is a 2022 fighting game developed and published by SNK in Japan and Koch Media internationally for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. It is the fifteenth main installment in The King of Fighters series. 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. The 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.
Gameplay
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.
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 analysis Destructoid compared Shatter Strike with a fully charged Focus Attack from Street Fighter IV. 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.
Plot 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. 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.
Characters
The King of Fighters XV launched with 39 playable fighters, grouped into 13 teams of three. Additional fighters were made available via seasons of paid downloadable content: Season 1 consists of 12 fighters grouped into four teams of three, while Season 2 consists of six individual fighters, with two additional fighters released separately later. Much like Samurai Shodown (2019) and SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, the DLC teams' involvements in the storyline are canon. The game features three non-playable bosses in the initial release, and two free playable DLC boss characters who are part of special boss challenges.
Newcomers are marked in italics.
Base game roster
Team Hero Shun'ei Meitenkun Benimaru Nikaido
Team Sacred Treasures Kyo Kusanagi Iori Yagami Chizuru Kagura
Team Fatal Fury Terry Bogard Andy Bogard Joe Higashi
Team Orochi Yashiro Nanakase Shermie Chris
Team Art of Fighting Ryo Sakazaki Robert Garcia King
Team Ikari Leona Heidern Ralf Jones Clark Still
Team Secret Agent Blue Mary Vanessa Luong
Team Super Heroine Athena Asamiya Mai Shiranui Yuri Sakazaki
Team G.A.W. Antonov Ramón The King of Dinosaurs
Team Rival Isla Heidern Dolores
Team K K' Maxima Whip
Team Krohnen Krohnen McDougall Kula Diamond Ángel
Team Ash Ash Crimson Elisabeth Blanctorche Kukri
Bosses Re Verse (Sub-Boss) Otoma=Raga (Final Boss) Omega Rugal Goenitz
DLC Characters
Team Garou Rock Howard B. Jenet Gato
Team South Town Geese Howard Billy Kane Ryuji Yamazaki
Team Awakened Orochi Orochi Yashiro Orochi Shermie Orochi Chris
Team Samurai Haohmaru Nakoruru Darli Dagger
Single Entries Shingo Yabuki Kim Kaphwan Sylvie Paula Paula Najd Duo Lon Hinako Shijo Mature Vice
Development Due to positive response to the marketing of The King of Fighters XIV, director Yasuyuki Oda said in August 2017 The King of Fighters XV was possible, but the company SNK also wanted to focus on other franchises. Oda instead worked on a spin-off, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, a female character-driven fighting game and a spiritual sequel of SNK Gals' Fighters. In December 2018, SNK revealed the company was working on The King of Fighters XV, aiming to release it during 2020. However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused major delays in the making of the game. They decided to make XV while they were still working on XIV but only started development after Samurai Shodown was completed. The game's creative director is Eisuke Ogura, who has previously worked as an artist on the series, beginning with The King of Fighters 2001. Most notably, he served as the main illustrator for The King of Fighters XIII and XIV. The director of King of Fighters XIV, Yasuyuki Oda, serves as the producer for the title. Oda claimed the team had to "start from zero" as they avoided using assets from the previous installments. The game director was Kaito Soranka who had joined SNK in 2014 during development of KOFXIV. Oda referred to the game as an "all-star game". He wanted players to get attached to the game mechanics. The Unreal Engine also allowed to improve the gameplay's speed. The objective was to smoothly transition players into a new game and build a system where fans could have fun performing combos.Wb While SNK tried implementing new types of new modes in The King of Fighters '99 through the assistant character Strike or the tag team system conceived in The King of Fighters 2003, the aim of the team was to stay true to the original system they always used since their first game, The King of Fighters '94, and improved on it. The popular usage of Cross-Engine also decided in SNK using it to appeal to the gamers regardless of where they are playing it.
Feeling the previous title had outdated graphics for a 2016 game, SNK chairman Zhihui Ge said that XV will use the Unreal Engine 4 to provide a better presentation. At Evo 2019, SNK announced that the game was in development. Thanks to the Unreal Engine, the team could create more cinematic cutscenes during rivals' clashes than in the previous games where they just moved the fighters. The Unreal Engine also allowed the characters to be given more facial expressions when interacting. Additionally, the Unreal Engine allowed to improve the visuals of the Climax techniques the characters can perform like Kyo's who fires a projectile, punches the enemy with his flames and then covers them with the Kusanagi Crest.
Originally, the game was set to be released in 2020. However, in late December, Oda and Ogura revealed the game would see release in 2021 with more content yet to be explored. During these announcements, the two developers revealed sketches of Shun'ei, Kyo Kusanagi and Benimaru Nikaido, with the former being set to be the protagonist of the new game. Ogura called it "our most ambitious KOF yet". An official trailer was set for January 7, 2021 but was delayed for unknown reasons alongside the downloadable content for Samurai Shodown. The trailer was, instead, revealed the next day and included game footage of Kyo, Shun'ei, Benimaru, K', Mai Shiranui and Leona Heidern, while also confirming a 2021 release. The team focused on improving the visuals and increasing the fast-paced gameplay by adding new elements. The game was developed for PC and ninth generation of consoles, and supports ray tracing on these platforms. The PlayStation 4 version was also created with fans of The King of Fighters XIV in mind: SNK wanted to release the game while the console was still popular and expects this version to be used during major tournaments. Much attention to the character lineup was given due to the worldwide popularity of the series. In total, around 400 people were involved with game's development.
In February 2021, Oda announced on his personal Twitter account that the team is working on implementing rollback-based netcode for the game. The team aimed to improve the gameplay and graphics while also providing a more interesting story than the one from XIV. SNK later confirmed that they were using GGPO for their rollback implementation.