KOF XV Wishlisty Thing: What would I like to see for Adel?

While Iori is likely no surprise(as much as I'd like to see Claw variant come back, I know that's unlikely), what I'd really like to see is how they'll be dealing with Adel if they decide to give him his rightful and deserved due after his undue cutting from the playable roster during Ash Saga despite being the other protagonist of said saga. According to Word of God themselves. 

    

                                      My face when I found out I wasn't getting my fav team in XIII.

Ahem. At least he made friends with Heidern in the game and has an even better lore-saavy in in now.(I'm still hoping for the Heidern/Adelheid/Whip team up, which I think works from a story and aesthetic standpoint.)  

The extreme, dead sea levels of salt out of the way, what would I like to see him with coming into a traditional, 3v3, KOF?

So far, several of the Ash saga characters managed to make it from a tag game into a traditional one. Okay...five did. Four in XIII, and one in XIV(Oswald also missed XIII.) They carried over in varying states; Oswald, Duo Lon, and Shen were all very good in XIII. Elisabeth didn't carry over so well(she went from mid to low between XI-XIII), and Ash stayed about the same(mid.) Oswald was ridiculously strong in XI and was excellent in XIV. Shen was overall in a solid spot all around. Duo Lon jumped around(going from busted in 2k3, to lower in XI, to high in XIII.)

https://wiki.hardedge.org/images/9/9d/Ktani_tier_list_20181026.jpg

(The usual, go-to XI tier list when I need to link one.)

Adelheid's role in XI was that of a very high damage dealing, very high stun dealing meter hog. He could kill you in no time flat with even only a couple of bars(even WITHOUT meter his damage was big.) With dizzy being a thing in KOF XV, I could expect him to be able to hurt you pretty bad here, still, unless they normalize stun damage out(in which case I hope they juice up some other things.) 

He had little in the way of basic defenses(in those days they had some characters take more damage/had less stun bar, while he wasn't to the extreme of his old man and Gouki in SvC-they had like, half the health of everyone-he was in that vein of clearly being keyed toward offense. The Bernsteins don't seem to care much for defense.) He had a low stun meter(but, as said, he himself dealt gobs and gobs of stun to everyone else; essentially a direct trade.) 

Keep in mind, all of the defensive stuff is likely going to not come into play as hard in XV; varying stun meters I don't see as often these days in FGs in general, and while they may keep health variants, they tend to not be as extreme nowadays(in KOF XIV, they had health that ranged from 900 to 1100, with the vast majority in the 950-1000 range. Only 12 of the 58 characters fell out of that, and stun was all even. We don't even know if XV will have different health variants.) 

That said-so long as he had meter, he had defensive options between his two genocide cutters(one AA/reversal, one low profile), and his LDM(which was absolutely ridiculous, 2f, invuln startup, anti-air, could catch wakeups, did half your life, could catch people tagging in...the latter wouldn't be an issue in a non tag game but it would still catch wakeups probably.) He tended to be ranked pretty highly on tier lists; early ones had him more middish, but the later ones often ranked him in the top 8-13 characters fairly consistently. Install a good battery on a team with him, and he could run riot. He had fantastic tag-stun combos with a lot of the cast, besides his solo juice. 

Thanks to a command grab to mix up with and a pretty excellent projectile(which if you cancel into it up close, it became a hit depending on B or D), he was capable of holding someone at bay or going in hard, and his damage was so nasty if he opened someone up, even with a very, very basic hop in combo it could mean a chunk of life without too much meter. (I'm going through super basics here. Keep in mind I wasn't an XI competitor or anything-they didn't HAVE XI competitions around me, lol. We just played a bunch and enjoyed it.) 

Transferring over to a trad game that doesn't utilize skill stocks(that we don't even know the mechanics for yet, we'll know in about a week of the time of this blog) or tag mechanics(I highly, highly doubt XV will be tag) means he might need some adjustments, I think(to be honest, I think Elisabeth and Ash could have used some more work being carried into XIII, too.) I think he could use another special or two, for one. 

We ALSO have to keep in mind in XI, while there was a Dream Cancel(this is when you could cancel a desperation move into a Leader Desperation move-it was expensive but it was pretty epic when it got off), it didn't have EX moves or Max Mode or anything, which while I can't predict the future, I can say that I'm fairly confident we'll be seeing these back again in some way in XV(and with whatever other mechanics they may add.)

All in all, this list is going to be shooting a bit blind in the dark; making assumptions about max modes and everything like that. So I'm going to try to keep the wishlist fairly basic, if you will; stuff that I think could fit in pretty well in whatever they decide to do with the mechanics(or at least almost.) I will assume Max Mode and EX moves, for now, are staying. (In fact most of this wishlist is me just discussing how I'd like the moves to interact with EX/Max stuff.) That is, in fact, something I had to consider; the fact he was already a dude who was good at using meter, introducing EX/Max Mode stuff and/or whatever else they're doing with meter this time could mean he's even BETTER at using it. Which would possibly(again, guessing, solidify his spot.) If EX moves are useable outside of whatever MAX mode they're doing, this could be pretty fun for him as well, especially given some of the kick that EX variants of his moves could actually produce(I'm drooling over the idea of a safe D G. Kicken/Reppuken cancel, not even getting into the fact they could give him a genocide cutter OUT of supers...)

For one: I think it would be just fine for him to keep his meter hog status. Not everyone in KOF has to be Classic Iori, able to play any position without issue(a couple of games notwithstanding, and yeah, he IS better in the 1 or 3 spot but still. Maybe Kyo would be a better analogue.) Not everyone has to be a good battery. And there's definitely some very strong characters who are best as anchors. Claw Iori from XIII is great example(and one thing I DID legit love in XIII)-it's easy to forget due to EX Iori's everywhere-nature in XIII that Claw was actually one of the scarier anchors in that game in terms of damage for meter burn, but he did need it to be at his best and to have his best options available.

Adel would be fine like this I think. It wouldn't change his role too much regardless of being put into a new(and at least partially unknown) system. 

Essentially loaded with meter-if he at the bare minimum keeps his stuff from XI(I'd expect him to maybe get something else to be honest, optimistic perhaps but I kinda do), he can essentially control the pace of everything. He has an anti-air AND a low profiling Genocide Cutter so he shuts down carelessness there. His Gigantic Pressure/God Press in XI had invuln startup and was one of the top  LDMs. His Kaiser Wave was a nice bonus(probably used less than the others in my experience; it almost feels like the Kaiser Wave was there to be a shout-out to another move from his dad.) It had it's uses(the delay was nice for mindgames). I'll get into his supers more down the line.

None of this even gets into his specials, which I'll get into here. (I'm going to, of course, try to be fair here. I mean if I had my way I'd probably be throwing proximity unblockables on him or something but I don't want him to be banned or have to undergo a nerf bat.) 

                 (It's documented fact that firing off reppukens with your feet make you cooler.)

His reppuken(okay, technically a reppukyaku; it's basically translated to what's called Grand Kick in XI) qcf+B/D projectile is great-and he can cancel INTO this move for riskier shenanigans. Cancelling into the B variant allowed you to be able to link right into his genocide cutter(it caused soft knockdown, but you could cancel it into his GC). The D variant juggled anywhere, caused hard knockdown, did chunky damage and racked up stun bar(seriously, it'd do a good 40% of a stun bar's worth a stun off of 2 crouching B's.)

I really want these to stay since I loved how they worked. They could have some fun with these for EX variants. EX reppuken shots could be faster, perhaps. The hit versions could be safer on block, making them less riskier; this is probably what I'd do(since the D cancel already juggles.) So he could go for one of his mixups; say you go for the hop into cr. B->cr.B-qcf+D, but they anticipate, the EX variant will be safer. (I won't get into frame data, as that could be very different in between games. This isn't a tutorial-if the gods are good and he's in XV that will come in time.) If they wanted to be really stupid, the EX variant could be an overhead(it'd be based on the D variant I think.) 

Overall it's an interesting move in that it combos differently off of different attacks depending on what variant you're using. His st. A can combo into either the shot or the hit(you just delay it slightly to get the hit.) And it links on block too(hence the EX version may being able to be safer.) But his cr. B can only link into the hit variant. cr. C(a high kick, FWIW) on the other hand can only combo into the shot. (Most of these can combo into the hit version. Keep in mind that the projectile still appears, it's just a point blank at that point when you cancel into it. If you can get ahold of XI to play him then you'll know what I'm talking about more.)

He also has a command grab as well; one moved him further forward than the other. You could combo it. In XI, it functioned as a nice mix-up tool(if people were scared to approach due to fearing a cutter or a god press, he could start forcing the matter with the grab.) It could leave people at a longer distance(he pushed them away), but it was still a good way to break through someone's guard if you had to. People could get a little deer in the headlights around a metered Adel, I mean imagine not wanting to charge at someone with a Genocide Cutter. It did not however cause hard knockdown; I would like to see the EX variant maybe do that(causing hard knockdown at the cost of some meter seems like a fair trade.) That said Adel has several hard knockdowns; a faster startup or some invuln would also work for an EX version if they felt he'd get too many. 

His qcf+P is his projectile reflect. I sort of wonder how they'd work with this one. I suppose this is one of those that doesn't need much? It does what it does. I wonder if they could rig up an EX variant that went into the rushing launching kick afterward like it does in KOF All Star? I'd need to actually maybe consider how exactly this would work but I think it might be workable. You could maybe bait someone into coming forward instead of chucking a projectile and come out and nail them. I'm pretty open to brainstorming on this one. 

Adel has three command normals; I think it'll be fine if he keeps these, other characters have more than one command normal. f+B, b+B, and df+A. His f+B command normal was an overhead(similar to what his old man had, actually.) This can stay. It was a nice mixup tool. Caused hard knockdown as well. 

df+A was a juggle. It was a high kick that had a bit of a high hitbox(it probably could use a little adjustment in the front), but it was +1 on block and could frame trap with d+B. 

I'm trying to figure out how his b+B command normal would work. This is an odd move; it's a 3 hit combo(it's a true combo, too), and you can combo into it from heavies(cl.C->f-B for example works just fine), and it causes a hard knockdown. You can special cancel one of the first 3 hits(it hit four times.) I'd have to think about if this one might see some changes. It made for nice combo filler. It could end up somewhat like Iori's f+A, A command normal? 

These could probably stay as is unless there were game shifts that turned these into different specials. I liked what they did, though. His overhead, IMO, needs to 100% stay. I think all three could work in, even if they'd need to be shifted somewhat. 

If I could see a move that functioned as his wall splat blowback, it would probably just be his old standing E, though I could also see them take the animation for the last hit of his b+B command normal, since it has a very good 'blowback/splat' animation. 

Supers:

His supers are excellent overall. The Kaiser Wave is overshadowed by the others, but it has its uses, and the delay you can do on it is nice. Maybe the MAX variant can be given extra juice somehow(giving it a bigger hitbox, though it's not like Adelheid with meter lacks AA capability.) 

His Genocide Cutters are fantastic. They both have some invuln on startup in XI, do chunky damage, the B variant makes great combo fodder(you can spit out gobs of damage throwing the GC at the end). They both nullify projectiles. The B GC functions as a powerful AA(they even nerfed it from 2k3; like the B GC was nerfed from 2k3 and it was still really good; they gave it less damage-it used to do around 40% in a hit and now does around a quarter-made it not be able to juggle and it hit practically behind him. Keep in mind he was also banned in 2k3. He could OTK you in the corner with that OR his LDM. So we don't need to bring back that craziness.)

The D variant could low profile(it slid in before hitting.) They both could be used depending on the situation, and this could make approaching him very tricky at best. It hit harder than the B variant in XI(weirdly, the D variant didn't hit as hard in 2k3 as the B.) 

What would I like for MAX Variants? I'd say the B variant could gain its nastier hitbox back and/or juggle capability(given they had to nerf it to be sane, it might be more reasonable to only gain one of these; I'd say the juggle variant I'd like to keep but that might be out of line. I'd be happy with the Super-Wild AA Coverage too.) The D variant, I'd maybe like to see be completely safe/more invuln? It's already only -4 in XI, but maybe having it totally safe for a meter burn will give an even scarier approach tool. Admittedly, I'm at more of a loss of what I'd like to see happen to this one but the idea sounds good in my head anyway. 

(As an aside, I like how his super GCs are allowed to feel like proper GCs, unlike Rugal's in '98 which is neutered to absolutely nothing, I'll get into this later in the 'New Moves' section.)

Finally we have his God/Gigantic Press which might be his climax in this(see below again, however.) This move was ridiculously good in XI; as I said it really was one of the best LDMs in the game(in XI, it was only available as a Leader move. You would designate someone as the Leader.) 2f startup, invuln on startup, anti-air, huge damage, priority over like almost any damn thing, could catch people on wakeup. You really don't need to do much to this move. He'd probably end up with a slightly more sane version, if anything. 

Given the press can catch in the air, I wonder if there'd be a Max Cancel combo that involves a GC into this thing. Probably. 

Other Stuff:

As I've mentioned, I don't think he needs like supreme meter build capability. That said, I do think his normals need some cleaning up. He hits like a truck, but their hit/hurtboxes weren't the best. Again, he doesn't need to play any and all positions and be amazing at meter gain or anything, and it's cool to have a character that needs meter for their best/scariest options(again, thinking of Claw Iori, who without meter had a bit of a battle but could kill you in NO time with even some of it), but without access to tag mechanics(having someone begin a combo-tag in Adelheid to mangle them), his normals need to let him confirm into stuff a bit better. I'd mostly focus on improving the hit/hurtboxes on his A/B buttons, as well as his D could use a little adjustment for air-to-air/standing confirms(and for crossing up.) If he had those things, I think he'd be set, without turning him busted. 

A more visual thing; I'd like him to get a different animation for his 'side swapping' grab. I'm not sure what(in the comics he did a cool thing where he planted someone down with his boot, maybe something like that?) No mechanical changes here; just a different animation for the other-side grab to keep things fresher. 

New Stuff?

I decided after some thought, another couple of specials might be nice. He seems to be coming up short a bit here. Now we do have to keep in mind his Reppukens also cancel into hits, so you could squint and consider these a couple of different specials as it is; it depends how you look at it since the hits and the shots ARE different moves, and you can only cancel into the hits. 

"Do you want Adelheid to get a non-super Genocide Cutter?" I would, sure, but make it *work*. Rugal in '98-the legal, playable version, not the banned bosses' version-best AA is a damn jab, which should go to show just how badly they nerfed the GC in that. It's terrible and it doesn't even hit as hard as other character's DPs! If they give him as bad as a normal GC where it's just combo fodder I'd rather them give him something useful instead. 

I'm not saying it needs to work like his super(it couldn't in any legal sense.) So the answer is yes, but please make it work properly. Just make it a standard DP; nothing too OP, nothing too weak like it is in '98. So, again, yes but please make it *work.* This could probably round out his special list, maybe? 

Another cool move I'd like to see him have is actually one he does in the comics a few times; I dunno what it is exactly, but it's a big, nasty, ground-crushing stomp. I guess it might be considered his version of the Dead End Screamer? It could probably function like this where he can be a threat from overhead too, why not. It'd be cool to have and it looks brutal as hell. Hey, his dad had two Desperation moves in '98, so can he here. Unless they want to shift the God Press into a Desperation instead of the Kaiser Wave or something. There are some options. 

('wtf is happening here' well in the first, the manhua took some liberties with the story and had K' team fight everything. Adelheid is currently berserk due to his sister's music-she can drive him into a killing frenzy with it-and is lost to sense here. K' had to snap him out of it before they could continue the fight more chill. In the second, he's throwing down with Yagami. I dunno why they artist did his eyes blue in this one single picture btw. And oh yeah, in the top picture that's the actual steel floor of the sky noah. It's...strong. How K' didn't get the entire upper half of his body obliterated is beyond me. I digress though. I just wanted to show off the move he does in the comics that I want him to have.) 

Actually, he could have a more 'special' variant like he does in the 2nd panel(where Iori dodges.) Could function as a dive kick like deal. There we go. Then he'll have the big, nasty one as a climax. 

That said there are other cool moves he could have but lists need to stay reasonable. 

(I dunno WHAT this other ground stomp move is, but he destroyed half a forest with it while training, later going on to say he was holding back. I don't think he needs this in the game, but it's cool looking so I posted it anyway. It strikes me as a projectile, which he has enough of as it is. But again, just posting for cool factor.) 

So an example, maybe, XV Move List might look something like:

Throws:

Close b/f+C

Close b/f+D(Animation change like mentioned above)

Command Normals:

f+B(Overhead, hard knockdown)

df+A

b+B(w/ whatever adjustments it needs)

Special Moves

G. Kicken(Shot): d,df,f+B/D

G. Kicken(B Cancel): From certain attacks, d,df,f+B

G. Kicken(D Cancel): From certain attacks, d,df,f+D(there'd be a list of stuff you can cancel from for these). this one juggles anywhere

G. Wand: d,df,f+A/C(Projectile Reflect)

Drucken: hcf+A/C(Command Grab. C variant travels further.) 

*(NEW): Genocide Cutter: f,d,df+B or D(just make it function as a DP.)

*(NEW): Dive Stomp Thingy: Could be done from the air with a motion, or maybe a backward dp motion from the ground? OTG. 

Super Specials:

d,df,f x2 B/D: G. Kreis(Both have invuln on startup and projectile nullification. D low profiles.) 

f, hcf+A/C: G: Kronprinz(Kaiser Wave, as stated.) 

qcf, hcb+A/C(or something): G. Sklaven(Moving this to his Super Specials for a new Climax.) 

Climax Special: 

Whatever that giant ground shattering thing is he does to K' in the manhua. We'll call it the Grand Pulverizer for now and let them rename it into gratuitous German. 

But really that'd be fine I think? I think it'd fit a meter-deadly anchor. I know many characters have like an extra special, but it could maybe fit his anchor position to have an extra super special? 

The dude has a good amount of stuff here I'd say. I more or less just wanted to ramble that if I get my christmas/birthday wish and I finally get my boy back in a new game(otherwise I guess I'm sticking with '98/XI out of necessity), some things I wouldn't mind seeing him with. Which ended up not being terribly different, but it was nice to brainstorm how the stuff could work with the newer, likely mechanics like MAX mode. I haven't done a mechanic blog in ages, even a simple one like this, and there's a lot of guesswork since we dunno exactly where they're going with the mechs, so it's a little rambly, but hey. (Edit: Since this article was written, we've gotten some bits of info-but given it still looks like we have a Max Mode, and you can use EX out of Max Mode, things could be cool here-mm, EX Genocide Cutter.) 

If all goes well and my boy gets back in I'll be curious to see if absolutely any of this happens or if they have other ideas to do with his moves. 

Fingers crossed!

Easing Back Into FG Blogging...my KOF XV Wishlist

Deciding to get back into blogging by basically just posting up stuff I'd like to see in KOF XV. It's shockingly a small list of stuff(though I manage to bluster on in the blog for much longer than necessary.)

I'm just trying to ease back into things with a more 'fluff' styled blog that doesn't particularly have anything deep in it. It's been awhile. 

I mainly have 4 big wishes for KOF XV, in order of importance to me:

1. Rollback

2. A big, awesome roster that gives me my favs back

3. Potentially other things to do with meter

4. Less 'invasive' Max Mode(I guess this goes hand in hand with 3? 'More to do with meter' might be a better way to put it.) 

Number one is self-explanatory so I don't think I need to go into it as much. Rollback has always been important, but I feel like this pandemic REALLY drove home this fact even harder than it already was. Like, let's face it, despite the fact we're getting vaccines now, I don't think we're going to be back to normal for awhile. And even going back to normal, online is here to stay. We need good netcode. It's just how it is.

Number 2-roster. Strap in, this section's going to be a bit long.

I could probably do an entire blog about roster importance. In fact, I might. Especially with Super Baby 2 being announced for DBFZ it could make for a pretty decent one, to be honest. But that being said; for me? I want a big ass roster, and I want my damn favorite team back. I'm tired of not being able to play my fav team legally except for KOF XI. 

When they said 'masterpiece' 'Fire up those dream rosters' and 'Ambitious', they, IMHO, set up a tall order here. And yes, I'm being optimistic with this one. But I think we could, maybe, see a roster finally that matches 2k2UM in terms of size. But more importantly is the *content* of said roster. 

I am aware that 'size' doesn't necessarily equal 'amazing' in terms of rosters. KOF XIV, for my money, had a fairly middling roster(after DLC it became better with the addition of folks like Heidern, Whip, Rock, Oswald and so on), but the large amount of new characters they dropped on(like, 16?) for my money kinda fizzled. Looking at a KOF XIV character favorite poll that happened, and I am not the only one who seemed to think this. I personally liked some(Hein, I actually liked Shun'ei and think he has potential, Najd and Mian looked cool, Kukri has neat story potential) but I mean on this list all of *one* creeped into the top 20 and the rest are all...quite down there. 

Compare these to say, NESTS(whose new faces hit pretty hard and fast; not ALL, no, but it at least had a handful that became well liked regulars), and Ash Saga(likewise; in fact, looking at this poll of most wanted characters back-roughly 4800 voters were involved in this, (Quick note-hit 'sort results' and 'show numbers' to get them in order-yes, Geese Howard is number 1 by 2 votes!). In fact, counting ties as one spot(so, Iori, Kyo and Adelheid are all tied with 74 votes each in the 5th place spot), pretty much the *entire Ash saga crew save for Malin* is in the top 20. Adelheid is tied in the goddamn 5th place spot. Ash beats out Rock Howard.

(Yes, Ash took awhile for some to warm up to him-and one could argue that maybe some of the new characters need more time like him? Which is fair. BUT well there's a lot of characters who DID become well-liked right off the bat in their respective arcs, like Elisabeth, Adelheid, Duo Lon, Oswald, K', Kula...)

(SIDE NOTE: I am aware that these are only two polls, and polling can be definitely sort of iffy; that said I tried to pick two that had large amounts of voters from a larger poll of people, but as always, take polls with a grain of salt. For example, the second poll had nearly 5000 voters, but you only had 1(one) pick, and we all know sometimes in these cases we're tempted to, say, vote for someone we hadn't seen in awhile, instead of a favorite, and so on. Just to clear the air that I'm not saying these 2 polls are the end all be all, but I think they at least make for a decent example, since they're both fairly recent-the 2nd poll was late in the summer, and the XIV poll was late 2019-and had a hefty number of voters.) 

Now my point here is less leaning purely on two polls, but I think it at least holds a little bit of weight to say 'The current XIV newcomers didn't light the world on fire for whatever reason, and that includes vs. characters who were part of a saga that was actually cut short and were not as characterized as they could have been'(which was one of Ash Saga's issues.) Now, keep in mind also characters are more than just visual design; it's also playstyle, and that's something else the polls don't tell us(the whys people voted for them.) 

Now that I've spent four paragraphs going on about 'Quantity doesn't necessarily equal quality' which is probably obvious to most anyway...My *personal* favorite KOF roster is XI's-it's 47 characters(one of the biggest non-DM rosters), but that's purely bias on my side as it's literally the only KOF that I can play my favorite team legally in, so it's my favorite and a reason I keep playing the game next to '98 despite the latter being more my style gameplay wise. 

Hell-Virtua Fighter 5 FS has all of 20 characters and is an *excellent* roster as it gives, IMO, almost everything someone might want IN that small roster. Now, VF is a way different game than KOF(this wouldn't even cover more than 6 teams), but it goes to show an example of a small roster that's great. Hell, I have a main and two solid alts out of these 20 characters, and a couple others I like to dabble in on top of that!

So what do I want? I'm easy, just let me play my favorite team again, that's my selfish answer. My selfish+unselfish answer would be let me play my favorite team but ALSO bring back a bunch of characters people clearly like and miss. CYS comes to mind; people have been asking for this team to come back for ages. In fact, I'll give my top 10 returns here for those curious: 

1. Adelheid(give me my boy back SNK I am still saltier than the Dead Sea over XIII to THIS. F%!&"G. DAY.)

2-4: CYS

5-7: Ash, Elisabeth, Shen

8. Chizuru

9. Krizalid

10. Duo Lon/Goenitz(the latter balanced and playable) tied. I'll cheat here. 

("CYS are DEAD tho that's the only reason why they haven't been back yet!" Yeah so were Mature and Vice and they just made them ghosts, because players liked them, lol. Being dead in the KOF universe isn't an excuse, ESPECIALLY NOW that Verse literally resurrected half the cast.)

To be frank, if they cut some of the *really* fizzled new XIV crew(like, the bottom 8-10, including the pachislot characters who have their rights in limbo), even if they made all of XIV's DLC mainline they could bring back a fair chunk(10-12) of requested favs AND a couple new faces and STILL come up less than 2k2UM's roster; BUT be a big, chunky 'dream-roster' at the same time. I mean if they play their cards right they could cough out a roster that's *close* to what a good portion of the fanbase could ever want(they'll never 100% please everyone, as there are always people who like the lesser-played ones. And some people WANT a bunch of weird picks instead of traditional ones even if the roster lacks favorites.) 

As another aside; I DO actually think we may lose a couple of well-liked characters that are currently on the roster, at LEAST for the launch, DLC notwithstanding which could bring some back. I feel that Mature and Vice are both on the line right now for narrative reasons, for one example, and believe one or two more almost-mainstays-not guys like the Ikari Warriors or Athena or anything-may also step out for a game. We also might see some swaps, like Bao in for Chin, just for another example. But I definitely don't think EVERY almost-mainstay is safe. Most, yeah, but not all, and again, I am not counting DLC here.

Okay, so yeah. Basically, extreme TL; DR: A big, great roster is a wish that gives me back my teams. 

Next!

3/4. Potentially other things to do with meter/less invasive MAX mode

While '99 and '00 aren't two of my *favorite* KOF games(if I had to list my favorites in some sort of order it'd basically be '98/'98UMFE, XI, '97, XIV and even 2k3-the latter for sentimental and nostalgia purposes, mind you, I am not praising gameplay/balance here, heh), it had a gameplay idea that I enjoyed; Armor Mode and Counter Mode. If you haven't played the games at all, to explain it simply; you could hit different sets of buttons(ABC or BCD) to activate one of two modes. Counter Mode lasted a bit longer and let you do things like infinite Guard Escapes/Cancels and such and increased your damage. Armor mode lowered damage you took(lasted shorter) and let you armor through attacks. After activating a mode you had to wait a bit before you could use another mode. 

I don't necessarily want to see a carbon copy(since to be frank, Counter Mode I think basically just sort of evolved later into Max Mode and I think the latter works well enough, and it WAS pretty rough, IMO, like the modes costing all your meter), having *more than one thing* is what I'd like to see-I've mentioned a few times Armor Mode coming back would be hella cool. Give us Armor Mode and Max Mode or something. Tweak it so it doesn't cost ALL your meter like it used to(I think Max Mode should cost about 2 bars, Armor Mode could probably cost 1, and EX moves could cost 1? I'm just brainstorming here, but different games have different mechanics and I'm not even getting into how we'd balance this), but I kinda feel giving a choice like this would be fun again, if, again, it could be balanced. 

In '99/'00, certain characters worked better while in CM, and others worked better under AM, and some yet could get some benefit from either depending on the circumstance. I like Max Mode's idea, but I kinda feel like XIV's iteration of it was a bit *too* end all be all; if MM could be adjusted to be a bit less 'max mode go brrrrr' and more a meaningful choice you make depending on character and/or situation you're in(particularly the latter) that could go a long way. I kinda wouldn't want it to be cut-and-dry, 'X is only good with MM, Y only AM' or whatnot, but having SOME 'favored' would be fine, I think.(Armor Ralf! Armor Chang!)

I know EX moves are sort of a point of contention-I'm fine with taking or leaving them? But I don't mind if they stick around and cost some meter.

Keep in mind the Armor Mode was just something I liked from '99/'00: if they can think of another mode instead to give us something to do with the meter that matters(and increase Max Mode's cost just a little), I'd be cool with that, too; this is one of those things where I just want it to be fun/fitting. It's more or less me wanting some more choice here, if possible. It can keep how meter 'works' (in terms of 3 bars on your point, 4 for mid, 5 for anchor, and so on.) 

And...really those are the 3-4 'big' things I want; the top of the list(particularly the first 2 things.) Other secondary things include more robust single player stuff(I enjoy both the competitive side and the narrative side of SNK games, and robust single player is great for the casual audience; FGs need the casual audience I think), favorite stages and so on, which I'm not really worried about(they often deliver in terms of music and stages.) 

Bringing back some of those moves that got cut years ago would be keen, too, just sayin'. 

I should also add: PLEASE keep the game KOF. Go ahead and make some things more accessible to *learn*(tutorial modes, etc), but keep the game fast-paced, the hops, etc-don't try to turn the game into SF or something. I don't *think* they'll be doing this; they haven't so far. Yes, they've adjusted systems(this is fine, like, I think fighters should mess with some new things now and then).

I can see them doing something to try to make things feel more accessible? Which is fine, I'm all for opening the doors and putting up some proverbial signs, but just don't go changing around all the furniture inside and turning it into an unrecognizable place. 

Ahh well. I think I've rambled enough here for my 'comeback blog.' I have NO idea when my next one is going to be. I don't expect everyone to agree with my wants(some of you might not want any system changes, some might want more drastic changes, etc), but again, just a few things I'd personally like to see happen in the game going forward.