Went to the beta test today. Few things that I still remember:
– Controls. For some reason I couldn’t pull off a dragon punch motion to save my life. This was multiple rounds, on multiple beta test cabinets. That said, plenty of Kyo users were doing uppercuts fine so I guess it’s just me sucking tremendously.
– Juggling system – feels weird, closer to GG/BlazBlue style than classic SF/KOF style, i.e. it seems like as long as you can whip out an attack while the opponent is still in hit stun in the air, it’ll connect. Best example of this is Mai, who can, in the corner, go low b, low b, far b, cancel into 
b, drive cancel mid-air 
p, ground p, stand a, air throw.
– Game speed: much better after sluggish XII. Not as hyper-kinetic as XI, but very playable. Stocks build at a decent clip, and you can see fancy hyper drive combos happening often.
– Graphics, presentation: Very nice. Character portraits in particular stand out as very well done. Look of the UI (user select screen, life bars, etc) is nice too.
– SDMs : Can be done any time using 2 stocks, just press 2 buttons when activating DMs.
Some character specific stuff:
Duo Lon:
Looks hella strong, not quite as broken as 2k3’s incarnation but very reminiscent. 
p x 3 chain returns, as well as the ability to teleport after it. 
a, a, 
a, p x 3, k, D, k lets you do mind games like back in 2k3. New super is punch, very similar to classic Iori Maiden Masher in terms of move properties (great against jump ins, etc), but it doesn’t seem to do it’s full animation/damage if you connect it against a jump-in? New fireball move p is tricky, it comes out pretty fast, then it fades in and out of visibility while travelling across the screen. I think there’s no hit box when you can’t see it. Not sure if it hits low?
Mai: Not sure I like the new character design 
Pretty strong, low b low b low b far b is nice hit confirm to cancel into b. far a is redrawn and not as good as it used to be 
No overhead b move, also something I’m going to miss Didn’t try any of her air command moves (mid-ar d etc) but it didn’t seem like she had it. SDM KK is pretty similar to her old versions in term of invincibility and damage.
King: Removed Dwn D and replaced it with her slide kick. Gah so annoying. Not safe on block. Doesn’t seem like you can cancel anything out of it? Couldn’t do trap shot to save my life 
Surprise rose DM hits on the way up, but doesn’t seem like it has upper invulnerability. Her Tornado kick is 95 style, but changed for the worse : second hit comes out much earlier before she lands, making it punishable.
Iori: Did he always use to have this move where he grabs the guy and tosses him in the air, allowing you to get a hit in before the opponent falls down? Stayed away from him in XII (actually, just stayed away from XII in general 
)
Beni: Seems to have lost follow ups after k. Command throw returns! Doesn’t do a lot of damage, but opponent falls down very slowly after getting hit by it, giving you a lot of time to do whatever set up you want. b command move still doesn’t link after close c.
Ryo: Can do close C, a, cancel into ranbu now, but a itself remains non-cancellable. CD kara cancel p still good as ever.
General thoughts: Looks and feels much better than XII.
There’s a full team left in the character select screen that hasn’t been revealed: K’ team maybe?
Totally random, but the SNKP rep I saw at HEY today was the same guy I saw during XII beta test. He seems so much happier this time around 
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