Just bought it for PS3 , and boy I was very disappointed in it. Just try out the practice for a few characters and i was feeling a bit sian liao. Even the characters have been reduced and the movelist have decreased. Somehow the feeling compared to other previous KOFs is different IMO. Does anyone share the same view as me ?

Finally someone else who play KOF in this forum.

Yup, it is very different from the older KOF, just as different as it is to KOF2003 & KOF XI, but this should be an overhaul of the game.
I wouldn't get used to it at the beginning but after a few play and treating it as something new, then I can quickly adapt to it.... but the interest won't last long as there ain't many characters and some combos can't link as the older ones.

Overall there is good and bad. Some character have completely new moves which is quite fresh but the critical combo is quite lame imo.

Disappointed with:
- the lack of game modes (it's basically just arcade and online)
- no story/ background to the fights (you see SFIV actually threw in a "story" mode even though it's lame)
- online lag (very, very bad, unless you're playing with a friend it's fine), the characters just move around in super slow motion, you don't even know whether your moves are registered

And I realized one thing - hard mode (in arcade mode) is easier to play than easy mode. I think somehow during the programming something went wrong. I could complete hard mode in 5 minutes 13 seconds, but it took me 9 minutes+ to complete easy mode. Same set of players. The "easy" opponents either keep jumping around or spam light punches, damn irritating.

agree completely with super_convoy. I was really looking forward to this game. well, i admit, i'm no KOF player, but due to the draught for good game in PS3, i was gonna get this to fill in the void. alas, after reading the review that there are no other modes, i backed off. for me, fighting game needs other modes to keep the re-playability high. you can only fight so much online and offline, ultimately, i still need single player content.

I saw this game in the arcades many weeks before the arrival of the console version. I immediately knew it sucked. It was suppose to boast HD graphics but when zooming in to the characters, you can still see the ugly pixels.

And the new looks of the characters look super ugly. What's up with the super muscular Ralf & Clark?

And wah seh so little characters to choose from. KOF is supposed to be famous for the wide selection of characters.. and diao there's no Mai Shiranu!!

And was waiting to see who's the final boss for this KOF episode and diao... There's no boss

If you a want a fighting game, I guess you will just have to wait for Tekken 6 which also has a "Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle" mode.

Yup I agree, bought the game because it is KOF !! But is a letdown to me .... Seems more bad review than good. Haiz ...... By the way, is there any unlockables ?

Kenichiro,
Didn't know you are talknig about the PS3 KOF XII. Mature and Elizabeth are the 2 additional playable characters in the console version, not sure if they need to be unlock in order to play. I don't have the PS3 version of KOF XII.

I HEARSAY this episode is just a beta, release hastily for the anniversary, there will be a proper game with concluding storyline of Ash arc in the final game.

Hmm... I feel that Tekken has a different game control input and play style from KOF although both are fighting games. KOF is more the same as Street Fighter...

Mature and Elizabeth are playable from the start. There's no need to unlock characters at all. There's also no "final boss". You just play through the arcade mode for five rounds (3-on-3) and there you go. Characters you fight are random. Enemies from 5th round is just "slightly" more difficult than the earlier rounds. 1st to 4th round is a joke even if you haven't played any KOF before in your entire life -> just set the difficulty to "HARD" and the game becomes super easy!

I've promised to help my friend with the online achievements. I cannot imagine having to play 800 games to achieve SSS rank. I'm thinking of backing out...

Wah, bad comments all around.

I will hang on to my Blazblue.

A bit off topic, is Singapore selling KOF 2002 UNLIMITED MATCH ? A remix of 2002 just like KOF 1998 ULTIMATE MATCH. Cos I search the a lot of places but found none ......

FIrst time I played it was at the arcade at PS and felt a bit cheated to learn that there's no hard as nails end boss (dunno what the settings were but the game was easy to beat) . I even waited for the credits to end thinking that some boss would appear but gave up after the name entry thing ended !
Also, Iori losing his projectile ?! No Mai ?! No K ?! Athena looking much much much younger than before ?! Reduced roster of characters ?! What the fish ?! This game already looked something like Capcom Vs SNK ( without the fluidity of the character animations ) and they have to reduce the number of characters ?
Disappointed .

was damn disappointed with the char roaster, so skipping this game.read from wikipedia that the reason is because they wanted to graphically compete with SF4 but yet, have little time frame for this project, so no time to put in more chars hope the next year one is gonna be better

And guess what? The game's graphics are no where near SFIV as well. Just look at those squarish pixels on the trousers of most characters.

Also, in some stages, the characters blend in with the background even when they're in different colors. It's like fighting air.

And, last I heard, to achieve Rank SSS, you'd need to play in excess of 1,400 online games. What the???

Hmm.. to answer some of your questions... This is still in the story arc of Ash. If you have been following KOF's story, every story arc lasted for 3 games, this will be the 3rd part for Ash's arc but unfortunately this is only a beta version. The developer has said to have a full complete game for the next one.
In the 2nd part of Ash's story, he successfully stolen all the 3 treasures from the 3 families, hence Iori has no more flame. lol
I don't know why they decided to revert Athena & Kensou's appearance back to their old self in the original psycho soldier game though.

Ya, to most people this game pretty much sux and the timing for combo has changed to become slower, now everyone can be an expert in this KOF.

No wonder I can't do most of the combos since you mentioned that the timing has become slower. Last night do the

Actually, the pixellated art style is deliberate: http://kofaniv.snkplaymore.co.jp/info/15th...d_dot/index.php

Personally, I find KoFXII graphics more fluid than Blazblue, the frame rate is noticeably higher. The game speed was actually even slower during beta tests, but the developer speeded things up following feedback from the test players. In the process, the details and fluidity of the animation was compromised.

Nonetheless, I'm also kinda disappointed too with the limited roster and character moves. Was especially shocked that Mature, a console exclusive, only has 2 special moves (Dun own any console versions, know from the web). Hope that the next installment will have more characters and more moves, best if they bring back SDMs as well.

The mentioning of SDM... you must be quite a KOF gamer. hehe

Anyway ya, the moves has lessen for certain or most characters and certain old combos cannot connect anymore for certain characters, some combo timing changed, some moves timing changed etc...
Perhaps they really want to make it a new game but at least they still keep it as a complete 2D game.

I cannot return to the main menu after I select the vs menu. Does anyone experience this as well?

btw, what does SDM stands for? i google, they talk about it, but don't spell out the full name for SDM

Super Desperation(or Death) Move. Desperation/Death Move (DM) is what is commonly known as super combo in Street Fighter games. So SDM is one level higher than DM.

In general, I like the (S)DM of KoF better than the SF series as they look more stylish.

Yup the SDM of Street Fighter is just an upgrade of their special moves ( well, most of them). But KOF are totally different from their special moves .

oh... is it for kyo, the sdm is the one he will hold his power, he light up in flames, then when you let go he suddenly rush forward with flames and fire etc.?

Ya, that is the SDM of his original 1st DM, the Orochinagi.... I think is the name iirc
In both versions, you can hold the button to hold the (S)DM or simply just press and let go.... wah, game too long ago liao, can't remember if the older KOF can hold or not.

i shd have read this forum before purchasing this game on the ps3. but i'm glad its a blue note only, and the only consolation is that its the first kof game on ps3.

Iori totally sux now due to the overhaul in all this moves, Kyo is basically still the same whilst Terry lost his upper cut moves.

Havent had any time to try out other characters or even completing the game. But thanks S_C, i change the difficulty setting to Hard when playing to see what happens.

I'm an Iori user and he is still fairly strong imo eventhough without the physical uppercut and fireball moves. It need abit of adaption into his new style.
Youtube has shown some good iori gameplay.

Terry still has his rising tackle.

Finally a conclusion to the Ash saga (I play these games to see endings ). Out in Japan arcades on 14 Jul 2010.

Official Site Introducing team backgrd stories (too bad I can't read Jap )

Official Developers' Blog Introducing the changes to the characters and their Neo Maxes (KoF XIII version of HSDM/Max 2s )

Now they also have the EX moves similar to Street Fighter 4 but require to use up a power bar for it which i rather use it on a Super. And also a choice of 10 colour attire to choose from. Even Hwa Jai the other Kick boxer from Fatal Fury 1 is back !! These are what I observed from the link that Bro GGGG00 sent.

Actually all the gimmicks were from previous KOF games, they just integrate all into this chapter.... plus reducing the restriction on using them.

Yup, there's nothing really new about the features except for the EX special moves, but even this feature is not exactly new to fighting games. But that do not really bother me much as I do not really care much about gameplay

Nowadays, companies really make an effort to showcase their works, in the past have to rely on those gaming websites and Japan imported gaming magazines to find out the game and to see some screenshots. Now, companies even upload HQ clips on youtube to showcase the moves and properties.

KoF XIII Technical guide videos and countdown site

Such gimmicks made the game a bit more interesting but it has also made the game more technical. Just like how playing Magic The Gathering has become a technical thing...

KOF XIII is the last entry for the Ash saga right? so the story up till now is that Ash manage to steal 2 of 3 of the sacred treasures but is there any story update to the mysterious group?

been long time since I followed the KOF series.. think the last game I played was KOF 2003.. feel that the draw for me to KOF is more of the storyline.. LOL..

The Ash storyline is quite blur for me too, they didn't really explain about who Ash is and why is he doing that... I supposed.
Since this is the last chapter of Ash story and nothing concrete has been revealed about the mysterious group, I got a feeling it will be a rush and wtf job to explain everything....

Or perhaps they are again making the mysterious members the 2nd end boss group just like chris, yashiro and shermie... zzz.

King of fighter is the latest instalment of The King of Fighters series.It is abandoning the Atomisation system and is moving its most popular game franchises to the Taito Type X2 arcade system.It's the latest chapter in 15 years of fighting game history. It's also a disappointment, but is not only one of the best-looking fighting games around, it’s also one of the most rewarding.

After watching the technical reference videos... I would say most of the EX moves ain't worth 1(or more) power bar, unless your opponent left a bit in the life bar and execute an EX move will defeat him.

Some combos can be connected normally in XII but now need EX to be able to connect in XIII.... that is crap.

The game is out in Bugis in case some of the brothers here dun know about it.