Word of advice to all those players who did not play the game in the arcades, spend some time in practice mode because this game handles a bit different than any KOF you played before.
Like most of you i did not get a change to play the game in the arcades, and i have played every single entry of the KOF games before also like most of you i spend the days before i got the game playing 02UM and now im playing XIII, i played for a few hours yesterday and i gotta tell you fellas at first i was not able to get anything to come out, me being a vet in this game i thought that maybe there was something wrong either with me or the game but it was simply the flow of the game is quite different than other KOFs ive played before, by the end of my time with the game i was able to get things to come out much better and i know that the more i play and the more used to the system i get things will get better.
So for those of you who have played KOF before but have not played XIII at all give yourself sometime to get used to the flow of the game, as it has its own rhythm. see you guys online.
This is great advice. I felt the exact same way. I got the game yesterday morning and had the same issue (plus, I have a new ps3 pad wich is still realllly stiff, I tried one at my friend's and I could perform the cancels without problems, but with my pad, can´t do shit yet).
One thing that is also different and takes time to adjust to is that the short hop travels more than in previos games. If you are close to a crouching opponent and you perform a hop you will end up in the other side. Also, in order to combo when falling from a Jump, you have to really do it at the last time, otherwise it won´t combo.
This is extrematelly important cause as we all know, short hops are one of the key elements of KOF. This means that in this game can´t just presure some by staying close to him and doing short hops, you need to control the space more. It is actually better but it takes time to get used to.
Just to point out something that Musolini said. If you can indeed pull off the hard combos in KOF98 and 2k2, it should be no problem doing the ones in this game. To me, the games feels just a little bit more strict than KOFXI. And if you guys played XI, one of the things it was praised for was that it was easier to do the heavy combos in that game compared to the previous entries.
Yes, it was easier. Since I have been playing that until recently (always on team vs, no tag bullshit for me) it is kinda hard to adjust but just takes time.
All I'm gonna say is this game is full of details. I was watching some of the characters anymations and it is remarkable. Also it is amazing all the work they put to the voices. I won with Iori againts Kyo and he said with anger Sono mama Shine, Kyo!!!. The game is full of stuff like that. This time, they have really delivered and amazing product.
Also, as it was previously mentioned, the instruction manual comes in full colour, and has some nice SD/chibbi images of some characters.
Oh, and Billy looks awesome, his stance is kinda still but the rest of the animations that he has are awesome (like when he walks forward, for example).