Arc route: 7
Ciel route: 5
Akiha route: 7
Kohaku route: 10
Hisui route: 9

Been months since I’ve really posted much about a fighting game, got in a bit of a mood for it recently again so here I am.
My last review was a fairly negative look at KOF XIII which I really didn’t want to do, but I found the game very uninteresting and one of my least favorite entries in the series, Unsurprisingly not too long after that I sorta fell off from playing fighting games for a bit, with a single arcade run of KOF XV and random playthroughs of KOF 98-02 when having anime on as background noise really being all I messed with after that. However, I had the urge to play some fighters as of recently and I thought it would be fair to give this game a try again. Not that I disliked it, in fact I remember enjoying it initially, but pulling out the PS4 was a hassle and I still don’t have PS Plus so playing online was a no-go. But after doing some more arcade runs and trying other characters I thought I’d write something really quick because I actually really like this game.
The presentation is pretty solid, menus are clean, character models are a big step over XIV, animations look nice, the usual. The game in general is just popping with color which I couldn’t say about XIII and I love the flourishes and hit sparks to your moves in this one. While still not near in quality to the presentational masterpiece that is KOF 2000 for me, I think modern SNK did a pretty decent job here.
Now I might come off as hypocritical here because of my hot takes on KOF XIII but I really enjoy how this one plays. It has a lot of the standard gameplay systems like previous entries, but it’s combined with a very solid roster and game feel. I noticed it was very easy to get a combo going by just trying random combinations, and I’m sure it would drive a professional crazy but I find this a good thing for newer players. You still have to actually try, of course, but there’s some of that good ol’ SNK clunk to this one that makes the game a proper tribute to the classics in my opinion. Experimentation is rewarded by the player going “now wouldn’t it be crazy if I could combo THAT” then actually trying that and pulling it off, which just gives a great reward for creative players. I’m fairly on the primitive side when it comes to making up combos in fighting games, but KOF is one series where my brain is constantly thinking up random shit I could forge together especially in the older games, and I had a similar vibe here too.
The roster is very dream match like despite being canon (although there are lore reasons for this all happening ofc) and seems to have less emphasis on original characters than what I’ve seen of XIV. This time it’s more about refining some old favorites but now in 3D (but not in whatever the hell Maximum Impact was… lol), which I’m fine with. Maybe it’s a really cynical move on the developers’ part but eh. Even so, the new characters are cool too, although Isla was the only one I’m familiar with, one of the coolest KOF character designs in a while for me. Returning characters are pretty similar to what they’ve been before, but I really like the new character designs, even one of the flat out worst designs in the franchise, Sylvie Paula Paula, is getting one for the DLC and no joke she actually looks GREAT. I don’t find this game soulless or corporate or whatever despite everything inside me feeling like I should, because there definitely is a clear amount of effort put here, I dunno. Mainly rambling at this point.
But overall this is a good entry in the series and I’m glad it exists. I’m not terribly fond of modern fighting games… and maybe the only reason I loved this one was because it feels like an older one… but I am willing to try more of these new fighting games. See you in Street Fighter 6 everybody! This is also a great game for beginners. If you’re one of those kids playing your Guilty Gear Strives or whatever this could possibly be entirely for you, just know there still is a fairly high skill ceiling here, but I find the skill floor very welcoming for fighting game newbies. Or I could be entirely wrong here.
I’ll be writing about another fighting game possibly pretty soon so… stay tuned for that.

It’s common these days to immediately clown on the usage of terms like “soul” and “passion” when describing the creation and production of media. However, one game I could never not describe as such is KOF 2000. Mainly because of the many issues going down at SNK during development, it’s a game that, artistically, screams out to me so much.
I mean, this game was made in the middle of SNK filing for bankruptcy, for Christ’s sake. The devs knew they were going down under. This game was not going to be the miracle that would save them from this terrible situation. And yet, the team still dedicated every single ounce of their energy that they would for really any other game they made. It has the arranged soundtrack, a console port, jaw droppingly good stages and character animations, it’s all here and accounted for. But what makes things even better is you can really see this game as a somewhat somber farewell to the original SNK. The extra strikers are tons of homages to KOF, Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, etc. The soundtrack of this game is also so tonally perfect, both compositionally and name wise. So many tracks have such a sense of finality to them, like KD-0084, Inner Shade, Ice Place, Zero, and of course Goodbye Esaka, a track literally naming itself as SNK’s final goodbyes to it’s home station in Osaka, Japan.
With this context, the destruction of Southtown in the ending is very clearly representative of the state of the company. The place where it all began back with SNK’s first fighting game Fatal Fury, completely in shambles. And yet there’s still a feeling of hope to all this destruction. A lead to a new beginning, perhaps…?
Gameplay wise it’s a huge step up from ‘99, pushing the striker system to its limits while also having a more solid roster and game feel. I really like the new characters, especially Kula my beloved <3. Some strikers are absolutely NASTY in this game, and it’s horribly imbalanced, but it’s stupid fun. The presentation with the gorgeous stages and UI design is of the finest quality, which is saying a lot knowing the production values of the previous entries. Even with plenty of the reused character sprites, there’s also lots of new ones that are of the same quality, which really goes to show how well the old ones hold up.
Sometimes this is my favorite KOF game, sometimes it’s 02UM, but at the end of this day it’s definitely up there for me and a game I have the utmost respect for. The developers cared TOO MUCH making this game, and I applaud them for their effort despite the situation surrounding SNK. I’ll always love KOF 02, 02UM, and XI, but 2000 is the last true KOF game from an artistic standpoint. And what a way to go out. Holy fuck.