The King of Fighters 15 Review Addendum: The Updates

It’s been well over a year since The King of Fighters 15 came out and right from the word go SNK has been adding update after update to sweeten the deal, to the point that looking back on it, some of the information in my review of it is dated. Some of my comments and complaints from back then have been addressed and there has been so much added to the game that I think it’s worth updating my thoughts on the game's content a bit and addressing what has changed so that people reading about the game today have a better understanding of its current state.  Consider it an addendum of sorts to my review.

Learning True History

Like any medium, games have the potential to educate.  Unlike a textbook, movie or documentary, however, games have the unique property of being an interactive medium, allowing for a whole new level of engagement.  When most people think of educational games, they think of the classic educational games, particularly from the 90s, with games like the Liberty’s Kids game, the Carmen Sandiego games, Zoombinis or the Cluefinders series.  Nowadays most of us have moved on to more traditional hardcore games, but the truth is that even those games have something to teach us.  More than you may realize, in fact.  Historical revisionism is a pervasive issue in textbooks.  They are full of lies and disgusting sanitization, but games give us nothing but the truth.  The following are just a few things games have taught us about true world history over the years.

Soulstice Review

Capcom and Platinumgames seem to be the center of attention on the fast-paced hack and slash 3D action games nowadays.  Since Kratos took it easy on the deicide to be a dad, Bayonetta and Dante are the faces of the genre without much competition.  If there’s a big fast-paced hack and slash adventure going on, it’s likely from those two companies, as also seen with Nier: Automata and DmC: Devil May Cry.  They’re good at that, but sometimes I got to thinking that I wouldn’t mind someone else trying their hand at that style of gameplay for once instead of all the games taking cues from Dark Souls that keep coming up.  Darksiders sure wasn’t doing it for me.

Now in 2022 Reply Games Studios has taken that crack at it with Soulstice, a fast-paced hack and slash 3D action game adventure that doesn’t even try to hide its inspirations.

This review is based on the PC version and was given to me for free.

Steps on How to Get Gud at Fighting Games

In fighting games there are fundamental rules that carry over into each other.  Things like light attacks being quick and weak, heavy attacks being slow and strong, super meters being used for super attacks and overhead attacks hitting crouched opponents.

Thinking within these fundamentals is the right way to quickly latch onto the different fighting games there are in tandem with the kind of things that go without saying, like reading your opponent and reacting accordingly, but there are many techniques that go beyond the basic rules of the game and can elevate a player from being simply “good” to being “gud.”  These are the methods utilized both in and out of the games that give a player that extra push into mastering fighting games as a genre and earning the respect and admiration of their peers.  With this post, I hope I can lead players into that push so that we can all enjoy playing fighting games at the highest levels of play.  These are my tips and tricks on how to get gud at fighting games.

The King of Fighters 15 Review

When a new fighting game comes out, and especially a King of Fighters game, it’s inevitable that comparisons will be drawn to The King of Fighters 13.  I used to give the title of “Best Fighting Game of All Time” to a tie between KOF 11 and 13, but after years of thinking I’ve tipped the scales onto 13’s side, even if it’s not as good without 11 and 2003 to establish its story.  No fighting game since it came out has come close to its presentation, music, story and flowing, perfected gameplay.  Not Guilty Gear Xrd, not Street Fighter 5 and not The King of Fighters 14.

The King of Fighters 15, however, comes close.

I would post the game’s opening here, but there isn’t one for some reason.  The closest thing is a short animated music video from the guy who directed those crappy Fatal Fury anime specials in the 90s.  It's pretty good.