When comparing The King of Fighters XIV vs I am Setsuna, the Slant community recommends I am Setsuna for most people. In the question“What are the best PS4 (PlayStation 4) games?” I am Setsuna is ranked 108th while The King of Fighters XIV is ranked 178th. The most important reason people chose I am Setsuna is:
I Am Setsuna's environment is beautifully somber. The dim, muted colors, serves to draw the player into a barren, empty overworld. The all-piano soundtrack is gorgeous and somehow manages to highlight the sad tone of the game.
Specs
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Pros
Pro You're sure to find a character that fits your playstyle
KOF XIV has 50 playable characters, giving you many options to choose from. All of the characters have their own unique fighting styles, distinct looks, strengths, and weaknesses.
Pro Deep gameplay
KOF XIV is simple on the surface: pick a character, learn some special moves, a few combos, and go to town on your opponents. However, if you want true mastery of the game, it's going to take a lot of time and effort.
You'll have to learn things like cancels, where you stop a combo with a specific input on your controller, in order to continue in a different way than the game intends. Fighting games are often about who can break the game's engine the best, and KOF XIV is no exception.
On top of things like engine breaking, you'll also have to dedicate a large amount of time to learning your chosen character(s) in order to be truly great with them. Every character has complex combos that require precision timing and great reaction speed, and you'll have to get all of them down.
The fact that you can play this casually with a friend and just mess around for while, or practice as hard as you can and truly try to master the game really makes it fun.
Pro The environment really drags you into the game
I Am Setsuna's environment is beautifully somber. The dim, muted colors, serves to draw the player into a barren, empty overworld. The all-piano soundtrack is gorgeous and somehow manages to highlight the sad tone of the game.
Pro The combat system is familiar to almost everyone
I Am Setsuna uses a turn-based battle system that has been used in countless other games, bringing a sense of familiarity to the game. You're able to attack with your weapons, cast devastating spells, or even use combination attacks with your teammates. The combo attacks are particularly fun to use, as you'll have to experiment with different characters in order to achieve different effects.
Pro Impressive character development
Pro The characters aren't what you'd expect
The characters of most RPG are fairly standard. The hero who started from nothing, or the strong, silent adventurer, or the hyperactive, overly enthusiastic type. I Am Setsuna deviates from the standard tropes of the classic JRPGs, and lets each character tell their own story without taking away from the overall feel of the game.
Pro You can build your characters however you like
Characters in I Am Setsuna have their own active skills that are unique to them. However, there's a large pool of passive skills that can be used by anybody, which can lead to all sorts of interesting combinations. For example, you could have a taunting ability (something that makes enemies attack you) that also raises the user's stats, or a fire spell that somehow does cold damage.
Cons
Con Incomplete story
KOF games are grouped in trilogies and KOF XIV is no exception. It's the first game of a new trilogy, so the endings leave most of the plot points unresolved. You'll have to play the 2 next games to get the full story.
Con Balance issues
In games like this, it's inevitable that some characters just have better skill sets, easier combos, or are just plain stronger than the others. The developers have put in great effort in balancing the game, but this problem does persist.
Con It relies on nostalgia and story telling to cover up mediocre gameplay
While the turn-based combat systems of JRPGs have been going strong for longer than 20 years, it also means that there's generally nothing new to expect, and that is certainly true of I Am Setsuna. Fans of the genre will enjoy the nostalgic feel of it, but newcomers may feel put off by the slow speed and rather uninteresting combat.
Con Combat may be too easy
I Am Setsuna allows you to customize your character's abilities, which can end up making you severely overpowered relatively early on. Some players may find this a little boring.
Con The sad and depressing tone of the game may bring you down
The entirety of the game fills you with a feeling of sadness and regret. This overtone never really lets up, though there are glimmers of hope and levity during your adventure.