This was already assumed but now it’s topical so I will talk about The King of Fighters XIII. SNK has announced that they will have a play test in April in Japan which leads me to believe that it’s been worked on since the last one came out.

I expect that it will be based on the engine already established in KOF XII, which didn’t do to well in terms of commercial and critical success. A lot of KOF fans were pissed and some have even swore that they have given up on the series(a threat that I am sure will be just as empty as those of the Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 boycotts).

The King of Fighters XI was the reason people were excited for XII and the same reason they became disappointed. The King of Fighters 2003, which established a new tag system system for the franchise, but was not that great. But XI polished a lot of those concepts, and brought in save shifts, quick shifts, team leader desperation moves, and dream cancels that made it the most technical entry in the series. It was beautiful.

XII did a lot of new things that weren’t in the KOF series and it was a lot more basic in comparison. However, it also felt like a more balanced experience than before. There are a few gameplay tweeks to make in the engine but I feel that it is a solid start. I expect a similar jump in quality when XIII comes out because that is how it’s always been with the follow-up game.

I am going to make a wish list on the assumption that the game engine, art style, and existing character designs will not change much. I honestly don’t expect them too. I also don’t care how anyone else feels, this wish list is about how *I* feel. 

• Finish the Tales of Ash arc. We left off with Ash Crimson gaining Iori’s powers and his threats to get Kyo Kusanagi’s next. XI’s endings did good to get a lot of us excited only to be let down when XII didn’t even have a story in single player mode.
• Speaking of single player modes, the game needs an end boss! One that is challenging to fight and satisfying to beat! Either this rumored “Dark Ash” or the unrevealed leader of Those from the Past will suit me fine.
• More single player options. Time attack and Survival are standards in fighting games. The home version of XI had the challenge mode that could be used for unlocking hidden characters and other content. Something like that would be cool.
• Whatever the game mechanics, move sets, and combos may be, have a real training mode that teaches players how to take advantage of these features so they can get into the game quicker and play longer. THIS SHOULD BE IN EVERY FIGHTING GAME DAMMIT!

• Some characters need to come back. Whether it was because of their involvement in the game’s story or because they are just awesome I’d like to see the following back: K’, Kula Diamond, Oswald, and Vanessa because they are that awesome. Then Adelheid, Shion, and Chizuru because of their involvement in Tales of Ash.
• I don’t care for her but I’d like her fans to shut up this time. Please bring back Mai!
• Let’s have some standard teams again! It seems like XII axed a lot of things that made The King of Fighters stand out from other fighting games. Maybe that is why it deadpanned?
• If it doesn’t break the game engine and animations, speed up the fighting! I’m used to KOF fighters moving a little faster than they did in XII.
• Animation presentation counts. Redo all the knock out animations, finish some of the victory animations, and dammit have special introduction and victory animations for rival characters like the games used to! Also, when Terry Bogard throws his hat in the air, it should land at some point!

• When a character gets hit, I want them to look like they really felt it. Games like Art of Fighting, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and Street FIghter III: Third Strike did this very well in their own way. This means that some animations need to be redone but I think it is work it.
• Every character needs more moves. Raiden, Duo Lon, and Elizabeth seemed to be lacking more moves than anyone else. Every character should have about 4-5 special moves and 2-3 desperation moves. It will add more variety to the fights and strategy.
• Speaking of desperation moves, I want to be able to cancel special moves to do a desperation move when I enter it’s input.
• Unlocking characters is annoying in an age where we don’t carry memory cards around and use hard drives instead.
• Even after XII’s online is patched, it still had input lag. Please switch to GGPO! It works!

• Why do Sousai cancels, which take great skill and timing to accomplish, take away a player’s health while guard attacks, which have are easier to use and have a longer period to counter, do not? Sousai should not have a penalty to the player’s health while guard attacks do. Or at least lessen the time a guard attack can be used to counter a move so it isn’t spammed as often in matches.
• Find a new publisher. Ignition bailed out hard when shit hit the fan during the online fiasco. SNK entrusted the next Metal Slug game to be published by Atlus. They know how to sell niche Japanese titles to Americans. I think it would be great if they handled KOF XIII as well.

I don’t think I am being too greedy here. It’s a fairly reasonable list. While I would like some new things in the game, I am currently more concerned with getting old things back that worked before and made the last game feel lacking when they were left out. If new characters and gameplay mechanics are introduced, that’s cool; however, SNK needs to focus on getting some standard aspects of the franchise back in.