Introduction

The King of Fighters XI (KOF XI) is the latest installment of the King of Fighters series. The character roster has received a major shake-up. For the first time ever, recurring characters Mai Shiranui, Leona Heidern, and Joe Higashi have been dropped from the roster. Eiji returns; though a secret striker in KOF 2000, he has not been a playable character since KOF 95, the ever popular Duck King makes his first real appearance in the series, and Bonne Jenet crosses over from Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Three characters are original to The King of Fighters XI: Oswald, Elisabeth, and Momoko. Elisabeth is the heir of a noble French family, Oswald is a fighter from Ireland who utilizes cards as his weapons. Momoko is a young capoeira fighter from Japan accompanying Athena Asamiya and Sie Kensou on the Neo-Psycho Soldier team. Arcade rooms are receiving competition massively worldwide at this moment for this game

The numerical distinction for the series now is based primarily on SNK Playmore wanting to have a more sporadic and unpredictable timeframe for development for the series.

Storyline

Mukai, a member of a mysterious group, stole the Orochi seal. Taking advantage of all the confusion caused by it, Ash stole the Yata Mirror (protected by Chizuru Kagura).

Everybody assumed Chizuru’s defeat, and that’s how, in between everything, he pulled the curtains down on the last King of Fighters.

Time passes and everything seems to be okay in the world. However, and quite predictably, there will be a KOF Tournament.

In the advent of the new tournament, new faces are handed invitations, while old faces, such as Eiji Kisaragi, return to the ring. Among the new KoF participants are Oswald, Duck King - a South Town veteran fighter himself, Momoko, and Elisabeth..

All these fighters will find themselves in a tournament full of mysteries and secrets started by motives that they’d ignored and still participate. KOF is just about to start.

Behind this healthy competitive tournament hides a hidden face. Besides that, this hidden face has a lot of mixed objectives. The group that calls themselves “Past Coming people”(Literal translation). What do they really plan to do? Where would Orochi’s force finally land once the seal is finally open? Chizuru and friends lost, but would they still be able to seal Orochi?

What’s Ash Crimson true plan?

May The King of Fighters XI begin...

Game Mechanics

The two largest innovations KOF XI brings to the franchise are the Judgement System and Skill Stocks. Should the timer run down in a match, the winner is no longer decided based upon who has the most life remaining. Instead, the momentum of the match is measured based upon how successfully offensive you are, and how extensive your combos are. Whichever player is determined to have the most momentum at the match's end will be the victor if no K.O. is achieved.

The Skill Stocks significantly complicate the gameplay of KOF. The Power Stocks that existed previously are still present, and are filled in the usual fashion. However, there are now Skill Stocks as well, which gradually build up over time. Each team begins a match holding the maximum of two Skill Stocks. Offensive maneuvers, such as Desperation Moves, Guard Cancels, and Tag Attacks, continue to use Power Stocks. However, more defensive or tactical maneuvers, such as Guard Evasion, Saving Shift, and Quick Shift, use Skill Stocks.

KOF XI utilizes the Tactical Shift System from KOF 2003, with some minor changes. The button commands for tagging to teammates has been changed, and players are now able to change your team leader between every match. However, some new tagging commands exist. These include the Quick Shift, which allows you to instantly tag to another team member, making tag combos possible. The Saving Shift is also a new command, that allows players to use two Skill Stocks to tag in the midst of being hit, making great counter attacks possible.

The last new feature of KOF XI is the Dream Cancel. Like the Super Cancel that first appeared in KOF '99, Dream Cancel allows players to use stocks to interrupt a move in the midst of its execution with a more powerful move, allowing devastating combos. However, the Dream Cancel is more deadly than ever, allowing a DM to be canceled into an LDM, at the expensive price of two Power Stocks and one Skill Stocks.