Oh Where Art Thou At ReveLAtions, King of Fighters XIII?
In recent years, the King of Fighters franchise has been losing fans left and right. With new games like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Super Street Fighter 4 released, people who are getting into the competitive scene flock to those games that are either easier to pull off decent combos or have been playing for years at arcades. Those who are playing King of Fighters XIII have either been long time fans of the franchise or who favor a challenge (of course, there are exceptions to this). So it was very interesting to see it gain its popularity back at this year’s EVO. For that reason, I wanted to see its turnout at ReveLAtions this year.
I tried my hand at KoF13 and needless to say…props to those who can pull off those combos. It was difficult to pull off some of the movements, especially with the timing in cancels and follow-ups. Playing it gave me a new insight as to the moves the competitors were pulling off at EVO. I could appreciate on a new level these competitors because it is so hard to pull off. I have heard stories of players of the game having to stop, not because they wanted to, but because they had to because of blisters forming on their fingers.
But upon reading this, I am only mentioning the game at EVO. But what about ReveLAtions? Unfortunately, due to an unforeseen circumstance, the King of Fighters XIII tournament had to be canceled. This was a bummer, considering I wanted to see some real competition right before my very eyes, but this year it was not going to happen. This was also a shock because of its popularity at EVO. Surely, the biggest fighting game tournament of the year would spark some hype into it and get the competitors back out and playing at ReveLAtions.
There are plenty of other opportunities for competitors for King of Fighters XIII to step forward and play against each other, but for the game’s sake, I hope it happens soon. Stay tuned onto Velocity Gamer for more King of Fighters news and coverage on ReveLAtions 2012!
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This goes to show the horrible direction fighting games are going in. Heavily dumbed down combos, unbalanced character rosters, and overly convoluted systems such as the rage like mechanic present in Tekken 6, MVC3, Street Fighter x Tekken as a cheap way to come back. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is by far one of the easiest, most unbalanced fighters ever. I honestly can not believe that game is allowed in any fighting game tournaments. Same thing with Mortal Kombat 9. Whatever……..
Well that is the nature of the industry, in any game really. The audience changes and where when we were kids, we just sorta figured it out on our own. But nowadays there are strategy guides up the wazoo and tutorials that tell you how the play the game.
But aside from that, fighting games are changing to make it more accessible to people who are new to the genre. Every fighting game has its strengths and weaknesses. For KoF, a strength (I think) is the complexity in its combos because it makes you really appreciate the player who can pull those off. But it is also a weakness if you want people who are new to fighting games to play it. With UMVC3, a strength is the ease of picking it up and learning how to do basic combos. It is like a stepping stone for more complicated games like KoF. But a weakness is how easy it is to die by missing a single step. I do agree that there are some unbalances and while the X-Factor comeback mechanic is there, there are tiers within that that could do nothing to change the flow of the game. It isnt a guaranteed comeback.