![]() Some issues from XIV do carry over, though. The visuals, for one, are a marked upgrade from XIV." ![]() "The real value of KoF XV comes from the upgrades or pure fixes that smooth out the rough edges that XIV encountered in its transition to the purely 3D art style and a more online-focused experience. I’m even a bigger fan of the menus and UI, which feel sleeker and more modern than XIV’s. Stages and environments, too, are much more detailed and while they don’t all have much going on in the background, they’re differentiated enough to avoid feeling like you’re fighting in the same place over and over. Character models are no longer quite so flat and muddy, and instead they have a lot more life and color, not to mention visual quality, to make them a lot more interesting to look at. The visuals, for one, are a marked upgrade from XIV. Instead, the real value of KoF XV comes from the upgrades or pure fixes that smooth out the rough edges that XIV encountered in its transition to the purely 3D art style and a more online-focused experience. The specific move sets have changed, and the addition of new characters like Isla and Dolores offers a bit of variety, though they aren’t differentiated enough to offer much of a new type of gameplay overall, but you won’t find enough value here from a perspective of purely mechanical upgrades to justify a new addition to the series. In truth, though, the gameplay here hasn’t changed much, especially in comparison to King of Fighters XIV. Ure, it’s fun to beat up on someone when mashing light attacks, but it’s immensely more satisfying to perfectly execute a higher-level MAX attack, and the game does a great job at allowing you to learn without being overly punishing for having to fall back on a crutch at times. ![]() However, as is commonplace with the King of Fighters series, the ability to find, execute, and master combos and special attacks is where players will find the biggest learning curve and the most satisfaction. ![]() This means that it’s very accessible to jump in with a new character without having to spend a ton of time in training first. If you’re not familiar with a character’s move set, there’s not a huge barrier to entry, since most characters have moves that generally utilize the same combination of stick movements and button combos. Each of the 39 playable characters has a unique move set that centers around light and heavy punches and kicks. There are, of course, tons of nuances that make the gameplay easy to jump into but almost impossible to master. " King of Fighters XV doesn’t reinvent the wheel for the franchise, nor does it offer any major new mechanics or features that will make anyone familiar with the series uneasy or uncomfortable, but the upgrades to its presentation and refinement of its mechanics put it firmly back in the conversation of top tier fighting games, even if its structure leaves a bit to be desired." You can also utilize the new Shatter Strike mechanic, which uses one MAX bar that works to break an enemy’s guard and continue a combo. If you activate your MAX meter as part of a special, higher level attack, you can perform flashier, more devastating moves that are equal parts difficult to execute and fun to watch. You can accrue up to four bars of your MAX meter, and you can use these for a variety of stronger and faster attacks. As your attacks connect, you build a MAX meter, first introduced in King of Fighters XIV, which carries over for each of your fighters. You choose the order your team members fight, and there is some strategy to it, though still not as much as I would like. The losing fighter of each round is eliminated, and the match ends when a team has lost all three of its fighters. Fights occur between teams of three, consisting of multiple rounds of one-on-one fighting. From a gameplay perspective, the foundation is left primarily unchanged with only some minor tweaks. If you’ve played any of the most recent King of Fighters games, particularly XIV, you’ll be immediately at home in XV. As it stands, XV doesn’t reinvent the wheel for the franchise, nor does it offer any major new mechanics or features that will make anyone familiar with the series uneasy or uncomfortable, but the upgrades to its presentation and refinement of its mechanics put it firmly back in the conversation of top tier fighting games, even if its structure leaves a bit to be desired. Pushing three full decades since the original’s launch, the franchise has had its ups and downs throughout the years, but it’s seen a bit of a turnaround with the launch of KoF XIV in 2017 and XV now almost five years later. When it comes to established fighting game series, there aren’t many that touch the durability and tenure of The King of Fighters.
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