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King of Fighters XIV - Demo Impressions thread (out now, free)

S

Slaythe

Member
SAB CA said:
It's also nice for the simple fact that many characters have had a hard time using meter off fast punishes, but this makes it far easier and universal, even if it's not optimal.



Eh, Naaa. I don't have Revelator yet, but I played a good amount of Xrd, and watched most of the Revelator top 8 at Evo. I find myself missing the characterization of much of the game (and some of my time with Ramlethal), but they systems really don't call back to me that much (especially since I know little about the nuances of the latest release).

I really wanna give Dizzy a try (finally, an old character I kinda like to play!), but Revelator's gameplay didn't look like anything so special at EVO. Which is weird, because normally, GG impresses me with such obvious overly-technical stuff that I can see and instantly identify as awesome.

I do wish I got to see something other than basically Johnny, Raven, Milla, and... was there a bit of Zato? Raven seemed like he never did anything specifically impressive, Johnny had wonderful BS that almost made him feel like he belonged in another game, Milla was a more dynamic, well rounded Raven, and Zato... he normally really impressed me on old GG, but I felt meh with what I saw here.

The most impressive player skill part to me was definitely the proper burst baiting, and how into each other's heads some of the players got. That's pretty great to see in every fighter, though. Johnny's MIst-o FINAH unblockables basically got patched right out the game after Evo, right? LoL. Man is it depressing watching a Super used to seal a long combo, and then watch it do the damage of a jab due to scaling and proration...
Click to expand...

Dizzy came with a big balance patch, that nerfed Sin to oblivion, as well as made elphelt and Johnny bearable.

The gameplay has a lot of tweaks coming off from Sign. The biggest being chargeable blitz only using 25% meter. I think Xrd shines with the number of options that it gives you, the EVO matches had a clear problem, since it featured most of the same characters that on top of that have "optimal routes" with very little variation, except for a brave Ky player that did his best. But those characters have been patched.

Plus, you KNOW you want that Dizzy. Look at it. Love it. Embrace it.

dizzy-1.gif


tumblr_oait1wGR9j1r0l45no2_540.gif



I'm not giving up on KOF just yet, but can't say i'm enjoying myself with it.

Does shareplay work on the demo ? (to simulate a slightly laggy online ?)
 
B

BiggNife

Member
Fersis said:
What the hell, i can't find the demo on the PSN US Store.
>__<
Click to expand...

I saw it in the free category under demos but when I clicked on it earlier today it said "content not available" for some reason. So I used the link in the OP on my computer and added it to my PS4's queue that way, and it worked.
 
S

Skilletor

Member
Pliny The Elder said:
This game feels easier with execution than past KOF's to be honest, then again it could be due to already being use to the input timing which differs from SF games.
Click to expand...

Definitely easier. Input buffer seems pretty generous. I'm getting accidental supers with qcf motions almost a second apart, lol.

Feels really good, though. Shame I don't care for any of the characters in the demo.

Can't wait for the final game.
 
X

Xeteh

Member
TheSpoiler said:
I don't know how I'm gonna play this and SFV and Tekken, but I'll try.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is where I'm at. SFV is still my favorite but I'm sitting here thinking of KOFXIV and Guilty Gear. Tekken was an old love that I had to stop returning calls to but she's looking pretty great again.

I'm bad at fighting games as is but there are so many good ones coming out soon... you can throw Injustice 2 in to that mix too. I miss Harley.
 
P

Pharaoh 117

Member
Xeteh said:
Man, you're as insane as Sylvie is. After playing her I fucking adore her design. There's so much crazy in every animation, it is fantastic. She's a big part of what has sold me on this demo so far.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%. Her animations are so funny. Love her.
 
G

gundamkyoukai

Member
Man this game feels so simple remind me of the 98days .
Mostly accustom to it already and the combos simple and easy .
Ready for the full game with the characters i play .
 
O

orioto

Good Art™
Tried the demo, i didn't play KOF in a looonng time, but the controls are pretty comfortable.

I didn't like the fire effects in vids but in reality they look quiet nice and really fluid, with nice screen deformation.

The problem with the game is more about the art direction than the models honestly. i'm sure it could look super elegant with some color changes and maybe a different skin light.
 
S

Slaythe

Member
On a positive note, I played that demo last week, at a conv, and it looked like SHIT because of the monitors.

The game looked much better on my own monitor today.
 
P

Pure_Phazon

Member
Shun'Ei seems pretty fun, and I actually figured out some combos with him fairly quick. Nelson is cool, but it definitely feels like you gotta put in the work to play him well.

Just ready for the full game, so I can play everyone I'm looking forward to.
 
T

TheSpoiler

Member
Xeteh said:
Yeah, this is where I'm at. SFV is still my favorite but I'm sitting here thinking of KOFXIV and Guilty Gear. Tekken was an old love that I had to stop returning calls to but she's looking pretty great again.

I'm bad at fighting games as is but there are so many good ones coming out soon... you can throw Injustice 2 in to that mix too. I miss Harley.
Click to expand...

Yeah, years and years of dicking around in many games helped me, but KOFs execution always seemed outta grasp for me. And my execution right now is shot so I dunno what to do. Oh well, I'll play and have fun even if I get bopped a lot.
 
V

vsMIC

Member
never was a kof enthusiast, but really liked the demo. day1!

grafics were good enough, can get used to it despite the fomer sprite glory.

but i fear the auto-lp-mash-combos will be very annoying on certain skill levels...
 
S

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
Slaythe said:
Dizzy came with a big balance patch, that nerfed Sin to oblivion, as well as made elphelt and Johnny bearable.

The gameplay has a lot of tweaks coming off from Sign. The biggest being chargeable blitz only using 25% meter. I think Xrd shines with the number of options that it gives you, the EVO matches had a clear problem, since it featured most of the same characters that on top of that have "optimal routes" with very little variation, except for a brave Ky player that did his best. But those characters have been patched.
Click to expand...

I hear Elphelt was suppose to be an issue, but never saw her played recently to know why, lol. I feel kinda bad for Xrd, because playing it on PS3 pretty much just left me wondering why I was playing it over Chaos Code, Dengeki Bunko FC, or UNIEL, all of which seemed like their gameplay endeared their specific oddities to me much more strongly and memorably.

The "Optimal Route" thing is something I'm enjoying the variation of here in XIV so far, too. It offers a lot of ways to use similar meter to get similar damage, but by using totally different stuff. It's nice because that makes me feel like the game is less about hitting that 1 same combo BECAUSE IZ DEH BEZZZT, and more about capitalizing on whatever was the best beginning, and knowing how to flow along that path.

I feel bad for forgetting about the Ky and Sin players though, lol. Every time I see Sin attack with his Lance Flag and eat meat, it makes me imagine him as a Monster Hunter character, ha.

Plus, you KNOW you want that Dizzy. Look at it. Love it. Embrace it.
Click to expand...

It kinda surprises me that she looks... so much like her old self. Still shocked / surprised about what her "wings" are doing, still so innocent-ish even after having a child...? *I should actually play the story mode this time, lol.* Rushing to PSN to make sure I remembered to get her was exciting, the fact I'd still have to pay for Kum and Raven, even if I was to buy the game now, knocked me back to reality, doh! I never even tried Leo or even Sin in Xrd due to stuff like that.

I'm not giving up on KOF just yet, but can't say i'm enjoying myself with it.

Does shareplay work on the demo ? (to simulate a slightly laggy online ?)
Click to expand...

I've heard Shareplay actually does work. How laggy is it to use such a thing, generally?

Even if these aren't the characters I'd want, I'm having great fun with this demo. There's a good mix of styles so that all the local VS still feels like it's more than just mirror matches, and characters like Nelson are lab-friendly to explore a wealth of options, even when not actually fighting. Wish I had at least one team Ikari member, though... (Especially since playing them in training mode would let me listen to their theme.)
 
L

Lucentto

Banned
Demo is good. I haven't played a KOF since XI. Graphics to me overall are fine except Mai's face, yikes.

I don't really have much to say about the demo besides that. Game is KOF through and through, if you have ever played a KOF before, you know how it is.

Sadly, my purchase of the game itself will be based on what I hear about the netcode on release.
 
S

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
Mr. Smiley said:
Is there any recorded Evo matches showcasing Athena?
Click to expand...

There are some matches with her throughout the day of streams, yeah. I can't say I've seen a specific video to point you to, sorry!

I'm sure many in this thread could tell you about how she is in this game, if you're curious, though.

vsMIC said:
but i fear the auto-lp-mash-combos will be very annoying on certain skill levels...
Click to expand...

No worse than every Kyo and Iori getting full combos off crouching weak attacks into EVERYTHING.

And do note that anyone who stops the mash combo mid-way is totally punishable. It's a nice tool if you confirm the hit and fully commit to it, but if you drop it mid way, it's risky, and it doesn't do optimal damage VS using normals and meter to do the same basic things yourself.

It should even be a nice tool for characters and players that have a hard time getting consistent punishes off light attacks.
 
M

Moraizen

Member
After testing out the demo for a while, I can safely affirm that all of my gripes with it are based on the graphics and nothing else.

I think they captured Iori pretty well in his new model, but my god, Kyo looks like shit. Having played almost every single KOF game, If I went by his face alone I would never say it was the same character haha (story opportunity for another messed up NESTS Kyo clone I guess).

As people have noticed before, the hit flashes are pretty terrible, but that and all of the above is pretty nitpicky compared to my main problem with the graphics: the moves and animations in general feel very wimpy and have no real power behind them.

This is something that KOF XIII did in a masterful way, there was so much impact behind every attack, especially the Desperation Moves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89nNsPUhewc That Ryo NeoMax at 7:40 still gives me the goosebumps :D

For the curious ones out there who want to know exactly how the KOF artists screwed up at this stuff, take some time to check out this GDC presentation by Mariel Cartwright from Skullgirls fame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw0h9WmBlsw The "anticipation" topic that starts at 2:25 is a good example of the animation principles that weren't implemented that well in this KOF.

But despite all that technical mumbo-jumbo negativity about the graphics, I can safely say that this game FEELS like KOF, no doubt. The gameplay is pretty awesome and despite all that I've mentioned above, I would recommend it for any fighting game fan who is willing to sacrifice some of graphical fidelity (goddamn GG: Revelator, you spoiled us like fuck on that regard) for a fun and easy to learn game. And in the end, that is all that matters.

Now we just need to see if the online play holds up, that will probably decide the fate of this game.
 
M

Mr. Smiley

Member
SAB CA said:
There are some matches with her throughout the day of streams, yeah. I can't say I've seen a specific video to point you to, sorry!

I'm sure many in this thread could tell you about how she is in this game, if you're curious, though.
Click to expand...

Thanks but the latter probably won't do me good since I don't know jack about KoF. lol. I only ask for Athena in particular cause I at least remember playing her a bit way, waaaaay back when on some KoF before I understood what "mechanics" even meant.

So priority for me right now is trying to understand it through the demo and maybe a past KoF game.

I'll scrub through the Evo playlists though, thanks!
 
G

Guymelef

Member
I think my last KOF was '98 and only some casuals plays, As someone who would love to go into games like GG or BB but are "hard" I love the "simple" everything looks on this KOF XIV.
That feeling after finishing the tutorial and you really have understood everything... is good.
 
B

Big Brett

Member
Guess I'ma try this. Didnt care for XIII much but we shall see! Latest gameplay looked much better. Any online play? (in the demo)
 
T

TheSpoiler

Member
HardRojo said:
Juggling between SFV, KoF, Revelator and Tekken... I wonder how the fuck I'll manage lol.
Click to expand...

Split time and practice smart, I guess. Maybe spend an hour on one game and focus on that. No main hopping, no fuckery online like picking up Rashid and winning on random shit, just straight training.

So that's
SFV
KOF
Gundam (fuck it, I'll get back into it soon)
Tekken
KI3 (I have it but i haven't taken the time to get into it all the way)
 
N

Neoxon

Junior Member
TheSpoiler said:
Split time and practice smart, I guess. Maybe spend an hour on one game and focus on that. No main hopping, no fuckery online like picking up Rashid and winning on random shit, just straight training.

So that's
SFV
KOF
Gundam (fuck it, I'll get back into it soon)
Tekken
KI3 (I have it but i haven't taken the time to get into it all the way)
Click to expand...
That's probably gonna be my plan. Once Urien comes out, I'm focusing on him. But otherwise, I'm gonna have to focus on my mains for SFV, KoF, Tekken, & GGXrd.
 
OmegaDL50

OmegaDL50

Member
This is a cross post, but whatever.

Probably not the first person that did this.

I figured out how to properly extract audio from the demo for the purpose sharing the stage music.

In anycase, go into options turn all of the audio options down except for music. Go into any stage or character combination of your choice and use the share button to record. Copy the video over to your PC and extract the audio and edit in Audacity or your prefered audio editing program.

This is one of the results, I think another user has uploaded most of the team tracks already, but I just wanted to share this one because I don't think it has been available yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGVDaKAx2OA - Enjoy folks!
 
W

Wolfgunblood Garopa

Member
Loved seeing that SNK logo booting it up.

It's fun to play, no issues. It's much easier to play than the KOFs I'm used to (mostly 97 and 98). The music is cool. Graphics are pretty good. Some of the super moves look really cool, especially Iori's max whatever with the red screen and silhouettes. This one is definitely more my speed compared to the last few KOFs.
 
A

Alucrid

Banned
why does training show button inputs if the button is still held down and you make a new directional input? makes me feel bad about my sloppy execution
 
L

Lights and Waves

Member
Finally got to play this. LOVE it. The graphics are SO much better than they look in videos. Not crazy about Mai'a costume though, but I'm glad to see that SNK is giving fan favorites some of their old costumes as DLC.

Can't wait to play as the other characters, especially Athena!
 
J

J_ToSaveTheDay

Member
I find the gameplay close enough to KoF to be to my (mild) liking but I still personally am having trouble getting past the visuals and presentation. I totally understand where SNK is at with their hopeful rebirth into videogames and want to show support but I'm not sure I'm feeling KOF XIV enough to make it any sort of priority.

Wish SNK all the luck in the world and I feel like I might be able to get by on gameplay alone at a slightly reduced price, but don't feel like I'm going to buy in for the August launch. Hopefully my Last Blade 2 and Garou: Mark of the Wolves purchases are providing for them on some significant level. I know Last Blade 2 launched as an ultimately less-than-polished port (most problems have been addressed with a patch) and I was a bit fast to pull the trigger there, but hoping Garou doesn't suffer the same day 1 fate -- it's my favorite SNK game of all time.
 
A

Amedo310

Member
Alucrid said:
why does training show button inputs if the button is still held down and you make a new directional input? makes me feel bad about my sloppy execution
Click to expand...

I never figured that out. I guess it SNK's way of doing key inputs. The same thing happens in KOF 02UM, 98UMFE on steam and KOFXIII on all consoles.
 
A

Anbec7

Member
I'm liking it but can't find the "timing" on some of them.
Must be because I'm new to KOF but I'm having fun learning some of the mechanics
 
T

ThoughtsOfSpeaking

Banned
Playing this I'm reminded why I disliked snk games as a kid. Nonsensicaly long notation.

Quarter circle forward then half circle back.. Why?

If everyone had a move list like a Tekken character, but they don't. The best moves are needlessly hard to execute, especially under pressure with a pad.

Kinda glad I already cancelled my preorder. I'll buy the full game, but nowhere near launch.
 
R

Renkax

Member
I can't find the normals that are in the auto combo for KOD .. I feel like there's a lot of stuff that can be linked with the max mode.

Also the max mode activation that shrinks it to half a bar is only able to work when you hit the opponent once and then go? Or?..
 
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