Quick notes from lunch break-
1.Training Mode
Training mode seems to be something more for advanced players than novices and here's why:
If you go into training mode, the game ends when the training mode's timer runs out. That is, you don't go into normal/arcade mode. In normal mode, I think the game runs about 8 stages, and AI in the first two stages are really easy, at least by default setting. So the mode seems to be more of a something for advanced players who want to try out some specific combos with plentiful meters.
2.Story Mode-
The first two stages are dirt easy, then things get harder. But the game is overall easy to beat since the CPU isn't that strong at least by default, and you can always get mission bonuses by rolling around a few times or whatnot.
I didn't meet a mid-boss, probably because I was trying out too many things and not aiming for a good score. There's an intermission after the 3rd or 4th stage-- it's the same thing we've seen in previous videos.
There's split paths at the end of the game. After the last match at Rose Stadium, you either get a bad ending, or advance to the boss. Spoiler Alert. There might be other paths, but those were the two that I've saw.
Now keep in mind that this is all from memory so there's probably a few mistakes here and there.
SPOILER
I- Bad Ending Path
The screen switches to Saiki and his minions at that throne-looking background, and they're all bowing down to him. They all look worried- the screen zooms to Botan and you can see a streak of sweat running across her face. Saiki is sitting down, looking a bit pissed.
A conversation like this takes place: "Damn, you guys are useless. We have just about enough energy to open the gate. We're going to rewind time, but don't think that this kind of miracle is gonna happen again!"
The scene then changes and Ash is seen in a dark location where there's the red orb from the intermission. Except, the red orb has totally lost its glow. Ash smiles and walks ways. The screen fades, and you see "Game Over".
II-Boss Path
After beating the last opponent at Rose Stadium, the screen zooms into the stadium's back monitor where Rose is talking. She suddenly freezes in the middle of the conversation, and we find out that... someone has frozen time.
Suddenly, the Ka No Chi cult members all appear in the stadium (you've seen the scene in previous trailers), and by orders from Saiki, they all fly off to different locations to finish off their last task.
Well, all of them.. except Mukai.
Mukai is looking pissed (because he lost in KOF2003) and he asks Saiki to give him another chance against the fighters. Saiki, pissed at Mukai, drains the living life out of him and then shows his ultimate form, transforming into a red being that looks a lot like Magaki from KOFXI, except a lot more muscular and no pants (he looks like a Magaki with the muscles of SF3's Urien).
The boss battle takes place in the ruins of Rose Stadium; the ground looks like the black hardened aftermath of molten lava.
Saiki's name is written something like 斎己 or 斎忌 in phonetic Kanji letters as we learn from his pre-bout conversations. Again, he looks like a red muscular Magaki, but with something that looks like black tar on his hands. The tar-like substance is pretty much the single weapon he uses in his fight. And sweet cripes, he's probably one of the slowest KOF bosses in history.
Unlike Magaki, Saiki's not too agressive, but it's still pretty hard to beat him. He can get hit at times by the most simplest moves like a foot sweep, but he can also grab you since your foot goes into his throw range. His four main attacks are- a tar projectile that holds you down for additional attacks, a grab that coats you with tar and chips down your life, a projectile counter that returns your fireball as the aformentioned tar, and a full-screen multihit counter like Orochi's, except the screen turns black with tar, not white. He moves very slow, but he has a teleport so you can't corner him.
I haven't beaten him yet. There's continue bonuses like in previous KOFs, but I wasn't desperate enough to play from the end. Also, there's no missions during the last boss, which makes things even harder.
End of Spoiler
Other Tidibitsz
Overall, the game is fun to play so far. The game's speed seems to be slower than the more recent KOFs excluding XII. Because of that, the timing on doing cancels/buffers may seem off for first-time players.
As seen in videos already on the net, there's lots of tidbits in the background. Duck King's chick with blue hair is in the USA stage, for example.
King and Yuri have kept their special KO animations in the product release. In fact, they have not just one, but two animations. The usual pose where they fall back, and a new one for chip damage where they fall forward.
K' doesn't have any palettes that erases his shades. His pants seems to use two seperate palette sets, for his left and right legs, and there's a coloring where one turns black.
Iori's palette with the crecent looks nice. Kyo's looks like a simple circle and it seems a bit weird.
