Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves [Review]

Like a lot of fighting game fans lately, I’ve found myself in a weird spot. I don’t really vibe with Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8 is in recovery mode, Guilty Gear Strive and I are on a break, and Mortal Kombat 1 is… fine. Not bad, just not for me. And I know I’m not the only one feeling this way. People are saying fighting games today are too easy, too accessible, too shallow, too unbalanced, too offense-heavy, too unstable—just not fun.

Enter Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.

The original Mark of the Wolves, released in 1999, was a no-nonsense fighter with tight mechanics, solid depth, and a clear ethos: the better player wins. In today’s landscape of comeback mechanics and neutral-skipping tools, how does its 2025 successor stack up?

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
Initial release date: April 24, 2025
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
Genres: Fighting game
Developers: SNK
Publishers: SNK CORPORATION

Story

City of the Wolves doesn’t have a deep story—and that’s fine. Each character has their own arcade mode ending, but I’m assuming Rock’s storyline is the main one. In it, Southtown has gotten too peaceful since Geese died, and someone decides to stir up trouble by hosting a new King of Fighters-style tournament. That’s your setup. I won’t spoil the rest, but let’s be real—SNK isn’t out here writing screenplays. The story works, but it’s nothing to write home about.

That said, the Episodes of Southtown mode is a welcome surprise. It’s more RPG-esque and clearly built for players who care about character interactions. If you’re into dynamics between fighters or just want to see more personality outside of combat, this is your mode. It’s also being updated post-launch, which is nice to see. While arcade mode got a few chuckles out of me, Episodes of Southtown does a much better job of holding your attention if you’re here for the cast rather than the conflict.

Gameplay

Coming into City of the Wolves, I figured my experience with KOF would give me a leg up. Short hops? Four-button layout? I thought I had a foundation. I was wrong. Outside of a few basics, this is a very different beast.

You’ve got feints, feint cancels, dodge attacks, Just Defend, Guard Cancel, Hyper Defense, Braking, REV Guard, REV Blow, REV Accel, Selective Potential Gear (S.P.G.)—and probably a few more I’m forgetting. Yeah, it’s a lot. And honestly? I wouldn’t blame anyone for feeling overwhelmed looking at all that. But here’s the thing: once you get hands-on, it actually clicks. It’s dense, but not messy.

One of the biggest complaints about modern fighters is the lack of defensive tools. That’s not an issue here. You’ve got three block types, two dodge attacks, and four kinds of rolls. If you’re getting steamrolled in COTW, it’s not because the tools aren’t there—it’s because your defense isn’t. Want to break through an opponent’s wall? Short hops mess with anti-air timing. REV Blow can give you the edge if you’re in S.P.G. But most of the time? You’re earning your hits. There’s no real shortcut around neutral. And while some players might hate that, I think a lot of people will find it refreshing after years of rushdown-heavy metas.

Of course, all that defense better be sharp, because offense hits hard. Projectiles matter. Pokes have reach. And if you get counter hit—especially off a Wild Punish—you’re gonna feel it. Watching your character float mid-air like a leaf or crumple in place while your opponent gears up for a beefy combo? Yeah. Don’t get caught.

SNK’s always been good about giving players varied combo routes with high reward for smart resource use, and COTW keeps that tradition alive. Between Feint Cancelling, Braking, and REV Accel, there’s a ton of freedom. The combo system here might be one of the best out there—it looks great, and it feels rewarding. But like everything else in this game, it demands time. You don’t pick this up and start swinging. You grind. And yeah, you could say that about a lot of fighting games, but the difference here is that the depth isn’t hidden behind flash—it’s earned, and that’s a big part of this game’s charm.

That said, I’ve got a couple of gripes. First: the tutorial. I wasn’t expecting it to teach everything, but what’s here barely scratches the surface. Yeah, it explains Feints, but it doesn’t go into the fact that there are multiple types for different moves, each with their own frame data when canceled. Or how REV Run—just holding the REV button and a direction—can set up meaty pressure that covers most wake-up options. Stuff like that feels important enough to at least mention.

My second gripe? The netcode. Now to be fair, SNK has never been the gold standard for online play. But this time around, they actually gave us solid features: ranked, lobbies with multiple matches, leaderboards, ghost data—the whole setup is here. But the actual play? That’s where it gets rough. When it’s good, it’s great. But that’s maybe 70% of the time. The rest? Anywhere from 2–6 frames of rollback, sometimes worse. I had two matches where I saw 10 full frames of rollback. That’s killer in a game this precise. Imagine working the neutral for a whole round, landing your big hit, and rollback takes it away—and flips the momentum while it’s at

Visuals

This won’t take long: City of the Wolves looks fantastic. It builds on the KOF XV style, but with way more flair—it leans into this comic book aesthetic that gives everything more punch. The animations are crisp, the stages are full of energy, and the character designs walk the line between stylish and readable.

If I had one minor complaint, it’s that the REV Accel and elemental effects can get a little busy at times. Nothing that hurts the gameplay, but every now and then, a visual effect will look kind of off. Gato’s REV Art smoke effect comes to mind—it’s not bad, just… not quite there. Still, that’s a nitpick.

What’s not a nitpick is the main menu. It looks cool at first—really stylized, almost like a desktop OS—but actually using it? Not great. It’s clunky and weird to navigate. What’s even stranger is that it’s the only menu in the game with this much flair. Everything else—the character select, the options, the lobbies—feels pretty standard. Not bad, but it makes the overdesigned main menu stand out even more. It’s like all the style budget went there and didn’t leave anything for the rest.

Sound Design

Another quick one: the music? It slaps.

I don’t even like the main menu layout, but I’ve sat on that screen way longer than I needed to just because the track is so good. And the character themes? Perfect fits. You hear Mai’s theme and immediately go, “Yep, that’s her.” Each one has a lot of personality, and they do a great job of reinforcing the character identities during matches.

Then there’s the music from Salvatore Ganacci. Compared to the game’s usual jazz and rock-heavy soundtrack, his tracks feel a little offbeat—but they still work. They bring a different flavor, even if they don’t fully match the rest of the game’s vibe.

Now, one thing you will want to do is adjust your volume settings. The music can sometimes get drowned out by all the SFX—punches, kicks, grunts, one-liners—it can be a bit much. It’s nothing a trip to the options menu won’t fix, but it’s worth pointing out.

Voice acting overall is solid, but not always what I’d expect. Some English voices—Tizoc and Billy Kane in particular—sound a little off to me. Not bad, just not quite what I imagined for those characters. Still, the performances are competent, and it’s cool to see the full cast voiced in multiple languages.

Final Thoughts?

Before launch, a lot of people were skeptical about City of the Wolves. I kept hearing that it was going to be another “Discord fighter”—a game that only a niche group would play before dropping off the radar. Even now, folks are glued to Steam Charts, waiting to declare the game dead if the numbers dip. Ignore that noise.

This game is absolutely worth picking up, rough edges and all. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to really sit with a fighting game—not just to learn a character or a few matchups, but to actually digb in and understand everything. Not just the fun bits. All of it. And that process? That challenge? It’s fun.

City of the Wolves rewards players who want to learn, who want to improve, and who miss the feeling of cracking open a game and earning your wins. It’s not built for everyone. It’s difficult, technical, and expects a lot from you. But when you land that training room combo in a real match, or pull off a Just Defend into a Hyper Defense into a Guard Cancel into your own full conversion? That’s magic.

It’s not the flashiest, or the most modern, and it’s definitely not the easiest. But that’s kind of the point. If you’ve been burned out on today’s fighters—or just want something deeper—City of the Wolves might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Just… keep a YouTube playlist handy. You’re gonna need it.

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