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "「THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV」開発者インタビュー。アッシュやオロチチームなど意外とも言えるキャラたちの参戦経緯を聞いた". 4Gamer. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  4. ^ "Prologue". SNK. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  5. ^ "KOF XV TEAM STORIES". SNK (in Japanese). Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  6. ^ "KOF XV". SNK (in Japanese). Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  7. ^ a b "The NEXT SEASON starts in 2023! Classic SNK fan-favorites SHINGO YABUKI and KIM KAPHWAN announced, with plans for long-awaited crossplay on the way!". SNK News. August 8, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  8. ^ Romano, Sal (October 9, 2023). "The King of Fighters XV DLC character Hinako Shijo announced". Gematsu. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  9. ^ Moreno, Tania (August 18, 2017). "Yasuyuki Oda y Hayato Watanabe hablan sobre el Desarrollo Y Futuro de KOF" [Yasuyuki Oda and Hayato Watanabe talk about the Development and Future of KOF]. IGN (in Spanish). Archived from the original on August 20, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  10. ^ "Yasuyuki Oda on SNK Heroines' Sexualization, Accessibility, And Competitive Audiences". Game Informer. February 9, 2018. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  11. ^ "SNK, 사무라이 스피리츠와 'KOF XV' 개발 진행 중" [SNK, Samurai Spirits and'KOF XV' in progress]. Ruliweb. 5 December 2018. Archived from the original on December 6, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  12. ^ "SNK 갈지휘 회장 겸 개발총괄 "언리얼 엔진 사용 확대, KOF15도 언리얼로 개발중"" [SNK Chairman Gal Ji-Hwi and Head of Development "Expanding the use of Unreal Engine, KOF15 is also being developed with Unreal"]. GameFocus. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  13. ^ Sato (4 August 2019). "The King of Fighters XV Officially Announced At Evo 2019, Currently In Development". Siliconera. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  14. ^ a b c "The King of Fighters XV launches in 2021, reveal trailer and screenshots". Gematsu. 8 January 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  15. ^ a b Sato (5 December 2018). "The King of Fighters XV Is Being Planned For A 2020 Release". Siliconera. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "KOF XV and Samurai Shodown Announcements Delayed". Siliconera. 6 January 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  17. ^ "KOF XV Reveal Includes Mai, Kyo, Leona, and Shun'ei". Siliconera. 8 January 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  18. ^ a b "KOF XV Developers Shared More Insights on the Game's Development". Siliconera. February 17, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  19. ^ Holland, Naquan (February 26, 2021). "King of Fighters 15 Getting Rollback Netcode". GameRant. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  20. ^ "How King of Fighters has survived for 27 years". Polygon. 21 May 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  21. ^ ""KoF XV Open Beta Test Information"" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  22. ^ "『KOF XV』スペシャルムービーを手掛けたクリエイター大張正己氏インタビュー。超クオリティーで実現した映像の見どころとは!?". Famitsu. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  23. ^ SNK GLOBAL (February 17, 2022). "Steven McNair, the producer of KOF XV's main theme, NOW OR NEVER, also produced music for KOF XIV! Take a trip down memory lane with KOF XIV's main theme FOLLOW ME!". Twitter. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  24. ^ SNK Global [@NvKknpbmkIbDg6m] (February 19, 2021). "【KOF XV】" (Tweet). Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ SNK [@SNKPofficial] (February 19, 2021). "【KOF XV】 SNK dev for [KOF XV] shares their thoughts on KYO KUSANAGI. The character designer for KYO KUSANAGI goes a bit in-depth on his design process! #SNK #KOF #KOF15" (Tweet). Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Twitter.
  26. ^ "『KOF XV』は何が"新鮮"なのか?新キャラ・イスラのこだわり、新システム、ネットコード…その全貌を開発陣に訊く【TGS2021】". Inside Games. 11 October 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  27. ^ "King Of Fighters XV Director Dishes On The Series' New, Possibly Best Girl". Kotaku. 30 September 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  28. ^ "New King Of Fighter Character Looks Like Fighter That Vanished Mysteriously". Kotaku. 10 December 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  29. ^ "KOF XV Krohnen and Second Open Beta Announced". Siliconera. 10 December 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  30. ^ @SUPER_HIROAKI (December 29, 2021). "『 K9999 』(2012年)ずいぶん前にカードゲーム用(?)に描いたものです。先日のKOFXV「クローネン」の公開、長い間「K9999」の復活を待っていた皆さんには嬉しいサプライズでしたね。#KOF" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  31. ^ "『KOF XV』クリエイターインタビュー。シリーズの集大成ともいえるクオリティーとボリュームで展開する最新作かける想いを訊く". Famitsu. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  32. ^ "Next KOF XV Team Backstory Focuses on Krohnen, Kula, and Angel". Siliconera. 13 January 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  33. ^ "Versus Battle Fighting Game THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV now slated for Q1 2022 release". SNK. June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  34. ^ "THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV: uscita posticipata al 2022". Akiba Gamers. June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  35. ^ "【THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV】 KOF XV will launch on PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X/S, Windows 10, Steam, and the Epic Games Store Q1 2022!". Twitter. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  36. ^ Romano, Sal (6 July 2021). "The King of Fighters XV confirmed for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  37. ^ "SNK anuncia la llegada de Kukri y una demo de KOF XV". Gamer Focus. 16 September 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  38. ^ "KOF XV Omega Edition Includes DLC and Soundtrack". Siliconera. December 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  39. ^ "New Retro Gamer discusses Yasuyuki Oda's big plans for The King Of Fighters XV". GamesRadar. 9 July 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  40. ^ Smith, Sean (February 1, 2022). "The King of Fighters XV DLC has been detailed". God is a Geek. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  41. ^ @SNKPOfficial (March 17, 2022). "The Steam launch for DLC Characters TEAM GAROU has been met with a delay. We are terribly sorry, but please wait a moment until it is able to be downloaded. Thank you" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  42. ^ Bonthuys, Darryn (March 21, 2022). "King of Fighters XV Adds Omega Rugal As Free DLC In April". GameSpot. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  43. ^ a b "The King of Fighters XV for PC Reviews". Metacritic. February 17, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  44. ^
    CBS Interactive
    . Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  45. ^
    CBS Interactive
    . Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  46. ^
    CBS Interactive
    . Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  47. ^ a b Moyse, Chris (February 11, 2022). "Review: The King of Fighters XV". Destructoid. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  48. ^ "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1736". Gematsu. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  49. ^ a b Kemps, Heidi (February 16, 2022). "The King Of Fighters XV Review - Wanna Play Some KoF?". GameSpot. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  50. ^ Shive, Chris (February 11, 2022). "Review: King of Fighters XV". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  51. ^ Quesada, Daniel (February 14, 2022). "Análisis de The King of Fighter XV - La lucha se actualiza y luce mejor que nunca" [The King of Fighters XV Review - The fight is updated and looks better than ever]. HobbyConsolas (in Spanish). Axel Springer SE. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  52. ^ a b Saltzman, Michael (February 11, 2022). "The King of Fighters XV Review". IGN. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  53. ^ Ayden_ (February 21, 2022). "Test The King of Fighters XV : Bien loin de Street Fighter 6, un retour remarqué pour la saga phare de SNK" [The King of Fighters XV Review : Far from Street Fighter 6, a remarkable return to SNK's flagship saga]. Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  54. ^ Fernàndez, Salva (February 13, 2022). "The King of Fighters XV, análisis. ¿El retorno del rey?" [The King of FIghters XV, analysis. The return of the King?]. MeriStation (in Spanish). Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  55. ^ Wilson, Jeffrey L. (February 28, 2022). "The King of Fighters XV (for PC) Review". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  56. ^ Ramsey, Robert (March 3, 2022). "King of Fighters XV Review (PS5)". Push Square. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  57. ^ a b Denzer, TJ (February 11, 2022). "King of Fighters XV review: Burn to fight". Shacknews. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  58. ^ Dellafrana, Danilo (February 11, 2022). "The King of FIghters XV – Recensione" [The King of FIghters XV – Review]. The Games Machine (in Italian). Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  59. ^ Makar, Connor (February 11, 2022). "King of Fighters 15 review - sticking to its roots". VG247. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  60. ^ Makar, Connor (February 17, 2022). "King of Fighters 15 devs talk about the struggles of creating the latest game – and their favourite characters". VG247. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  61. ^ Romano, Sal (February 24, 2022). "Famitsu Sales: 2/14/22 – 2/20/22 [Update]". Gematsu. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  62. ^ "2023 Awards Category Details Fighting Game of the Year". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 21 July 2023.

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ XV, Hepburn: Za Kingu Obu Faitāzu XV

External links