Tekken 7's new characters and guest character are intertwined into the storyline with Akuma from Street Fighter being the guest character for Tekken 7. there’s some notable omissions, too, namely that of Lei Wulong, Ganryu, and Mokujin, regardless of the fact that there’s several newer characters on show.
Base Game:
Akuma (Guest Character)
Alisa Bosconovitch
Asuka Kazama
Bob
Bryan Fury
Claudio Serafino
Devil Jin
Eddy Gordo
Feng Wei
Gigas
Heihachi Mishima
Hwoarang
Jack-7
Jin Kazama
Josie Rizal
Kazumi Mishima
Katarina Alves
Kazuya Mishima/Devil Kazuya
King
Kuma
Lars Alexandersson
Lee Chaolan/Violet
Leo
Lili
Ling Xiaoyu
Lucky Chloe
Marshall Law
Master Raven
Miguel Caballero Rojo
Nina Williams
Panda
Paul Phoenix
Sergei Dragunov
Shaheen
Steve Fox
Yoshimitsu
Pre-Order Bonus:
Eliza
Eliza is the only known DLC character and she is currently only available as a bonus to those who preordered the game. There is no way currently to unlock her in the base version but Tekken 7 sports a fantastic roster of fighters for both new and veterans of this historic series.
Classic characters such as Jin, Nina, Yoshimitsu and King make a welcome return and with the additions of the newly upgraded Jack (version 7) and the introduction of Street Fighter’s Akuma, players are left with the tough decision of who to choose on their path to fighting stardom.
The biggest addition for Tekken 7 is the introduction of the “Rage Art”, which allows players to utilise their rage and unleash a heavy barrage of attacks when their health bar is low. This is a really cool component to get your character out of a tricky situation and compliments nicely with some smooth cut-scene like graphics.
The story mode is a sort of extended tutorial where the game eases you into its new rhythms and techniques, and the easy mode will let you trigger special moves with the press of a button so you can learn how combos work. Yes, it’s training wheels, but it’s there if you need it, or if you’re new to the series, and playing through the game’s story is a must do just for the story.
With the training wheels off the combat system is so robust and deep that it’s a joy to play around with. Tekken 7 maintains the usual “one-button-controls-one-limb” style of combat, making it easy enough to chain combos together. You quickly learn to be more tactical in fights, blocking at the right times and fainting during others. Launching an opponent into the air for a quick juggle is important and while there may be combos with dozens, even a hundred different commands, you quickly learn that there’s more to the game than that.
This is thanks to the new damage cap on combos, limiting their overall effect with the more hits chained. It gives a fighting chance to players less versed in combos to capitalize on mistakes, makes veteran players who combo continuously a threat and emphasizes the new mechanics. Note that the revamped movement mechanics make side-stepping less of a crutch and more of a tactical maneuver than before.
You can fight online in tournaments, where winning scores you Fight Money to get you silly costumes for your characters. This becomes very addicting grinding it out.
Tekken 7’s customization feels a bit more rewarding as you’re not only unlocking chests with items as well as currency, but you also raise in ranks as you continue to win. This in turn gets more and more challenging as expected.
With the customization mode, you can unlock new outfits for each character, some wacky and some that pay homage to earlier iterations of some.
The online battles are an above average myriad of encounters. Getting decent matches wasn’t hard and connections felt stable. However, there would be times where connections would be poor resulting in at least one or two people dropping from matches. Even on average connections, it’s possible to have some enjoyable fights. This may not sit well for hardcore players who want the very best latency but when playing with someone in the same region, you can be assured of a relatively good experience.
At its core, Tekken 7 is the ultimate Tekken experience. While paying tribute to previous games in the series, it’s also made for the hardcore Tekken fan in mind. Newcomers will also love it once you get a feel for the unique fight system. There isn’t much I didn’t enjoy with during my time with Tekken 7
PROS
Engaging story mode, incredibly well-balanced mechanics, diverse roster of characters
CONS
Online matchmaking can be sluggy trying to load into a match.
PRICE
£59.99 RRP (PS4, Xbox One); £39.99 (PC)
SCORE
9/10 - It's the ultimate Tekken experience
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