#KOFXIV : The First Day…
Today, 15 September, at 9am French time, a trailer appeared as part of the Sony Press Conference, during the Tokyo Game Show. It was the first appearance and confirmation of the King of Fighters XIV.
Here are some thoughts.
The release date? Jan 2016?
Looking the trailer rip that was first circulated, this date suddenly pops up at the end, which has been reported by other sites as the release date for #KOFXIV.
This is incorrect.
The announcement trailer was part of Sony’s Press Conference with lots of others: you can see the moment as KOFXIV is presented at 57:41 and then Just Cause 3 comes on straight after.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0P6eD5Kw1U&feature=youtu.be&t=3475
KOF Development
KOF XIV was being made right under your nose in plain view.
The first recruitment ad for a “3D KOF” popped up in 2013. More ads followed in 2014 and even in 2015. With these ads you got some interesting “mock ups” of KOF characters. Well, they weren’t mock ups at all, but real assets (disclaimer, that’s not confirmed).
Here’s the Kyo with the ad.
And here’s the ‘final’ Kyo
Remember the ad for Leona? You can be pretty much sure now that’s what she actually looks like in KOF14. Same for Iori.
Well, they aren’t really final, still developmental, can still be improved. See you in 2016, hopefully at Xmas! The later the better, SNK… At this point, they cannot match the quality of their rivals, at least in graphics.
Console Exclusive?
The trailer was run as part of Sony’s press conference so we can assume that, at least for now, it’s a PS4 exclusive (The xbox logo is nowhere to seen on the trailer or official website). But since the job ads were for PS4 and Xbox one, there is still a chance that the game will arrive on other platforms later.
Gameplay vs Graphics
Gameplay? Pshaw, who cares about that? The ironic thing was that when the ads first came up, people were thinking we might see Maximum Impact 3. Reactions to the first KOFXIV trailer pretty much all go “HOLY COW IT’S MI3!”
And we don’t mean Mission Impossible.
The thing is we don’t really see any movement, rather, a succession of moves mid execution. The problem with 3D animation is that flashy finishers with multiple hits such as Iori’s Maiden Masher, show every hit, and much like the Fist of the Northstar live action movie, such moves should remain animated: there is no blur, no hits faster than the speed of light – you see every unrealistic movement slapped together and it looks just terrible. This needs at least a camera angle change!
If you remember Iori’s Neomax in KOF13, originally it was in full colour, and people complained whereupon some genius decided to implement a red screen and a black outline. And the rest is history. This is what KOF in 3D needs right now, a re-imagining of how moves should look to maintain the impact of the original cel animation. Here is that article about how flat moves in 3D look dull compared to the exaggerated art of drawn sprites.
The background, while quite static, is impressive enough.
The trailer makes the game look fast, but in effect it could be quite slow, the action you see are from moves, not movement. Kyo’s flaming fists are still there, as is his uppercut, and Iori seems to be the same. It’s doubtful SNK will take a big risk on a new fighting system. It’s probably going to be classic KOF, maybe 98UM style at most, or even KOF11; likely it’s goodbye to HD combos and anything extremely difficult. While people complain about the simplicity of SFV, it’s the sales that will set the standard.
Just take a closer look at this shot and then watch the trailer to understand the confusion as to what we are actually seeing. Look at the textures and details. SNK needs to work on the presentation so we are not distracted by jarring animation and can then appreciate the details!
But that other shot of Kyo that appears on a black background, with the goofy pose that looks like he’s going bowling, that needs to go. It needs to disappear. It needs to be erased from memory. NOW.
Also note, there are some higher grade 3D models being used, at least just for the website. GGXRD uses a model swap to make you think you are seeing the high quality model in game. It would be beneficial to see similar tech here…
DLC
Dude. Alternate Iori with new boots. The idea is pretty rad. Guess classic Iori will be unlockable or paid for. With colours. With soundtracks. That’s ok. Now that we have 3D models, say goodbye to your cash, with at least 1 headswap of Kyo and 5 different movesets!!! The only problem is that if the game flops and DLC doesn’t sell, this all will be cancelled. There is a reason Metal Slug Defense gets updates…
Public Initial Reaction
What we wanted: SF4 models with GGXRD graphics.
What we got: MI3 (so far)
To say the least, fans are disappointed (from Japan to Mexico). However, there is still hope- if the game plays like classic KOF, with a long staggered stream of DLC with the occasional balance change with GOOD NETCODE, there will be much fun to be had.
However, at this stage and with this look, perhaps the mainstream will steer clear of this boyband fighter, with its wonky arms and puppet gravity. Normally that’s not something to care about, however, that cash is needed for updates!
We look forward to the next trailers while hugging KOF13 very tightly.
OFFICIAL SITE OPEN
You can check out the official site of KOFXIV here
Ratings
- The King of Fighters ’95 4Gag Battle
(5.00 out of 5)
- The King of Fighters ’95 4Gag Battle
About Oyaji
Great article. Even people without art training can easily tell the graphic disparity. I don’t understand SNK’s intent.
@Cole read the article about pixels on the SNK anniversary site… I would argue they can re-use some sprites but really, would we be satisfied with a few headswaps? New moves still need to be drawn, and if you look at the article, you’ll see that in fact, they created 3D models first and then rotoscoped (tracing over the image) them. So yes, this process is very slow and expensive. As for feeling mad /disappointed, we all share these feelings right now. I get the feeling that KOF14 is in fact an upgraded MI3 and actually uses the exact 3D models with a newer skin. But perhaps with this negative backlash, the new owners might think this needs an injection of cash and do something about it… We can hope. I’m sure the gameplay will be fine but that’s not the point right now. We don’t want to be a niche game community.
@Shoju Arcade release… I don’t think so. Smartphones are the future, consoles not so much, as you’ve seen with Konami pulling out, PC has a chance maybe but arcades, definitely not. Did you see SFV announced for arcades? If anything they might get a release on Nesica Live, but that isn’t even widespread in Japan, let alone the rest of the world.
Arcade release and location testing? Haven’t seen anything about that.
Wonder if there’s any chance they might also add to the XIII series with a UM release at some point in addition to having XIV or have most of the staff from that time left?
Absolutely!! Haha going from XIV to XIV haha good to see you around Gunsmith :). I will definitely take a Long break from FFXIV to focus back into kof 🙂
@Gunsmith.
Meh, always the money thing.
But there’s something I dont understand, KOF 13 is made, I mean that there are a ton of high quality sprites, stages drawn, there are things that can be reused. It’s not about doing things from scratch. They could easyly reuse the engine, the roster and stages and ad maybe 10 characters.
For Christ sake, Kof 13 has been out for four years now, was that soooooo expensive to draw few characters and stages during that time and rethink the gameplay slightly? I don’t think that anyone who liked Kof 13 expected anything more than that.
This is the way it used to work for SNK. I’m reading a forum on this site that is talking about sprites in the Kof series, from 96 to 2k2 and man the changes are minimal. Incremental to say the least. But it didn’t prevent SNK from releasing those games.
To me, what we have here with Kof 14 isn’t about 2d sprites being to expensive, but SNKP trying to catch up on the hyp-3d-SF4esque train.
They want to be like Capcom, instead of being different. Kof 13’s sales weren’t bad, they were quite good.
It’s a change of politics at SNKP, but I highly doubt that this change is intelligent.
As for the game, the developers are starting from scratch, they obviously have a hard time making 3d, they are coming from to far. I think it will play at best, awkwardly.
And all in all, i’m truly disappointed, things will never be the same, and I’m mad at SNKP. I’ve never been so mad at developer actually.
And thank you for your response, i’ll keep coming to collect news and maybe, if gods exist… nah I can’t even believe it.
@Mature so when KOFXIV comes out we might see you stop playing FFXIV? 😀
I share the same opinion. I do have a feeling as well that this was an early dev. And they keeping under wraps the actual game. It’s been nearly 3 years since it was advertised and positive that the next trailer is gonna look to a higher standard.
Having played kof since day one I welcome this new 3D approach. It something this game needed for a long time. We should all give this 3D a welcome and look forward to it. Look at the transition of SF3 TO SFIV.
(I’m still a live but lurking in the shadows lol)
@Cole yes, “we” is not everyone, true. A lot of us just want KOF13 UM. But “we” all know now that 2D sprites are much more expensive than using 3D models. It’s just business sense, unfortunately…
What we wanted: SF4 models with GGXRD graphics.
No no no no no and again… no.
What I wanted, was a game following on kof 13’s visual style, design and graphics. They had awesome and smoothe graphics back then. It’s a huge jump backwards,
As for the “we”, as far as I remember by reading comments and topics about a future kof 14; no one wanted theses graphics.
I know your trying to use reason here, but it’s just inadequate today.
This announcement is terrible, not good in any way.
And usually, i tend to wait for more, giving the developers a real chance; but i don’t believe in that project, not at all.
Just read the comment section on YouTube, that’s pretty much everyone’s opinion right now :p
Your hopes are high gunsmith.. and mine are also
Greg MacCauley
GREAT Article, great break down of the teaser, its a shame that Tencent is heading on the MI direction instead of KOFXIII