| The King of Fighters XV | |
| Developer: | SNK |
| Producer: | Yasuyuki Oda |
| Artist: | Tomohiro Nakata |
| Series: | The King of Fighters |
| Engine: | Unreal Engine 4 |
| Genre: | Fighting |
| Modes: | Single-player, multiplayer |
(KOF XV), is a 2022 fighting video game part of the The King of Fighters series, developed by SNK and published by Koch Media for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. It uses the same fighting system from The King of Fighters XIV (2016) involving teams composed of three members who oppose other teams but with more accessible changes such as more useful Climax moves or parries.
The game was directed by KOF XIV staff member Kaito Soranaka with assistance from creative director Eisuke Ogura who also worked as an artist alongside Tomohiro Nakata, artist of The King of Fighters All Star (2018). It is the first game in the series created using Unreal Engine 4, and the first to implement GGPO rollback networking. Taking place after the events of KOF XIV, the narrative primarily revolves around two fighters with multiverse-related supernatural powers, Shun'ei and Isla, among other returning heroes facing revived threats caused by the recently revived Ash Crimson. While Ash's actions in The King of Fighters XIII (2010), resulted in the creation of a creature known as Verse that was defeated in the previous game, in this installment Shun'ei and Isla have been called to fight new possible threats related to Verse.
The game includes 39 characters, including two free bosses and several downloadable content characters released in several different seasons, and also includes several returning characters from KOF, Fatal Fury as well as another franchise, Samurai Shodown. King of Fighters XV generally received praise for its character roster, team-based gameplay, and smooth online performance, but criticism for its small story mode, complex tutorials, and small content for offline players.
Like its predecessors, The King of Fighters XV uses a fighting game system involving teams composed of three fighters. Every team relies on these combatants in the order they want, facing multiple enemies until reaching the Story Mode's boss. The gameplay includes a parry system under the name Shatter Strike. It also reincorporates the common "Max Mode" system where fighters can use stronger techniques once energy bars are filled. Unlike in previous game from the KOF franchise, but now just like enhanced moves prior, characters can now use their strongest techniques, Climax, versions of special moves, with or without entering Max Mode. The game features a wide variety of online modes, including Ranked Match, Casual Match, Room Match, and Online Training. Besides fighting against AIs in the Story Mode, the player can fight a Boss Challenge Mode against two returning KOF bosses: Omega Rugal from The King of Fighters '95 and Goenitz from The King of Fighters '96.[1]
The single button "Rush" from The King of Fighters XIV reappears and is updated to help newcomers perform combos and special moves easier. The Rush now has also been modified to help the player perform both a Super Move and Climax should be the bars be limited to only the former as in The King of Fighters XIV. Shatter Strike was designed mainly as a defensive system but it can be used offensively when making use of guard points. On a more critical analsys Destructoid compared Shatter Strike with a fully charged Focus Attack from Street Fighter IV.[2] In XIV, combos from quick activation were the main way max mode was used so the gauge consumption was increased from 1 to 2 to prevent players from being overwhelmed. A neutral state in XIV was not seen often so in XV attack power and guard crush are increased when neutral is activated. Since Max Mode activations in neutral were almost nonexistent in King of Fighters XIV, the developers are giving more incentive to players to not just use it as a combo extender.
The story focuses on the next King of Fighters tournament held after the appearance and defeat of Verse. Following Antonov's early retirement, new tournament commissioner Anastasia sends out invitations to fighters to join the tournament; the mayhem caused by Verse's powers resurrects various long-thought deceased fighters from past tournaments as well. Chizuru Kagura gathers Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami in order to look after the seal of the snake demon Orochi.[3] Shun'ei, a teenager with mysterious powers resembling Verse's, enters the tournament again alongside Meitenkun and Benimaru Nikaido to better understand his powers, the Amplified Specters. During the tournament, they encounter a rival team led by a girl with similar powers to his own and also another Amp user, Isla. Isla is being mentored by a woman named Dolores who wishes for her and Shun'ei to stop the appearance of more Amp-related creatures like Verse, believing Ash Crimson's time-traveling in a previous tournament, which Dolores' disciple, Kukri confirms it to have caused their appearances and connected to distortions across the multiverse.
During the finals, a new cutscene is given to each team revealing their needs to enter the tournament and become the champion. However, a new Amp creature born from Isla's Amp power, labeled as Re Verse manifests as the tournament progresses and targets the fighters, pulling them into another world. Following Re Verse's defeat, the mysterious goddess Otoma=Raga appears and attacks the teams. Upon Otoma=Raga's defeat, the fighters escape back to their world and are crowned the new King of Fighters champions, whereas Isla finally warms up with Shun'ei at the same time their respective Amps are fully under control, such as Shun'ei can finally take off his headphone safely. As confirmed by Kukri earlier, defeating Otoma=Raga and Re Verse does not erase the revived fighters’ existences once they survive the two entities’ rampages.
See also: List of The King of Fighters characters. The King of Fighters XV launched with 39 playable fighters, consisting of 13 teams with three fighters each. Additional characters were made available via seasons of paid downloadable content: Season 1 consists of 12 fighters spread across four teams, while Season 2 consists of six individual fighters, with two additional fighters released separately later. Much like Samurai Shodown (2019) and , the DLC teams' involvements in the storyline are canon. The game features two non-playable bosses in the initial release, and two free playable DLC boss characters who are part of special boss challenges.[4] [5]
Newcomers are marked in italics.