User blog:Magma MK-II/Red flags of the KoF XV fake leaks


 * 1) MyUncleWorksAtSNK

With SNK being dead silent these last moths regarding KoF XV news a lot of people have been coming with various supposed "leaks" regarding the game. At first they were kind of funny, but now, with so many of these around, it started to become cringe looking at them, because every single one of them have some very obvious red flags which I'll be discussing on this post.

Gameplay
We shouldn't be expecting the gameplay to be much different from what we've seen in XIV. Each story arc of KoF featured its own unique gameplay mechanics with only minor adjustments between each game (the XI to XII/XIII transition notwithstanding, since that had more to do with SNK's situation at the time).


 * Four-man teams and Strikers: Neither of these will be happening again, ever, especially now.
 * Advanced/Extra and Armor/Counter modes: Very unlikely to be happening as well, meter will work much like in XIV.
 * Reserve characters waiting in the background: As much as I wish SNK brought this back I just don't see it happening, especially now with the jump to 3D graphics.
 * Sprites: HAHAHAHAHA no.

Story
One big issue with most "leaks" is how they're basically 4chan-level fanfics. Don't expect the story to be anything more than "Antonov opens a new tournament, Verse returns" and to just follow up from XIV endings.


 * Orochi: Pretty much the biggest red flag story-wise. Orochi's power was drained in XIII to open up that big ass gate. He is severely weakened and in XIV's ending the Sacred Treasures sealed him up without any effort. Orochi is literally a non-issue now. Don't expect him to come back for the next 1400 years.
 * Revived characters: I think everyone is confusing what Verse's actual role in the story is. Remember how in past interviews SNK said they wanted to make a sort of multiverse (the MCU-formula) with their properties? Verse is pretty much this. Instead, people have this misconception that Verse is just a free ticket to revive dead characters. Verse is an amalgam of lost souls, and the only reason they gave him this sort of revival power (not really but sort of) was so they could revive Ash.

Roster
The real issue with all "leaks", however, is when it comes to the roster. All of them feels basically like someone compiled a list of characters people want and tossed there, regardless if it makes sense or not.


 * Chizuru: Chizuru has this unfortunate problem where she is just so intrinsically tied to the Orochi plot, basically having no purpose outside of it. Because of this I find it very unlikely for her to return.
 * Sacred Treasures Team: Never happening, even if they find a way to bring back Chizuru. This team was never an actual team, even in 97, and Kyo and Iori won't ever be teaming up again.
 * New Faces/Orochi Team: Like, people are so damn sure these losers will be coming back just like that, pretty much every "leak" lists them. I could write and entire blog post about this, but suffice to say that people forget they are MAIN VILLAINS/BOSSES, and thus are in the same league as Rugal, Krizalid, Igniz, etc. Also remember what I said about Orochi and Chizuru, pretty much the same thing is valid for them.
 * Gaidel and Jeff Bogard: Do you know why Gaidel is such an important character? Because he is DEAD. His death is what drives Leona's entire character, reviving him just like that just cheapens her characterization. Same with Jeff Bogard. At most I could see them showing up in an ending just to say farewell and that's it.
 * TotallyNotTetsuo K'9999: Seriously, why do people still hold hope for this guy? SNK retconned him for a reason, you know.
 * Ash Crimson: Yes, Ash was revived, and it is pretty clear he will be very important for the current story arc. However, don't expect him to return just now. He is on a very complicated position as nobody but Elizabeth remember he exists. Best case scenario they'll make him DLC.
 * USA Sports Team: Its pretty clear SNK have no intention of ever bringing them back.
 * May Lee: Sorry for the half a dozen May Lee fans out there, she's not returning anytime soon. Jhun Hoon takes precedence to her, and even if she do come back she won't be replacing any established character.
 * Jin Twins: I'm trying to understand why people are so convinced they'll be joining KoF's roster. They have a problem where if you bring one, you have to bring the other, which basically means two slots wasted on one character. And if anyone brings the China Team's ending as an argument it means Cheng Sinzan have the same chances of joining, and I'd rather have him honestly.
 * New characters: Pretty much every KoF introduces new characters, at the very least enough to form one team (KoF XIII notwithstanding), so any list that doesn't mention new characters can be immediately considered fake.
 * Established characters: Don't expect established characters to ever leave the roster, and don't expect any obscure fan favorite to be replacing them.
 * Crazy-ass team formations: A large red flag if there was ever one. SNK always tries to have teams make some sense, so don't expect to have teams with characters that have no relation or wouldn't ever team up under any circumstance. (Iori teaming up with the agents in 2001 was a mistake)