before anyone buy this, please consider the following.
GAMEPLAY SYSTEM
-the system xiv is using is hybrid from xiii and 2002. no more hyperdrive gauge from xiii.
-the gameplay speed is about 10% slower than xiii.
-this is a pure 2d fighter with 3d model[no sidestep].
-the evade function is same as 'advance' mode 98 and above[A+B to roll].
-in xiii, its mostly long combo to form high damage,but in xiv its short combo with high damage, overall time it takes to combo to max damage have been reduce by at least 50%,on technical term, xiv is much new player friendly.

CONS
-this game input interface is using sdl2,the controller,joystick,joypad compatibility is based on user submitted mapping, compatibility is not good compare to other game that use directinput or xinput. i personally got 1 arcade stick[Roydsstick.EX for ps3] that would not work without using joytokey, which increase the input delay to unplayable.if u got a popular branded joypad or joystick like HORI/MADCATZ/QANBA/ETOKKI/RAZER its mostly supported.
-any controller that is xinput, are mostly supported.
-can only run on gpu that run OpenGL 4.3, alot of older gpu will not run this game.[amd hd4000/nvidia gtx200 series WONT be able to run the game]
-system requirment is quite high for a 2d fighting game.
-if u live on europe or USA,its quite hard to find a game to join.
-special character intros is not available in kof xiv.

PRO's
-the netcode is ALOT more better compare to xiii
-if u live in asia and south east asia, there is alot of player and room to join on any hour,i even manage to find game on 3am ^_^
-the game response and input lag is good which is 4-5 frame.
-the moderator on the technical support forum is active,and the patching/update of the game are frequent
-tutorial and character 'mission' mode are informative and helpful.
-58 character including dlc, alot of selection.

Do buy this game if u got a popular branded pad/stick or using 360/XBONE pad / keyboard.
MUST buy if u love the gameplay of 98/02

ive been a kof player since the original 98 release in arcade.this is a good/excellent KOF.

9/10. 100% recommended , even at full price, this is a still a good buy.

[edited: 58 character now available]

I play fighting games casually and mostly in single-player mode. I pay little attention to changes to technical details like hitboxes, frames, combos, levels, netcodes, etc., from version to version. When it comes to choosing fighting games to play, what really matter to me are its presentation, overall gameplay, and general fun factor.

For this installment of A Casual Fighting Game Player Reviews..., I’ll opine about The King of Fighters XIV. KOF14 is my second KOF game, with KOF13 being my first. Given that, much of my views about this game stem from the positive experience I had with 13. Veteran KOF gamers may disagree with my views, but I hope this review can still be helpful to other casual fighting game players.

PRESENTATION/GRAPHICS
The most obvious change from previous KOF games to KOF14 are the graphics and art direction. Whereas previous games used hand-drawn 2D sprites, this game uses 3D character models. I prefer the old style because the 3D characters look like plastic dolls, especially when they weren’t animated to blink during cutscenes. The textures on some clothing and the backgrounds can be detailed, but the characters’ skin look too flat and smooth. While this is not obvious during wide shots, it’s much more apparent during closeups (i.e. rival interactions, Climax Desperation Moves).

However, using 3D models does have its advantages. KOF14 can now be scaled to run at fullscreen properly, instead of predetermined resolutions like in KOF13. The cinematics for Climax Desperation Moves can be phenomenal to look at, with different camera angels capturing the outrageous action. You can also adjust the visual effects around what your PC can handle and/or your preference by playing with the bloom, depth of field, anti-aliasing, shadows, god rays, mipmaps and anisotropic filtering settings.

Perhaps the lighting effects have an impact on presentation, but the colours in KOF14 seem more desaturated than previous KOF games. Again, this is a matter of taste, but I prefer a rich, saturated colour palette. While I understand why the SNK went with using 3D character models, I think they made the wrong artistic choice with their rendering. I much prefer what Arc System Works did their 3D model rendering in Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, and more recently in Dragon Ball FighterZ.

GAMEPLAY
Compared to KOF13, 14 feels like a slower game. I can’t explain why – perhaps it’s the shift from 2D sprite animation to 3D, and/or it’s an intentional design decision – but it’s nowhere as fast-paced and frantic as its predecessor. For a point of reference, the speed of 14 feels like that of Ultra Street Fighter IV, while the speed of 13 seems like that of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I was expecting this game to be another fast-paced entry to the KOF series, so I was slightly disappointed that it’s not.

Still, that’s not a bad thing, because KOF14 is accessible to novices and casual gamers like me. The tutorial is informative, the command/move lists are detailed, the speed certainly isn’t intimidating or frustrating, and there’re as many as 50 characters to choose from in the base game. Is having 50 selectable characters too much? I think so, but it also means that there’s bound to be at least 3 that will fit your playing style.

KOF14 also allows players to execute combo attacks by pressing the light punch button repeatedly and quickly. Depending on your power gauge level, your combo attack will finish with a different type of special or super move. I’ve found this to be a highly helpful feature that threw me a lifeline plenty of times during more desperate moments in matches.

FUN FACTOR
While KOF14 may not be the fast-paced fighting game that I was expecting, and that the graphical presentation can be wanting, it’s still a very solid fighting game. I had fun playing it, and I think it that will appeal to newcomers because of its accessibility, and will satisfy veterans because of its large roster of fighters. Executing special and super moves, as well as Climax Desperation Moves is very empowering. These power moves are visual and auditory feasts, and they certainly make KOF14 more enjoyable. They’re good incentives to learn to use the power gauge strategically.

OTHER THOUGHTS
I did try to play online for a bit. With KOF14 being 3 years old at the time of this review, it can be rather hard for newbies like me to find an online match in terms of skill level. Although I didn’t have much trouble finding rooms for free matches, I found it a bit challenging to find other casual fighting game players for ranked matches at this point.

In the one online ranked match I played, it got laggy by the third round despite the game indicating that I had a strong Internet connection. I didn’t experience this type of lag when playing Ultra Street Fighter IV, which is an older fighting game. All of this is worth considering before getting KOF14 for online gaming this late into its lifespan.

SHOULD YOU PLAY KOF14?
Yes, especially if you’re new to the game series and feel that you need to ease into it. If you’ve played and other fighting games before, like the moderately paced Ultra Street Fighter IV, or fast ones like Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, then you may want to check out KOF13 if you haven’t done so already. While KOF14 is indeed fun to play, I simply found 13 to be more exhilarating.

Great port of a great game. Runs like an absolute dream on my mid-level rig and it has all the features you've seen on the PS4 version on top of the configuration options you'd expect a PC game to have.

However, SNK's curse of poor netcode remains. Online is absolutely TERRIBLE. It's about as choppy as the PS4 version if not worse in most instances. I could barely play a match without stutter or high input delay and this was with people who were as close as possible to me.

Netcode issues aside, King of Fighters XIV is an outstanding game. Loaded with a huge variety of both returning and brand new characters, a renewed MAX system that combines elements from KOF13's HD/Super meter into one, all the while maintaining the series mainstay mechanics such as rolling and blowback attacks. It's a fantastic experience and there is a lot to dive into that can keep you busy.

I highly recommend this game for local play as it's one of the best fighting games out there right now and a must own for anyone who is a fighting game fan. However, in regards to online play, do not put money down for this if you're planning to play online until a patch comes out to optimize the netcode.

great game, but it can be annoying as hell on PC cause it crashes randomly. play it on PS4 if you can.

Make fun of its graphics and art style, all you want, but atleast this game has none of the shenanigans SFV has, and its a actual fun game to play, very underrated.

It's got boob physics

It's kinda funny. SNK was the major rival of Capcom in the Fighting Game market before stepping down in the 2000's. But with the percieved failure of Street Fighter V, SNK stepped up into the ring to beat them at their own game with their own take on the "Classic Gameplay, Modern Graphics" approach. How did it go? Let's find out.

Graphics-wise, KOF XIV looks very similar to a last-gen game. That's not to say the graphics are bad, they're perfectly serviceable. Just think something closer to Street Fighter IV instead of Street Fighter V. I will say that the backgrounds are probably the better half of the game, compared to the character models.

In terms of available modes, the game has something Street Fighter V lacked on launch, and still lacks in the form KOF XIV has even with Arcade Edition: a legitimate Arcade Mode! Anyone who's played a classic King of Fighters game will feel right at home here, with a proper SNK boss heiarchy. Amusingly, thanks to this game's emphasis on new players, KOF XIV's boss is not a complete steamroller, so kudos! There's also Time Attack, Survival, and a Challenge Mode, similar to those in KOF XIII. They're good quick matches when you don't have enough time for Arcade Mode.

Now on to the gameplay, and this is where things get fun! King of Fighters' main gimmick is its team-based gameplay. Beat one opponent, the next takes their place in a team of 3 characters, most organized by a specific grouping. The game uses four buttons, two punches and two kicks, which has the effect of making special moves more than just power variants. Some of King of Fighters' movesets are easier to execute than Street Fighter; they seem unintuitive at first, but you get the hang of them as you go on. You can also enhance your attacks' power by entering MAX Mode, a staple since '97. The fighting in this game makes you look like an expert quite easily, is very intuitive, and is quicker than Street Fighter without being too fast. It's a very technical game, but not too overwhelming.

King of Fighters XIV boasts a massive character roster without DLC at 50 characters, two of which are bosses. All but them are divided evenly into teams of three, and they are some of the most diverse faces in Fighting Game history. Series staples like Kyo, Iori, Terry, and Ryo make the transition quite well, though some of the new characters feel a tad forgettable. As said before, the bosses are difficult without being unmanageable. Character animations feel good, but not as good as KOF XIII, of which many of their animations are based. Still, for gameplay alone, the roster is solid, plus... 50 unique characters in just the main game, how can you say no?

King of Fighters XIV is a wonderful throwback to an older era of gaming while bringing it perfectly into the modern age. If Street Fighter IV brought Street Fighter back to the mainstream, this did much the same for King of Fighters. I can't recommend this game enough, especially if you're disgruntled with Street Fighter V.

Highly Recommended!

I'm a simple man, i see kula diamond I buy kula diamond

Q: Why does this game cost so much more than Street Fighter V?

A: Because this game is so much better! A rock-solid 2.5D fighter with 50 Characters in the base game, 8 more in the DLCs, and no microtransactions beyond that. Great tutorial, training mode, and soundtrack.

My overall opinion on the game is, 'it's great, but......'

From a single player's perspective, this is a complete package from the get-go. You've got a proper ten stage story/arcade mod, as well as survivor and time attack modes. And it has a gallery to gradually unlock. Visually, the game boasts passable PS3/360 era graphics, falling somewhere between Dead or Alive's pleasing aesthetics, and Street Fighter 4's stylized flashiness. Sound assets are quite good too, with some memorable stage themes. I can't rate the voice over work, because it's Japanese, and there's an unwritten rule to assume that ALL japanese voice over work is top notch. (real talk, the last KOF I played that was dubbed was maximum impact, and well........ I want to forget that maximum impact ever happened. And I also hear that KOF 12's dub was genuinely horrible)

It's a great package offline, but unless you live in Japan or the States, forget about it, as the netcode can't handle long distances. Also, I'm convinced I'm the only person in Australia that bought the game......