Team Official Invitation Makes Their Debut In ‘The King Of Fighters XIV’

Atlus and SNK Playmore have delivered their next reveal trailer for the upcoming fighting game, The King of Fighters XIV. Showing off Team Official Invitation, the first full team of new characters, this odd group seems to have a few sinister surprises behind their varied personalities.

First up is Kukri, a mysterious hooded man who can control, and even dissolve into sand when attacking his opponents. Using these skills to teleport, do damage from both sides of the screen, and overwhelm his opponents with a tidal wave, the sand effects are some of the best visuals we’ve seen from the game to date.

Moving away from the supernatural in favor of straight up ass kicking, Mian draws inspiration from Chinese Operas and integrates that with her Bian Lian martial arts. Showing off some of her impressive looking combos, the only time the masked fighter shows her face is when she’s ready to unleash her most powerful attack to take down her opponent. In her case, looks can be very deceiving, in more ways than one.

Lastly is the team’s leader, Sylvie, who we got to try at E3 this year. As a former member of the NESTS organization from the KOF 99 – 2001, the seemingly wacky girl obtained power over electricity, which she isn’t afraid to unleash in battle. Aside from her unorthodox fighting style and appearance, she seems to be hiding a much darker side of herself, which peaks out when her strongest technique is pulled off. It makes you wonder what kind of power she really holds if she’s able to take the lead in a team as powerful as this one.

With that in mind, I can’t help but feel this team will play a major role in the game’s story. Aside from their team name, which implies that they’re special guests of the tournament, teams featuring all new characters have often been primary antagonists in the past. Sylvie’s change in demeanor only confirms this, which is more the reason as to why I can’t wait to play this when it releases on August 23 exclusively on the PlayStation 4.