The King of Fighters XV

"Shatter All Expectations."

- Tagline

The King of Fighters XV, officially abbreviated as KOF XV, is the fifteenth installment of The King of Fighters series, released in February 17, 2022 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC through Steam, Windows 10 and Epic Games, with the pre-order copies coming out in February 14, 2022. The game features cross-play between PS4 and PS5 and between Steam and Epic Games. This is the first canonical game of the series to have Rollback Netcode (and the second mainline game with this feature, the first being The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match).

This game is the second chapter of the fourth canonical saga for the series, and is the second SNK game to use the Unreal Engine graphic motor (Unreal Engine 4), the first being Samurai Shodown (2019). Yasuyuki Oda (Garou: Mark of the Wolves and The King of Fighters XIV) is the producer, Kaito Kusaka is the director, Eisuke Ogura is the creative director and Tomohiro Nakata is the main illustrator.

Prologue
Only the world's toughest fighters can duke it out in the largest martial arts tournament in the world.

Though a mysterious being called Verse destroyed the KOF arena, its threat was quelled thanks to the brave efforts of the winning challengers.

Time has passed since the closing of that tumultuous tournament, and the next KOF begins, backed by a new sponsor.

Meanwhile, Chizuru Kagura senses something interfering with the seal of Orochi, otherwise known as Gaia's Will.

She teams up with Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami to join the KOF and investigate.

Amidst these myriad motives, fighters resurrected after Verse's defeat also join the fray.

Once again, a storm is on the horizon...

Complete Story
The story focuses on the next King of Fighters tournament held after the appearance and defeat of Verse. Following Antonov's early retirement, new tournament commissioner Anastasia sends out invitations to fighters to join the tournament; the mayhem caused by Verse's powers resurrects various long-thought deceased fighters from past tournaments as well.

Chizuru Kagura gathers Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami in order to look after the seal of the snake demon Orochi. Shun'ei, a teenager with mysterious powers resembling Verse's, enters the tournament again alongside Meitenkun and Benimaru Nikaido to better understand his powers. During the tournament, they encounter a rival team led by a girl with similar powers to his own, Isla. Isla is being mentored by a woman named Dolores who wishes for her and Shun'ei to stop the appearance of more creatures like Verse, believing Ash Crimson's timetravelling in a previous tournament to have caused their appearance. However, a new creature labeled as Re Verse appears as the tournament progresses and targets the fighters, pulling them into another world. Following Re Verse's defeat, the mysterious goddess Otoma=Raga appears and attacks the teams. Upon Otoma=Raga's defeat, the fighters escape back to their world and are crowned the new King of Fighters champions.

Gameplay
Many mechanics from the previous game, The King of Fighters XIV, return, such as Rush Combos. One of the new mechanics added is the Shatter Strike, serving as an alternate counterattack against any opponent.

MAX Mode returns with the established mechanics from XIV, but with added tweaks. Now, it costs 2 bars of meter instead of 1. EX Special Moves can now be used outside of MAX Mode, costing half a bar, and the character's attack and Guard Crush strength increases during MAX Mode. MAX Mode in this game also has a second version, labeled as MAX Mode (Quick). If the Player activates MAX Mode when they land a hit or guard against an incoming attack, the user will glow pink, and will activate MAX Mode (Quick). This allows you to combo immediately into the next action without leaving an opening; however, MAX Mode (Quick) does not increase its power for attacks and Guard Crushes, and has less duration than the normal MAX Mode. This variant of MAX Mode acts similar to how the Hyperdrive Mode from The King of Fighters XIII worked.

Rush Mode Auto-Combo mechanics are also updated, allowing the characters to perform a different 4th input/ender after rapidly pressing light punch three times:
 * Light Punch: Climax Super Special Move
 * Light Kick: Special Move
 * Hard Punch: Super Special Move
 * Hard Kick: MAX Super Special Move

Certain game modes present in the previous game reappear in this game, alongside the addition of a new versus mode known as "DRAFT VS.", in which the players cannot choose the same character as their opponent.

Controls

 * Note: These are the default control schemes. You can change them at any time with the Options Menu or by pausing.

Menu Controls

 * Note: In the Japanese PlayStation 4 & PlayStation 5 version, the Buttons used for Confirm and Cancel are reversed.

Overview
KOF XV keeps the same voice cast from The King of Fighters XIV (between veterans and debutant characters). For characters that weren't in the previous game, their voice actors from KOF All Star return to voice their respective characters, with the exception of Chris (from Orochi Team) and B. Jenet (from Garou Team), who have different voice actresses than the one from the mobile game, and the newcomers Isla, Dolores and Krohnen McDougall. Ash Crimson, a returning character, remains with the same voice actor since his debut.

The new characters present in this game (all originals) are:

This game also has a profound change in Teams compared to KOF XIV. The new team formations are as follows:

Initial Team Roster
Initial teams confirmed for the game.


 * Note: Some parenthetical citations are sometimes Japanese team names, sometimes shortened team names.

DLC Team Roster
Teams released through Downloadable Content (DLC). All the characters are available through the Season Pass.
 * Note: Unlike the previous entry, the DLC Teams have some relevance to the game's story.

NPC Characters
Characters who appear as NPCs (Non-Playable Characters).
 * Clemence Bellamy (KOF Tournament Anchorman and Reporter)
 * Anastasia (Tournament Host)

Special Teams

 * By playing with these formations in Story Mode, the player unlocks special endings and soundtracks of the mainline games of the series in the DJ Station. All of them were dubbed by the voice actors of each character. The All Star Team and Old Team only unlock their soundtracks, without special illustrations. Likewise, the DLC special teams only unlock their illustrations, without associated soundtracks.

Initial Special Teams

 * Note: The '94 and XIV games is the only without a special team, and some soundtracks are available after the release of the DLC teams (the 2002 UM and Neowave soundtracks are available along with Team Garou and Team South Town, respectively).

Stage Cameos
Characters or elements who appear as cameos on specific stages.

Fatal Fury series

 * Michael Max - in the Beach Resort Stage
 * Richard Meyer - in the Pao Pao Cafe Stage
 * Bob Wilson - in the Pao Pao Cafe Stage

3 Count Bout

 * Terry Rogers - in the KOF Stadium Stage
 * Master Barnes - in the KOF Stadium Stage

Metal Slug series

 * Hyakutaro Ichimonji (presumably, along with other POWs) - in the Sahara Stage
 * Rumi Aikawa - in the Sahara Stage
 * SV-001 - in the Sahara Stage
 * Super Vehicle "Camel" - in the Sahara Stage

Story Cameos
Characters who appear as cameos in Team Stories and Endings.
 * Tung Fu Rue
 * Goro Daimon
 * Mature & Vice
 * Shingo Yabuki
 * Saisyu Kusanagi
 * Yuki
 * Duo Lon
 * Shen Woo
 * Billy Kane (later added as DLC)
 * Geese Howard (later added as DLC)
 * Lilly Kane
 * Hwa Jai
 * Orochi
 * Orochi Yashiro (later added as DLC)
 * Takuma Sakazaki
 * Marco Rodrigues
 * Mr. Karate II
 * Hein
 * Kim Kaphwan
 * Gang-il
 * Gaidel
 * Zarina
 * Sylvie Paula Paula
 * Mian
 * Raiden
 * Sho Hayate
 * Jin Fu-Ha
 * Tizoc (The Griffon)
 * Foxy
 * Diana
 * K9999
 * Hinako Shijou
 * Malin
 * Momoko
 * Sie Kensou
 * Chin Gentsai
 * Max Eagle
 * Verse
 * Hotaru Futaba

Stages

 * Note: With exception of the Hero Team Stage, all the stages revealed have some reference to the tournament or the series itself.

Teaser Trailers
Promotional trailers of the game.

Initial Team Roster Trailers
Characters with teams already revealed.

DLC Teams Trailers
Trailers of the DLC teams confirmed in the game.

Team BGMs
Music Themes of the Teams.

Idle Poses
Fighting poses of the teams (some with taunts and/or victory poses).

Drawing Video
A sample of the game and character's creation process.

TGS Special Program
A special program showing the mechanics and gameplay of the game, besides some new revealed characters.

Trailer Themes
Some themes played in the character/DLC content trailers are references to the characters' old themes in SNK past games. Below, the list:

Main Theme

 * Now or Never by Steven McNair

VS. Themes (Destiny Battle)
Just like the previous game, there are special songs that play during specific matchups or special conditions.

Cosplay & Alternate Colors
Several alternate colors for the cast are homages to characters in other games or media. The list below charts costume outcomes from the alternate color options.

Development
Due to positive response to the marketing of The King of Fighters XIV, director Yasuyuki Oda said in August 2017 that The King of Fighters XV was possible, but SNK also wanted to focus on other franchises. Oda, instead, worked in the spin-off, SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy, a female character-driven fighting game and a spiritual sequel of SNK Gals' Fighters. In December 2018, SNK revealed that the company was working on The King of Fighters XV, aiming to release it during 2020. Feeling the previous title had outdated graphics for a 2016 game, SNK chairman Zhihui Ge said that XV will use Unreal Engine 4 to provide a better presentation.

KOF XV was officially announced at EVO 2019 and was originally slated for release in 2020. However, the date was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More details were revealed on January 7, 2021. In June of the same year, SNK announced that the game had been postponed once again and would be released in February 17, 2022, due to the rising cases of COVID-19 and the state of emergency in Japan. The game's promotion was primarily done through trailers that were initially released weekly, but due to the postponement of the game, they became biweekly. Starting with the 11th until the 35th Character Trailer (Yashiro and Ángel's reveal trailers, respectively), SNK would reveal the silhouettes of the next characters to be confirmed the day prior to the trailer's release. Other divulgation means included a sketch of the newly revealed character (written and drawn by Tomohiro Nakata), the theme songs, idle poses and the story of the teams already formed.

On October 27, SNK announced an Open Beta Test for Sony's PlayStation 4/5 systems, during the State of Play conference. The purpose of this test was to improve the game’s online functions and introduce the newcomer characters to the players. A PlayStation Plus subscription is unnecessary to enter. This beta was available from November 19 to 22. A demo was made available during the Tokyo Game Show, during the 4 days of the event. Both previews featured 8 playable characters, although they did not contain the same characters for each version. Shun'ei, Kyo and Iori were the only characters available in the two first previews. A Second Open Beta was announced with the same purpose of the first, during the conference The Game Awards 2021, and was made available from December 17 to 20. Terry Bogard and Isla, characters available during the TGS demo, were present in the beta. All PlayStation betas lasted 3 days.

On November 30, 2021, SNK and Koch Media announced the Omega Edition of the game, only available in Europe. This version would be released along with the other versions, and included the main game, the first two DLC teams, the DLC costumes for Terry (MOTW costume) and Leona (KOF '96~2003 costume), three lithographs with artworks of Terry, Joe, Mai and Iori, a special slipcase with Iori's artwork (the same of his lithograph), the OST and an artbook with 119 pages, showing the characters' main artworks, renders and colors. In January 14, 2022, this version was announced for North America.

Cast and Scenario
Character design is being handled by Tomohiro Nakata, who is also working on The King of Fighters All Star. Many returning characters received cosmetic changes. For example, Kyo Kusanagi was altered to overall look closer to his earlier appearances in the series, but different in other parts of his design like his jacket and gloves. The decision to revive characters killed off in previous KOF games was made during XIV 's development and was based off XIII 's themes of energies connecting the past to the present through space and time and Oda wondering how that would affect things in the future. The deceased characters returning for XV were chosen based on fan requests and the aim of the roster was for it to have a 'fresh and festive feel'. They feel like the gathering of the KOF Heroes as well as the return of Team Sacred Treasures and Team Orochi helped them achieve this feeling. They brought back Clemence Bellamy, the story mode announcer from XIV, to appeal to the "tournament-likeness" of KOF and acknowledge that he was well received.

Previous KOF heroes Kyo, K' and Ash Crimson have been more independent protagonists, but Shun'ei is a little bit younger than them and is more of a mentally unstable character. Oda has compared Shun'ei to Rock Howard, and says that his story could end up being as fun to write as Rock's. Oda feels that unlike the older fighting game protagonists, Shun'ei has a one-of-a-kind world view, and his values change as he grows older. In regards to Isla, SNK wanted to introduce a rival to Shun'ei, so they let the design team to come up with whatever they could think of. The resulting draft had an impact on Oda, as it is very close to the final result, but he was initially worried about putting a character with that type of design into a fighting game. According to Eisuke Ogura, Isla is "not very much into actual fighting", and has a special and abnormal dance-like style. Despite Shun'ei being the protagonist the story will explore Isla's character as well.

Meanwhile, the character of Krohnen has been noted to have multiple similarities with K9999 from The King of Fighters 2001 and The King of Fighters 2002 due to his similarities with the character of Tetsuo from the manga Akira and had to be removed from the franchise based on copyright issues. Although SNK did not confirm his identity, artist Hiroaki was more open about it, calling him the revival of K9999. Among other characters, the previous sub-boss, Antonov, became a playable character as a regular member of the cast. Oda stated that he was further changed based on the team's idea in regards of a manager. The series' official website was updated with story prologues during development of the game. Although the game gave closure to Shun'ei's character arc, SNK is not satisfied with the result, believing they could still focus on his role again.

Critical Reception
The King of Fighters XV received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.

Destructoid gave the game an eight out of ten and wrote, "With fantastic fighting action, a compelling roster, splendid visuals, and revamped online options, KOF XV is a treat for both series veterans and the fighting game community at large, though newcomers may still find themselves dizzied by its myriad mechanics and steep learning curve." IGN praised the game's character models, rollback netcode, and roster, but heavily criticized the lack of content, insubstantial tutorialization, reused six year-old animations, and called its story mode "utterly bare bones." Shacknews similarly lauded the visual redesign, netcode, training modes, gameplay mechanics, music, and existing roster while panning its inaccessibility, overpowered mechanics, and the absence of major characters in the roster. GameSpot praised the distinct playstyles, team-based gameplay, large roster, new modes, and the online play, and criticized bad AI and the lack of substantial iteration over The King of Fighters XIV.

Producer Yasuyuki Oda believes that the players’ response to the game was overwhelmingly positive, which allowed them to properly work on early issues such as the online play.