Where I stand with this visual leak is on the side of optimism. I already know of some teams I'm going to try from already-released trailers, but I'm very interested to see what the upcoming characters will do, particularly the South American and Kim team.
I'm half and half on the whether the leak was a good thing or not. It's more attention given to it, though it's reconfirming the first leak. I'm mostly glad the package is shaping up to be nice. What I'd really like to see is more system displays/explanations, preferably confirmed by SNK themselves.
And on the subject of tastes and what TrueOrochi's been saying, for those that feel that way, I don't think we should start to pile on him for having his opinion, but even though you've coined yourself a purist, I still hope you (TrueOrochi) give this game a shot, for what it has and hasn't showed you yet. You might favor certain characters and designs (which might be customizable with costumes, my own speculation), but gameplay makes a difference too imo. I've personally loved how most mainstay characters get their movelists changed up in every new KOF; I think the combination you're used to or want could be fulfilled through new characters or revamped playstyles.
There are lots of people who seem to fixate on one character. "Where's Vanessa?" (Agreed) "Where's Yamazaki?" (I like the character, but maybe one day someone will explain to me why he's so loved and needs to be around so often) And the infamous "No Mai, no buy." But a lot of these players still give whatever game is in question a shot to see how it stands on it's own, or I hope. That's my hope for anyone who has interest in XIV as a fighter, new KOF, new SNK game, whatever.