The King of Fighters XII Thread

[Damaramu]

Yup, 20 characters:

Kukino confirmed that there will be a total of 20 characters in KOFXII, 11 of which are playable in the AM Show build: Kyo, Terry, Ryo, Ash, Robert, Kim, Ralf, Shen-wu, Benimaru, Leona, and Athena. KOFXII is currently 60 percent complete in development, and there will be beta tests before the game's proper release.

source: HERE (good read too!)

[Sotenga]

I can't help but be a bit crestfallen, as 20 characters is even less than the series' debut, KoF 94 (not counting Fatal Fury: King of Fighters as the start ). It only had 24, but it's still more than what we've got here. Granted, you couldn't mix teams then... and the Sports Team was discounted by many, so you could argue that it only had 21 genuine fighters... but then everyone hates Chang and Choi, so 19 really good characters... wait, Ralf and Clark were ALMOST exact clones of each other despite some subtle differences... all three members of the Kyokugen team were really similar... I don't think anyone played as the Psycho Soldiers then...

That last statement was a joke, but I retract my bitching about the roster size. It'll be a bit of an adjustment to deal with such a comparatively small roster at first, but as long as each character kicks more ass than they ever have, I can deal with it.

[Kitsune Sniper]

As long as they don't put Rugal as a final boss again, I'm game.

[Overbite]

Well that's dissapointing. Why do they go from a 40+ roster to 20? And most of the cast list is the stupid new characters like Ash.

It has Ralf in it so that's good. Ralf/Mary/Hinako is the best team, but Hinako has been missing for a while

[Sotenga]

As long as they don't put Rugal as a final boss again, I'm game.

Quoted for agreement. He's just become more obnoxious in each new game he's been in, having exceeded the hyper-annoying limit in 2002. How much more powerful could he be here? A Genocide Cutter that causes a crescent slash to fill the entire screen?! Ugh, I'm disturbed just thinking about it. o_O

[Overbite]

Rugal is easy compaired to Magaki. Jesus christ lets have him shoot giant projectiles all over the screen you can't dodge. If you roll out of them he does some crazy move that makes everything explode.

[G-Boobie]

Rugal is easy compaired to Magaki. Jesus christ lets have him shoot giant projectiles all over the screen you can't dodge. If you roll out of them he does some crazy move that makes everything explode.

In some countries, SNK Boss Syndrome is still considered a viable defense for aggravated assault.

[Sotenga]

Uh-oh. http://kingoffighters.planets.gamesp...=asc&start=465

What it says in this thread is that XII is going to totally disregard the current plotline started by 2003 and XI. To me, this says that they're not going to attempt to make it better than XI, and it's looking to me like a Dream Match type game with a gimped roster.

Well... I'm only hoping for two things: A) Every character is incredibly fun to play as, and B) Rugal is not the freaking final boss. I'm going to gamble Geese in this case. May be a bit farfetched, but I can only hope.

[ubersaurus]

Uh-oh. http://kingoffighters.planets.gamesp...=asc&start=465

What it says in this thread is that XII is going to totally disregard the current plotline started by 2003 and XI. To me, this says that they're not going to attempt to make it better than XI, and it's looking to me like a Dream Match type game with a gimped roster.

Well... I'm only hoping for two things: A) Every character is incredibly fun to play as, and B) Rugal is not the freaking final boss. I'm going to gamble Geese in this case. May be a bit farfetched, but I can only hope.

What, people care about fighting game plots?

Nah but seriously, the KOF story isn't so good that the lack of one is going to make me not play the game. XII looks nice, and if its on PS3 and 360 like they say, it'll have online play. So what excuse would there be for not having fun with it anyway? SF2 barely had a storyline, and it's arguably the most beloved fighting game ever made.

[Damaramu]

I hope Mr. Big is in the roster.

[Tron 2.0]

As long as they don't put Rugal as a final boss again, I'm game.

As for not having a cheap boss at the end you wish.

That's all ways been a staple for snkp i doubt that will change any time soon.

[Kitsune Sniper]

As for not having a cheap boss at the end you wish.

That's all ways been a staple for snkp i doubt that will change any time soon.

Well, every time that there's a dream match, Rugal gets used. Remember 98? And 2000... something? Hell they even used HIS SON on the recent games. Jeez.

Rugal's a pussy, anyhow. Give us someone worth fighting against, like I dunno... Nightmare Geese Howard?

[G-Boobie]

Well, every time that there's a dream match, Rugal gets used. Remember 98? And 2000... something? Hell they even used HIS SON on the recent games. Jeez.

Rugal's a pussy, anyhow. Give us someone worth fighting against, like I dunno... Nightmare Geese Howard?

Man, regular Geese Howard is bad enough. Don't give SNK any ideas.

[Damaramu]

Dengenki Online posted some new screen shots; plus new characters!

HERE!

[Sotenga]

My current stance on XII is as follows: Generally, I'm a slight tad disappointed in the lowered roster, but I realize that I'm only one fan, so SNK Playmore cannot cater to me and me alone. Also, I recognize that sacrifices are necessary to generate this new visual style. However, don't get me wrong: I am still very excited to play this game. Let me go into specific pros and cons:

Good:
+Graphics are absolutely fantastic, no complaints here.
+Gameplay looks awesome from what I've seen in the videos. A bit simpler than in recent games, but fast-paced and just as solid as ever... though there is one thing I've seen that I'm not sure I favor, which I'll list below.
+Ralf and Clark ROIDED TO THE GILLS. I initially opposed Clark's inclusion, but the two soldiers seem more different than ever in how they play, so I can dig it.
+Psycho Soldier Kensou. Although one of my favorite characters now, I always thought his appearance was off, but now he truly looks like a fighter!
+Raiden's inclusion. I'm in the minority, but I really like him, and now moreso than ever since seeing his DM.
+Finally new Iori. Some don't approve of his new look, but I personally do, if for no other reason than he's finally over his damn tied-pants phase. Plus, his new gameplay looks great, a bit of a combination between Mature and Freeman from MotW.
+The unlikely return of Joe Higashi; an underrated favorite of mine, and he looks great in action.
+Chin Gentsai. Yes, serious. While I thought his inclusion was a real WTF choice at first, I changed my tune when I saw him in action! WHOA!

Bad:
-Leona and Athena are the only two female characters?! Now I'm generally somewhat patriarchal when it comes to choosing characters in games, but KoF has some awesome females, most especially King and Mai. To not have at least them in the fold is just... wrong. I especially know one of my friends on here will be crestfallen at no King.
-What happened to Elisabeth? She was shown in an early promotional flyer, but has yet to appear in game and is not apparently part of the main roster. I really hope she didn't get cut due to time constraints... I'd rather wait a few more months if they have some characters yet to be released.
-It seems that each character only has one Desperation Move this time around... I might be wrong on that, but I've only seen one limited to each character so far. On top of that, no Super DMs can be performed, which makes me a bit sad. I always liked the uber-versions of attacks myself, even if they weren't always practical.
-Andy Bogard. I've never been much of an Andy fan, but I've liked him in Fatal Fury 3 and onward, especially as his design is more ninja-esque in FF3 (slightly less so in the Real Bout games, but I still like it more than his KoF look). I heard mention that they were proposing a possible redesign for Andy, but nope; he's still got his boring KoF look, and I'm not impressed with seeing him in action... but I've only seen him in one gameplay video so far, so my opinion might change.
-Speaking of the Bogards and their design, I'm STILL miffed that they reverted Terry to his classic look from his MotW look... I personally prefer his MotW design, but this is just a minor gripe.
-They booted Kyo back to his 94/95 moveset... and I love his flame punch chains, personally. I can sense that they wanted a "back-to-basics" feel with XII here, but it seems to me that a few of the decisions they made are TOO conservative.
-On that tangent, Robert's been changed back to his AoF/94/95 look, and his moveset along with it. A few of his moves appear to be somewhat simliar to Ryo now, which makes me wonder why they have two Kyokugen fighters in the fold instead of a more unique character in the place of one. Now I personally like Robert more than Ryo, but if they wanted to keep him, at least give him the anti-air flip kick or the ability to launch fireballs high and low as he's had in some games.
-I'd personally wish they'd call this "King of Fighters: Rebirth" which seems to be something of an unofficial alternate title. This game appears to be something of a Dream Match, disregarding story and whatnot, and referring to it as KoF XII in the middle of the Sacred Treasures arc makes it indicate that it's a direct follow-up to 2003 and XI when it really seems to not be the case so far. I'm used to the Dream Match being at the end of an arc, and XII is mucking up the order. However, I have heard a theory that it's being called XII simply because it's been a lengthy amount of time since XI was last released... is it 2005? That much time has passed already? Geezums.

A few more comments:

I have yet to decide if I like or dislike this mechanic, but I can only judge for sure once I actually play the game. It's called the Critical Counter system, and it involves stopping a special move with a strong punch or kick, allowing you to follow up with a damaging combo of your own design OR a DM that does much damage. It makes combos more damaging for sure, but I hope it makes them easier to perform as well; otherwise, this mechanic will kick my ass when it comes to experts and I won't be able to use it as well. Here it is in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7w0WlTXE0M

I revoke my past comments about not wanting Rugal to be the final boss. If this is going to be a Dream Match consisting mostly of characters that have been mainstays since KoF 94, then Rugal's only a natural compliment to the roster. I'm hoping that he'll be a fine and somewhat unfair challenge without being overly ridiculous or spammy, like his own 2002 incarnation, Igniz, or Magaki. I'm also thinking Geese could be a likely prospect if he's as strong as he was in Real Bout Fatal Fury or RBFF Special.

However, a random thought of dread hit me recently: What if there IS no final boss? A boss isn't always necessary, especially as fighting games are often tailored to be 2-player affairs, but I always like to see what ridiculously-overpowered mofo SNK has waiting at the end of a 1-player run... especially since I'm often a loner when it comes to most games.

I'm getting the feeling that there will be more characters added to the roster; if not for the arcade, then definitely for home versions. This is more a hunch than anything, and in all likelihood, I'll be proven wrong, but it's cool to hope sometimes.

Wow, this is becoming a wall of text. To retain interest, I'm concluding my rant with some gameplay videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04M3F8ng0GU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVlrpXgujgE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDXFBvUc1AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBIZh_IJKF8

And based on that... I highly approve. I'll have to play it for myself, but I'm certain it won't change my current stance. If anything, it can only improve.

[XYXZYZ]

1. I can't wait to play this game.

2. Where the hell is Mai? How the hell are you going to redraw all those sprites in loving detail, but not draw Mai? With her many animation frames of realstic* physics? I know we have DOA, but... it's not the same.






*not really

[AB Positive]

*grumblegrumblegrumble*no King*grumblegrumblegrumble*

I'll still play it, obviously... but damn. No King, no Mai... no Blue Mary, Vanessa, Elizabeth? Don't SNK know I ALWAYS play a 3 woman team? Damn...

Gotta brush up on my Terry or Benimaru I guess... :/

[ubersaurus]

*grumblegrumblegrumble*no King*grumblegrumblegrumble*

I'll still play it, obviously... but damn. No King, no Mai... no Blue Mary, Vanessa, Elizabeth? Don't SNK know I ALWAYS play a 3 woman team? Damn...

Gotta brush up on my Terry or Benimaru I guess... :/

Elizabeth was in the promo art for the game, so she's in there apparently :P

[Suzaku]

I can't wait for this one. I'm slowly working on importing all the various SNK collections for the PS2. I loved KoF XI, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the tag mechanic. It's nice to see them finally redrawing sprites, but I do cringe at the roster. King is one of my favorite characters, so I'm sad to see her go. On the bright side, I've been awaiting Andy's turn for quite a while, and I love that they're bringing him back.

I just hope that in their return to the older movesets for some characters they're not going to some of the old motions (partial circles ending in an up/back diagonal, for instance. I'm looking at you, Crack Shoot.....) I use an HRAP for most of my fighters, but I still hate weird motions like that. Kind of like what they did to Guile in SSFII HD Remix.

[Sotenga]

*grumblegrumblegrumble*no King*grumblegrumblegrumble*

I'll still play it, obviously... but damn. No King, no Mai... no Blue Mary, Vanessa, Elizabeth? Don't SNK know I ALWAYS play a 3 woman team? Damn...

Gotta brush up on my Terry or Benimaru I guess... :/

How can you have your pie if you don't have any sausage?

I jest, I jest. I keep thinking to myself, "Now Al HAS to have a male on his team. He not gonna like that." Mai and King are gaping omissions, but King wasn't around for the arcade 2002, nor was Mai in the XI team. I'm going to gambit that at least one of them will be released on consoles, and we can only hope. Just remember these two facts: A) SNK can't cater to the demands of every individual fan, and when the roster is smaller, many are bound to be disappointed that their favorites aren't in the fold. And B) They could have picked Chang or Choi. It could be MUCH worse.

On a side note, I've legitimately attempted to like Andy... it worked! I realized that, at least in KoF 98, he's actually fast and pesky, able to blitz the opponent with some quick attacks. Plus, without Mai, Eiji, or Lin, he is XII's only ninja, and that has to get points for awesome. I can officially say that, at the moment, I have no problems with the roster choices for XII.

Also, I think my official super-awesome team will be consisted of Kensou, Iori, and Shen. I'm liking the sound of that.

EDIT: Suzaku, I agree. I know they're going back to basics, and I'm not sure how much farther they can go back... but if they have that F@#$ING awkward as all get-out motion for the Crack Shoot again, then my opinion is going to drop even lower. It was already low before, now it's climbing back up to a high perch. C'mon, SNK. Don't screw us over on that one. The less cumbersome, the better.