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Normally I would NOT consider rating a fighting game so low for it's lack of 1 player modes...but coupled with an absolutely POOR online mode and confusing character designs, makes this one of the most disappointing fighters available. Comparisons will be made to BlazeBlue and SF4, as those were released not too long ago, although SF4 was but is STILL getting serious play.
The character designs are confusing in the sense that, techniques/moves given to the characters don't quite make sense for their fighting style. E.G. Ralph was in the past a grappler, well they've taken away most of his grappling moves, and replaced them with some special punches that I've yet to really figure out their advantages. Some characters are a given in design, ex. Iori, as they're templates make very little changes to their overall winning strategy. Most characters don't have enough moves may be the biggest complaint others may make...but MY complaint is that they've changed/removed moves for characters that make you wonder WHY? E.G. Mature had over 4-5 moves in KOF 94...she's been dumbed down to 2 moves and a super. Maybe she's like Guile in SF4 and doesn't need anymore, but you seen this trend in a lot of the characters, like Raiden, Sei Kensou (have NO idea how this guy is gonna win btw...) and Clark with the whole system of all moves/throws are "faster" than special throws. Kinda throws his game out the window.
The online mode is a complete disaster. I've never seen online modes on SF4,Blazblue, hell even Tekken 5 DR run as low FPS/high latency as this. I'm talking about watching a slide show. NO JOKE. Nothing seems to make it much better, and this is AFTER THE ONLINE UPDATE! If Blazeblue can do it, hell if SF4s 3d engine can do it, so can this game. Someone got lazy somewhere here...
Finally, no story mode, no incentive to play through against the arcade cpu (like unlocking artwork,characters, costumes... come on SOMETHING!) I would normally say who cares, that fighting games are 2 PLAYER games right? Well, not with the mentioned above problems.
It's hard enough to get people huddled around 1 tv to play a fighting game. It would make sense that a good but understandably not perfect online experience should be implemented. As said, the weaknesses FAR outshine any good this game could of had. Disappointing, as I've been playing this series since KOF 95 on my PSone.
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My first impression: All looks, no substance. Welcome to King of Fighters where the champion burns, the options are limited and the boys look like girls.
As an old school SNK fan, I must say that I was anticipating this new game to be one that would move the King of Fighters into the forefront of next gen fighting. I expected it to be like it's predecessors except have a nice interface, awesome art and special effects to trump the former titles. Almost weekly I would check the site and look at the clean images and the demo reels, salivating at the chance of playing my beloved KOF and who could blame me, being that KOF XI was fully loaded.
Before I start let's examine the aspect of sequels and how things have played out with the competitor in Street Fighter 4 . The original was a groundbreaking game which has had sequels to improve on the look, feel and play up until the point that the original seems stiff and unplayable by today's standards (I am talking Street Fighter original not Street Fighter 2). Let's take a look at the Fatal Fury series, the same can be said when you contrast Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 to the original Fatal Fury. If you tried playing the original now, you would turn it off after a few moments of the weird AI kicking your ass as you struggle to pull off a move. Real Bout is awesome fun in comparison. My point in these two comparisons is that sequels should be a step above their former game, it is what we have grown to expect.
Story:
That all being said let us examine the progress of the King of Fighters timeline. Originally story-wise the tournament was put together by Rugal, it transcended into a larger force called the Orochi who wanted to harness the power of the fire master Kyo Kusanagi (star of the KoF series) and produced a bunch of flawed clones that led to other circumstances. Although a bit hokey, there was always a story for the few people (myself included) who gave a damn. In King of Fighters XII, you do a Time Trial as the arcade game, no real teams, no story and no cool features to unlock from doing them. What is the point outside of earning Playstation trophies? This really upset me.
Fighting:
The original King of Fighters `94 is still a fun game to play even though the contestants have been tweaked, changed and perfected by the time you use them in King of Fighters XI. I am not sure why the producers felt it necessary to revert the series back to `94 which I am assuming was their intent based on the characters I have played for 11 games (sans Mai who isn't in the new roster). We are given the ugly jumpsuit Andy Bogart with traditional moves, diesel trucker Terry Bogart with classic moves (so no power dunk, power charge, or overheat Geyser), traditional Ryo Kusanagi and an uber chibi version of Athena. For players who had gotten used to the massive 10+ hit combos of the King of Fighters series this game will feel enormously dumbed down.
Online Gaming:
kof 2 The King of Fighters XII (4/10)After the disappointment that is the Arcade mode for people who don't have a little brother or buddy to beat up on in versus, you can try to go online and fight people. This is one of the few positive things that I have to report... well not the fighting online but the new Clan feature. A group of friends are allowed to create a Clan and get people in to support the point system by kicking ass online. This, if combined later with Playstation Home could be a real gem and a necessary component for later fighters. This feature is very cool since it allows for your friends to stay together and help one another out in reaping the rewards of being up on the leaderboard.
Playing online however has been less than stellar for me and I will describe it the best I can through a metaphor: It felt like playing against someone with my fighters having to wade through mud in order to pull of their moves. It is so sloooow, I blamed this on the fact that I am used to the fast pace of Street Fighter 4 . I have also been playing King of Fighters `00 recently and going from that pace to King of Fighters XII is beyond brutal. I wanted to turn the game off and play something else. But the Clan feature is good and I really wish that this will be a feature made into other fighting games and linking it to Playstation Home will give that feature even more possibilities beyond logging in and dancing with trannies. Speaking of trannies, why does half of KOF's roster consist of men who look 100% female? This isn't limited to Ash or the once effeminate Bennimaru. Key up Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like A Lady".
In Conclusion:
With the slowed down pacing of the fights and the fact that the engine rewards button mashing with the light and heavy buttons. New players will no doubt be pulled in to like the King of Fighters 12. There is an advanced move that I am sure was made to attract vets (like Street Fighter 4's Focus) called a Critical Counter. The Critical Counter is done by pressing a heavy button when close to your opponent and your green Critical bar is flashing. A newb's dream come true a nice accidental heavy punch press will start a combo similar to a Z-ism in Street Fighter Alpha 3 which goes on for about 5 seconds, allowing you to link hits and moves that normally wouldn't link. Once the counter is wearing off, you can finish it with a super or a special. Remember those pretty videos of KOF12 combos? Well those were all criticals.
I see what the developers were going for in dumbing down the series and reverting it back to the original. The thing about doing so is the slow gameplay and limited moves reminds me too much of `94. Street Fighter 4 managed to dumb down their game engine and add in elements that would keep vets like myself happy, while maintaining the interest in casual and new gamers. The King of Fighters XII is not successful in this. What is good about the game though, aside from the horrible load times even when you install it on your harddrive (I mean what the hell) is the crisp new art of all the characters. This gives me hope that in XIII or whatever, they can re-use them to make a fast-paced, fun version. Sorry I know that was mean.
The fact that there is a Playstation Store embedded into the menu makes me scared that later on down the line we will be sold more characters, stages and possibly a turbo upgrade to make it playable (there I go again being an ass). I give this a big no-thanks even with a little K' and Mai sprinkled on top. I already own King of Fighters `94 and even with the opportunities that a Clan can present, I still find this a really hard game to get into.
Buy The King of Fighters XII Now
07/28/09
Eh uh... Let me start by saying that I AM a KOF faithful; always have been and will be proud of it. On a wide scale, it was always written off as the knock off of Street Fighter, and while that may have been true in terms of gameplay and controls/overall mechanics, KOF always made up for it with "style." Even with identical commands, KOF characters pulled off more fighter-worthy moves, and KOF offered a true variety of characters, most of them with reasons to be anyone's favorite character.
However, I am not so sure if I could vouch for all the goodies KOF had to offer thus far in this highly-anticipated entry, KOF XII.
Otherwise known as 'KOF Rebirth,' KOF XII was to be THE fighting game of this year. Street Fighter IV came out early, but it only elicited a strong disappointment among the fans. KOF XII was to be THE game to truly rekindle the 2D fighter-fire that had diminished over the years. Then, BlazBlue of AKSYS came out; it took the critics and gamers by storm and by now there probably isn't a fighter-fan who has not even tried the game. AND, about a month after BB, KOF XII came out (with GameStop breaking the release date, nice).
And that's probably both the biggest advantage for BlazBlue and disadvantage for KOF XII, expectations.
BlazBlue offered not only colorful visual and orchestral fighter music (which is quite fresh) but also super-fast and sometimes ridiculous gameplay. And character design? out.of.this.world.
KOF XII, frankly, fails to deliver. I mean, it DID deliver, just not as strongly as BlazBlue.
I thought I was not what my friends (and I) call a 'graphic-whore,' but I guess underneath it all, I am. Hand-drawn sprites (which was the sellint point of this game) are most certainly nice. But even with the provided soft filter on, there are gaps, holes, rough edges, and sketchy animations to be found just about anywhere in-game, and when you put in BlazBlue right after playing KOF XII, one can't HELP but make comparisons and they are not in favor of 'the King.'
and the sound does not impress, either. SNK has not evolved much from before the franchise's "rebirth" and I really can't feel the exciting, engaging atmosphere from the soundtracks.
however there is a pro to this game that stands over all others gameplay!
it's the most fluid game motion i've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. therefore, the fighting can only be simple and fast, which every fighter is meant to be (i'm not talking about commands or battle systems). even with deadlocks, a common mechanic which SNK decided to embed with KOF XII; Rebirth, bouts are never slowed down or lagged. critical counter is, in my opinion, also interesting. while you can't be moving at all when using it, when timed right, it literally opens up an opportunity to just beat your opponent senselessly.
now for the reason this review has to be dated the roster and online play.
to be honest, it's weak. i know SNK had a complete overhaul in mind and they focused on rather more important things but it's KOF, for god's sakes. 22 fighters? not even CLOSE to enough. most fans seem to want and almost definitely there will be DLCs for widening the character roster (Mai and K' in highest demands) but it's... ya, disappointing.
and WHAT is next-generation fighter without decent online playing? i know i'm doing this a lot, but BlazBlue had PERFECT online experience laid out for its players. whereas KOF, in 20 or so online matches i've played getting frustrated there was not one single legit match. there were updates even as of now to make the game at least PLAYABLE online but if this issue isn't dealt with promptly and correctly, the fans WILL turn away.
SNK succeeded in a sense in turning the never-changing game upside down and welcoming it to the next age, but perhaps not quite as well as they'd hoped to. Luckly SNK is very receptive of fan feedbacks so who knows? i'll probably be able to give stars of the number i want in the near future.
p.s. don't use Iori
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not a good game , is boring, what about the characters so bad, i ate ho the did those characters, o well not a good game play, dont buy it until you are a fan of kof and want to have all the games from the saga even if some of those are bad!!!
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I've been a KOF fan since KOF 94.. I LOVE KOF... but i was so apalled with KOF XII that i returned it the same day to Gamestop and got my money back... Thank God for KOF XIII that came out recently.... now that one... I love!!!!!
