King of Fighters XV Review

It’s been six years since we have seen a new title in the King of Fighters franchise. Originally the plan was to release the game in 2020, but the pandemic had the release of King of Fighters XV delayed a couple of times to February of 2022. How will a series that has been around since 1994 make this new addition feel new and exciting while keeping all the things that make these games unique to the franchise?

The story in King of Fighters XV is a continuation of the one started in the previous game, a mysterious being called Verse had destroyed the previous battle arena and was stopped by the winning challengers. Since that eventful tournament, the King of Fighters tournament is back and has a new sponsor to back it. It seems that there’s a new storm on the way to get in the way of the tournament action once again. Honestly, for me the story doesn’t really matter that much, I’m here to battle it out with other fighters and use super cool looking moves! The game looks gorgeous! All the fighters are cel-shaded 3D models and look great. They each have eight different colour options that you can choose from for their outfits. I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of detail that was in the backgrounds of the stages. The developers clearly devoted a lot of time making the fight locations fit the quality of the fighters. It didn’t feel like they were rushed or an afterthought, the effort is apparent, especially with the animations that are included. For example, if you fight at the Beach Resort there is an animated shark sign accurately named Shark Surf Shop, along with a group of surfers cheering the fighters on. My personal favourite is the Freezing Forest stage, it takes place in a frozen forest with northern lights constantly dancing across the sky with a glowing deer watching over the fight. There are tons of exciting stages to have battles in that feel like they have a life of their own.

King of Fighters XV features a roster of 39 characters, if you have played the previous games, you’ll be familiar with a lot of the characters, as well as there being a few new faces added. All the characters are part of 13 different teams, made up of three members each. It is easy to tell what the teams are when you look at the character selection screen as each group of three is a team that works together. You aren’t forced to take all the members of one team when you are picking your fighters, you can mix and match from any group you want. King of Fighters uses the franchise’s unique 3-on-3 battle system along with a parry system called Shatter Strike and a MAX Mode system that gives fighters a stronger attack once the meter is filled. When you are battling you will notice how smooth the characters move. The animation is great and the characters move incredibly fast. The battles against your opponents feel incredibly exciting and fast-paced, there’s no lack of action. If you find the computer keeps defeating you in battle, once you lose there is an option to put a handicap on your opponent giving them less health, giving you more power, or both. This may give you the edge you need to get past that fight and progress on to the next battle. 

There are four different types of attacks that you can perform: Light Punch, Light Kick, Hard Punch, and Hard Kick. If you use these attacks three times in a row rapidly you can perform a special ender attack, this is called a Rush Mode-Auto Combo. This is really helpful to people who may be new to the franchise, or ones that haven’t learned all the special combos that the characters have. I am definitely not one of those people who has memorised all the special attacks that the fighters can use. If you aren’t a big fan of learning intricate combos Rush Mode is for you, I was excited to see how easy it was to perform a lot more of the cool looking special attacks!

If you get tired of playing on your own, there is the option of playing with your friend or family, locally or online. There is a new type of multiplayer mode you can try out called “Draft vs.”, where both fighters aren’t allowed to pick the same character for their team. This works great to have people choose different fighters that they don’t always take and makes the fights more interesting when you don’t have duplicates fighting each other.

King of Fighters XV also features a training room where you can learn all moves and combos your fighter can do to prepare yourself for battle. I know I should go back to the training room and work on my blocking and defence since I have a bad habit of just constantly attacking and taking a lot of damage while doing so. If you need a break from fighting, you can check out the DJ Station where you can make your own customised music playlist and make a soundtrack to fight to. There is also a Gallery where you can watch cutscenes you have previously seen in the game, and a huge collection of art for all the characters.

If you are a fan of the King of Fighters game series, or fighting games in general, I think King of Fighters XV is a game you should check out. Even if you haven’t played a lot of fighting games in the past, this is still a lot of fun, especially since the Rush Mode is easy to use. No complicated combos are required to be memorised if you don’t want to. Though, if you are someone who loves performing crazy, powerful attacks, there is a ton here for you too. The inclusion of cross-platform is great, especially if you know other people who are going to check out the game. There is more paid downloadable content planned that will be released in multiple seasons so 12 more fighters and four teams will be available.

King of Fighters XV features cross-play between PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Steam, and Epic Games. So you can battle for the title against your friends on multiple systems, unless your friends are playing on Xbox then you are out of luck.