Tekken 7 S4 Might Mark The Beginning Of An Exciting Time for Online Gaming

Tekken 7 Season 4 drops today, and the excitement for it has been palpable. Not only do we get a new character in Kunimitsu, but we also get a slew of new moves, buffs, nerfs, a new stage, and so on.

But, by far, the most interesting and exciting aspect of all the new changes coming to the latest season of Tekken is the netcode. If you have been a follower of the FGC for a while, you'll know that online play has been one of the least enjoyable parts of fighting games. This wasn't a big deal for a while as offline play was accessible, and most tournaments were run in offline mode. But, the pandemic changed all this, with most people forced to play online, and several tournaments moved to an online platform.

With the migration of many tournaments to an online platform, the failings of most fighting games' netcode were evident for all to see. Laggy matches and frozen screens led to a thoroughly horrid experience when playing games. There were a few high profile cases like the one with Punk and Alex Myers during one of the CPT tournaments. SFV tried to do something about it, introducing a patch that was meant to fix most of the problems, but the results are mixed. While the Street Fighter netcode is better than it used to be, it isn't as good as it can be.

What Tekken 7 has provided is a game-changer that is sure to breathe new life into online play. The reality of the situation is that increased online competitions are going nowhere as their introduction has opened the FGC up to a whole new world. While offline competitions are sure to return, you can be sure that online competitions and tournaments are here to stay, and with improved netcode for our favorite games, we are hopefully about to experience an exciting new era for fighting games.

Tekken 7's netcode

The reviews for Tekken 7's netcode have been overwhelmingly positive, with people reporting matches over ridiculous distances with good connections. This is great not just for gaming but for the Tekken community as a whole. Before now, most matches took place between players in the same geographical area, which limited the variety of people one could build relationships with. Now, you can play someone from New Zealand, Brazil, Pakistan, and even China. Some of the biggest influencers have been raving at the strength of the connection, and Katsuhiro Harada has been flooded with a deluge of messages thanking him and the team for the vast improvements.

Exciting game balance

While the netcode is probably the biggest news about Tekken 7 season 4, there have been other improvements thrown into the game to ensure that fans get the best experience possible. A new character in Kunimitsu will finally be available, there are new moves for every character, and games might take longer as all characters' health bars have been upgraded. Meanwhile, damage output has also been reduced, meaning that combos affect you less, along with several other balance adjustments and play enhancements.

Possibly the other thing that will surely excite gamers is the addition of a wi-fi indicator, which means that players are now alerted if their potential opponent is using a wired connection or not. This is important as it gives players the option to decline such games and improve the quality of gaming in general. This might seem unfair to some, but the reality is that wi-fi connections are unreliable and extremely frustrating for some gamers. You can check out the full patch notes (translated into English) here.

A minor hiccup

If there is anything that could sour the good work that Bandai Namco put into Tekken, it's the controversy following the early access provided for some creators in Europe. This wasn't well-received as people rightly pointed out that it spoils the fun for everyone else. These are sentiments that Harada himself seemed to share when asked about it; he stated that he wasn't a fan of that marketing move.

Naturally, some people support the move, stating that it was a move that showed that Bandai Namco is now willing to work with creators a lot more.

How excited are you for Season 4? Personally, I'm super stoked and can't wait to try my hands on it!