#Tekken 7 review series#

WeвЂ™re not sure if Tekken will be back anytime soon or what a theoretical Tekken 8 roster will look like. ItвЂ™s not even the best fighting game to debut this summer, thanks to Injustice 2, but itвЂ™s an excellent finale for this leg of the franchiseвЂ™s history. So writing it off as entirely unimportant doesnвЂ™t seem fair either. But personalization is the key selling point for one mode, Treasure Battle, and the only significant reward system left once after unlocking all the narrative content in Tekken 7. ItвЂ™s obviously not a major part of the game and our gripes about customization didnвЂ™t have much impact on our score. There are also weird issues with item compatibility, like not being able to choose both a unique hairstyle and a hat for your favorite fighters. Too many items have been created to fit the entire roster instead of offering unique changes to specific characters. But itвЂ™s a big slice of the experience for players who donвЂ™t enjoy online multiplayer.Д¬ustomization options are also a bit light in Tekken 7.

#Tekken 7 review series#

It might seem silly to nitpick the story mode of a series about a father and son who canвЂ™t stop throwing each other into volcanoes. And the Character Episodes, supplemental content for fighters not included in the core story, arenвЂ™t much more than one-off Arcade matches. The final encounter is particularly egregious. And the ones that arenвЂ™t too easy leave you ready to pull out hair. Most fights are too easy, pitting the current character (usually Heihachi) against a wave of Jack-6s or Tekken Force soldiers barely capable of stringing two attacks together. But thereвЂ™s not enough consistency from the Story mode encounters. They even rope in Akuma, a recurring antagonist from the Street Fighter series, to give a little more depth to the Mishima familyвЂ™s story. Bandai Namco uses a combination of cutscenes and still art to provide the most extensive storytelling weвЂ™ve seen from the series. Story mode is easily the biggest disappointment. And the roster is an excellent mix of King of Iron Fist newcomers and seasoned veterans of the tournament. The base game even includes the NJPW/Bullet Club DLC announced earlier this year. Injustice 2 still claims the crown for character modeling, thanks to truly incredible face animations, but this is unquestionably the best that Tekken has ever looked. Other changes, like the slow-motion camera that highlights close finishes, also put Tekken 7 a step ahead of its competition when it comes to match presentation. Move animations snap in way that makes each technique look crisp and precise. Unreal Engine 4 gave Bandai Namco the tools needed to deliver the best-looking game in the series. Presentation is better than itвЂ™s ever been. ItвЂ™s a great system for keeping the action close and forces the player to pay close attention during the final moments of the match. But players can now choose to trigger a short (Arts) or long (Drives) combo that consumes their Rage while doling out significant damage to their opponent. Rage still triggers when a fighterвЂ™s health is low, usually around 10 percent, and boosts the damage of all attacks. Tekken 7 also introduces two new concepts, Rage Arts and Rage Drives, which expand the Rage system implemented in Tekken 6. Combat is still built around four attack buttons, two punches and two kicks, but the move lists for each fighter are longer than those seen in previous games. On a basic level, Tekken hasnвЂ™t changed much. But casuals shouldnвЂ™t feel robbed by input delay. Dedicated players will probably still prefer a wired connection. Tekken 7 also features some of the most responsive controls weвЂ™ve seen since making the transition to wireless controllers. All the cutscenes and endings from previous games are unlockable in Tekken 7, making it easy for new fans to get familiar with the story and for longtime fans to refresh their memory. But the game also acts as a sort of series anthology. Tekken 7 has been pitched as a culmination of the Mishima saga, an exclamation point on the decades-long war between Heihachi, founder of the Mishima Zaibatsu, his son, Kazuya, shadow boss of G Corporation, and KazuyaвЂ™s now-missing son, Jin. So you can imagine how relieved I am to tell you Tekken 7 is an excellent fighting game. ItвЂ™s a franchise very near and dear to me. One of my closest friends even has the Hori fight stick I got with the Ultimate CollectorвЂ™s Edition of T5. We swapped strategies during lectures and finished hundreds of matches on the clock. One of the storeвЂ™s keyholders was a classmate and we were obsessed with Tekken 5. But Tekken didnвЂ™t become a staple of my gaming diet until my first stint at GameStop. IвЂ™ve been a fan since Tekken 2 and bought that aggressively average GBA port of Tekken 3. I donвЂ™t know exactly when Tekken became the fighting game series I couldnвЂ™t quit.