City of the Wolves Interview — SNK Director Discusses Series’ New Direction – PlayStation.Blog

It’s been a while since the groundbreaking fighting game franchise Fatal Fury got a proper new installment. Yes, characters from the Fatal Fury series have appeared in other games, but the last true Fatal Fury game, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, hit arcades all the way back in 1999. 25 years later, the legendary wolves are back in action in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, ready to captivate a new generation of fighting gamers and tie together storylines that fans have been lingering for decades.

To get a closer look at Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, we spoke with director Hayato Konya and art director Yoichiro Soeda about the game’s development, the new and returning characters, and what makes the game so special.

A sequel that has been in the making for a long time

Fatal Fury is one of the pioneers of the fighting game genre. The original game followed martial artists Terry and Andy Bogard and their friend Joe Higashi on a mission to avenge the death of their adoptive father. It placed an emphasis on story and cinematics, culminating in a shocking climactic scene in which villain Geese Howard falls from a skyscraper. From there, Fatal Fury’s gameplay would evolve dramatically, but the emphasis on stylish and memorable characters, action-movie-inspired storytelling, and the vibrant Southtown setting would remain.

“In the beginning, we had this concept where Fatal Fury was like a movie, where the protagonists had to fight the big bad guy,” Soeda said. “It was popular and players wanted more, so we kept expanding with each game. At one point, Terry Geese’s kid adopts Rock as his son. At the time, we didn’t know where that would lead.”

Ultimately, however, Rock became the new face of Fatal Fury.

This wolf pack style

One of the most striking elements of City of the Wolves is its bold, vibrant art style. The visuals were meant to evoke a mix of American comic book art and Japanese anime, and appeal to both old and new players.

“We wanted the characters to be really ‘pop’ and stand out. We felt that American comic books do that well, and we wanted to emulate that,” Soeda said. “Fatal Fury traditionally has an anime style. We felt that the mix of those two things would work well for the modern audience. Now we have it, and it looks great.”

One of the newest additions to City of the Wolves’ gameplay is the Rev Gauge, a special meter tied to new mechanics that unlock new attacks and movement techniques. The damage players can dish out using Rev-boosted skills like amplified Rev Arts special moves and Rev Accel to string together damaging attacks is explosive. However, the danger of using too much Rev and falling into a fatigued Overheat state is also a concern.

“We want to give people the ability to use super moves, but not limit them to one gauge,” Konya explains. “So we have two different gauges, which makes it a lot easier. Originally, there was no Rev Gauge, just a Power Gauge. The idea came from Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, where you had a Heat gauge. We modernized it and made it more flashy and user-friendly.”

Coming home to Southtown

One thing that fans are eagerly awaiting is the character reveal of both old favorites and new faces. One example is the recent reintroduction of longtime favorite Mai Shiranui, with a new look. But even the new characters have ties to old favorites: the feisty young martial artist Preecha is a student of the original hero, Joe Higashi.

“Garou left us with a lot of homework,” Konya says. “What happened to Hotaru and her brother? What’s going on with Kain and Rock? We want to focus on telling those stories to the end and making sure we’ve wrapped up all those things. So we still have a lot of work to do.”

SNK games also have a history of combining gameplay and story, with story events affecting characters’ abilities and talents. This is also evident in City of the Wolves.

“It’s been 25 years since Garou came out, and there are still a lot of people who play that game,” Konya notes. “But we care about the story. And if the story requires this person to lose powers, lose their arm, then so be it. But because this is a highly anticipated game, we don’t want to change it so much that it’s weird for people who are looking forward to seeing these characters again. It’s a balancing act.”

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves marks the series’ long-awaited return to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on April 21st of next year. Don’t worry, Wolves fans. You won’t be hungry for much longer.