Tekken 7 is the 7th mainline entry in the global phenomenon that is the Tekken franchise. Loved by casual players and hardcore alike this series has had incredible staying power over the years. After a long, long wait I finally get to try it out and see if it’s going to be just as good as all the others.

Story

The story continues from Tekken 6 after Jin Kazama former leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu defeats Azazel and then goes missing. The war between The Zaibatsu and G-Corporation, rages on. Heihachi Mishima uses Jins absence to his advantage by once again taking control of the Zaibatsu and attempting to end the conflict between him and Kazuya once and for all.

Unlike previous Tekken games this one has a cinematic story mode in the vein of Mortal Kombat or Injustice. It is appreciated but it was extremely short and forgettable. As well as the fact that it leaves way more questions unanswered than it should. I believe that there might be story DLC that might tie up these loose ends which I would not mind paying for since the amount of content available will keep me happy until then.

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Gameplay

Gameplay is your standard Tekken fare each face button controls a limb and all that. Except there are a couple new mechanics that are introduced. The main two being Rage Arts and Rage Drives. When low on health a person will be in Rage in where they can deal more damage than before. Or they can trade that in by an input for the cinematic and powerful Rage Art. Or if you know what you’re doing a Rage Drive can combo into something for big damage or to make yourself some breathing room. I think that Tekken 7 will please casual players with its satisfying, crunchy combat that makes anyone look cool even when mashing. And hardcore players will appreciate changing things up with the new mechanics. As it’s already been out for a while in the tournament seen the general consensus seems to be positive from pros.

Content

I feel weird adding this section in but after Street Fighter V leaving a sour taste in my mouth I feel like it’s necessary to talk about the content in this game. There’s a lot. You got your standard arcade mode as well as the cinematic story mode. You also get character episodes this is where you get your character endings that you would usually get from playing arcade mode. Although it is unnecessary, at least they did not forget about character endings all together. And they usually range from underwhelming to classic Tekken hilarity. Besides this there are now a plethora of items available for customization, for both the characters and player. Some items are only acquired through the Treasure Battle mode where you can get a chance to unlock items. I think this is where a lot of offline time will be spent after getting all the endings and beating the main story. Alongside these modes there’s also the Gallery and the Jukebox where you can spend your in game Fight Money to buy concept art cutscenes and yes, every ending and opening from every Tekken game. You have no idea how many times I watched the Tekken 5 intro before doing anything in this game. And having the song from Moonlit Wilderness play at random is always a treat.

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Online

Unfortunately I was not able to find any random online opponents but I did manage to play with a friend online and from what I’ve played I had pretty much no lag except for the occasional delayed input. One neat little addition was that you get put into a little practice mode while you wait for a match as just something to do while waiting.

Presentation & Performance

The game runs at a buttery smooth 60FPS as should be expected. The game looks and sounds amazing. The music is some of Tekken’s best and the fact that you can choose whatever soundtrack to play through the Jukebox makes it even better. Animations are fluid and just look cool as ever and they really show it off with some of the new characters moves.

Verdict

Overall I think Tekken succeeds in living up to the legacy its established and for me personally I think this is the best Tekken game since 5. The weird way character endings are presented was really off putting, and the main story was short and not all that great. A larger main story as well as challenging the player to actually earn the character endings would’ve made it a whole lot better. But at its core it’s a damn fine fighting game and it’ll be keeping me invested for a long, long time.

I give Tekken 7 an 8 out of 10