If you are a vs Fighting keen, you have probably spent your weekend on the open beta of Fatal Foury City of the Wolves, which was held from Thursday, February 20 from 9 a.m. until Monday, February 24 in 8:59 am. Four busy days that allowed us to test 8 characters out of the 17 of the roster which were announced. Finally, not quite, because there are three fighters to reveal, but we will come to it in a few moments. For SNK, it was time to test life size the online experience, in order to correct the essential points before its release on April 24 and the Japanese publisher has put a form online so that we can give our feedback. Until then everything is fine. Except that SNK has been the subject of a complete and total leak of its game, thanks or because of, it’s up to you to choose, this open beta. Well yes, the minor data took advantage of having downloaded this demo to go rummage in the PC source code and unfortunately for SNK, there was everything, but when I say everything, that’s it. We know all the characters to come, those in DLC, the hidden bosses and even those who will arrive in 2026, and there is even a gameplay mechanics which had been hidden so far, or at least that has not revealed. Everything is even documented with images and videos. So it’s terrible for SNK, but on the other hand, one thing is certain, what happens is simply incredible …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lew5gswyxou
So this beta?
Before detailing all of these unexpected leaks around Fatal Fury City of the Wolves, let’s take stock of this beta that has identified the problems. The first concern is matchmaking and the search for fairs that were far from optimal, so much so that Yasuyuki Oda, the producer and especially the thinking head at SNK, tweeted on the subject, explaining that they had Identified the problem but that it will unfortunately not be corrected in time before the end of the beta. So yes, it was necessary to take his pain in patience during this open beta, sometimes with expectations of several minutes to find an opponent, when we were downright disconnected from the seruvils. It’s annoying yes, but it also serves that a beta huh, test the conditions live. And like that, at least, we learned that we would be entitled to a 2nd beta by April 24, so that’s cool.
The second concern detected in this open beta is the menus and the interface that really lacked clarity. The BD -style box arrangement is great visually, but it is clearly not intuitive and that, Xbox knows something about it. In addition in each of the boxes, there are lots of submenus, so it weighs down the thing, it’s not crazy. We also see it quite well after when we go into the details of the menus, with here too, not intuitive trips, combat parameters that are accessible by pressing the ‘Options’ button with an indication at the bottom of the page, That’s it is anything but obvious. And then icing on the cake, there was a slight latency in the menus, half a second, which is enough to harm the right navigation. Not clearly SNK must correct it as soon as possible and to modify certain things if they do not want us to blame them next April.
Very real leaks
But let’s come to the facts, which for which you came in this video, the famous Leaks of Fatal Fury City of the Wolves. Yes, SNK was not sufficiently vigilant and by giving access to this Open Beta, the data specialists gave themselves to heart. As a result, we have almost the list of all the fighters who will be in the game, whether it was the basic roster that was still incomplete, like the characters planned in DLC for the next Seasons Pass. So of course, we can always question the veracity of this list, and to say that it is Fake, except that images have also been exhumed and there, there is no longer any doubt.
We will start by revealing the identity of the last 4 characters of the basic roster, I remind you that there will be 17 fighters at the launch, and not surprisingly, the last four are none other than Freeman, our English serial killer, who roam In the streets of South Town. He will therefore make his comeback 26 years after Garou Mark of the Wolves, since he was never entitled to return to another SNK title. He made a few cameo appearances in the Kof 2002 sets Unlimited Match or Neogeo Battle Coliseum, but this is his real comeback as a playable person. The other two are Kim Kaphwan’s two sons, namely Kim Dong Hwan and Kim Jae Hoon. The first has straight hair like a brush, displays red on its Dobok, is a joker, lazy and cheeky, and it has high esteem itself. All the opposite of his brother Kim Jae Hoon, who is more serious, more respectful too and has a sense of justice. On the other hand, it is he who has the rebellious wick before his eyes.
As for the 17th and last character of the basic roster, that of launch on April 24, it will be Hokutomaru, the disciple of Andy Bogard, to whom he also transplanted techniques in May Shiranui. Normal since Andy and Mai Fricotte together, it’s ultimately not surprising. We also have an image of this Hokutomaru and we see that he grew well. We left the little boy ingenuated about ten years in Mark of the Wolves to a 12/16 -year -old teenager, still with this little wick and his red scarf, but on the other hand, he swapped his ninja clothes for A more City Casu style. Personally, it’s like Billy Kane, I’m not a fan of this new style that is too generic.
Real Bout Fatal Fury 2
Regarding the other leaks level character level, we also know that Duck King, which we had not seen since 2005 and Kof XI, the last time he appeared as playable person. I’m glad he made his comeback, especially since he is one of Fatal Fury’s very first character, since he was in the first episode. We also had confirmation that Blue Mary will be one of the characters in DLC, but hey he is a recurring character, so not too much hype. On the other hand, Rick Strowd is announced, he who was the new nemesis of Terry Bogard in Real Bout 2 and who will therefore return. Big hype for this character who was excellent to play at the time, with her so fluid boxing and powerful blows. No Xiang Fei on the other hand, but the return of Alfred, also a character from the Real Bout 2 era, but only in the PlayStation version. It was the exclusive character of this version since it was added after the Arcade and Neogeo versions.
Another excellent news, Wolfgang Krauser’s comeback, the legendary boss of Fatal Fury 2 with his internship in the church and his iconic musical theme obviously. Same, it is back after a long absence, since the last time it was KOF 98, I do not count its presence as Striker in KOF 2000 obviously. And inevitably, since Krauser will be in the game, that Mr Big was announced by SNK a few weeks ago, Geese Howard will also be in this fatal Fury of the Wolves. It is his Nightmare Geese version which also leaké, a version which had already been introduced in previous Fatal Fury and Kof and which is the same character, but with a gray rendering, like it comes back from hell and more attacks powerful. Rock Howard will also have his Nightmare version as you can see on these images and if you pay attention, we see that he carries the same outfit as his father, namely torso hair and a simple uwagi. It is a version of rock that sunk in the dark side and its name is quite evocative: Fallen Rock.
Disciples & Masters
But that’s not all, the leaks reveal the presence of Grant, who was Garou’s mid-boss, and who will come back to put big tatanas with his imposing build and his mask on the head, and the last surprise n ‘is other than Ryo Sakazaki, the hero of Art of Fighting who will return to make his playable camera, as in the time of Fatal Fury Special, since we could play with him through him A cheat code. We were already at the beginnings of all these cross-over SNK, it was before our eyes. And then there, like SNK officially works on Art of Fighting 4, it’s already a bit a teasing somewhere… Now, if we look at the leaks painting, there are 6 boxes that have not revealed the name of the last personal, I already put on Geese Howard in normal version, Li Xiang Fei and maybe even Kim Kaphwan. Since all the masters are back with their disciple: Joe Higashi with Preecha, Andy Bogard and Mai Shiranui with Hokutomaru, there is no reason that Kim does not share the poster with his two sons.
As for the rest, I let you speculate in the comments, but one thing is certain, we will be entitled to a Grand Fatal Fury. I know that the game is quite complex to take in hand, that the Encou Guard with the button does not have any more, but it is just a question of habit. SNK has taken over the Garou Mark of the Wolves formula by making it evolve, it takes time to understand all this, but personally I am already won over. It is more than to correct the concerns of matchmaking and this interface not crazy and we will be nickel chrome…
And the last point that the data-minors have managed to exhume this open-baby is a mechanics that is specific to the Fatal Fury series, namely the change of plans. It is the factory marquer of the SNK series, the one that shapes the gameplay of the first fatal fury to Real Bout 2, before Garou Mark of the Wolves decides to return to a single plan. A video with the source code allows you to see Rock Howard and Terry Bogard each on a different line and change the plan. Will it be a bonus internship or a particular game mode? At this stage, it seems to me quite unlikely that this mechanics be integrated into the combat system, when it was shaped and presented on a single level. Only the future will tell us …
