![]() The winner of each round will have a small amount of health restored to their fighter as a win bonus and any super meter filled will carry over too. ![]() When one character is defeated, the next character in line will step up to the plate and begin a new round until one player’s team is completely knocked out. Traditional fighting game round systems are instead replaced by a fluid subsequent character system that has each individual character’s life acting as a single round. Similar to its predecessors, KOF XIV is a 3-on-3 team-based fighter wherein each player chooses three characters and their fighting order to take into battle. The actual gameplay is where KOF XIV starts to feel much more at home. When unlocked, the cutscenes for the game are saved and viewable anytime, which is a nice touch for those seeking to jigsaw their way into a less convoluted story that makes any form of sense. On top of that, when two specific characters meet each other in combat it will prompt an exceedingly rare quick dialogue before the match between them where they express anything from friendly rivalries to mutual hatred of one another to just general confusion. Though you can choose any three characters in a huge cast of 50 to complete the story with, by choosing a specific set of characters, like Team Japan: Kyo, Benimaru, and Goro, you will receive small additional story bits that are actually quite interesting. ![]() Overall, the story mode feels like yet another wasted opportunity, which is unfortunate because there definitely seems to be a story tucked somewhere very far underneath it all. It is alright though, as the cutscenes don’t spend time with the boring stuff, like fleshing out characters and developing a plot, but instead focusing on Antonov’s love of sad puppy movies and horrible overestimations of the world’s population. While you’re able to pick a fighting team of any 3 characters, much of the game’s story is spent with very little character interactions and instead is replaced by oddly placed cutscenes involving the self-proclaimed “Champion,” Antonov himself. It’s best to try and like Antonov as much as you can as well, because you are going to be seeing a lot of him throughout the story. The story comes off fairly standard: an eccentric Russian billionaire, named Antonov, decides to throw a new King of Fighters tournament, because as we know from real world experience, that’s just what Russian billionaires love to do in their off time. The story mode also makes its return to KOF XIV, albeit in a not-so-big way. ![]() And although I do rather enjoy the fresh take and new style, I sometimes found myself longing for the beautifully detailed 2D sprites of KOF games gone by. It almost feels as though the dev team spent more time polishing the world the characters would fight in, rather than the actual fighters themselves, which comes off as a real shame and certainly a missed opportunity. The issue here stems from the fact that the 3D models just don’t look all that great, especially when compared with the wonderfully crafted stage backgrounds and overall flashy, but fun combat animations. Traditionally, each other game in the series has featured a 2D stylization, however KOF XIV is the first in the franchise to replace the 2D character sprites with full 3D models, while continuing with a 2D fighting plane. ![]() With a lengthy six year hiatus, SNK has officially brought the next installment, The King of Fighters XIV, to the new generation table.Įasily one of the largest changes to KOF XIV is the visual upgrade it has received in its jump to the PS4 and I use the term ‘upgrade’ very loosely. With over 21 years under their belt, these games have become consistently well-known for providing a technically challenging, yet incredibly rewarding competitive experience. The King of Fighters is a series steeped in history dating all the way back to 1994. ![]()
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