The 2nd Beta had mixed reactions but I think overall, SNK is onto a winner.  Just a few things:

The netcode

Some people posted on social media that the matchmaking absolutely failed. That it did not work.
As for me, it was an absolute success and the proof was in my live streams of over six hours.

The speed at which the netcode was fixed was impressive. KOFXV had to wait a year. COTW took from Feb 22 to Mar 28th, just a little over a month. As long as they don’t make any changes, the game will launch correctly in terms of matchmaking, although there are a few niggles with the lobby.

It was still strange and difficult to connect with a friend’s lobby, with a long and tiny code on the top left of the screen, which may or may not work because of the default region settings, which unlike matchmaking, still closes players off from one another.

I also noticed there was no frame setting.  So SNK is telling you to rely on the netcode for the input lag and stuttering.  It may become a demand for high level players in the future but honestly the auto mode was working well, with only graphical issues when players with around 80ms+.  So if you need lagless inputs, then simply do not play opponents with low connection ratings / high pings.  As for your international friends, players will have to tolerate it!  There is no magical bullet, for far away connections, as yet. I remind you that when players report there was a game with a smooth netcode, it generally had significant input lag.

On top of that, sooner or later, players will complain about how there is no wifi indicator, I would advise not to change this because people are prejudiced, and even if they are right to be so, it’s just going to cause more disconnects rather than games. Now of course, the connection rating is still in effect and that should be enough. If a player is using the free airport wifi, well, players can rage quit or just shout a lot, but some players don’t have money or parents’ permission to get an ethernet cable and again we need to encourage players to play, rather than gatekeep.  Why do we even have the PC and console user icon?  It’s just divisive.

The gameplay

After playing non-stop ranking, only using smart style thereby reducing my mental load, I noticed some things. There are lots of safe moves, in other words, quick recovery. The block stun is very short.

What does this mean? This means you can’t start tapping up or letting go in between flow charts but you could go for a just defense. The game is almost always asking you to input, which is where it can get tiring if you want the maximum benefit. However, you certainly don’t need to. As I said, I was playing on smart style mode, and while others struggled with their long break cancel combos online, kek, I simply needed to choose when to mash the button. Some of the striking moves have a longer hit stun so I could confirm much more easily than I did in KOF. It’s fun but I can see that the mind game is present all the time, and at higher levels of play it’s going to get really crazy.

I was surprised that just defending against anti airs bounced me backwards so I had to use a character that had an air move. I’ve been told that I can cancel the just defend into an air move so more mind games are coming!

Some players don’t understand that the game is different and basically want the same old thing, for example, to use supers as defense. The thing is that some supers can be used as reversals, especially level 2 or hidden gears. This is similar in KOFXV, so it may be that these players came from another game. Ultimately this is COTW, it’s a different game, it has to be played differently.

One thing though, while Style Mode was good, and I didn’t check the tutorial (ahem) but I don’t know if there are different ways to finish the combo, because it gets a bit repetitive. Some players will never read the tutorial, they will just mash buttons and expect to have fun. SNK needs to cater.

Ranked Mode

The default setting for connection was “any”, no change from the 1st beta, which is good. Gone is the region selection, although when the game starts it does allow you to select the server closest to you. With the barriers removed, ranked players cannot hamstring themselves, at least not automatically.

However, ranks still need to be separated per character. Certain streamers played the game to death and reached the top rank, feeling there was nothing else to do.

We can see that the mode operates by points, which is great, and it’s interesting to see how the points are awarded. I hope that there are many conditions that apply. Some examples:

Newcomer (lost 2 matches, lost 10 points) vs C-V (won 2 matches gained 15 points)
Newcomer (lost 2 matches gained 0 points, lost 0 points) vs C-I (won 2 matches, gained 7 points)
Rookie V (won 2 matches gained 28 points) vs Newcomer (lost 2 matches, lost 20 points)
Rookie V (lost 2 matches lost 20 points) vs Rookie IV (won 2 matches gained 48 bonus)

If people are complaining about reaching S Rank too fast, I would not change this, I would simply add more ranks, and then add even more, over time. SNK should be able to see how many players reach S rank and start taking action. There is the possibility that top tier players will stop, allowing other players to rise up. On the other hand there is the influence of top players, and they need to keep playing. However, at that level I think they are going to play, regardless. Still, adding more titles and badges or rewards is always good. The two letter rank was confusing, and boring, I think it’s gone now?

As we live in an age where every participant gets a medal, SNK should consider giving a point to players, even if they lose. Win streaks could also get more points. Consider giving these bonuses to low ranks and less to high ranks. The ranking mode should be more generous at low ranks and more strict at high ranks. It’s all about player retention, isn’t it?

The UI

SNK listened, they really did read the survey and now feints can be configured to a button. Note that smart style can’t use these. I have no problem with that.

The menu has been tightened up and is snappier to control. The mouse seems faster too.
The pause menu will take some getting used to. It is overwhelming and I think it could scare players. It should not hide half the menu, it should be more static pages, or lead to an advanced page for advanced players. Advanced players will have more patience!

The Lobby

1st beta had “same region” set as default. The 2nd beta doesn’t seem to have changed it. Oh dear.

The region select is still present in the lobby mode and I’ve heard some issues there. Arguably it should be removed, and just rely on connection values, if they want (but considering what happened with ranking, I think it’s clear what will work better).

I didn’t have time to test the censorship but in fact I think it was removed, at least for the word China, since I could finally put my youtube channel name in the lobby! Orochinagi.com !

Spectators can’t watch after the match has started, not good. We can’t have players sitting around but perhaps they will gravitate to the chat while waiting. There is no training mode option for people waiting… that’s sad.

Again, it takes too long to invite friends. I remember seeing a friend invite feature which perhaps was removed, I remember that it didn’t function… but this needs to work.

Sound

I wish we could set our favourite voice actors for each character. But I suppose it’s not a deal breaker.
What is interesting is that the announcer is linked to character voices, so if you want to turn him off, you’ll mute everyone else too.

Complaints

A high level player complained that others didn’t want to stay in the lobby. Of course that meant these opponents were getting destroyed. What do you mean they wouldn’t stay “for the love of the game” Kek, can’t really do anything about that.

Some players would like smart style to be nerfed. Of course they do, they’re getting beaten up by yours truly, and it stings, doesn’t it. The accessibility of the game will simply bring in more players, so I would appreciate no changes there.

Many of the Hidden Gears have lackluster impacts, very limp. Very strange in the flow of things.

Tizoc should have had a 3 count finisher.

The game needs Shermie.

Conclusion

I didn’t have time to test out other things because I was too busy playing ranked mode, and that frankly, to me, means that the game will succeed, at least in the FGC sphere. Still, the FGC is only a fraction of the entire playerbase. We haven’t seen any RPG trailers, which I think would be more interesting to the mainstream. Still there’s a few weeks to go, and SNK has to top CR7. Gonna be interesting to see. I’ve now pre-ordered my copy. Still, KOFXV is more fun, unless they add Shermie.

Here are the feedback forms:
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Bug report – make sure you tell them about Tizoc’s otg spd!
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