Bandai Namco’s E3 presence was beyond strong this year, satisfying any hyped Otaku gamer who yearns for localization of Japanese titles. For starters it was a huge surprise to see Tekken 7 within Microsoft’s E3 2016 Press Conference.
During E3 the crew of G Style Gaming got a chance to hit up Bandai Namco to get our hands finally on Tekken 7, and of course talk mad trash to each other on who will receive an L to take back to NYC.
Graphics / Unreal Engine 4
Starting off I could not help but to realize how beautiful this game looked in person. At Microsoft’s press conference it looked beyond beautiful, but to see the graphics and to feel physics of what Harada has worked on was pure joy as a Tekken Fan.
Tekken 7 features the award-winning Unreal Engine 4 giving the game a robust amount of development features such as dynamic weather, deconstruction of the environment, and graphical aesthetics like none before in the franchise.
With each character you can literally see the fine detail in this full 3D fighter, and the special treat is seeing how a Street Fighter Character is brought to life in it.
Gameplay and New Battle Mechanics
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 was a fun game during its release week, but quickly shed me away from the title because of the cheesy bounding that was added. Bounds and the infamous juggles are still present in Tekken 7, but not as a gimmick feature. Tekken 7 takes from Tekken Revolution’s combo system, which made.
So auto bounding and back rolls are no longer present. During a combo a bound can be initiated depending on the input and character move. When I noticed it, I screamed for joy because that was a pure annoyance in Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
Rage Mode
More cool additions that blew me away is the old and new battle mechanics. Rage mode is back from Tekken 6 but this time a little different since it will not have a huge amount of damage inflicted to your opponent. When your health is low your character will glow red and so will your health bar giving a boost.
Rage Art
To lead into a boost is Rage Art. If you are familiar with Street Fighter of course Harada had to add a SF essence from his best friend Ono and of course because of Akuma presence in the game. With Rage Art players can activate a super with their character giving a high damage move that could end it all. You have some type of health left in order to pull it off.
Power Crush
Another cool addition that just sets the mode for an epic battle is “Power Crush”.
New Characters
Tekken continues the tradition of a diverse selection of characters as the new entries to the Iron Fist Tournament – Josie Rizal (Philippians), Shaheen (Saudi Arabia), Lucky Chloe (Japan), Claudio Serafino (Italy),Katarina Alves
. All I have to say is Akuma, having him on the roster is awesome.
Starting off the robust selection of characters is always a treat, even for a demo. I choose Feng for my first bout and seen how even veteran characters still have their original essence and nuances.
I didn’t get a chance to test out Akuma, but playing against him alone was joy. Seeing his movesets and combos in Tekken were remarkable.
Story Mode Revealed
After playing some bouts I was then taken to the theater room to learn more about what is to come for the Tekken 7 storyline. Like revealed last year this installment will be the last of hearing about the family fiasco of the Mishima family bloodline.
With Akuma actually being canon to the story this will be the closest we’ll get to Tekken x Street Fighter.
Overall
Tekken 7 feels more fluid than ever, with new gameplay such as slow motion for power crushes and in-game cinematic sequences that have never been seen in this franchise was a full course treat. Plus of course adding Street Fighter’s Akuma tops it off.
Tekken 7 is set to release early 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (Steam) and I am itching to dish out some Ls with the rest of the G Style Gaming Crew.
