SNK released some new Fury City of the Wolves gameplay that focused on Hotaru Futaba’s Fatal, coincidentally during the ESports World Cup weekend. The returning wolf has been in other games post her Mark of the Wolves debut such as Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and King of Fighters XI. While she has been revealed before now, how she plays has not had any spotlight outside of dev fights. Searching for her long-lost brother is a serious task in Southtown and Hotaru is up to the challenge.
Not too much has changed from Hotaru’s other appearances in terms of her Tai Chi style gameplay. Mostly her anti-air tech is shown against newcomer Preecha in the trailer. Hotaru is more hands-on than other combatants and her trailer has that on display with mid-range moves. Her original Super Desperation moves are here with a bit of a difference.
Hotaru’s Tenshou Ranki usually had the opponent face up while she was on top of them. Now, they made the opponent face the ground. From the look of things, this is probably to stutter any unintentional thoughts about what it’s meant to do. In the SNK / Fatal Fury universe, it’s probably one of the weirdest super I’ve seen and questioned every time.
The Bell Tower stage is back, but Hotaru and her opponent are outside of that instead of indoors. A lot of similar color choices kept the continuity up, which is a cool thing about Southtown-centric SNK titles.
Suzie Yeung of Final Fantasy VII Remake / Rebirth fame will be voicing Hotaru. After her, Griffinmask and Preecha might be getting their own dedicated gameplay trailers soon. I’m still hoping for the Kims and her estranged brother – Gato, to come as the new characters at some point.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will be available in early 2025 on PlayStation 4 | 5, Xbox Series X | S, and PC through Steam and Epic Game Store.
