BudokaiMR2 said:

I know I shouldn't even comment on posts about this, but I really would like someone to explain the logic behind this to me.

Yes, T7 is releasing on PC/consoles at the same time which is great but the game is actually a full year older than KOF XIV.

Both games released first on a different platform, primarily because of marketing support (and balancing). T7 on arcade because Bandai Namco are still a juggernaut of the arcade industry and KOF XIV on PS4 because SNK has a great relationship with Sony.

A game's price really shouldn't be decided by age, but by quality and content unless we are talking about an actual legacy title.

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What the hell is an arcade?

BudokaiMR2 said:

I know I shouldn't even comment on posts about this, but I really would like someone to explain the logic behind this to me.

Yes, T7 is releasing on PC/consoles at the same time which is great but the game is actually a full year older than KOF XIV.

Both games released first on a different platform, primarily because of marketing support (and balancing). T7 on arcade because Bandai Namco are still a juggernaut of the arcade industry and KOF XIV on PS4 because SNK has a great relationship with Sony.

A game's price really shouldn't be decided by age, but by quality and content unless we are talking about an actual legacy title.

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When people refer to a game's release, they're referring to the retail release. KOF XIV was released a year ago on PS4. Because it's an old game, its price dropped. The PS4 version can be picked up for $30 new. So on top of coming out a year late, the PC version is double the price of the PS4 version.

Arcade release dates don't really have anything to do with it. It's not complaining about time since the game was first available to play, it's complaining about time since its first retail release and subsequent price drop on those platforms.

I know it's a matter of preferences, but I can't believe how people say Guilty Gear is this impossibly gorgeous game. I just don't see it - sure, it's impressive that they made 3D look 2D, but that doesn't mean it looks good. It's a garish over-designed mess with impossibly ugly character designs IMHO, it's as if everyone was Sylvie Paula Paula (officially my most disliked character in KOF history, lol) levels of terrible. I vastly prefer KOFXIV in terms of looks, no question.

That being said, KOFXIV has some unfortunate looking characters. Nakoruru and Athena simply look wrong in their fighting stance (especially Athena), and there's something wrong about Kensou's face that I can't describe. It's a shame because I really loved Athena and especially Kensou's looks in XIII.

pretty done said:

What the hell is an arcade?

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Some place in Japan.

JoeyJungle said:

When people refer to a game's release, they're referring to the retail release. KOF XIV was released a year ago on PS4. Because it's an old game, its price dropped. The PS4 version can be picked up for $30 new. So on top of coming out a year late, the PC version is double the price of the PS4 version.

Arcade release dates don't really have anything to do with it. It's not complaining about time since the game was first available to play, it's complaining about time since its first retail release and subsequent price drop on those platforms.

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Yeah, certain retailers have dropped the price down to $40 base price and that is their prerogative. And yes, there are ways to get it even cheaper with stuff like prime discounts. The digital price is what is relevant here because the dynamics of retail and digital distribution are very different.

I still stand by my point in the first post. A game's content should be decided by quality and content. I don't have any problem with Tekken 7 being full-price even though I have been able to play it in arcades for 2 years. It's a great game as well and I would be bothered if someone used that same reasoning to discredit it.

I really don't understand why an arcade release gets completely discounted, especially in this day and age when some arcade boards are just pc architecture (which is the case with Tekken).

And the reality is that the game is obviously selling well so far as it's been holding steady in the global top sellers, so we (SNK) would have basically shot ourselves in the foot revenue wise by releasing it at half price on launch.

Just my 2 cents as someone who works on the same floor as the people who dedicate their lives to creating these games. The game is worth its price and I will stand by that statement.

The price is off putting sadly. Think I'm gonna have to wait it out.

BudokaiMR2 said:

And the reality is that the game is obviously selling well so far as it's been holding steady in the global top sellers, so we (SNK) would have basically shot ourselves in the foot revenue wise by releasing it at half price on launch.

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It was there for all of a hot minute before dropping out of the top 20 and I'm willing bet XIII charted decently on it's first day as well.

The reality is that SNK's prior PC ports have failed to sustain an even half decent online community and pumping out your months old fighter in Tekken's collision course at full price to a historically indifferent audience means we're (probably) going to be stuck with another dead community. I personally couldn't give less of a shit about how much SNK is skimming off from a mild surge of first day sales if it means it's just going to contribute to the online wasteland SNK's fighters have traditionally been on PC. And I say that as someone who's going to be on the receiving end of that wasteland since I'll inevitably end up buying the full DLC package at launch.

Mechazawa said:

It was there for all of a hot minute before dropping out of the top 20 and I'm willing bet XIII charted decently on it's first day as well.

The reality is that SNK's prior PC ports have failed to sustain an even half decent online community and pumping out your months old fighter in Tekken's collision course at full price to a historically indifferent audience means we're (probably) going to be stuck with another dead community. I personally couldn't give less of a shit about how much SNK is skimming off from a mild surge of first day sales if it means it's just going to contribute to the online wasteland SNK's fighters have traditionally been on PC. And I say that as someone who's going to be on the receiving end of that wasteland since I'll inevitably end up buying the full DLC package at launch.

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It will continue to sell well, just like XIII has over the years. You do realize that XIII has been one of the strongest performing fighting games on steam right? Not sure why you would cite that game as a reason to spout doom and gloom. China is also one of the quickest growing markets on steam and they love KOF.

I'm not sure why people underestimate KOF on PC so much. It's actually one of the strongest fighting game communities on PC in my experience thanks to communities in Asia and Latin America.

I also still have no problem getting players on XIII when I do play, which is impressive for a game 4 years old. In reality, outside of new releases such as SFV the peak player count is fairly high. Last time I checked it was up there in line with newer releases such as GG: revelator. Admittedly I haven't looked at those numbers in months. Might be very different now.

Speaking of Latin America, the game is super cheap on the Mexican store at least.

BudokaiMR2 said:

It will continue to sell well, just like XIII has over the years. You do realize that XIII has been one of the strongest performing fighting games on steam right? Not sure why you would cite that game as a reason to spout doom and gloom. China is also one of the quickest growing markets on steam and they love KOF.

I'm not sure why people underestimate KOF on PC so much. It's actually one of the strongest fighting game communities on PC in my experience thanks to communities in Asia and Latin America.

I also still have no problem getting players on XIII when I do play, which is impressive for a game 4 years old. In reality, outside of new releases such as SFV the peak player count is fairly high. Last time I checked it was up there in line with newer releases such as GG: revelator. Admittedly I haven't looked at those numbers in months. Might be very different now.

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As a point of reference, check out the drop off for XIII's player pool one month after release. Those are not numbers to work with. Not with the disparity in skill level that you'd see in that game and most certainly not with the iffiness of Steam XIII's better-but-still-not-great netcode working across international connections.

RM8 said:

I know it's a matter of preferences, but I can't believe how people say Guilty Gear is this impossibly gorgeous game. I just don't see it - sure, it's impressive that they made 3D look 2D, but that doesn't mean it looks good. It's a garish over-designed mess with impossibly ugly character designs IMHO, it's as if everyone was Sylvie Paula Paula (officially my most disliked character in KOF history, lol) levels of terrible. I vastly prefer KOFXIV in terms of looks, no question.

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I prefer KOFXIV visuals as well, mostly because Guilty Gear's extravagant hit effects make it harder to follow the fight. I also find GG's moves are difficult to discern their hitboxes.

I think GG is to be commended for retaining the series look and feel so faithfully though, obviously a lot of care went into making it appear 2D. In those terms it's probably top dog, but i'd put KOF right behind it in that regard. XIV is actually a lot closer to XIII than people give it credit for. Things like the animation, movement, size of the characters, hit effects and the field of view/camera is almost identical and it really helps to make it feel like KOF. The faces even have a bit of "Shinkiro/everyone looks the same" going on like the earlier entries!

At the same time, some of those are probably why a lot of people find it unattractive. Faces are definitely a sticking point for a lot of people, and large character size can give a much greater impression. SFV has chunkier characters but it makes the stage feel smaller than it should. It doesn't quite feel like the old 2D games because the camera does things like pan up when you jump. MK/IJ's camera is like the TV camera in a soccer game, panning along the side of the stage but never reaching the end, instead angling outwards to the far side. It looks more dynamic but I find it a little off-putting, and is one reason it doesn't look as 2D as GG or KOF.

If you look to Tekken, the characters are right in your face taking up most of the screen and you can see heaps of details (pretty much the way it's always been in 3D fighters). XIV characters look a bit dinky by comparison, and you can't as easily see the (pretty finely textured) details. Some are so finely detailed they start to (unfortunately) moire at the standard zoom level. But that zoom level is important for KOF gameplay, hence why they changed it from XII to XIII. Maybe a new Art of Fighting or Samurai Shodown can be more impressive to the casual onlooker, since those games have zoom in their heritage! Tekken's also gone nuts with crazy hit sparks, KOF has very minimal ones, easier to see what hit you. Personally i always preferred Virtua Fighter's aesthetic to Tekken in this regard, since nothing is ever obscured.

I'll give it that lighting and shaders etc is hardly XIV's strong suit (especially if you compare to Tekken). But again i'm not opposed to it looking basic, when it means everything is super clear to see for gameplay. If you look at MK, their characters look more like they're part of the scene, but almost to the point of blending in too much. Throw in the darkness of most levels and it becomes a lot harder to follow. This is one aspect i actually prefer in XIV over XIII too. XIII had stages that cast shadows over the sprites. Coupled with some muted colour choices, it felt like lots of characters weren't even in their iconic colour schemes.

When you're talking stages, XIV has some noticeably low polys and weak textures, but a lot of them manage to look great regardless, look very "SNK", and would be right at home in a sprite based KOF. Personally i think it has more good stages than XIII did, and certainly more than SFV. GG probably takes the cake here again though.

Sorry for the long rant but it sucks people are missing out on this game because they're hung up on the visuals for whatever reason. Even if you truly hate the visuals but you like fighting games, you should absolutely give the game a shot. With 50(+4) characters, a heap of excellent stages, fantastic music, and some of the best fighting gameplay around, the value proposition is most definitely there. For me, i'm wavering on this becoming my favourite 2D fighter of all time, so we're talking dethroning classics like SFA2, KOF98, Garou, SF3 etc. It's damn good people!

RM8 said:

I know it's a matter of preferences, but I can't believe how people say Guilty Gear is this impossibly gorgeous game. I just don't see it - sure, it's impressive that they made 3D look 2D, but that doesn't mean it looks good. It's a garish over-designed mess with impossibly ugly character designs IMHO, it's as if everyone was Sylvie Paula Paula (officially my most disliked character in KOF history, lol) levels of terrible. I vastly prefer KOFXIV in terms of looks, no question.

That being said, KOFXIV has some unfortunate looking characters. Nakoruru and Athena simply look wrong in their fighting stance (especially Athena), and there's something wrong about Kensou's face that I can't describe. It's a shame because I really loved Athena and especially Kensou's looks in XIII.

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I prefer Blazblue sprites to GG 3d models despite having even worse and questionable character design.
Also prefer sprite based GG characters.

Problem is that color palette of Xrd became way too cartoony for such a dark game, in contrast to older GG and Blazblue.

KOFXIV retains the aesthetic of the older games much better.

Didn't realize you get access to the beta right now if you pre purchase it lol. Just bought it and it's downloading right now. Time to brush up my dusty ass Daimon

Guilty Gear is an impressive game with its jaw dropping technique of translating a 2d aesthetic with 3d models, but the art style is really off putting.

Honestly, for me the only 2 Fighting Games with great artstyle and graphics are DOA 5 and Injustice 2

Game is amazing as fighting game resident I highly recommend this title.