Design
Huh. Apart from the initial rage, not quite at the generic fighters themselves, but at the rather blatant stealing of moves.. oh forget it, look, it’s a KOF rip off. But it goes beyond KOF and rips off other fighting games too!
Now how about the game itself?
System
Thanks to some shady friends we managed to get to grips with the game properly, normally for which you essentially need to be a Chinese citizen.
The game features 4 buttons much like a fighter you may have played… two punches and kicks… a roll…. a knockdown attack… and a grab with two buttons.
Well, I have to say I do love the grab with buttons rather than forward with heavy, so my combos don’t get messed up.
Not sure yet if there is evasion roll or blowback but I have noticed some characters have a parry…
This is still in beta stage. Supposedly using the advice of top KOF players in China, the influence shows. Noting that these players probably didn’t play anything but KOF97, this also shows in the limited scope of movement, for example the Max Mode cannot be cancelled into, and it doesn’t allow you to cancel moves, as far as I can see, it just allows you to do a SDM. Plus, only a limited amount of moves can be cancelled. Combo wise, it’s also rather tight and some combos were needed rather speedy responses – this is a backwards trend as opposed to the easier combos of Persona. For those who have played KOF13 you’ll see quite a few effects and neomaxes stolen… Otherwise, it’s actually quite fun. It’s like playing a new KOF. Lol.
Netcode
Good so far, and reports support this over long distances. And that’s going to be a major factor in deciding which game to play. Considering KOFXIII, 98um and 2002um will be on Steam (don’t quote me on that), this is the direct competitor that has a fresh face, new moves, a whole load of characters which all cater to the KOF school of cool – lots of young guys with $200 emo haircuts (plus rip offs of Vergil, Chris Redfield etc etc) and questionably aged girls…
Revenue
And speaking of competition, how much will all this cost? 0. As in, zero. Nadda. It’s a F2P (Free to Play) game, making its revenue from ads in game and no doubt on its radio channel which launches with the menu. You must login to play and go online, even for practice mode. The practice mode is limited and craftily so, forcing you to go online for arcade mode to unlock new characters, badges and achievements to keep you playing. And of course, you can buy those things from the shop…
This model will surely have SNKP grinding teeth, as it has the potential to reap many rewards, and directly to the the company, rather than simply getting a cut from Steam purchases. At the same time it could go south rather quickly if players find a way to block all the ads and turn off the radio…
Worth impersonating a Chinese citizen?
At the moment the menu is still rather intense and there are some messages which can be quite alarming, plus the cancel and accept buttons often seem to switch sides- the game does need to be localised. If the game should be picked up, and noting how the system requirements are not that high (I ran it fine on an i5 laptop with no special graphics card)… it’s definitely a contender. Certain FGC celebs are already playing and having fun with it. It’s biggest problem is that while trying to ensure people stay online, there is no 2 player mode. So tournaments will have to hook up LANs. Lol. Perhaps this is just a beta thing. But it’s rather ridiculous. We’ll keep an eye out.
Here are some videos to whet your appetite.
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