King of Fighter 12 is really that good!

Current Fighting Games King of Fighters
1

Its been close to 2 weeks now since I purchased my copy of King of Fighters XII. With the new car smell gone, I can actually sit back and talk about how really great this game is. Ignition worked their asses off for 4 years. Their hard work truly paid off in the gameplay, sound effects, and graphics department. Ignition has laid the foundation for the future of SNKP and themselves. I am glad that they decided to go in this new direction. They knew using the same sprites for 15 years was only going to cater to already fans of the series. They weren’t experience growth if they continued down the same path. I can attest to this since I never played KOF games on a serious level like I do KOF12. I have brought most of the KOF games, and yet I only played here and there. I always loved SNK character designed and for a fighting game series its always had a really good story line. Even on 2DF where I play KOF98 and KOF2002, I normally find myself playing SFA3.

I love the graphics and animation in KOF12. Every movement, special move, standing animation, devastation attack, stage levels, 3D effects in the foreground and background are just amazing. It looks like everyone at Ignition drew and created these effects from their heart. The camera zoning in feature adds to the drama on stage. The music is great and the sound effects. Every hit sounds deep and impactful, especially with a Critical Counter opener! I can never get enough, everytime I land one I always say outloud, “gotcha”! I love the stages, they are so alive and full of things you notice over time. I like to go to practice mode and check out everything thats happening in the background. The french stage being my favorite. Its so original!

The gameplay is where this game truly shines. I love the new features Deadlock, Guard counters and Critical Combos. Deadlock adds a nice twist to just trading with someone else. Which really annoys me at times, the Deadlock system allows you can counter with anything you want to or not counter at all. This adds a lot to the mix-up game found in KOF12. Gaurd Counters work like SF4 but I think they actually work in this game! In SF4 an open focus attack is just too risky to use. You leave yourself at a huge disadvantage since it can be so easily defeated. Last but not least the Critical Combo. Finally, Ignition has done the CC right. Take notes Capcom. You cant sit on this feature and use it when you want to. You have a window of oppotunity which your opponent knows about. You really need critically think how you are going to use it or not use it at all. This adds another layer to the mix-up game. The fighting engine not only gives you 4 ways of jumping at your opponent, you can dodge attacks, Deadlock projectiles, fallbreak, combo command grabs, dash and backstep. Adding to the already thick layer of a gameplay blanket this game comes with.

In closing, by making this investment, they have enabled themselves to return to the pre-2004 era where they could easily manage annual releases. Simply continuing onward at the status quo, they’ve paved their way towards being more noticeable and attracting a new audience. SNKP/Igniton, lets get this netcode up on par with the other fighters out there and you will truly have a gem on your hands.

2

ITT: Truth

3

Gameplay is great… everything else not so much.

4

Annual releases won’t and shouldn’t happen again, unless they’re incremental DLC.

That said, SNK got it right on the actual game. That can’t be taken away from them. If this game makes it to Evo, I think SNK will be in good shape provided the netcode is fixed in future. This game will shine in tournaments.

5

Yeah, this game is just pure fun. I can even just sit in training mode for hours learning new characters. But long vs. sessions on this game is where it’s at.

6

Yep, I love it offline, I hate it online, I don’t care for single player so that doesn’t bother me, and niether does the size of the character roster, having been a long time SF2 and 3 player with both games not having that big of a character roster, kof12s “lacking” roster isn’t really a big deal to me personally either.

Great game, I will buy the next game a thousand times over if they happen to put in something as good as ggpo for netplay next time.

7

i haven’t played it yet, but i know that is great :3

8

ignition didnt do shit but release the game stateside. snkp made the game.

9

DOOD did you not read what the op said, THEY LAID THE FOUNDATION!!!

You cannot argue with the logic of this awesomely original thread full of like minded and no doubt brilliant individuals whom all share the love for this ongoing process we like to call the making of KOF 12.

10

yea it owns irl

11

I agree with the OP… game has great gameplay and I personally like the graphics (not everything can be BB people get over it). I even don’t mind the lack of single player options since I never bothered with that shit on BB or SF4 except to unlocking characters or other options which I considered a chore. But (que the violins) because the online play is so bad simply can’t recommend this to people unless they have either a lot of friends into fighting games or they have a good fighting game community in the area. For those lucky people I’d rate the game a solid 8.5/10. But for people like me that lack a fighting game community it’s more like a 4/10 :frowning: . Fix that netcode SNKP!! holds breath

12

Game is a lot of fun, been playing it over the weekend with a couple of my relatives and we can’t get enough of it.

I would really love for this game to get the competitive attention it deserves because imo game play wise it can compete with the best.

13

Best way to keep the game alive is to go to local tourneys. Better the turnout, the better chance this game has of living.

14

I love the game so much, but without a consistent connection online I can’t play it very much lately. My guys are all too busy. Such a bummer.

15

I think it goes without saying that I like the game. I’ll take neg rep anyday if it means defending something I like, haha.

16

Hey! Finally a thread I feel I can post on that isn’t a mine field for a flame war! Yay! :rofl:

So, I too have had and been playing this game since it came to home consoles.
I’ll start off by saying that I still very much enjoy SF4, even though Capcom took a fat SHYTE on my favorite character (Vega). That being said, I would MUCH rather play KoF12, since it is a new game. I am from the old school, so I know these kind of games take years to truly understand. After playing SF4 for nearly a full solid 6 months, I feel very comfortable with that system. I by no means claim to be a master at it, but when things happen to me, I am never surprised, I know exactly why what happened happened. KoF12 is still quite shiny and new even after playing as much as I have over the past couple of weeks.

I bought BlazBlue, which was a mistake. I knew it at the time, and I still don’t know why I wasted $60 on that game. I had a very strong distaste for GG, so I don’t know why I tricked myself into thinking I would somehow like BB. It’s all personal taste, so if you are a hard core BB fan, don’t get butt hurt over my comment. If everyone liked the same stuff, this world would be one HELL of a boring place.

Now then, on to KoF12.
First off, I am a huge fan of the graphics. In college I majored in 3d graphics & Design and I immediately took a very strong liking to animation. I detested modeling, texturing made me want to throw up, staging and lighting made me want to pull my hair out, but I could spend days tweaking every little thing I could from the animation side of things.

Character Graphics: That being said, I HEAVILY prefer and like the graphics in KoF12 as opposed to BB. BB’s characters are much sharper looking, but the animation level, to me, doesn’t look to be any better than what GG was. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just is what it is. But the animation in KoF12 is on a whoooole other level. Thats the kind of stuff I get into. I haven’t been this enamored with the animation in a game since the fist time I played SF3 in the arcade.

Background Graphics: Again, the attention to detail is just absolutely stunning. Where BB made very crisp, surreal 3d images, KoF12 breaks the mold, imo. Fighting games have always held very true to the idea that backgrounds are secondary to the characters fighting. As such, backgrounds are generally created at a level of detail that is less than the characters on screen, or with very little movement. For fear of the players losing their characters in the background, developers seem to have held to this ideal. Then came KoF12. In truth, the first couple of hours I played this game, I DID lose my character in the background. There is just so much going on on both planes, it’s borderline insane. The thing is, once you get used to the fact that the backgrounds have just as much personality, flair and animation as the characters themselves, it creates a much more organic look. Everything really meshes well together. The characters feel more like they are fighting in a world that is as real as they are. It also creates a much more enjoyable game to watch. Even if the fight is uninteresting, the backgrounds give you something else to look at.

SFX Gfx/Snd: Well, there is nothing revolutionary going on here, but everything that has been done has been so flawlessly. As the original OP stated, Everything from the dramatic CC beginning to the lights of fireballs flying through the air, this game looks spot on. I really have a strong distaste for alot of the US voices, but its really not that hard to switch them back to Japanese.

Gameplay: Well holeeee shit. This is beyond what I was expecting. Everything in this game works so well, you can really tell why the overall package is so bare bones. It is very clear that the graphics and developing an extremely solid fighting engine were paramount to SNKP. Everything else took a back seat, and it paid off in spades. When I first started playing SF4, I was not impressed and very unsure of their new engine. Over time, the engine began to grow on me and I now very much enjoy it. Such was not the case with KoF12. After 15 minutes of play, I realized I was playing a masterpiece of gameplay/design. Charging C+Ds to crush gaurds, doing the counters the way they did so there is no guess work, making CCs something that truly need to be earned AND limiting the time available for them. All strokes of genius imo. When I first learned CCs were going to be in this game, I did a facepalm and nearly wrote the game off. Every game I have seen that tries to incorporate them, they end up being one of the most broken aspects of the game. SNKP learned how to make them work, and I think all fighting game companies need to sit up and take notice.

In the end: Ultimately, this game was doomed to bad reviews and initial bad word of mouth. Reviewers and the initial wave of casual fighting game fans will scream bloody murder at the lack of options. This was a given and something I expected. Once the initial hoopla died down, all that would be left was for the hard core to continiue singing praises about what a wonderfully executed game this is. But then SNKP shot themselves in the freakin BALLS by releasing the game with the worst netcode I have seen since SF3 on the original Xbox. This will stop any outporing of love from the hardcore community, which is an absolute crying shame. It’s clear that SNKP is hurting for money to release an unfinished project. It really isnt looking good for them right now. All my prayers go out to them fixing the netcode ASAP so that the truth about this game can be spread to the masses.

If you have a group of fighting game friends, this game is an absolute must own. If you have to play online only, the only reason I could recommend this game is to support SNKP. But with the economy the way it is, $60 plus isnt as easy to come by as it once was.

17

I like your avatar.

Tsk. Tsk. Such a negative Nancy.:nono:

18

I like the game, but the weak online really keeps me from loving the game.

Most of my friends won’t even buy it now because of all the bad reviews and stories of horrible lag online.

19

It sure as hell is a lot more fun than sf4.

20

there really is no reason for this game not to get picked up in tourneys. All the depth and variety you need (in the roster/game engine) is there, in fuller force than a lot of other stuff being played right now.