What to Expect - Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
by William Hernandez
It's official - Fatal Fury is finally back. It truly felt like the series had fully run its course even if the ending of Garou: Mark of the Wolves suggested that there was more to tell. We know that there were plans for a sequel to Mark of the Wolves as far back as 2001, according to a prototype found by Twitter user @2021Kduck. Multiple new characters had been almost fully designed, but the project simply never picked up steam and was eventually cancelled. As the years went by, it seemed pretty clear that a sequel wasn't going to be in SNK's plans anytime soon. Now, more than 20 years later, things are different. A new game is coming soon-ish and it's time to start talking about what to expect.
New Characters (In Another Timeline)
Thanks to a 4Gamer interview some years back, we've been able to see what some of the new characters in the unreleased Mark of the Wolves sequel would have looked like for a while now. The image used here, though, is from @2021Kduck's datamining and simply has more goodies to look at. If we're going to discuss potential newcomers, it makes the most sense to start here. From left to right starting from the third row of sprites, you can see all of the planned additions: Jess Young, Kuan Konta (Joe Higashi's apprentice), an injured and likely unplayable Joe Higashi, Daniel Hale, Ed Palmer, an unnamed lady, Dolvic Bourne, and Geki Gaoh (presumably Gato's father). The names aren't perfect because there isn't exactly an official translation for them as far as I can tell, but it's what we have to work with.
When you don't include established characters, your new playable fighters need to leave a much more significant impression on players. Mark of the Wolves wasn't exactly perfect at this, but Rock Howard, B. Jenet, Tizoc, and Hotaru, just to name a few, have become recurring figures since their fighting debut. Just from a design standpoint, they stand out from the rest. It would be hard to call any of them generic-looking within the context of these games. The newcomers from the unreleased sequel, on the other hand, don't really try to innovate too much. Most of them don't necessarily look boring, but they just don't feel different enough. Other than Kuan who makes sense to include as part of the new generation of apprentices, there's not much that would be missed should these characters not get used. Without knowing what the planned story was, it's also hard to say if the antagonists are worth keeping around as well. But hey, everyone here could totally stick around so long as they're fun to play as.
The Actual Present Roster (And Some Speculation)
City of the Wolves hasn't quite shown its full roster yet, but there are some confirmed names coming back. From what we've been shown, we can presume that Rock Howard, Kain, Terry Bogard, B. Jenet, Marco Rodrigues, Hotaru, Gato, and Tizoc will all be making return appearances. In terms of "newcomers" to Rock's story, we can expect to see Billy Kane, Joe Higashi, Andy Bogard, and Mai Shiranui in some capacity. If City of the Wolves is truly expected to be the definitive end of the Fatal Fury series, then it definitely makes sense to bring back some of the veterans who are near and dear to players' hearts. To that end, don't be surprised if characters like Blue Mary and Duck King show up as well. And while trying to add crossover characters into the roster might muddy the message of the game, it's also worth considering even if only to sell as DLC. One of the most seamless fits would undoubtedly be Alice Nakata, who incorporates moves from the original Fatal Fury protagonists; although, it would be totally understandable if they don't acknowledge her presence as a character at all. There might only be enough space for just one super Terry fan on the roster. As of right now, it's hard to tell what SNK wants to do in terms of character additions so we just have to wait and see how ambitious their plans are. Don't think it'll take too long to get info on that front.
Artistic Direction
It has been reported that City of the Wolves' visual style is inspired by American comic books. You can definitely see it in the game's atypical shading style. The exaggerated shadow lines that you can
see on Rock Howard's nose, lips, and even cheeks would not be present if they were not intentional. Despite the numerous amount of games that have also been inspired by comic books, you would be
pressed to find another game that has gone so far as to mimic these specific kinds of shadows. SNK has had its fair share of struggles in trying to adapt to 3D art so if this is what works for them then more power
to them. From what little we've seen, it definitely seems to fit the world of Fatal Fury very well. The models look like a pretty clear upgrade from The King of Fighters XV's graphics already and it'll be interesting
to see what the other characters look like in this style. Hopefully, we're in for some beautifully designed backgrounds as well.
Gameplay
There's not much to say here other than the fact that the gameplay is unlikely to get that much more complex than it was in Mark of the Wolves. The mechanics present within that game garnered much praise from players so it's hard to see them straying away from that formula. Just Defends, TOP, feint attacks, and easy-to-understand super inputs have enough draw on their own for both casual and professional players alike. It's totally possible that this game could draw some more influence from KOF by adapting something like MAX Mode or EX Specials, but honestly it's much better that it just stays in its own lane. City of the Wolves should feel like a distinct experience. We might see some new mechanics introduced, but speculating about that is pointless given that they could add just about anything into the mix.
The Story
It'll be interesting to see where exactly the story picks up. Mark of the Wolves ended on quite the cliffhanger with Rock on the precipice of finding out the truth about his mother's illness. What could his uncle, Kain R. Heinlein, possibly need him for? Why go through all the trouble of setting up a new "King of Fighters" tournament instead of just confronting the kid directly? Unfortunately, for the past 20+ years, we've not even gotten a hint as for what was supposed to happen to Rock Howard. Where the story was planned to go next is effectively forbidden knowledge that very few developers even have an inkling of. What we can assume as of right now is that City of the Wolves is likely to take place shortly after the events of Mark of the Wolves. Jumping years ahead in time could very well be an important plot point, but none of the characters that we have seen look all that different. Rock learning the truth about things doesn't really need to take more than a few months if that even. That brings into question the importance of Terry Bogard. Considering that we last see Rock Howard just straight up leaving, Terry might actually have his own fleshed out story as a sideplot to Rock's. At the very least, it would make sense to see the events of the main story through their different perspectives. Terry might not die, but Rock's loyalty to him definitely seems like it's going to be tested in some way. Basically, don't be surprised if ol' Terry gets pushed off of a tower. Can only hope that's followed by Rock reaching out to save him. But hey, in the words of Garou, legends don't die. They get better. See you in the next update.
