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[Takuan]

Well, after spending about 3 hours on this, initial feelings are that I wasted $50 and my time would've been better spent on Skyrim or UMvC3. Feels bad, man. Definitely should've waited for more feedback before opening my copy. The below is really for people who aren't already huge KOF fans or just aren't huge fighting game fans in general. I really feel like this game could only get a positive reception from the most loyal fans out there, or people who love their fighters.

Main complaints:

1. Online is decidedly not good. I only played against blue and green connections, and didn't have a good experience with any of them. There was always noticeable input lag, so matches felt clumsy. I was never able to really get into the online portion because of this, especially when timing is so strict (by my standards, anyway).

2. Sprites are a bit blurry, as they appear to be upscaled; I think they're in their native resolution on the character select & team order screens. The sprite work itself is okay, but I find myself wishing a lot of the characters had more detail, particularly in the face region. This would be forgivable if they compensated with great animation, but you can practically count the frames on most attacks, and nothing about the special attacks or super moves is particularly impressive.

3. Production, in general, is very low-budget. Everything from the font, in-game HUD and menus look bare-bones and dated.

Main likes:

I basically did the two available tutorials, messed with Elisabeth's trial mode a bit (1, 3, and 4 completed), then took the game online. All I can really say is that I like the way it plays; high-tempo, solid mechanics, large and varied cast. I just wish the online component was viable, because human opponents are the best.

Unless they improve the netcode (wouldn't cross my fingers), I don't see myself spending much more time with this. I might learn how to use a few characters - Elisabeth seems really cool and I was just messing around with new Iori - but without human competition to play against, it's a bit pointless.

 

[SolarKnight]

Are you paying attention to the connection/region of the people joining your games? Anything at 3 bars is very playable and 4 bars is excellent. Maybe your connection just sucks.

XIII's netcode ain't SSF4 or even Marvel, but it's not ass. That was XII.



They need to patch the game to allow you to back out of ranked matches. It sucks when you get matched up against someone with a shitty connection and there's nothing you can do about it. You should be able to decline at the pre match-up screen.

Could you compare it to NGBC?

Also, really? Man, that does seriously need a patch =/

 

[Lyte Edge]

Could you compare it to NGBC?

Also, really? Man, that does seriously need a patch =/

I'd put it on the same level as NGBC. You can definitely see from this thread that experiences vary.

This is a huge step up from the abomination that was XII and better than say, Soul Calibur IV is online, but it still isn't as good as Capcom's online fighters. I hope it gets patched and I find the netcode overall to be decent enough that I'm sticking with this game. I love the game play so much that I'm willing to put up with its online issues.

 

[K.Sabot]

Man, inputs are harddddd.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

I really wonder how the net code going to be for me .
BB was great both of them , SF4 was okay , SSF4 was good , MVC3 Bad , UMVC3 looking bad right now.

 

[Terareflection]

I really wonder how the net code going to be for me .
BB was great both of them , SF4 was okay , SSF4 was good , MVC3 Bad , UMVC3 looking bad right now.

Might not want to try it then.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Might not want to try it then.

Well i will get the game no matter what .
I got a fair amount of people to play off line and i am one of the people who help the KOF community down here .

 

[luka]

Personally, the fighting games I choose to play aren't dictated by convenience. I don't care how awesome the netcode is, if the games don't appeal to me I won't have any desire to put the time in and learn it. After 10 years we finally have a proper successor to the great fighters of the 90s with almost all of the modern amenities we expect these days. No ridiculous lenience, no freebie comeback cutscene mechanics, go googly-eyed gorrila-hand character designs. It's such a gorgeous, full-featured game with great pacing and feel that doesn't dumb itself down for that nebulous mass appeal. I'm absolutely horrible right now (my KOF is understandably rusty), but you're damn sure that I'll be putting in many many hours into this.

I played a few matches with I9 earlier at 2 bars. It was laggy as expected but for scrubbing it up casual style you can get used to it. Played a few 3 and a 4 bar later on and it was decent enough for skilled play. I'm happy with it, and honestly, I'd never play any fighting game seriously online. To me, it's just a bonus for killing time when you can't get some offline comp. I'm doing my best to get my few fighting game playing friends into this game. It's a tough sell and they're really entrenched in the school of SF4, but this game is worth the effort. I'm going to buy a 360 copy as well, once the game is officially out in Japan. I'm doing my part.

edit: the complaints about the low-budget presentation seem kind of silly considering this is essentially the most expensive fighting game ever made (including XII). The menus look exactly like BBCS to me. I don't get it.

 

[Takuan]

edit: the complaints about the low-budget presentation seem kind of silly considering this is essentially the most expensive fighting game ever made (including XII). The menus look exactly like BBCS to me. I don't get it.

I can't tell if you're being serious. Was XIII really that expensive to make?

 

[SolarKnight]

I can't tell if you're being serious. Was XIII really that expensive to make?

2D sprites and animation of that quality is not cheap you know. I remember someone mentioned an approximate number in one of the previous topics, but I can't remember the amount...It may not be THE most expensive, but it was costing SNK so much that they were FORCED to release XII the way it was to get back money and keep working on the game, don't think that was SNK being lazy.

Also, yeah, don't really get what's wrong with the presentation too. It looks quite nice from all the footage I've seen.

 

[luka]

I'm guessing Saiki replaces Ash as the second midboss if you get enough DM finishers?

I can't tell if you're being serious. Was XIII really that expensive to make?

The sprites and backgrounds for old arcade games on 15Khz low res monitors took quite a bit of effort, and those screens had resolutions smaller than your cell phone today. Making a 2D game with sprites at 4x the resolution (not enough to be 1:1 on a 720p display, but enough for it to still look decent when scaled and filtered) using traditional pixel art and rotoscoping techniques takes an order of magnitude more time and effort than it used to. It's a lot of money for something that not many people truly appreciate. Not to mention you can't easily create a ton of costumes and sell them as DLC.

ASW and outher doujin fighter developers use sprites, but they employ simpler and far more economic techniques. Sprites from BB, for example, look flat and stick out like cardboard cutouts against the backgrounds, and the animation quality isn't even comparable.

 

[bon]

Online seems fine to me. Most matches I played had little to no lag. I even had a pretty smooth fight against a guy with a red connection signal.

 

[luka]

I just played with a couple randoms that had 1 bar and it was surprisingly playable. A bit of synchronization delay at the start of the rounds but nothing unplayable for scrub-tier. I was able to pull off a few decent ash combos, and I suck with ash!

Even at it's worst, KOF13 netcode murders KOF12 at it's absolute best.

 

[SentientStone]

Box-art age: Does the American PS3 version have reversible cover art?

 

[Shinriji]

Why they couldn't use the Neogeo Station netcode is beyond me. Someone has a plausible explaination for this?

 

[alstein]

Why they couldn't use the Neogeo Station netcode is beyond me. Someone has a plausible explaination for this?

It feels on par with that netcode to me.

 

[Shadow780]

They need to patch the game to allow you to back out of ranked matches. It sucks when you get matched up against someone with a shitty connection and there's nothing you can do about it. You should be able to decline at the pre match-up screen.

What's the deal with this? You can't create matches and kick people if their connection is shitty?

 

[Grokbu]

To the people who have shitty games at 3- to 4-bars: Do you know where your opponent are situated and what connection they have?

I'm not saying this because I don't trust you, but because the bars seem a bit weird.
Not that that's a good thing either, though.

 

[luka]

What's the deal with this? You can't create matches and kick people if their connection is shitty?

He's talking about ranked matches. You have full control over player matches.

Box-art age: Does the American PS3 version have reversible cover art?

Nope.

 

[Shadow780]

He's talking about ranked matches. You have full control over player matches.

So in ranked matches, even if you create the match, you'd have no control?

 

[luka]

I haven't tried ranked yet, but I'd assume so.

 

[alstein]

I don't think anyone will bother with ranked then. Player match seems to work well enough, outside of the issue of laggers joining your games.

 

[Shadow780]

I don't think anyone will bother with ranked then. Player match seems to work well enough, outside of the issue of laggers joining your games.

I want teh trophies

 

[SentientStone]

Nope.

Great, time to open mine then. Thanks.

 

[Tizoc]

I want teh trophies

Find a boost partner and do the 10 in a row ranked match wins =3

 

[Takuan]

To the people who have shitty games at 3- to 4-bars: Do you know where your opponent are situated and what connection they have?

I'm not saying this because I don't trust you, but because the bars seem a bit weird.
Not that that's a good thing either, though.

No, I just did quick matches and chose the best results. Why are there sometimes two sets of bars per player? There's that "other" column and then one to the right.

 

[BadWolf]

Played a few matches before going to work in the morning, ignored all the 1 bar requests and played a few 2 bar ones. The 2 bar ones were surprisingly playable.

I really hope they patch in the bar requirement as an actual restriction so that ppl with a low bar count can't join the room, I set up a room for 3 and above and get tons of 1 bars joining.

At least there's lots of ppl playing, 95% of the time I can't get past the character select screen in practice without someone challening me lol.

 

[Raging Spaniard]

Played last night, it was awesome until the very last boss (emo Ash or whatever) which, of course, was a lesson in horrible game design once again given to you by SNK.

Frustrating, cheap, not fun, doesnt teach you anything. Bad game design.

 

[BadWolf]

Played last night, it was awesome until the very last boss (emo Ash or whatever) which, of course, was a lesson in horrible game design once again given to you by SNK.

Frustrating, cheap, not fun, doesnt teach you anything. Bad game design.

Nope, this is what you call an SNK boss fight. It wouldn't feel right otherwise.

 

[LowParry]

Played last night, it was awesome until the very last boss (emo Ash or whatever) which, of course, was a lesson in horrible game design once again given to you by SNK.

Frustrating, cheap, not fun, doesnt teach you anything. Bad game design.

Reminds me of Mizuchi levels of lame. About 50 attempts later, I can get the finisher.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Nope, this is what you call an SNK boss fight. It wouldn't feel right otherwise.

Yep seem like normal SNK boss .

 

[Fersis]

Played last night, it was awesome until the very last boss (emo Ash or whatever) which, of course, was a lesson in horrible game design once again given to you by SNK.

Frustrating, cheap, not fun, doesnt teach you anything. Bad game design.

d-^__^-b

 

[Grokbu]

No, I just did quick matches and chose the best results. Why are there sometimes two sets of bars per player? There's that "other" column and then one to the right.

Hrm, not sure.

Maybe it's like BB, where there's a connection requirement set by the room host?

 

[Finaika]

Order shipped! ^_^

 

[soxinthebox]

Well, after spending about 3 hours on this, initial feelings are that I wasted $50 and my time would've been better spent on Skyrim or UMvC3. Feels bad, man. Definitely should've waited for more feedback before opening my copy. The below is really for people who aren't already huge KOF fans or just aren't huge fighting game fans in general. I really feel like this game could only get a positive reception from the most loyal fans out there, or people who love their fighters.

Main complaints:

1. Online is decidedly not good. I only played against blue and green connections, and didn't have a good experience with any of them. There was always noticeable input lag, so matches felt clumsy. I was never able to really get into the online portion because of this, especially when timing is so strict (by my standards, anyway).

2. Sprites are a bit blurry, as they appear to be upscaled; I think they're in their native resolution on the character select & team order screens. The sprite work itself is okay, but I find myself wishing a lot of the characters had more detail, particularly in the face region. This would be forgivable if they compensated with great animation, but you can practically count the frames on most attacks, and nothing about the special attacks or super moves is particularly impressive.

3. Production, in general, is very low-budget. Everything from the font, in-game HUD and menus look bare-bones and dated.

Main likes:

I basically did the two available tutorials, messed with Elisabeth's trial mode a bit (1, 3, and 4 completed), then took the game online. All I can really say is that I like the way it plays; high-tempo, solid mechanics, large and varied cast. I just wish the online component was viable, because human opponents are the best.

Unless they improve the netcode (wouldn't cross my fingers), I don't see myself spending much more time with this. I might learn how to use a few characters - Elisabeth seems really cool and I was just messing around with new Iori - but without human competition to play against, it's a bit pointless.

Sounds exactly like my experience with XII just minus the positives.

 

[Augemitbutter]

i'd be disappointed if a SNK boss didn't wreck me in my first 50 arcade playthroughs.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Played last night, it was awesome until the very last boss (emo Ash or whatever) which, of course, was a lesson in horrible game design once again given to you by SNK.

Frustrating, cheap, not fun, doesnt teach you anything. Bad game design.

Don't play fighting games for the single player.

It's really not worth it.

 

[Raging Spaniard]

Nope, this is what you call an SNK boss fight. It wouldn't feel right otherwise.

Yes, Ive played SNK games since the early 90's. I'm familiar with this.

Bad boss design is a huge hurdle keeping this game away from attracting a wider audience. You want to make a hard boss fight? Cool, theres many ways to do that, just not the way they have been doing it for the last two decades.

Don't play fighting games for the single player.

It's really not worth it.

So if no friends are around and the Online is kind of shitty then what? Practice mode all day? SP design is important, especially for younger audiences.

 

[sixteen-bit]

So if no friends are around and the Online is kind of shitty then what? Practice mode all day?.

Honestly, that sounds better than the alternative. Practice mode, Trial mode, or, you know, play other games.

 

[Takuan]

Sounds exactly like my experience with XII just minus the positives.

I'm going to give the game a chance. I like the meat of the game. Maybe the online situation will improve for me, too.

Can you unlock colours/use custom colours in Colour Edit mode? I was trying to make a Joker-themed Iori last night, but the selection just isn't there. It doesn't help that many colour options are very similar to one another.

 

[Fersis]

Yes, Ive played SNK games since the early 90's. I'm familiar with this.

Bad boss design is a huge hurdle keeping this game away from attracting a wider audience. You want to make a hard boss fight? Cool, theres many ways to do that, just not the way they have been doing it for the last two decades.



So if no friends are around and the Online is kind of shitty then what? Practice mode all day? SP design is important, especially for younger audiences.

Tutorial Mode
Color Edit Mode
Branching Story Mode
Trials and Survivals
Practice Mode
Gallery Mode

Good Single Player content. (And by good i mean great)

 

[LowParry]

Coming into KOF with the idea of learning the mechanics is pretty overwhelming. All these cancels, HD mode, yadda yadda. Oh yeah, can the DLC charcters be purchased now? I can't seem to find a good pairing with Mature. I'm kinda leaning towards Leona because of how fast she is. I dunno. EX Iori would be really nice to have as well.

 

[OSHAN]

Played last night, it was awesome until the very last boss (emo Ash or whatever) which, of course, was a lesson in horrible game design once again given to you by SNK.

Frustrating, cheap, not fun, doesnt teach you anything. Bad game design.

Took down Emo Ash my first try. Granted, I was playing on Very Easy. (The way to play Arcade when you just want to unlock shit.)

 

[Fersis]

Coming into KOF with the idea of learning the mechanics is pretty overwhelming. All these cancels, HD mode, yadda yadda. Oh yeah, can the DLC charcters be purchased now? I can't seem to find a good pairing with Mature. I'm kinda leaning towards Leona because of how fast she is. I dunno. EX Iori would be really nice to have as well.

EX Iori Release date 12/7

No info about EX Kyo and Mr Karate

 

[LowParry]

EX Iori Release date 12/7

No info about EX Kyo and Mr Karate

He will be mine.

 

[BadWolf]

Coming into KOF with the idea of learning the mechanics is pretty overwhelming. All these cancels, HD mode, yadda yadda. Oh yeah, can the DLC charcters be purchased now? I can't seem to find a good pairing with Mature. I'm kinda leaning towards Leona because of how fast she is. I dunno. EX Iori would be really nice to have as well.

Just focus on one thing at a time, even normal combos (no supers or cancels) do really solid damage (characters like Kyo, Andy etc).

I went from normal to super cancel and then to drive cancel yesterday. Gonna try HD today but honestly drive cancel combos interest me more.

 

[OSHAN]

EX Iori Release date 12/7

No info about EX Kyo and Mr Karate

Are these characters unlockable in the game?

 

[BotoxAgent]

god damn, the backgrounds are gorgeous. And this game reminded me of how a great stage music should be.


Too bad I blow at this game.

 

[Fersis]

Are these characters unlockable in the game?

EX Iori, EX Kyo and Mr Karate are DLC only. (Yes DLC characters in fighting games are the worst sin against gaming ever)

Just focus on one thing at a time, even normal combos (no supers or cancels) do really solid damage (characters like Kyo, Andy etc).

I went from normal to super cancel and then to drive cancel yesterday. Gonna try HD today but honestly drive cancel combos interest me more.

Yesterday watched Arturo do some trials... man some of them are crazy.

 

[Criminal Upper]

Well, after spending about 3 hours on this, initial feelings are that I wasted $50 and my time would've been better spent on Skyrim or UMvC3. Feels bad, man. Definitely should've waited for more feedback before opening my copy. The below is really for people who aren't already huge KOF fans or just aren't huge fighting game fans in general. I really feel like this game could only get a positive reception from the most loyal fans out there, or people who love their fighters.

Main complaints:

1. Online is decidedly not good. I only played against blue and green connections, and didn't have a good experience with any of them. There was always noticeable input lag, so matches felt clumsy. I was never able to really get into the online portion because of this, especially when timing is so strict (by my standards, anyway).

2. Sprites are a bit blurry, as they appear to be upscaled; I think they're in their native resolution on the character select & team order screens. The sprite work itself is okay, but I find myself wishing a lot of the characters had more detail, particularly in the face region. This would be forgivable if they compensated with great animation, but you can practically count the frames on most attacks, and nothing about the special attacks or super moves is particularly impressive.

3. Production, in general, is very low-budget. Everything from the font, in-game HUD and menus look bare-bones and dated.

Main likes:

I basically did the two available tutorials, messed with Elisabeth's trial mode a bit (1, 3, and 4 completed), then took the game online. All I can really say is that I like the way it plays; high-tempo, solid mechanics, large and varied cast. I just wish the online component was viable, because human opponents are the best.

Unless they improve the netcode (wouldn't cross my fingers), I don't see myself spending much more time with this. I might learn how to use a few characters - Elisabeth seems really cool and I was just messing around with new Iori - but without human competition to play against, it's a bit pointless.

Welcome to SNK.

Going back to the boss, it's easily the worst boss encounter this gen. Easily. Makes Seth look good.