Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves Review (Gravelord)
Ok, so for context, I love playing fighting games in a very casual sense, so I'm not good at them at all. I do enjoy them, though. If you are a total scrub/noob/casual that's simply happy to be at the party, then this one's for you.
FF: COTW is actually really good. The art style is great, it runs perfectly, and it's easy enough to get into without having to lab for hours on end just to be able to beat the AI. Coming from SF6 - it's most direct competitor - I would say this game serves the hardcore FGC a bit more than SF, but not by much. In some ways, mostly related to structure and design focus, it's certainly more for serious players. Comparing the two, COTW is stripped back and focused, with one great example being the single player RPG mode.
In SF6, World Tour is like this whole pseudo-open world game with random NPC's, food vendors, etc. Episodes of Southtown reminds me of older, classic FG campaigns, like Soul Calibur etc. The dialogue is text based and the entire focus is on fights. There is no running around, you literally just choose the next battle you want to participate in. That doesn't mean it isn't fun, though. It gets right to the point, and I can see how some people actually prefer this style to World Tour in SF6. For casuals, I'd say this mode really shines at teaching you the most natural way possible how to play and win. You start off with total jobbers who are easy to beat by spamming throws and specials, and it ramps up at a steady and manageable pace from there. It is infinitely more interesting and engaging than combo tutorials and way less anxiety than online matches. In this way, I think Episodes of Southtown is perfect.
In terms of mechanics, the move set is surprisingly deep; the defense options are nutty, for instance. Considering it's ostensibly a 4 button game (there's a REV button so sort of 5), it takes a little variety away from attacks but gives you more depth in other areas that overall change up the game enough that it doesn't feel like a SF6 side story. It's its own game, but similar enough that you should be able to transition from one to the other no problem. Similar to SF6's Drive Gauge/Burnout system, there is a REV system here, but it works in reverse. Instead of actions depleting the gauge, they build up until you overheat. The ways both of these systems work are very similar overall, though, and of of course your super gauges build and are used like you'd expect, too.
For casuals, one thing I'd point out is that spacing feels tighter in COTW. Throws, crouching heavy kicks, etc, feel like they need to be closer to land when compared to SF6. This is dependent on the character, of course, so I am talking about overall feel. I also noticed more attacks that penetrate block, like overheads, and there's also some attacks that have what we Dark Souls guys would call poise. Luckily most I've seen are slow super heavy attacks that you can throw them out of if you're mindful, but if you try to trade or hit them out of it, it won't work. This is the kind of stuff that makes you stop and think more during a fight, which is why I think it leans more into a hardcore fanbase, but just a bit. In SF6, there is so much you can do in terms of pressure that you can win a lot of matches by just being relentless. This game has a little more strategy imo.
There's been a lot of crossover between the SF and FF franchises as of late, which I think is a good thing. Fighting games are niche for the most part, so bringing everyone together is an important part of sustainability. There's a lot of high level players out there, and I love watching their matches even if I could never hope to play at their level. I'm just glad these franchises are coming back in a big way and am super, super satisfied with City of the Wolves. It plays great, it's very engaging in all modes, and the pricing structure so far is reasonable and fair compared to SF6. You get more content with SF6, for sure, but at the end of the day, I imagine there are a lot of players who don't need that content anyways. I love them both, and if you loved SF6 I think you'll love City of the Wolves, too.