Tekken 7
Publisher:
Bandai Namco Entertainment
Developer:
Bandai Namco Entertainment
Platforms:
PS4, Arcade
Genre:Fighting
Release Date:2016
Tekken 7 is a fighting game that is produced and developed by Bandai Namco. Tekken 7 is actually the ninth installment in the Tekken series and is the first to be using the Unreal Engine. While it is slated to come to the PS4 in 2016 it has actually already been released for arcades. The arcade version was first released in Japan in February, 2015 and then another arcade version was released in March of 2015. The PS4 version of the game is currently in the beta stage.
Development
Tekken 7 was first announced by Tekken game director & chief producer, Katsuhiro Harada in July of 2014 during the Evolution Championship Series 2014. Bandai Namco wasn’t originally planning to announced the game at the event. The company said that once video of the upcoming title was leaked Harada felt he had no choice but to announce it. Tekken 7 is slated to run on Unreal Engine 4 – one of the many positives of using this engine is that the game can be developed on multiple platforms. Right now that means only arcades and the PS4 but the engine opens the door for other platforms later.
A teaser trailer in both English and Japanese was released during the announcement, featuring recurring characters Kazuya Mishima and Heihachi Mishima alongside an unknown female fighter. A longer version of the teaser was then released during the San Diego Comic Con 2014. Because of the way the game has been presented, there has been talk about whether or not Tekken 7 will be the final game in this series. The first trailer ended with the statement, “The final battle”. The second trailer seems to reinforce this will be the final game by stating, “The conclusion of the Mishima saga”.
The game’s director has said that Tekken 7 will feature the character designs of seven guest artists, including Mari Shimazaki (Bayonetta), Yusuke Kozaki (Fire Emblem Awakening, No More Heroes), Ninnin (Duel Masters, Cardfight!! Vanguard) and Kenichiro Yoshimura (Max Anarchy/Anarchy Reigns). Shinji Aramaki will be directing the special intro for the game. Harada recently confirmed on his Twitter that Akitaka Tohyama would return to compose Tekken 7’s soundtrack and that the Japanese voice actors for various return characters would again voice those characters in Tekken 7.
During August 2014, Harada asked fans to give feedback regarding an Arab character, which concept-art was revealed on August 8, 2014 . This was meant to prevent accidental offense to the Arab community of the character’s appearance in the game. In January of 2015 it was confirmed the character would be in the game after positive feedback from the community. On October 27, 2015. at the Paris Games Week Event, Bandai Namco announced that the PlayStation 4 version of the game will feature exclusive content and will be getting virtual reality support.
Story
Harada has stated that the game will answer questions regarding the Mishim family such as Heihachi’s reasons for killing Kazumi, throwing Kazuya off of a cliff when he was a child, and hunting Jin down. The story is said to also cover the Devil Gene’s origin and the final conclusion among the Mishima’s blood battle. The game’s director has also said the story will be quite a bit darker than some of the last few games with the plot in the same vein as Tekken 4.
Gameplay
As is the case with other Tekken games the gameplay will rely quite a bit on a combo system. Tekken 7 retains some of the aspects of Tekken Revolution, in which it is no longer possible to bound a character during a combo. It is also no longer possible to catch an opponent rolling. The game’s developers say that the bound state still exists, but “a lot of moves that use to bound are being taken out”. In order to compensate the lack of bounds, the game’s director many moves were given new combo dynamics in order to extend combos.
One set of new moves is called the screw. Screw moves are the new staple for many combos, as the screw property makes the player spin and land in a very vulnerable slump-like state where extra combos and damage are guaranteed; may also be referred to as kirimomi or tailspin. Another of the new features is the introduction of a new type of move called Power Crush. These moves absorb damage from a mid or a high attack, and it still continues despite taking damage. Another set of moves fall under the Rage Arts which changes the performance of a single move of a character during Rage Mode. A Rage Art perform an attack animation that is very similar to what you’ve seen from the Super Moves from the Street Fighter series. When a Rage Art is performed, the character doing the move will immediately lose their rage until they can build it back up.
Characters
Tekken 7 has 27 characters in the game. There are 19 characters that are returning from previous versions in the game series as well as eight who are brand new. The new characters are:
- Katarina Alves: A Brazilian woman who practices the art of Savate. She was designed to be a beginner-friendly character.
- Claudio Serafino: A man from Italy who’s a member of an Anti-Devil organization combating the Devil Gene’s threat. Empowered with a Sirius magic.
- Lucky Chloe: An otaku who wears a kitten-themed costume and has a “Freestyle Dance” fighting style.
- Shaheen: A keffiyah-wearing Saudi Arabian man who handles a “Military Self-defense” fighting style. He was also designed to be a beginner-friendly character.
- Josie Rizal a: Filipino woman who practices Eskrima and Kickboxing.
- Gigas a: A red-skinned humanoid who appears to have cybernetics attached to his body.
- Jack-7a: A new model of the Jack series, he has a slightly modified design with red hair and green color scheme for his arms.
- Kazumi Mishima: Heihachi’s wife and Kazuya’s mother, who possesses the Devil Gene.
The returning characters include:
- Alisa Bosconovitch
- Asuka Kazama
- Bryan Fury
- Devil Jin
- Feng Wei
- Heihachi Mishima
- Hwoarang
- Jin Kazama
- Kazuya Mishima/Devil Kazuya
- King
- Lars Alexandersson
- Leo Kliesen
- Lili
- Ling Xiaoyu
- Marshall Law
- Paul Phoenix
- Sergei Dragunov
- Steve Fox
- Yoshimitsu
Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game