KoF 14 Demo: Spicey Boi Fever!

KoF is one of the best fighting games out there and still to this day, it gets praise from almost everyone who plays it. The game utilizes the Combo System very well, the selection of characters are very vast and the entire game is a bundle a fun for the most Amateur of players. The art design is so beautiful and pleasing to look at as well. Once a new entry to the game would come out soon this year, players were excited and couldn't wait get their hands on it. Then, the demo came out to the public with a small roster of players, but was given to us at the worst state. Hell Wandering Traveler and welcome to this Demo Review!

What I would like to talk about is the character we are given and the rest we are able to be teased by. Although, the character selection is very small for the large cast we are presented in the past games, the selection is very small and not very nostalgic. Most of the characters seen are new and/or changed to an unbelievable appeal. The classics, like Kyo, Iori, Ryo and his sister Yuri, are still there, but the rest are fresh characters we haven't seen. Although, Ramon is back, but his strange partner, King of Dinosaurs, kind of makes a bland, but strange Mexican member to be in such a team. I wonder what they're saying about the country? And just a little thing I'd like to mention, Daimon Goro's eyes are still sealed. Why? Why not just a little but open? I mean, he hasn't seen anything 1997!

The characters' transition to 3D was a big step for SNK, making some characters seem very unrecognizable. Iori (Aka Emo Guy) is similar to the original while his rival, Kyo (Aka Spicy Boi), looks like your typical Teenage pretty boy in an anime. Some of the woman look great, but the eye's size seems a bit drastic. The eyes on Mai look too large compared to the 2D version.

The new characters are a bit strange and seem to be following a different source than KoF. Let me show you, Sylvie Paula Paula, Aka Pastel Cancer, Aka Kawaii Barf. This is one character that seems to disturb me and is a reason to cringe. I mean, you can say she can be one of those typical Anime Lovers that cosplay as the weirdest characters you can imagine. She plays fairly. Her combos are hard to time, but are can be done. I don't suggest her, but she plays good.

This "character" is a Mexican wrestler, but it can be hard to tell whether or not he's human or not. I mean, the eyes on his mask moves as if they were his own and he can move the move up and down as if he was breathing, so is it a mask? And interesting character, but unnecessary none the least. He plays very easy and has combos that can be done by almost any player. He can be good use for new players. 

Nelson is one of those "Off the Source" characters I was talking about. He seems like the kind of Balrog character. He plays like Balrog. And he has a robot arm. A bit off topic, but seems like he could be cheating or voiding the rules. He plays easy, but his combos are hard to execute. I suggest playing him if you are quick to learning and can execute a move quickly. 

This is Shun'Ei, Aka Beats by Drae. I don't know much about him. Most of his origin isn't even said in any website I looked at. He has some weird red and blew hands that pop up in some of his moves, besides that, this is the only thing I know about him.

He plays easy, but hard to master most of his moves. Some are kind of strange and most are just mind-f*cks. He would be played by an experienced player, but even then you need to be more mastered on most of the characters to get his moves right. 

The stages selected in the demo are pretty nice. They have their own style and unique charm to them. Neo Esaka is a place of massive tech and very bright. From the last one, it seems 20 years have past and the city larger since the last time we've been there. 

The Derelict Church is a new stage from what I see. It's an abandoned, broken down church with no one to spectate your fights. I guess this was a lazy attempt on a stage since the background has no animation to it, but bouncing church chairs and a crumbling ceiling. There is no crowd to explain the excitement about the KoF tournament or the fight in general.The laziest stage in my opinion. 

Guanajuato Dynamite Ring is a stage with the most emotion. A Wrestling ring in the middle of a town with tons of people watching you fight. Although, the people don't seem like character in background from KoF. They are usually wacky and cartoonish. France stage in KoF 13 had fat women screaming and excited to see the fight in an outdoor restaurant. This stage has normal people watching. I would like to see some Mariachi band in there and plays the theme of the stage, with some Day of the Dead Skull Costumes and parade sculptures and people screaming in the background with a mild look on their face. This kind of lets me down. The stages had so much emotion in them and the people in the city stages felt like they were filled a stage audience. I hope to see more in the future that are either nostalgic or awesomely filled with something new. 

Now to move away from the looks and style, let's go into how this game plays! I can see that a keyboard would be more suitable for the game since the controls are a bit janky. When you try to jump forward, it sometimes doesn't read it correctly and makes you look like a jumping idiot in front of your friends. The control scheme is hard to perform at times. And sometimes the buttons don't register a punch or kick. Sometimes the easiest characters are hard to use with this janky control system. I know this is a demo, but this is suppose to show us what the game will be like. If the game is like this, then I wouldn't buy it. And seeing the control schemes are stiff as hell, I hope they loosen it up in the final release. 

Overall, the game is good. Not a great game, but I might buy it. I still hope SNK has a big surprise for us in the future in this game after promoting it in their Metal Slug Defence, KoF 13 update, and the rest still out there. Tell me what you think. Was there anything you liked? Something you thought would make the game a flop? Or maybe the other way around? You can tell me in the comments if you want! And if you didn't know, my sister helped me with this review and coming up with the subtitle. I hope you like and 'til next time... 

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