King of Fighters XII news (videos from the 2nd loketest)

[Yuki Yagami]

First Loketest Videos found...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DVLs3KzAQQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNquQPgtVtw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(Courtesy of Psycho_Calibur @ S-C.com)

You'd be the judge...

[SonicTempest]

One change to note - DMs now have freezes on startup again, making it possible to combo into them once more.

[Yuki Yagami]

Additional videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHx62oz59TI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKqghlt1Uy8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And reports compiled by the Professor @ MMCafe

I'll probably go check the game out tomorrow. And probably get bored in a few minutes because Mai isn't in it.

From what's been reported from the beta test so far, it doesn't seem like the players are too hyped about the new gameplay, though it had a lot of watchers. Here's a few comming things said by Japanese BBS posters:

-Distant C and D attacks have really short range compared to previous games and they can't be used for holding the opponent back. It seems like the developers really want players to fight in close-range combat. However, players are using foot sweeps (crouching B and D's) as a substitute.

-Damage on Supers have been toned down, but they come out a bit faster now.

-Special throws come out very slow and they seem very useless at the current time.

-The new CC system (critical counter system, read below for details) does a lot of damage, like 40-50 percent life if you finish off with a super.

-There's no screen effect on a Knockout, so you don't immediately know if you've beat your opponent or if they're still living with 0 life.


Also, let me write a quick overview of what's mentioned on the official site, here it goes.

If you've been following the KOFXII scene, you know that there was a preview event last month. The developers got feedback from attendees and they've fixed up a few points in the game's system, most noteably with the Critical Counter system.


The critical counter system (CC)
When your power bar is at MAX and you counter-hit your opponent with a closeup fierce, you'll go into critical counter time. During that time, your opponent will be opened up to attacks and you can chain your normal moves. Also, you can dash by just hitting forward. CC doesn't happen if you hit your opponent from the air.

There's also another way to use your critical counter. If you do your super right when you enter critical counter, you can do a more flashy looking super than usual. (No mention about how much more damage it does than normal supers)


The biggest change from previous builds is that the CC now requires you to be in MAX mode. With that change, the developers hope to make the gameplay more action packed so that players would fight aggressively in the beginning of the round, power up their bar, and be in a thrilling situation where they're MAX'ed up by the middle of the round. The MAX mode has a time limit, so you're kind of pressed to make the best of it.

The developers also added some aestetic changes to the CC so that it'll look more cool.

First, they've added a yellow effect on the startup so that you'd actually know when you've done it (However, another section of KOFXII's site says that the effect actually happens when you "attempt" it, so it's a bit confusing right now). Also, there's a green effect when the CC ends.

Second, they've made it so that the screen zooms into the characters when you go into CC.


There's also been control fixes, changes in the super move graphics, and move balances. We'll probably hear more about those during this weekend.

[Fuu]

SSF2T on the background reminds me why i don't like it
HADOUKEN HADOUKEN HADOUKEN HADOUKEN HADOUKEN HADOUKEN

[Yuki Yagami]

SSF2T on the background reminds me why i don't like it
HADOUKEN HADOUKEN HADOUKEN HADOUKEN HADOUKEN HADOUKEN

That's because the Area where the tests are held are very loud...

Also, I kind of discourage to play this game in Single Player Mode. It will beat KOF 2000 as the shortest single Player mode KOF.

http://cyberfanatix.com/forums.php?m=po ... 873#118873" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

isn't that going to lower the quality?

the main planner was there today and i asked him:

will there be a boss or mid bosses in the game?
no, these are all the characters we have for this game, we don't have enough time to make one we are too late plus there is no story.

will there be more DMs in the final version?
these are the only DM in the game players like terry or kim or kyo or iori and others will have only one DM in this game "apologizes again for the lack of time"

what about the intro scenes for the characters?
apologizes for it not being there because the lack of time (but i didn't listen carefully to what he said? did he say because of the lack of time it will stay as it is even in the final version or because they didn't have enough time to add it in this 85% version before the loketest start and they will add it in the final version?? the arcade center is too damn fucking loud as you can tell from the vidz i uploaded u can hear ryuu from street fighter shouting HADOUKEN!! HADOUKEN!!! SHOURYUUKEN!!!!!! that stupid game!!)

[Perfect Stranger]

I posted my own loke-test impressions in the KOF XII forum if anyone's interested

[principal panda]

Maybe the ending would be "We are sorry but to be continued in KOF XIII".

[Monpochi]

Maybe the ending would be "We are sorry but to be continued in KOF XIII".

Lawl, i saw a loketest video wherein after the player beat all of the teams on 1P mode(?) the ending was just your 3 characters portrait and then it shows how many players you beat. (i.e. BEAT 03) Then the next screen was a "GAME OVER. Thank you for playing"

Dunno if that's going to be final though. Let's see how the 5 months will fare development-wise.

[Fuu]

3 images and 7 lines of text are not "development"

[SonicTempest]

Moving this to the KOF XII forum.

[Yuki Yagami]

Reno @ NeoGAF has impressions of the game as well.

I was in Tokyo visiting some friends this past weekend so I went to check out the KOFXII loketest at Akihabara's Hey for a couple of hours while waiting for a friend to show up (who didn't ). There was also a location test in Osaka this past weekend (jesus, finally SNK!) but I don't know anyone except for one person who went there.

First off the game is absolutely gorgeous to look at! I thought the screens made the game look good but in person the game is insane. I remember some people complaining because it has that SNK-ish look to it -- I don't know how to explain it but KOF fans might know what I'm talking about, that kind of jaggy look -- but to me it really works in the game and you hardly notice it in motion. Speaking of in motion, WOW, the animation is not only fluid, but the different TYPES of animation gives each character their own unique feel. I'm not a really big KOF fan but I'm impressed with how different each character's idle animation is while standing and crouching, and how their attacks are totally different. Coming from Virtua Fighter, where everyone's elbow looks really similar, or how the down animations are completely the same for everyone except for Taka, it's a breath of fresh air, really.

Some things I noticed in this build that are actually gameplay related are:

- When your power gauge gets full it stays full for a few seconds and then starts to drain until it reaches zero. Your gauge is used for both DM and Critical Combos so once you get a full gauge you'll need to really push to get one to connect. I think this is better than Street Fighter 4's Ultra meter, because in that game your Ultra is available to you for the rest of the round after you get it, which allows you to turtle up and wait for an opportunity. In KOFXII, you'll need to go out there and get your damage before you lose your chance.
- DMs can only be used once per round.
- If you have a full DM gauge when you defeat an opponent you lose that DM.
- DMs are like Super Combos in SSF2T, where time stops for a split second and there's a small flash. I actually like this better than before where there was absolutely
- When your gauge is full you can do a Critical Combo, which is initiated with a strong punch or kick. The system for CCs isn't that broken it seems, because when your gauge is full, your strong punch and kick is slowed down a bit so that for the opponent it's easier to react.
- Compared to previous loketest vids that I saw on the net, the game is SIGNIFICANTLY faster. In fact I would say it's almost at the speed of previous KOF games.

I played a team of Terry, Kensou and Joe but unfortunately I'm not well-versed in KOF at all so I can't tell you any details other than for the general game system. The game is looking MIGHTY good though. I'm totally pumped up for it again!

at DMs being like EXceeds in SVC Chaos. (I am not sure if it's good or bad)

[Apathy Wind]

(I am not sure if it's good or bad)

It's bad

::kicks SNK in the fuckin nuts::

[BP]

Uhh, I could've sworn I saw that supers could be done more than once in a round from a few of the recent videos. Heck, the website doesn't even mention the one-super-per-round thing.

Maybe PS can shed some light on this?

[Toxic Avanger]

- DMs can only be used once per round.

at DMs being like EXceeds in SVC Chaos. (I am not sure if it's good or bad)

No, they are not. They already said that DMs will be like KoF 2000 MAX DMs, once they are performed, they will deactivate the power bar for some time. Once that time expires, the bar will be back to normal. On 2000 the amount of time that the bar was deactivated was irrelevant (it was something like 3 seconds), I assume that in this game the amount of time will be more important (like, 10 seconds or a little bit more).

EDIT : I think the source of this was the development blog from the official site.

[Yuki Yagami]

No, they are not. They already said that DMs will be like KoF 2000 MAX DMs, once they are performed, they will deactivate the power bar for some time. Once that time expires, the bar will be back to normal. On 2000 the amount of time that the bar was deactivated was irrelevant (it was something like 3 seconds), I assume that in this game the amount of time will be more important (like, 10 seconds or a little bit more).

EDIT : I think the source of this was the development blog from the official site.

Thanks for clarifying about the DMs. I thought it would be something else. My apologies.