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Fatal Fury: City of the Wolvesis finally here, bringing the first installment to the series in 26 years. And, with the Episodes of South Town mode, we will get to see what Terry, Rock, and all the others have been up to after all these years, making it a must-have for seasoned veterans of the series.
However, while it still has that old-school execution and character expression going for it, many new systems and mechanics at play give it that modern fighting game feel while letting it remain true to itself and its hardcore player base. As such, this game has TONS of ways to pilot a character, making its skill ceiling high, which can be daunting for newcomers. But fear not; you will be golden once you get the hang of things!
Defense Is Back And Stronger Than Ever
Unlike most modern fighters, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves has astrong focus on defensive options,rewarding you for implementing solid defense into your playstyle. While you willstill have to work a bit to utilize your defense properly,once you get it down, you will betough to break open, allowing you to begin unleashing your offenseon your opponent.
While many strong defensive tools are available to you in this game, themost potent of the bunchisJust Defends,as they give you the potential tocapitalize on making hard reads on your opponent,allowing you topunish them with the appropriate actionto deal substantial damage.
Just Defends
Just Defendsis essentially City of the Wolves' version ofparries.It allows you toperfectly guard against an incoming attackbyblocking right as it lands,enabling you tofollow up with any Special Move of your choiceimmediately afterward. However, theattack you choose won’t always work depending on the situation,so ensure you know what to use, or you may be the one in danger.
So, for example, if you’re Mai and you knowTerry is about to perform his ‘Burning Knuckle’attack, if youguard just as his attack connects,you will land aJust Defend,allowing toimmediately cancel into your ‘Ryuuenbu’ or other Special Moves,which can often lead into a decent combo for lots of damage.
Furthermore, if youhave the meter to perform one of your Gear Supers,inputting it instantly after landing a Just Defend will cause what’s called aZero Frameattack,freezing your opponent on the frame of the attack you guarded,allowing you tocarry out your Super with no interruptions.This works withIgnition Gears, Redline Gears, and even Hidden GearSupers!
Aerial Just Defends
Despite the gamenot having a proper airborne guard systemlike you would find in something like a Guilty Gear title, youcan still block incoming damage while airbornewithJust Defends,making them even stronger than you initially thought. And, in a game like this one, you will need to get the hang of this, asyou are encouraged to go for jump-in attacks frequently.
And, like the grounded Just Defends, you willbe able to follow up with any Special Move of your choice if your character has access to themwhile airborne, such asMia’s ‘Air Musasabi no Mai’action. Since this isthe only way to guard in the air,we strongly recommend practicing landing Just Defends while airborne to get the hang of its timing!
Other Just Defend Goodies
It doesn’t end there, asJust Defends will also deplete some of your REV Gauge,helping youprevent Overheatingduring battle, and will alsoreplenish a small amount of your Health,which can lead to clutch situations. This can beparticularly useful against opponents who like to spam their projectiles,allowing you to Just Defend them and stay in the fight a bit longer.
Depleting your REV Gauge is incredibly useful,as if you’reclose enough to cancel into a Special Move,you might be able toland a beefier combo as a result of having more meter availableto work with, which can change the tide of battle in an instant. While other defensive options are available to you, which we will cover throughout the guide, this is undeniably the most potent of the bunch!
Movement Is Crucial
Movementis another tremendously potent aspect of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, as it canhelp mitigate the strong defensive optionsavailable. Every character will have access tothree different jumps,which canchange the trajectory of their jump-ins,making for some intense skirmishes throughout the battle.
Holding any of the jump inputs downwill have you perform aStandard Jump,which willcover a considerable distance if you’re jumping forward or backward.However,just tapping the inputwill have you perform aShort Hop,changing the trajectory up quite substantially, which can be implemented strategically tobait out your opponent’s attacks.
Thethird and final jumpis theDash/Sprint Jump.Depending on the character you play,tapping forward twicewill either have youperform a Dash or a Sprint,allowing you toperform a jump during its animation, catapulting your character forward,covering tremendous distance, making it particularlyuseful for mix-ups or getting out of tight situations!
Jump Ins Are Very Strong
Since you canconstantly change up your jump trajectory,you canuse that to your advantage to keep your opposition on their toes.However, this also means thatjumps are much riskier than most other modern fighting games,asmisjudging the distance can be detrimentalto you against sharp opponents.
But, overall,jump-ins are much more potentin City of the Wolves, especially with theShort Hopaction, as they areharder to react to and can be used to bait your opponentinto a favorable position for you to land a devastating combo. Westrongly encourage you to experiment with the various jumps occasionally,as they are very strong!
You cannot Just Defend during a Short Hop, as you are too low to the ground, and the action is already strong enough to apply offensive pressure. You can Just Defend during Normal and Dash/Sprint Jumps, though, which will be crucial when trying to get in on your opponent from far ranges!
Tech Options
One defensive option that isn’t covered at all in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is your ability toTech Roll after being knocked down,allowing you toevade incoming pressure or okizeme setups.If you getthrown, swept, or knocked to the groundin any capacity, you caninstantly recover by rolling toward or awayfrom the opposition.
To do this, either hold downLP+Forward/BackwardorHP+Forward/Backward.TheLP versionwill have you perform aShort Roll,withHPhaving you perform aLong Rollinwhichever direction you press.While this can be a powerful tool, it does come with one massive caveat:You will no longer be invulnerable to throws on wake-upafter rolling.
Rolling away from your opponent is typically your safest option,as they typically won’t be able to threaten you with a throw unless they make a hard read.Rolling toward them can be a gamble,but can be particularly useful if youthink they’re going to grab,allowing you tounleash a Gear Super on wake-up to punish themseverely!
Understanding The REV System
TheREV systemis thenewest addition to Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves,and it goes a long way to improving the overall systems and mechanics that were brought over from previous installments of the series. You can find yourREV Gaugein thebottom left corner of the screen,which will be atzero percent at the start of each round.
However, as youperform actionssuch asREV Arts(Special Input LP+HP or LK+HK),REV Blows(HP+HK while in SPG Mode), orguard incoming attacks,yourREV Gauge will begin rising,causing you toOverheat if you reach 100percent.
Overheating is detrimental,as it means you canno longer perform REV Arts, Just Defends, or Hyper Defense actions until you cool down,which will take some time. This is whyperforming Just Defends when possible is crucial,as they willdeplete some of this gauge,helping you prevent reaching this state. Furthermore,landing attacks and moving toward your opponent will also help lower the buildup.
Understanding when and how to implement your REV Arts and REV Blows will go a long wayin not only allowing you toland optimal combos and damage,butkeeping you from Overheating yourself,essentially kneecapping yourself for a large portion of the round!
Mastering The SPG System
Another new addition to the series is theSPG system,which willunlock some nifty new abilities for your character and other bonusesthat can help you change the tide of battle to your favor. If you look at your character’sHealth Gauge at the top of the screen,you will see ayellow section with the letters SPGon it, indicating theSPG Zone.
If yourHealth is in this section of the Health Gauge,your character will haveaccess to REV Blows and the other SPG bonuses.You canplace the SPG Zoneeither at thestart(Accel Ratio),middle(Flux Ratio),or end(Final Ratio)of your Health Gauge,allowing you to dictate when you obtain its benefits during the match.
SPG Zone Benefits
Entering the SPG Zonewillincrease your damage output by around ten percent, no matter where you have it placed.The SPG Zone will alsodictate how much meter your REV Arts buildwhen performing them,depending on where you have it placed.
Accel Ratiowill makeall REV Arts increase your REV Gauge by 25 percent,which can still be quite taxing. TheFlux Ratiowilllower that to 19 percent,providing a decent amount of overhead, allowing you to perform more REV Arts during combos without the risk of Overheating. Lastly, theFinal Ratioiseven lower, 17 percent,which can make a decent difference in specific situations.
Westrongly recommend the Flux or Final Ratios,as theyoffer substantially more combo and damage potentialcompared to the Accel Ratio. They willalso serve as a ‘comeback mechanic’ of sorts,allowing you to rely on them once you receive a decent amount of damage!
Feints And Brakes Are Key To Success
Possibly themost substantial aspect of your offenseisFeints and Brakes,as they will allow you tounleash your character’s true potentialand carry out high-damaging combos.Feintswill enable you tobegin a specific move’s startup animation without actually following throughwith them, whileBrakesallow you tocancel a move halfway through its animation.
Moves in your character’s Command List labeled with ‘FE’ can be canceled with a Feint, while moves labeled with ‘BR’ can be canceled early with a Brake, so ensure you look over your character’s actions to see which moves you utilize these systems to get the most out of them!
Both have benefits,allowing you toexplore your character’s movelist for unique and devastating combosthat highlight player and character expression, something you love seeing in modern fighting games.Feints can also be used to bait your opponent,as you canact like you’re starting a specific attack, cutting it short to punish their reaction.
Moves can also become plus on block via Brakes,allowing you toperform a Heavy Special or REV Art,seeing itget blocked, and Braking it to stop it midwaythrough,leaving you in an advantageous situationif your opponent is mashing. Thisvaries from character to character,so we strongly recommend exploring it with whoever your main is!
Combo Structures
For the most part,a combo structure will look something like:
Sincemost Heavy Attacks won’t link into one another, utilizing a Feint will allow you to recover fast enough to make that possible,allowing you to thengo into your Special Moves,which you may thenBrake midway through to perform more Special Moves.If youhave the meter,you can typicallyend most combos by executing a REV Art,Braking halfway through it, and unleashing a Gear Superto end it with style.
Youcan also Brake the same Special Move twice in the same combo string,so long asone of them is a standard version and the other is a REV Art version.This will be tricky to get used to, as it does require quite a bit of execution, but once it clicks, you will feel unstoppable in battle!
Episodes Of South Town Is An Excellent Primer
If you arenew to the Fatal Fury series,wecannot recommend the Episodes of South Town ‘RPG Mode’ enough,as it will allow you togo through many unique encounters with your selected character,allowing you to get used to their move list, while the challenge ramps up slowly.
Episodes of South Town has ashort story for every character in the game(except for Christiano Ronaldo), allowing you to see what they’re up to within the universe, and will also allow you tolevel them up, unlock unique Avatars, Patterns, and Titles,while also learning how to play them.It’s all wins across the board.
There is also a’New Game+‘mode of sorts that willincrease the difficulty, allowing you to test how far you’ve come.Episodes of South Town is alsoan excellent way to try out a new characterif you don’t want to throw yourself to the wolves online!
Use Training Mode To Your Advantage
Lastly, we need to encourage you tospend at least some time in Training Mode,as it is how you will get better if you can dedicate some of your time to it. Not only is there aTutorialthat youshould go through if you’re new to the series or genre,but there are alsoCombo Trialsforevery characterthat canshow you the basicsof how they’re played togive you a better understanding of their combo structures.
Training Mode can feel tedious,we won’t try denying that here, but it isan absolute must if you want to improve your fundamentals and growas a player. Here, you canset up parameters,allowing you totest specific combos off of Counter Hits, Wild Punishes, or even lab against actionsthat consistently trip you up.
Fighting games can be very challenging to break into if you’re not already ensconced in the genre, and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves doesn’t hold back with its systems or mechanics. If youfind yourself overwhelmed, take a breather, pop into Training Mode, and begin noodling around.You will likelylearn so much about your character, how they operate, and how to utilize their potential in battlemuch more effectively!
