The fate of KOF XIII

[marchefelix]

As is with any video game franchise, older games will have to make way for the newer ones. All the attention will shift towards the new thing, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the older games will fade away. Even within the KOF franchise there's games that have lasted despite being outdated (for lack of a better word). My question is if interest in KOF XIII will remain even after it has left the spotlight.

I find it hard to believe this community will simply forget about the game that broke ground for its competitive scene and I will be heartbroken if it happens. I believe KOF XIII has the same "staying power" as '98 and '02.

[solidshark]

I want to believe it has the same "staying power" as '98/'02. It certainly deserves it in my opinion, but I can only hope the community will keep it up. If PC/Steam keeps up as a go-to platform for SNK games in-general, it'll have it's place. I

[marchefelix]

I'm not too sure just how much being available on Steam will contribute to its longetivity. On one hand, Steam is really popular with its player base ever growing. On the other hand, there's a lot Steam has to offer. It could get lost among the sea of games. And then there's still the fact that PC hasn't become the platform of choice for fighters just yet.

[The Good Loser]

I'm not too sure just how much being available on Steam will contribute to its longetivity. On one hand, Steam is really popular with its player base ever growing. On the other hand, there's a lot Steam has to offer. It could get lost among the sea of games. And then there's still the fact that PC hasn't become the platform of choice for fighters just yet.

While this may be the case, it has not gone unnoticed. Microsoft has planned to port KI to PC for crosssplatform usage, SFV has crossplatform usage. Why would they do that if they didnt think PC would be a huge target audience.

[solidshark]

I'm not too sure just how much being available on Steam will contribute to its longetivity. On one hand, Steam is really popular with its player base ever growing. On the other hand, there's a lot Steam has to offer. It could get lost among the sea of games. And then there's still the fact that PC hasn't become the platform of choice for fighters just yet.

At the very least, I think being on a platform that's viable for current gen, and becoming more and more utilized over time, keeps it from being completely forgotten, even with the growing competition it's got. If XIII remained on PS360, I'd be more worried about it, but I think Steam gives it a chance to still be as relevant as an older game can be, leaving the community to keep up interest.

While this may be the case, it has not gone unnoticed. Microsoft has planned to port KI to PC for crosssplatform usage, SFV has crossplatform usage. Why would they do that if they didnt think PC would be a huge target audience.

KI probably has more of an uphill battle with it currently not being available for Steam, versus lots of, or every other FG franchise releasing something new. Understandable since they're supporting their own platform, but I imagine it'd get way more consideration from players on Steam.

[Custle]

I think Steam release was breath of fresh air. I didn't follow community when it happened, but I think XIII wouldn't be in a state it is now without it.

However, Steam is kinda crappy system nowdays. New games coming everyday, half-assed new features, toxic communities everywhere when you look at discussions. It is good that there are competitors to Steam, like GOG, Origin, Uplay, Windows Store (or whatever it is called). I understand why Steam is popular and why it is used as DRM, but it is far from perfect.

Street Fighter V and Killer Instinct are intresting new possibility, thanks to cross-platform multiplayer. In the past communities between platforms were isolated, so this is fantastic opportunity to unite them.

I kinda wish that PC would have corss-platorm multiplayer between DRM-services. GOG has mentioned that there would be possibility to play with your Steam version, if you're using GOG Galaxy, but so far I haven't seen any game using that. I thought Ashes of Singularity would've been corss-platform, but communities are seperate.

I read somewhere that SNK community has been quite PC-focused since the 90's, thanks to emulators and services like GGPO, Kalierea and Fightcade. I don't know is this true, but I think there is at least seed of truth. I fear that KOF XIV being PS4 exclusive might be death wish, but we'll see about that.

[solidshark]

I fear that KOF XIV being PS4 exclusive might be death wish, but we'll see about that.

If the only platform it appears on is PS4, I wouldn't think of that as a death wish at all. It's basically on the platform to be for popular fighters, maybe as far as console and PC is concerned. But that's IF it stays only on PS4; I still believe a PC port is probable, crossplay or not.

[Mr Bakaboy]

I read somewhere that SNK community has been quite PC-focused since the 90's, thanks to emulators and services like GGPO, Kalierea and Fightcade. I don't know is this true, but I think there is at least seed of truth. I fear that KOF XIV being PS4 exclusive might be death wish, but we'll see about that.

Not the 90's but post GGPO ('08) yeah simply because the Playmore netcode continued to get worse. They've ported Metal Slug titles to steam that get less players then the Metal Slug titles on console. I think it all depends on the best netcode.

[marchefelix]

Well, I think the conversation has been derailed a bit.

Something I saw on the front page is relevant to this topic. Tokido said that this is the one game he would keep on playing. That was very shocking for a couple of reasons. First, because he's primarily a Street Fighter player and then a Tekken player. He didn't get into KOF until XIII and yet he chose that over SFIV and possibly even V (I wouldn't doubt him forsaking that game with all the backlash it's received already). Second, because he's a well-known and even influential player, I'd say.  He believes the KOF player base should be expanded.

If more top players keep endorsing KOF XIII in the future, it's got longetivity for sure.

Now that I think about it, perhaps the best way to determine whether or not this game will stay relevant is by asking players directly.

[Custle]

Tokido has a point.

I personally would like to see more character variety in competetive matches. I watched the Dream Cancel Cup stream for a moment and pretty much yawned. "EX Iori and Mr. Karate again...." I don't know about other people, but at least I would be bored of watching same teams and characters fighting all over again. And if I was more active player, boredom would strike pretty fast. Like in Street Fighter V, I have so many Ruy's that I couldn't wait for something else.

I guess this is problem in all fighting games. I've heard there is ratio system rule, but I don't know how wide-spread it is. I've toyed with idea, if some tournaments would play like KOF 94 style, meaning "No edit teams". What team wold be popular then?

[marchefelix]

Yes, this is a problem that all fighting games seem to have.

Not that I'm saying you said this, but it's silly to pin a fighting game's longetivity on the kinds of characters people pick in tournaments. Melee should be enough to prove that character diversity is not an issue. It rests on the players alone to keep a game going.

So the question is if the players are willing to keep a game going.

[Mr Bakaboy]

'94 style? Hmmm Kyo's would be one of the best.

[EXWildWolf]

It's gonna be the KOF that has staying power, but it's definitely not gonna be remembered as a game that was easily approachable, more so than the other games. XIII had a lot of exploits with HD and that did sour the game for some people. I know personally that some people didn't like it because the game didn't have much in the way of good buttons   and offense that you could people get away with because your buttons weren't good.

People who also tried to take the game seriously and try to play it just got fucked up by series vets. A lot of the players that played XIII felt frustrated because they couldn't deal with the onslaught of J.CD hops and general reckless play when reacting.

But KOF has always been that sort of game. It punishes bad fighting game habits and makes you pick up new ones,  like running under jump ins and punishing them with a normal instead of trying to me A2A.

Also the tiers in this game were skewed.

Why would you use Joe over Hwa or Ralf over Clark? They had better normals and options that made Ralf and Joe not much of a threat in comparison. You could still use Ralf or Joe, but it's like picking picking vanilla ice cream over picking vanilla ice cream with chocolate fudge at the bottom of the cone.

imo, the game is fun, it's enjoyable still, but it did have its problems and the support SNK "did" for the game really didn't keep it alive. If they update the game right now and took out all the crap in the game, like the infinites, hitboxes, and damage on HD, it still would've kept going strong, buuuut it didn't, and now it can be found at a bargain on steam for 80% off.

Me personally, I didn't mind the damage. If I got hit and died, that was my fault. What I DIDN'T enjoy is not being able to defend myself with AA normals that didn't work and I died trying to tag somebody out of the air for abusing hop CD too much. What I also didn't enjoy was the stupid hit stop delay after a Guard Cancel Roll, and it literally just read Close C, and that was my high damage punish.

XIII was for what it was a game that OG FG fans say is a good game on the surface, but people who dug in to the game more and more found some critical issues in the game's design that made it fugly. I'll still play it, but I won't enjoy it as much as I do other KOFs.

[marchefelix]

That analysis was harsh to say the least, but not really wrong. Now that I'm over my fanboy stage with XIII I can see why some people didn't like it. It's still my favorite KOF game up to date, though.

What you did get wrong was the thing about tiers. The "why would you pick character X over character Y" thing has an obvious answer: preference in playstyles. This even applies to playstyle-similar characters like Joe/Hwa and Ralf/Clark. Lower tier characters may just have a playstyle you connect with more than with a higher tier character. Some people don't like fudge at the bottom of their ice cream.

Also, I don't think the game being 80% off has anything to do with what you said. It may be a temporary thing.

[YoungsterYasakani]

KoF 13's execution was easier than many of the other games from what I felt. However, on a higher-level play, the difference in skill level does show. Like any other fighting games, footsies and normal pokes are very important.

I feel as though UMvC3 is slowly dying off and KoF 13's been dying off before UMvC3. You don't see a lot of the former pros go out of their way for it as much as before, and for good reason. It had a great start, but it couldn't keep going (also because the release gap from the arcades to consoles was way too long, I feel). And less incentive to get into 13 when 14 will be around the corner.