Cross-ups are a fundamental concept present in most 2D fighting games. The fact is that players need to learn to identify blocking direction–it’s an important skill to learn for any player.
The importance of cross-ups is one of the reasons why how a game handles simultaneous opposite cardinal directions (or SOCDs) can lead to some fundamental issues. If the SOCDs are handled wrong, then it could lead to devices that allow it–such as gamepads with both d-pad and analog input–having an unfair advantage by bypassing how the game is supposed to work.
In the case of the King of Fighters XIV, it seems that SOCDs may be quite problematic. As demonstrated in a video by barzorx, KOFXIV handles SOCDs by always giving priority to the back input. This means that no matter what side an attack comes from, a player hitting both left and right on their pad will end up blocking.
As the video explains, there are multiple ways to handle SOCDs. The best method would be ignoring both inputs and putting the character in neutral, followed by favoring the forward input (as Street Fighter V does) removing the ability to block. More importantly, favoring the back input is arguably the worst way to handle SOCDs precisely for the reasons shown in the video.
Interestingly enough, King of Fighters XIV planner Hidetoshi “Neo_G” Ishizawa was also involved in another game with SOCD issues: the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Here’s hoping that, just like in that game, the SOCD issue in King of Fighters XIV is eventually fixed.
Source: barzorx via BzChoy.
