‘The King of Fighters XV’ Review: A Remarkable One-Hit KO That Sadly Forgets About Solo Players
The King of Fighters XV contains the best fighting the veteran video game franchise has seen in years, but it sadly forgets about solo and non-competitive players.
Full disclosure: I suck at fighting games which aren’t Tekken and maybe Soulcalibur. Yet I love them. There’s something deeply satisfying about punching your 1v1 opponent so hard he crashes against the wall, or delivering ten kicks in a couple of seconds with superhuman speed. While most video game genres have transcended well past their original forms, fighting games remain tight and extremely focused; their simplicity is their biggest strength. They’re the perfect games for snack-sized thrills, no matter how much their mechanics evolve.
The King of Fighters, SNK’s long-lived franchise, has always been an odd one amongst fan and casual-favorite IPs such as Tekken, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat. It’s not barely known, but it ain’t super-famous either. And the same goes for how welcoming it feels: KOF games aren’t typically hard to get into, but they certainly require a minimum of finesse and technique. And that’s always a wall for casual players who just want to mash buttons from time to time and watch flamboyant characters pull off flashy moves.
Maximum Impact (2004) was the franchise’s first foray into the realm of 3D graphics, but it wasn’t a permanent change — it’s hard to keep track of the full King of Fighters storyline, which jumps across sagas and universes, and this also affects how the IP handled art direction and overall visuals past 2004. As a casual KOF player, looking at the full list/chronology of titles gives me a headache, so I’d recommend just diving into whatever entries seem appealing to you. As for The King of Fighters XV, it’s a pretty good entry point for newcomers.
As soon as you battle for a couple of rounds, it becomes clear that strong efforts have been made with this installment to make the controls and overall feeling less stiff and as friendly as possible without losing sight of what separates KOF from the competition. Some of the most advanced moves still kick my ass even in Tutorial mode, but I found myself pulling off exciting combos and super moves/boosts with more efficiency than in past entries (as long as I found characters I clicked with). KOFXV has plenty of specifics when it comes to advanced moves and MAX Mode, as well as reworked mechanics from past games; mastering all of them isn’t a requirement to achieve victory in casual play, but the big leagues will unsurprisingly crush you if you walk into them randomly hitting buttons.
The generous roster of 39 characters (old and new) is quite diverse. Modern fighting games normally keep those numbers down in order to give more love and uniqueness to each character during development, so it’s impressive to see a sizeable day-one roster packing so much variety and personality. More characters are coming through post-launch DLC packs, but KOFXV delivers from the get-go. The same can be said about the beautifully rendered stages, which come from many corners of SNK’s multiverse of franchises (it’s hard to explain). A personal favorite of mine is the desert from the Metal Slug series.
It’d have been amazing to enjoy an assortment of modes as varied as the meat and potatoes of the game’s content, but that’s sadly not the case here — online modes get plenty of love this time around, with an improved netcode and all, but the single-player offerings are extremely thin. Besides some tutorials and character-specific trials, the only modes available for solo players are Story and Training. You already know what the latter is, and the game’s (brief) Story mode isn’t exactly memorable; it hits the ground running with anime nonsense and carrying baggage from past installments, and plays out like a glorified Arcade mode with hand-drawn cutscenes at the very end to cap things off. Picking a different team of three fighters leads to different epilogue endings, but there isn’t much replay value in there besides unlocking some trophies/achievements. Of course, the classic Versus mode for local play is available, but that still doesn’t correct the big issue that non-competitive players will surely have with this game.
The King of Fighters XV is certainly a looker. It has the appearance of the culmination of the franchise’s slow and irregular transition into 3D graphics, plus it stays remarkably faithful to the classic characters’ original designs — Kyo Kusanagi sports his simple yet iconic look, Mai Shiranui’s swaying bosom remains at odds with her outfit, and the wackier characters are more colorful than ever. Some recent 2D fighters packing 3D graphics had certainly elevated the “beauty” standards, and KOF has received an impressive boost in visuals in response to the challenge. Furthermore, the next-gen version of the game is delightfully crisp thanks to the extra horsepower (no surprise here). On top of that, audio is sharp, punchy, and well-balanced too.
In conclusion, KOFXV solidifies the franchise’s status as a notable alternative to other 2D fighters and opens its arms to welcome new players, a sensible move that will pay off in the long run. With the genre’s heavyweights currently absent, it was the perfect time for SNK’s KOF team to make a comeback. Unfortunately, the game’s potential and wider appeal is cut short by a noticeable lack of single-player modes for those who want to hone their skills against AI opponents or simply enjoy progression which isn’t tied to human opponents. This one’s (almost) all about the online feuds.
The King of Fighters XV is now available on PC (Steam and Epic) as well as PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
Thanks to SNK (publisher) and Tinsley PR for the PS5 review code.
Francisco J. Ruiz is that guy who has watched Jurassic Park a thousand times and loves Star Wars. His hunger for movies is only matched by his love for video games. He graduated in English Studies from the University of Malaga, in Spain. As he keeps writing about what he enjoys (and doesn’t) for websites all over, he’s continuing his studies.
