Get ready for the next battle

Name: Tekken 7
Developer: Bandai Namco Studios
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Released: 2, June 2017
Platforms:  PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC
Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

Finally it’s back, Tekken is back! We haven’t got a canon Tekken game since 2007

after being only playable in arcades for two years, Tekken 7 has finally gotten released on consoles and PC. Once more The King of Iron Fist Tournament is being held and our favorite fighters are gathered again to beat each other up, Mishima family is at war and new fighters has joined the roster. Does Tekken 7 have what it takes to be on top again in the fighting genre?

Graphics

This is the first Tekken game to be released on next-gen console, and the first time ever on PC. Tekken 7 looks good running in smooth 60fps, I never noticed any drop in frames either. It’s not the best looking game ever, but there is nothing to complain about it neither. It’s like the same thing I said in my Injustice 2 review, we do not play fighting games because of the graphics. Tekken has always been a franchise that keeps up with the time, and this does too.

Story

This time they have changed how the story is being told, and going with a style more like Mortal Kombat. Usually you choose a character and fight through stages until you meet the boss and defeat him, and unlocks a ending to that chosen character. So you have always gotten the story through a one minute ending, give or take. And the war between the Mishimas have been going on for a long time now, and Katsuhiro Harada (producer of Tekken) said this will be the end of the Mishima saga. Like NetherRealm Studios recent games, you will play as different characters through the story. But unlike Mortal Kombat you will not play with them all, but the Mishimas (Heihachi and Kazuya) also as the guest character Akuma from the Street Fighter franchise. His role in the story is to fulfill a debt he has to Heihachi’s deceased wife Kazumi to kill Heihachi and Kazuya, all this is getting explained in the game. The story is being told by a unknown reporter, that want’s to expose Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation because of the destruction they are responsible of the world and the death of his family by the war. It is all well told and answers allot of the questions fans of the series have had through the years. After Jin disappeared after the incident in Tekken 6, Heihachi sees his chance to take control of the Zaibatsu again and will do anything he can to be the most powerful man in the world. But Kazuya wants the same, and wants to get rid of his father.

Bandai Namco has put in a story assist which you can assign to a button, that helps you to perform certain attacks easier. This is really helpful for newcomers to the franchise and helps to enjoy the story and maybe not get stuck in fights.

So the Mishima saga is a great addon to Tekken.

If you are not a fan of the Mishimas, and just want use the others you are bit out of luck. Because the only story they are getting is literally one fight against a “Rival” and a short ending. These are set in pairs an example is Hwoarang and Devil Jin you get almost the same ending just from a different perspective. And that ruins it a bit for me, I want to know what is happening with the others and their story. And it feels too short to tell anything about them. 70% of the endings are just them fooling around, nothing that builds up to anything in maybe later instalments. So if you want the story to everyone except Heihachi, Kazuya, Jin, Akuma, Lars, Alisa and Lee you will be disappointed. And because it is only one fight, you never get the chance to learn how to play them. And with 10 new characters in the roster you get no time to know them unless you use them in other modes.

One thing to mention is that Bandai Namco has done as Lee would say “Excellent” job to implement Akuma in this game. His moveset and his part in the story all makes sense and don’t feel odd and out of place.

There is a total of 38 characters to play with at launch including Eliza as a pre-order. 10 of them is new characters to the franchise

• Katarina Alves: A sassy Brazilian woman who practices the art of Savate. She was designed to be a beginner-friendly character.
• Claudio Serafino: A white-clad man from Italy who’s a member of an Anti-Devil organization combating the Devil Gene’s threat. Empowered with a Sirius magic.[5]
• Lucky Chloe: An otaku who wears a kitten-themed costume and has a “Freestyle Dance” fighting style.
• Shaheen: A keffiyah-wearing Saudi Arabian man who handles a “Military Self-defense” fighting style. He was also designed to be a beginner-friendly character.
• Josie Rizal: A young Filipino woman who wears a yellow top, a blue miniskirt, and a red bow. She practices Eskrima and Kickboxing.
• Gigas: A hulking, red-skinned humanoid who appears to have cybernetics attached to his otherwise nude body.
• Jack-7: A new model of the Jack series, he has a slightly modified design with red hair and green glowing arms. As with the previous Jack series, he uses brute force to pummel his opponents.
• Kazumi Mishima / Devil Kazumi: Heihachi’s wife and Kazuya’s mother, who possesses the Devil Gene. Kazumi’s fighting style is Hachijo Style Karate, which is similar to the Mishima Style Fighting Karate as used by her husband and son, but with additional abilities such as summoning a tiger and levitating. She originally served as the game’s unplayable final boss prior to becoming the seventh time release character added after launch. Kazumi also has a devil form, which remains unplayable outside of the final stage in which she is fought.
• Akuma: The dark master of the Satsui no Hado from Capcom’s Street Fighter
• Master Raven: A female ninja with a fighting style very similar to Raven. She is in charge of the organization that the original Raven works for.

Gameplay

Like before Tekken really shines when it comes to gameplay.  This is a series that appeals as much to hardcore gamer as of newcomers. Fighters is being controlled by 4 buttons Left Kick, Right Kick, Left Punch and Right Punch. You perform combos by pressing buttons in different orders and combining them, press them in different directions to perform attacks. This is a setup that is easy to use hard to master.

Tekken 7 do not change much when it comes to the fighting, not that it is a bad thing. It is like the game you have always loved, and feels familiar. Old characters move like they have always done, with some new tweaks and moves. The key to win is to juggle the opponent and punishing combos, and to balance offence and defence.   

New to the gameplay this time

Rage Drive

Rage Drive now act as an alternative to Rage Arts. A Rage Drive is a series of consecutive attacks or a single attack with a higher amount of damage and increases the options a player has.

Rage Arts

Rage Arts can still be activated during Rage Mode, but the lower amount of health remaining in the user’s health bar, the more damage is dealt.

These two makes the fights really exciting and fresh, and kan really make you feel powerful when you K.O a opponent with a Rage Art only one punch away from being knocked out yourself. One of the most exciting thing was when I was playing online tournament, and in the final my opponent was one attack away from being defeated and so was I. we were throwing one attack after the other on each other blocking and side stepping. And I was running towards him to give him the final blow, and he was also. As I jumped to kick him and he ran to punch, the game goes in slow motion and my kick hit his head and I won. And I must say my heartrate was a bit high after that.

There is a variety of things to do in this game

The Mishima Saga

This is the story part of the game and character episodes

Offline

• Arcade mode
• Treasure Battle this is the mode where you fight to win treasure chests which unlocks items to customize your character.
• Vs Battle

• Practice

Online

• Ranked Match
• Player Match
• Tournament

Customization

You can customize every characters with hundreds of items that you can buy or unlock through Treasure Battle or Online Tournaments. You can also customize player panel and the look of your health bar

Jukebox (PlayStation 4 Exclusive)

This works like Tekken Tunes in Tekken Tag Tournament 2, where you have the full soundtrack of all previous games. Which you can listen to, or replace the stage music from previous games.

Gallery

Here you can watch all cutscenes and endings from Tekken 7, also everything from the previous games.

There is enough to do if you want to play alone or online, but i feel there is a lack of things to do in local multiplayer. Team battle where you can chose between 2-8 characters to make a team to use against your friends team is gone. Which I really missed to have, and maybe a mode like Tekken Bowling or Tekken Ball that I remember having a real blast with in earlier instalments.

It’s said that a new mode will show up in future DLC but we don’t know what it will be yet. Hopefully it will be a mode to use in local multiplayer.