It’s been six long years since we last saw a King of Fighters game with King of Fighters XIV launching back in 2016. Its successor, King of Fighters XV, was first announced way back in December 2018 and ultimately, it was delayed to a 2022 release. Thankfully, the long wait for King of Fighters XV has been completely worth it, with the game featuring a hefty roster of fighters on launch.
King of Fighters XV features a massive launch line-up of 39 characters. This is absolutely crazy when compared to so many other modern-day fighting games which have opted to go the season pass route drip-feeding us characters over time. Players will be glad to know that the roster of fighters in King of Fighters XV features many long-time returning favourites as well as some fresh new characters to enjoy. There’s also plans to bring more characters to the game too in the form of DLC but the launch line-up is fantastic in its own right and makes recommending this fighting game a lot easier.
Diving into the game’s story, King of Fighters XV takes place directly after the events of the previous title. There’s a brand-new King of Fighters tournament taking place but this time, there’s a twist to the tale with an epic boss fight awaiting players at the end. Players will breeze through the story mode quite quickly on lower difficulty settings. There are a few story cutscenes that are played throughout and if you select specific team members, you unlock some team-specific scenes in the story. The story unfortunately is the weakest aspect of King of Fighters XV with it being over way too quickly and it has the absolute bare minimum of character development and plot.
King of Fighters XV is not a game you’d be playing for the story but rather the refined fighting mechanics. Choosing your team of 3 fighters and diving into battles is where the real enjoyment is. Getting to grips with each character’s move list will take you quite a long time to master but once it clicks with you, it’ll have you hooked. Newcomers are advised to try out each of the characters on offer and see for themselves which one they enjoy playing the most. After you’ve put in a couple of hours of gameplay, the game’s tactical fighting mechanics and more technical aspects really start to shine through. Soon enough you’ll be dodging attacks and using “Quick Mode” or “Max Mode” and consuming your power meter by pulling off incredibly flashy attacks.
There’s a very intensive tutorial mode on offer in the game which will help you get to grips with each character’s basic and advanced moves and abilities. The game features rollback netcode and the online battles are incredibly smooth to play because of this. Hopefully, there’ll be plenty of people in the fighting game community playing this title and keeping it going for a long time. Given the game’s hefty roster and extremely addictive gameplay though, there’s bound to be a very dedicated player base that will be sinking hundreds of hours into it.
The online modes have been separated into both ranked and casual modes. There’s also a room mode and online training to round off the package. The mission mode is also a great way to get to learn character attacks via a set of challenges. King of Fighters XV’s three on three battles are really fast-paced and the visual style is quite visually pleasing.
Graphically, King of Fighters XV looks great but when compared to titles such as Guilty Gear Strive, it does seem a tad more vanilla and way less flashy. That’s not to say that the game looks bad. On the contrary, it looks gorgeous with striking character designs and visuals as well as some great levels to do battle on. Some gamers might prefer this title’s aesthetic over its competitors since it looks less “busy”.
The soundtrack in King of Fighters XV is fantastic and players will even be able to unlock a range of tracks from previous titles too. These can be played in the “DJ Station” menu and given the franchise’s rich history of great battle tracks, fans of the series will really appreciate this. King of Fighters XV’s main theme is quite an adrenaline-pumping catchy tune and the game’s ending credits song is honestly such a great touch. Characters are only voiced in Japanese and don’t have a dubbed English voice option but this isn’t really a problem for those who prefer Japanese voice acting in video games.
Overall King of Fighters XV features a lot of addictive gameplay and each and every single character has their own unique flavour to add to the game. The attacks are varied between each character and getting to grips with each one is where most of the fun is to be had in the game. Playing the game against friends or online against random opponents is enjoyable and the rollback netcode helps minimise any issues that would otherwise affect the game adversely. If you’re looking for a fun fighting game with a lot of characters to choose from, King of Fighters XV comes highly recommended.
Developer: SNK
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows
Publishers: SNK, SNK Playmore USA Corp., Koch Media
Reviewed on PS5
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