REVIEW –  Tekken 7 is a great game, and the next title DiRT 4, also looks quite promising at first glance. There is some sunlight in the midst of suicidal corners and kicks.

Tekken 7 came last after Street Fighter V, Injustice 2, and Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, and it’s not a problem at all. The Mishima-family and the others are here with a decent character roster, and the humor that the franchise has been known for a while is also here, seven and a half years after the sixth numbered episode… and I’m glad it’s here.

3D

This game doesn’t provide the same fighting style as the other ones mentioned a paragraph ago. Tekken is a 3D fighter, unlike those games. Sidestepping is indeed part of the fighting here, so the AI, or someone calling himself a former pro fighting game player, spamming Phoenix Smasher as Paul Phoenix, can easily be shifted out of the ordinary to our advantage.

It isn’t always a solution, because during the story mode – yes, there is one -, at the end of the game, when you have to use Devil Kazuya to defeat Shin Akuma, who can regenerate his Street Fighter gauge at any time with one move, while also having regenerating health, it’s not helping much. Nope, you have to use your Rage Art at the right time – the lower your health, the bigger your damage on the enemy. This special move can be blocked though high or low, depending on your chosen character, and if that happens, your round can be lost in no time.

Shin Akuma? Oh yes, Akuma’s base form (the Shin is AI-only!) is a playable character hopping over from Street Fighter V, and even against him, you have to utilize the Tekken-style juggle combos, which can be started with some of those moves that make your enemy airborne. The game runs nicely (even online), so Tekken 7 is not bad in this approach.

Rage

Rage Art allows beginners experience the world of Tekken. You can put them on a single button, and you can also remap everything on your DualShock 4, which is another added plus for beginners. If you play Tekken for the first time, I recommend you check out Tekken 3 first. In my opinion, that title in the series was the first massive one. PS1 games can be run on a potato, but if you have a PlayStation Vita – which is, unsurprisingly, worth more than a potato -, then get it for your handheld, it’s worth it.

Back to Tekken 7, in comparison to Street Fighter V, which also uses Unreal Engine 4, we have a lot of content even offline. The story mode, which is just average at best, there’s also an arcade mode, which only has five stages. Tekken 3, in comparison, always had eight, plus Heihachi as 9th and Ogre and 10th! Then, there’s also the Treasure Battle mode. Let me tell you upright: this mode is easily addictive. There are an unlimited amount of enemies, who may have treasure chests, and if you win, you get these chests, and then you can customize your favorite characters with those items. You can spend HOURS in this mode!

Online, there are three things. Casual match and ranked match are self-explanatory, and then there’s tournament. You can participate in championships, and your performance in them can be shown in the pre-match X vs. Y screen. You can get a ton of credits and even more chests for succeeding in tourneys. After Treasure Battle, make sure to give it a try.

You Win

After hearing the title screen music for the first time (PS4 has Jukebox mode, by the way), I knew that Namco’s game has a TON of ambiance. Aside from the motion blur lack in graphics, even the audio is top-notch in Tekken 7. Graphics? 1536×864 on base PS4s (720p for Xbox One), but with a stable sixty frames per second. PlayStation 4 Pro? Full HD resolution with better visuals than on the older Sony console. Too bad there is no cross-play with the PC, but seeing the below average input lag after the other games, I can understand the decision.

Still, the game is wonderful: over thirty characters, nice ambiance, and even with the story mode is meh, Tekken 7 is easily an 8.5 out of 10. Get it. If you’re a Tekken-fan, 9/10.

-V-

Publisher: Bandai Namco Games

Developer: Bandai Namco Games

Genre: 3D Fighting game

Release date: June 2, 2017