14 DAY TRIAL // 
We can say that Tekken 7 is a fighting game, but that would be an understatement. We can, however, say that Tekken 7 is THE fighting game, and we would be a little bit closer to the truth.
I’ve been playing Tekken for a long time, but I started with other fighting games such as Street Fighter or Mortal Combat. Notice how I don’t use any numbers for the games because I’m talking about the first ones. Those are great titles and are very dear to me, but they are no match for the Tekken series.
As you can imagine, this kind of attitude is a very subjective one, and many of you won’t agree with that assessment. In fact, I thought the same for the longest time. I felt that no matter what new fighting games I was playing, nothing could compare to the likes of Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. I was wrong and given enough time other players might get to feel the same way.
Don’t get me wrong, all of these games, including Tekken, have come a long way in the past couple of decades. In fact, not only did they managed to survive, but they also gathered new fans and evolved over time. All of these franchises have new games on the market now and are all competing for the same players. It’s also true that they have some serious competitions from new titles as well, but that’s a story for another day.
Gameplay and Story
One of the many interesting aspects of Tekken 7 is that it was actually released all the way back in 2015. The PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions have landed in 2017. So, where was it for the last couple of years? Well, in the arcades, of course.
I live in a part of the world where arcades no longer exist, and to be fair, even when they were present, no Tekken games were available. I was excited to find out that a new Tekken was coming out but disheartened when it was revealed that it was only available in Japan and just for specially designed arcade machines.
The Tekken franchise is huge in Japan, and there are major tournaments organized all the time. From the looks of it, the developers have used the data collected from arcade machines running Tekken to improve upon it. One thing is certain, fighting games need to be as accurate as possible, but that’s very difficult to achieve with a huge roster and from the first try. It's crucial to get all of the aspects of the gameplay just right. You don’t want people exploiting some minor flaw that went undiscovered, especially when it’s going to be used in online matches.
If you’ve never played Tekken before, adjusting to it should be both easy and challenging at the same time. The basic moves that you can find in any other fighting games are there, meaning there are two hand punches and two leg punches, covering the four main buttons. Those buttons won’t be enough. Maybe you’ll win a few fights, but they won’t get you very far.
Using the direction of the characters and the main buttons yields different results, and they are all important. Since it’s also possible to combine those buttons, and to press two of them at once, te number of combinations is drastically increased.
Tekken is a game that needs people to use most of the buttons and not just those four. Mapping the triggers with the combinations of the buttons is not only important, it’s also necessary. Mastering the basics will only get you so far, but the real deapth will only be revealead after players become one with their favorite characters.
What sets the game apart from its competition is not the bigger list of possible moves, but the fluidity of the fights. If you become reasonably good at playing Tekken, you will be able not only to block pretty much anything but counter moves and make them work for you. Players will be surprised to see that there is a counter to the counter, and they can be linked together until someone makes a mistake.
Tekken is also a game that lets you hit people while they are down, and it’s designed in a 2.5D environment. This means that you can move your characters left to right, but front and back as well, although not too much. Many of the combos can be linked together, and if you don’t have the right defense, you’ll get hit until you lose all of your life.
Also, in Tekken 7 a couple of new mechanics have been introduced for the first time, and they make all of the fights much more entertaining. Probably the biggest addition is the Rage Drive, which helps to balance the fights a little bit. When the life of one or both players falls below a certain threshold, the power of the hits is increased by 30%. In this way, a player that gets hit a lot during the opening exchanges can still recover and win the fight.
Another cool feature that’s mostly for show is slow-motion for the last hit. If both players are close to being defeated by a single hit from either opponent, and they hit at the same time, the gameplay will enter slow motion and zoom in a little bit to show exactly what’s happening. It’s nice little addition that seems to make all the difference in the word.
And now we’ll briefly go over the story, and once you start the game, you’ll understand better why that’s the case. The Tekken universe is a strange one and keeping up to date with everything that’s happening in it is really difficult. The story is also permeated by the Japanese style and culture, so for westerners, it seems like a strange combination of drama, anime, and ridiculousness.
The main story is from the perspective of a reporter that is writing a story about the conflict between the G Corporation and a company called Mishima Zaibatsu, that currently under the rule of Jin Kazama, a young man that has something called the Devil gene, which he got from his father. This gene basically allows him to transform into a demon.
The conflict has plunged the world into a war, and there is no sign that it’s slowing down. Explaining a plot that been spanning multiple games and films is difficult enough, not to mention when it’s something so bizarre. The idea is that people usually play the game for the versus mode and online. Putting too much effort into the story mode doesn't feel like a good use of time.
Characters
The reason I don’t pay much attention to the story in any of the Tekken games is that it’s not about that. It’s about the characters. Sure, they all have their place in the Tekken universe, and many of them are weird.
What’s beautiful about them is that they are really distinct, not only in how they look but in also how they fight. After many years of playing with Asuka Kazama, I find it difficult to try anyone else. I know many of her moves, and it’s tough to play against her, especially since she’s very good at launching other characters in the air.
I enjoy seeing other people playing the game for the first time because they don’t have any idea what is happening. Their first fight might be against a regular opponent, but the next one could be against a panda bear that has sunglasses and a Mai Tai drink. Most often than not you’re wondering what the hell is happening on the screen.
When you take everything away, you’re left with amazing gameplay that’s best enjoyed with your friends or people online. The story is of little relevance when you’re crushing your opponent at a wall, and he just can’t seem to be able to get out.
Graphics
Tekken always looked the part, and you could never tell anything bad about it. One of the main reasons why the game is now available on the PC as well is the fact that it’s running on the Unreal engine. I was somewhat worried because changing the engine for a long standing franchise can have terrible consequences.
For a game that depends a lot on perfect hitbox precision and a good physics engine, Tekken 7 actually does quite well. The fact that it’s been out for quite some time has helped the developers to improve and refine the engine. It’s also important to remember that the Unreal engine is extremely flexible, and that lets the studio make subtle changes.
The game doesn’t have a lot of environments, and not all that any stages, and this means that the focus is on the characters, and they are exquisitely done. The art style and the graphics follow the same direction, and the gameplay just fits.
The Good
- Impressive graphics engine
- New Rage system that balances the fights
- Huge roster of players
The Bad
- Cosmetic items seem a little bit our of place
Conclusion
The most important aspect of the game is the way movements flow from one character to another, allowing for unbroken sequences that can be both long and spectacular. It’s what makes Tekken unique and not only that it’s present, but it has been greatly enhanced.
Tekken 7 is here and I can only imagine it getting better. What’s even more exciting is that it gave me and most of the other players, a new reason to memorize gamepad combinations, and to find new ways to humiliate our friends. And I know that I can't ask for anything more than that.
