Month: December 2015

Kyo Kusanagi

• Kyo had his Far A returned to him. It has really good range and checks hops much better than his standing A in KOFXIII.
• Kyo had his Far B returned to him as well. I think it may one of the better versions thus far because it isn’t as negative on block (momentum ending) like in previous titles. While good for checking hops, well spaced hops might phase around it near the apex so Far A was often a better choice for hop checks despite not forcing guard on crouching opponents. Was a good whiff punish poke for the risk and range, a good ground-to-ground check.
• Close C now hits twice on hit and block if the first hit isn’t canceled. It always had two separate hit boxes for the initial punch near the gut and was cancelable, and then the secondary hit box near the tip of his extended fist for anti-air. If first hit made contact, the other didn’t come out, but now it does .
• Jumping D has its ranged extended compared to KOFXIII, more like KOF98 and KOF2002. Haven’t tested if a tipped jumping D hit crouchers like in KOF98 and KOF2002, which it didn’t in KOFXIII unless it was Maxima or Daimon. Improved neutral game because of it.
• Far D is fast and a good poke. It reminds me of CVS2 or KOF2002UM although not as fast as either. It tended to preemptively tag hops out of the air as well.
• Aragami (qcf+P) didn’t seem to have as much range as KOFXIII or even compared to KOF98 and KOF2002 in relation to the size of the screen the the buffed normals for controlling the neutral game. Still pretty good, the guard point timing is more like KOF98 than it is KOFXIII, so later rather than sooner. Fat enough guard point active frames.
• Aside from range, Aragami received a new rekka route: 124 Shiki – Munotsuchi. It acts like Heavy D!’s low follow up from his 1-2 rekka. Kyo’s version of it is a low attack which launches the opponent. The punch button follow up has Kyo hop forward and do his jumping down C (j.2C) attack. Upon block string, that punch follow up whiffs on crouching characters. Kyo’s kick follow up has him do the second punch of his 182 Shiki Desperation Move, a simple spin into an uppercut. Although not tested, it should be a more consistent, safer ender than the punch follow up and it should super cancel into a Desperation Move. Much like the overhead follow up to Aragami (127 Shiki – Yanosabi), Munotsuchi is pretty slow and could be interrupted with almost any attack, mashed or precisely chosen. To complement the Yanosabi and Munotsuchi, the launcher follow up to Aragami (128 Shiki – Konokizu) neither hits overhead nor low but acts as a frame trap which conditions opponents to be set up for either the Yanosabi or Munotsuchi. So there is more purpose, choice, and variety in Kyo’s fundamental rekka series.
• Red Kick is safe on stand guard and crouch guard, unlike KOFXIII. It’s about as fast as KOFXIII so it’s still within the realm of reacting to it and dragon punching it, but at least it’s fast enough to catch off guard other players and scoring a hard knockdown during the neutral game.
• RED Kick after Kyo’s hop kicks in his standard BnB leaves him closer to the opponent and previous games before KOFXIV. It’s a bit more difficult to set up a safe hop or safe jump set up mid screen because of it, but not impossible. Just requires more finesse.
• Kyo’s hard knockdown enders after hit hop kicks have better balance between choosing having good okizeme or doing meterless damage instead of having an option which does both. Kyo’s running elbow attack (212 Shiki – Kototsuki Yo: hcb+K) does the best mid screen meterless damage from hop kicks, but now has huge recovery after success and Kyo recovers around the same time the opponent wakes up from hard knockdown. Same for Kyo’s corner juggle with Aragami into Yanosabi into the OTG punch, it’s either difficult to time a safe hop or it’s not possible to safe hop based on my testings. So although RED Kick does less damage than the other two, it leads to better set ups. It’s up to the player to make decisions based on the context of the match rather than do the single best follow up each time.
• Kyo’s EX Dokugami doesn’t have the Aragami flow ups like in KOFXIII
• Kyo’s EX Kototsuki is a command throw like Fireball Kyo in KOFXIII
• Kyo’s EX 182 Shiki (EX Desperation Move) is a combination of his KOF99 182 Shiki and KOF2000 182 Shiki. Looks really cool! Both normal and EX 182 Shiki combo from light attacks and from juggles if timed properly.
• Kyo’s forward B overhead kick (Ge-shiki – Gofu Yo) is really fast. It feels faster than KOF98’s or Kusanagi’s version of it in KOF2002, but it takes out the first hit which didn’t hit overhead. So it’s a singular hit attack that is pretty fast. Good range on it for its purpose.
• Kyo’s forward throw looks like it causes hard knockdown now unlike KOF98 or KOF2002.
• Both weak and strong versions of Kyo’s Kototsuki runs through Iori’s grounded projectile, even full screen. It gets tripped by sweeps though (tested with Andy’s sweep.) Both versions can’t run through Andy’s fireball though.
• Kyo’s j.CD is good, but it’s not as fast as KOFXIII so it’s not as good for fishing for air-to-air counter hits. Works more like KOF98 and KOF2002.
• Kyo’s j.2C is also good, but doesn’t have as much downward range and fat hit box like KOFXIII. But it doesn’t cause huge push back on hit and block unlike KOF98 and KOF2002 so it’s easy to combo afterwards. Can be used to cancel Kyo’s back dash to extend range and reduce recovery.
• Kyo can jump in or hop in on an opponent at mid screen and still be able to combo into hop kicks like KOFXIII, unlike KOF98 or KOF2002.
• Kyo’s df.D’s first hit is cancelable like fireball Kyo in KOFXIII or Kusanagi in KOF2002UM. Kyo’s damage output and corner carry from crouching attacks/low hitting mix-ups is greatly strengthened.
• Crouching C is fast and consistent as an anti-air again.
• His dp+C (Oniyaki) is about as good as KOFXIII. Kyo’s dragon punch is actually good, causes consistent knockdown if it does hit, and is much more like KOFXIII than KOF98. Unlike EX Kyo in KOFXIII or Kyo in KOF98, it didn’t exhibit any guard points while I played and watched KOFXIV.
• If Kyo does his EX Orochinagi after hop kicks at the fastest possible timing, only one hit of EX Orochinagi will hit and Kyo still has the ability to juggle afterwards. Combo video potential perhaps?
• I accidentally anti-aired with Kyo’s strong hop kick (qcf+D,D) and the first part connected but the second part whiffed. As the opponent’s character was about to hit the ground, I was able to still connect a juggled DP.
• I was able to tip with Kyo’s Far C from max range and still combo into strong hop kicks and fully connect. Strong hop kicks move very far forward. I didn’t test weak hop kicks so I don’t know what it can combo from and what exactly juggles after it if there are any.
• Strong hop kicks is also safer on block than in KOFXIII, so it’s more like KOF98 status. Unlike KOF98, there’s more push back after the second kick. That means Kyo can’t do close C into strong hop kick strings all day in the corner like KOF98. The second kick has to be delayed to make it safe though, and it creates a gap in the block string for the opponent to reversal through. Kyo could tighten the gap to use the second hit as a frame trap, but then if it’s blocked then Kyo would be more at frame disadvantage (more unsafe.)

Chang Koehan

• Chang’s Far A is still really good, as expected. Surprisingly keeps out characters really well and out ranges plenty of pokes while anti-air checking the hop space.
• Chang’s slide is super fast like KOF98. Didn’t test if it was safe on block if tipped, ended up hitting most people walking backwards or committing to a projectile or poke. Of course it’s unsafe if blocked deep.
• Chang has a new close standing B that hits low. I meatied with it against an Andy’s wake up and it beat Andy’s dp+C (strong dragon punch) out clean and I combo’d into a command throw.
• As mentioned Far C is too slow to work well in the neutral game. It causes soft knockdown on hit and causes counterwire on counter hit (counterwire is a property where a counter hit with that attack causes wall bounce regardless how far from the wall the opponent is.) I have been told it whiffs against the whole cast while they’re standing on the ground. I didn’t personally test it to confirm.
• Crouch C is where Chang lifts his ball directly upwards to anti-air vertically approaching opponents, ones who full jump forward. Also it is a bit slow on start up for its purpose. Chang’s crouching heavy punch in CVS2 is his best rendition of this type of tool.
• Sweep is much faster now and has a different animation. It’s a good poke that is cancelable on hit, block, whiff.
• Chang’s Tekkyuu Daikaiten (aka mash punch button to swing ball) is slower than it used to be in terms of revolutions per second and seems to not anti-air as well as it used to. It still nullifies projectiles. The attack could be ended sooner by pressing light punch and light kick at the same time. EX Tekkyuu Daikaiten looked much faster and better, but didn’t test it in application. EX swung the ball super fast, faster than any other game he’s been in.
• Chang’s j.C and j.D both lack the horizontal range they did in previous games, still okay pokes although they’re also slower than they used to be. j.D can instant overhead the whole cast although the j.D in of itself is a bit slow for that purpose. At least it instant overheads if Chang is point blank and hops backwards.
• Both Desperation Moves are good reversals. The anti-air one isn’t as invulnerable as the grounded combo one in comparison. Ironically, the grounded combo Desperation Move is actually a pretty good anti-air if spaced well, it’s like Mr. Karate’s by comparison. The anti-air jumping Desperation Move can cross up on the belly flop downwards. The gimmick continues.
• Chang’s close C is slow like it usually is for a typical close C attack, but it’s an overhead and causes knockdown. Didn’t test if it was hard knockdown though. Close up mix up might be meaty cl.B into command throw, command throwing in general against someone who guards too cautiously, or choosing the overhead that causes knockdown.
• Chang’s new close D is his butt bump from CVS2. It wasn’t an overhead when I tested it and couldn’t find much application for it yet. I forgot to test to see if it’s cancel-able
• Chang’s charge back then forward + punch is still a decent poke, but the recovery could be counter poked. When he swings the wind up for his C version, it can guard point. I don’t know the duration/active frames of the guard point, but oh well.

Andy Bogard

• Andy has KOFXIII Andy’s move set.
• Andy’s projectile is much better as explained in paragraphs above. Can’t be hopped as tested and expands his zoning game.
• Andy’s Zaneiken (dash elbow) is safer on block and is a good pressure tool. Couldn’t do KOFXIII hit reset into cross under or fake cross under mix-ups during my time playing him.
• Sweep is cancelable on hit and block. I didn’t confirm if it was cancelable on whiff though. It’s good, but not KOF2002 or KOFXIII Arcade anti-air levels of good
• Andy’s EX projectile moves very slow and is a single hit. It’s like a fat “Sonic Boom” to reiterate.
• Andy has a new move which changes his directory in the air. It’s called Genei Shiranui. It doesn’t have a hit box although it looks like one of EX Mai’s attacks in KOF98UM. It could only be done during full jumps or during Kuuha Dan (the rainbow kick.) At neutral during Kuuha Dan or Andy’s Jump, it could be used to bait dragon punches or other anti-air attempts. In combos, it allows for juggles in the corner. The motion for it is just full jump or Kuuha Dan and do down + D button.
• Andy’s buttons that were good in KOFXIII are also good in this game. Overall Andy is a really solid “shoto” character to play during this build.

Kula Diamond

• Like in most games, plays overall the same and is really solid.
• Cr.C is actually fast, and is finally a real, legit anti-air. It even cancels now too.
• Far B is still a really strong poke, pressure tool, and anti-hop check. It’s like KOF2002 status but the tip of the hit box doesn’t feel as if it reaches as far downwards as it used to do. It’s more susceptible to sweep when the opponent is pushed further out whereas in KOF2002 it would still eat the sweep alive as the sweep would extend its hurt box into Far B. Not as such in KOFXIV.
• Kula’s breath attack (qcf+P) properties have been “switched.” The A version is the slow start up one and causes knockdown on hit. The C version is the fast version but doesn’t knock down the opponent. I didn’t test if I can run up and combo after the C version, but it didn’t look like based on hit stun.
• Kula’s special projectile from a successful reflector (Counter Shell: qcb+P) and from Lay Spin (qcb+K > f.B) don’t cause knockdown anymore.
• Kula’s slide, like KOF2002, goes underneath airborne projectiles like Andy’s. This is in contrast to KOFXI (KOF 11) in which it didn’t.
• Kula’s cr.B, cr.B st.B xx DP works on all crouching characters as far as I tested, don’t need to do slide (df.B) since the DP connects and knocks down crouching characters.
• Kula has new animations such as her Climax and back throw. Diana doesn’t show up anymore and Kula fights solo.
• Far D actually caught me as an anti-air, it looks much faster than before and may be a new, consistent, functional anti-air. Would have liked to test it more in hind sight.
• Kula has a new super that looks like an ice version of Holy Order Sol’s Gunblaze from the Guilty Gear XX series. It doesn’t seem to cross up like Gunblaze and it’s unsafe on block. Mainly used for combos and looks flashy.
• Might be wearing Booty Pop based on her Climax cinematic.

Leona Heidern

• Cr.C actually works very well as an anti-air now like KOF98 and KOF2002, but it still links from cr.B like KOFXIII.
• Far A has further range than KOFXIII, KOF98, and KOF2002. It also hits all crouching characters in the build. Really great anti-hop check.
• Leona now has a Far B, it works as a good horizontal poke and ground-to-ground check much like Kyo’s Far B. It was super cancelable but I did test it on block so don’t know if the super would even connected. Can’t cancel into forward B.
• Leona has to do a single cr.B to get close B then go into forward B into knockdown air special or Desperation Move. If she does 2 cr.Bs, she’s pushed out and does Far B on standing instead of close B.
• D Grand Saber goes through all projectiles at all ranges, even Iori’s projectile. She runs through fire. B version runs a much shorter distance and does not go through any projectile.
• Leona’s instant overhead neutral full jump D into A version of X-Calibur is still present. Her high low game on wake up is risky but strong.
• Leona’s j.C is back to being an instant overhead, but it still retains cross up properties. The point of contact to make j.C cross up is making sure her abs hit the opponent character’s shoulders. It looks like a body splash like Zangief’s, but Zangief’s pelvis and legs have hit boxes to make contact and cross up unlike Leona. Leona’s cross up requires more minute spacing comparatively
• C version of X-Calibur (the dive one) does cross up if spaced properly. It can also be combo’d from cr.B, cl.B, f.B at mid screen. In return, within the corner the only juggle I could get afterwards was a standing A for a hit reset. I could not juggle Moon Slasher.
• Leona’s Slash Saber Desperation Move also goes through all projectiles like D Grand Saber.
• V-Slasher still goes through almost everything as usual.
• It used to be speculation, but you can clearly hear Leona say “Apple Juice” while doing her forward throw.
• Standing CD doesn’t have her slide forward like in KOFXIII, but she reaches and stretches further with her arm and it ends up having the same range as her XIII Standing CD. Otherwise, it mostly visually lookes the same.
• I asked Yasuyuki Oda to give Leona her air throw back. I’m crossing my fingers.
• On pad, it was easy for me to do hop back instant overhead j.A and hit confirm (while buffering) V-Slasher. It’s like previous games, but getting the spacing on instant overhead is much easier and very consistent.

Iori Yagami

• Iori is Iori as usual. He feels like KOF98/2002/XIII fireball+rekka Iori rolled up in one.
• Close D is like KOFXIII’s. It whiffs on crouchers (didn’t test it on Chang though) while in KOF98 and KOF2002 it hit crouchers and with a fat horizontal activation range and hit box. It was used to anti-air in KOFXIII in situations where opponents would jump and curve around close C.
• Close C is a good anti-air as usual and I haven’t had a jump-in curve around it and beat it. KOFXIV collision boxes may be better than KOFXIII.
• Crouch C, like in KOFXIII, is a good anti-air unlike KOF98 or KOF2002. It’s kinda like CVS2 when I think about it. Cancelable as usual as well.
• Far B is like KOFXIII’s and is super cancelable (CVS2 style), and it anti-airs hops at times unlike KOF98 and KOF2002. Decent check/poke.
• Iori got his dp+K move back from KOF98 and it’s now an overhead. B version goes a shorter distance than the D version. D Version can cancel into rekkas on block and on hit. I couldn’t find what B version led into, couldn’t cancel into rekkas. EX Version ground bounces; I didn’t test what I can get from the ground bounce afterwards though. Bounced as about as high as Iori’s head/neck area.
• Iori’s command throw doesn’t have invulnerability so it’s like KOFXIII’s command throw. KOF98’s was a bit slow but invul until a few frames before active, same with KOF2002. KOF98UM’s was sped up, but lost invulnerability. XIII’s and XIV’s Iori’s command throw requires more conditioning before it could be used than other games. Didn’t test if EX command throw had invulnerability in KOFXIV.
• Iori’s rekkas are safer on block in KOFXIV than in KOFXIII. I couldn’t punish the second heavy rekka on block with my own Iori’s light reakkas as a reversal. Last hit used to be very unsafe on block in older games, but now it has a bit more push back on block and is more akin to KOF2002. EX Rekka looked like the last hit didn’t do that leaping overhead attack but instead did an upward swipe with the hand. It was done on block so I don’t know if it launches on hit, but it looked safe on block. Mystery tool that needed more testing.
• In Iori mirror matches, I would try to air-to-air with j.B and I’d attack first and bank on its length active frames but had the other Iori beat me out with a j.D. Don’t know if j.B has a larger hurt box or less active frames or both than from previous games. Otherwise it still won in all my other air-to-air exchanges.
• Iori’s qcbhcf+P Desperation Move (Ura 1018 Shiki – Yashiori) now sets a cloud of sparks right in front of him. If the opponent walks into this cloud of sparks, explosions set off within the area and force the opponent to block or get knockdown by the hits. Iori can charge it up, but we haven’t found any purpose of doing it yet because it doesn’t add any additional explosions or range, as observed. EX version causes up to 8 explosions, but like the normal version, we don’t know why it could be charged as well.
• Iori’s EX Yami Barai (the fireball) is his qcfx2+P Desperation Move from KOFXIII. Haven’t seen what it does on hit when I was there.
• Iori’s back roll is no longer a roll, he does a cool looking turn sway.
• Iori’s rekkas seem safer on block. In mirror match, I tried to do light rekkas to punish the second heavy rekka on block, which would typically work in other games, but it didn’t and they blocked. Someone did the full rekka string on me, I think the light version, without delaying any of the hits and the push back on the last hit sent me far enough that Chang’s reversal command throw whiffed due to range. When I run up, I feel like he recovers already. Scarier than KOF2002 rekkas? Or was I malnourished and just messing up?