

It was nice to have a little cooperation, even if I wasn’t directly supporting someone, in such a competitive game. You rooted for the other people on your side, even if you were randomly tossed together and didn’t know one another. But, The King of Fighters XIV’s Party VS also encouraged a sense of camaraderie. It was delightful, because it encouraged a sense of cooperation. Even the audio was clear and free from any delay when people had their mics plugged in to chat. You’re a spectator when you’re not playing. Perhaps I was fortunate enough to have two good days, but I had absolutely no issues on either Wednesday or Thursday. When The King of Fighters XIV works in Party VS., it’s an extraordinary experience. Everyone is divvied up, randomly if you so choose, picks their fighter, and the match begins. Fights proceed as normal, though you only fight when your turn comes up.

The group is divided into two teams of three, with each person controlling one character. is The King of Fighters XIV’s six player online multiplayer.

Once The King of Fighters XIV launched and other people were playing, I was finally able to get into Party VS. I was only able to test one-on-one matches during this period, because there weren’t the numbers for anything else. This was with an ethernet cable plugged into my PlayStation 4 and everyone with allegedly full bars. Sometimes, it was relatively minor, but it usually caused every action to drag. If I did find a fight, either via a Ranked Match or Free Match with friends, there was constant lag. The second I entered most matches online, well, that’s a different story. Things in The King of Fighters XIV are fine if I go through the campaign, do some training, or fight battles against a friend offline. My early online experiences were largely unpleasant, even after the day one patch. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. They’ll just be implemented on a delay, due to the quality of the connection. This means when you press buttons for moves, the game will register and recognize them. The King of Fighters XIV uses an input delay netcode. In the meantime, both he and others have found one online element that does work, and that’s Party VS. Yasuyuki Oda, The King of Fighters XIV’s producer, even said on Facebook that SNK Playmore knows what’s causing the problem and is preparing a fix for next week. Anyone with a copy of the game who’s tried to enter into an online Ranked Match, Free Match, or Online Training may have noticed it the lag or room information acquisition errors. The King of Fighters XIV currently has some online issues.
