Fans of King Of Fighters 15 know that while this installment starts with a new King Of Fighters tournament, there’s definitely something suspicious with the new tournament coordinator Anastasia and the world at large since the defeat of Verse in the previous game. Oddly enough, the suspicions of characters were right as previously-deceased fighters are suddenly back, and new power-users called Amplified Specters also join the tournament.
To newcomers and savants to the series, the idea of playing a three-man team of 39 characters (47, with the DLCs) can make things quite overwhelming. And with the game’s fast-paced mechanics, players that execute a mistake can be severely punished. Thankfully, players can avoid certain mistakes everyone makes to give them an edge against most players.
8 Don’t Ignore The Timer
Each fight in a KOF15 match takes place over the course of 60 seconds, giving players quite a lot of breathing room to pummel opponents into submission. Moreover, when one character gets defeated, the winning character gets a bit of their health back during the next round. This is neat for most players, as this ensures they’re not purely at a disadvantage during the next round. However, players need to remember that the timer has to do with how much health they get back.
At its core, players who defeat their opponents faster will get more health back, incentivizing fast-paced gameplay. Likewise, players that defeat their opponents so close to the ending of the timer won’t get a lot of health back. Losing players can actually stall to ensure that the winning player gets the least health back possible, giving them a winning shot in the next round.
7 Don’t Jump Without Purpose
The Jump mechanic is an ever-present element in most fighting games, especially since it can help create distance and create opportunities for hard-to-block aerial attacks. However, KOF15 puts more emphasis on Jumps as they open opportunities in combat depending on how they’re used. Players who use Jump haphazardly might wonder why sometimes their characters jump too far or too slowly, and why sometimes their attacks won't connect. This is because the game has four different jump types:
- Jumps: Pressing the Jump button performs an ordinary Jump. This gives room for timed aerial attacks but leaves players open for anti-air attacks and blocks.
- Hop: Pressing Jump lightly simply makes the character hop, which is a short jump. The fast nature of Hops means their jump-attacks are likely to be unpredictable unless opponents can anti-air on instinct.
- Super Jump: A much higher and faster Jump. Players who run and Jump only access Super Jump.
- Hyper Hop: A higher and faster Hop. Players can only access Hyper Hop if they Hop during a run.
6 Don’t Jump Attack Too Haphazardly
The Jump Attack is one of the most favorite mechanics of anyone who’s ever touched a fighting game - it just looks flashy in the eyes of a beginner, and is a great way to initiate combos for experts. However, KOF15’s emphasis on specific kinds of jumps means it also takes its Jump Attacks seriously as well. Reckless Jump Attacks might result in damage numbers players don’t expect because the game expects Jump Attacks to be used a particular way.
For instance, attacks from Jumps may not necessarily connect into combos because of the height, as they often only have poking capabilities. Meanwhile, attacking from Hops or during the recovery stage of the Jump can help players initiate combos - but the added timing element here means Jumps need to be used more carefully.
5 Don’t Ignore Defense
While the fast-paced nature of KOF15 makes it very enticing for players to simply go all-out in terms of offense, players who don’t know their defense can fall quickly for opponents who know their combos. Thankfully, aside from the typical back-to-block mechanic, the game employs useful defensive strategies that players can use to their advantage:
- Roll (Forward/Back, A+B): Rolling is an evasive movement that gives players invincibility from Frame 1 but not on the last frames, allowing them to dodge spam attacks and get back with a fierce counter.
- Guard Cancel Roll: When on a block stun, players can use up one meter at the cost of rolling out of position. This is useful when backed into a corner or when punishing whiffing opponents.
- Instant Block: When a player blocks at the very last frames before the attack lands, a flash appears. This not only gives an extra meter but also lowers guard damage to the player.
- Blow Back: Pressing Heavy Punch + Heavy Kick when blocking to unleash a blowback attack. This sends the opponent flying to return everything to a neutral position.
- Shatter Strike (Up+Down+Right, Heavy Punch+Heavy Kick): This risky move costs one meter but refunds half when pulled off. When successful, opponents will crumple on impact, and players can guard more incoming attacks or get a counter.
4 Don’t Neglect Throws
While other games simply have throws as a gimmick, KOF15 emphasizes throws as an extremely flexible mechanic - making grapplers very dangerous characters. After all, unlike other games that have a “standard” flow for any kind of throw, KOF15 has different kinds of throws - such as Command Grabs that work at Frame 1, Armor Grabs, and even Fully-Invincible Grabs. All the aforementioned grabs have different animation sets and frame vulnerabilities, meaning players can’t easily “tech” a grab unless they predict the grab a character does.
This makes throws an extremely viable option for both attackers and defenders. For those on the defense, any grab can beat most attacks if they connect right on the same frame. Meanwhile, attackers who want to avoid grabs upon enemy wake-up can simply stand a few frames away or attack from the air where they can’t be thrown.
3 Don’t Hesitate With Meters
While it’s perfectly possible to play KOF15 completely with the base combos and the occasional Special Move, it’s imperative that players don’t hesitate to use their Meters when playing the game. Without the meter, attacks may seem potent enough, but they don’t have the extra kick and flexibility that using Meters can provide.
For instance, players shouldn’t reserve their Special Moves, EX Moves, and Climax Supers for special occasions. Rather, they should use them as often as possible as these moves often open more opportunities for combat than players realize. For instance, EX Moves of attacks often create “bounce” animations that leave opponents often for counters, whereas their regular versions don’t leave enough frames for a follow-up.
2 Don’t Put A Main Up Front
Unlike other titles, KOF15 is a team-based game, meaning players choose a trio of characters to use in combat. While other tag-based games let players switch characters easily, KOF15 will have character choice that affects combat.
For instance, even character sequence has an impact on the resources players have in the game. The first character can only get up to 3 Meters, while the second character can get up to 4 Meters, and the last character can get up to the maximum of 5 Meters. This means the last character in a match has the most potential for a comeback situation, given the combat advantages of metered special moves and abilities. In this regard, players should put their mains or most powerful characters as their last choice so they can try to reverse a losing situation.
1 Don’t Shame The Keybinds
With KOF15 coming from a franchise of popular fighting games, it makes sense for fighting game enthusiasts to want to learn the game “purely” - in that, they may want to perform all commands via manual input. However, one of the key problems here aside from technical difficulty is the strain this puts on player creativity, as they’re often burdened by the need to get inputs right instead of experimenting with builds.
One thing players could do in this regard is to make effective use of keybinds. In the Options screen, players can actually assign a button to certain commands that are often accomplished by multiple inputs. For instance, the Blow Back attack that is often accomplished with Heavy Punch + Heavy Kick can be assigned to a single key. This makes inputs much easier to control and gives more room for creative movement, which explains why some players make certain characters look incredibly overpowered.
King Of Fighters 15 is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.