The Lone Gamer

“Eastwatch”!

This week’s episode of Game of Thrones opens with the immediate aftermath of last week’s ‘Loot Train Raid’ by Daenarys’ forces. As expected, Jaime survived thanks to Bronn, and got them far downriver enough to escape. The rest of their army, including Randyll and Dickon Tarly, are captured. Dany gives the prisoners an ultimatum- join her or die. Randyll Tarly refuses, and his son Dickon follows him into death by dragonfire. Tyrion is understandably alarmed, which drives him and Varys to share some drinks together. They agree that they need to get Dany to listen more to advice that will keep her from becoming like her father, the Mad King.

Dany arrives back at Dragonstone, and as Drogon lands he approaches Jon and ultimately allows the King of the North to actually touch him. Jorah Mormont returns and is welcomed back into Dany’s service. Ravens from Winterfell at Bran’s behest tries to warn everyone of the White Walkers, but the Maesters at Old Town still refuse to believe the news, to Samwell Tarly’s disappointment. Eventually, Sam can’t take the Maesters’ indifference and leaves the Citadel, taking Gilly, Little Sam and a bunch of books with him.

Tyrion comes up with the notion that they need to capture a wight to show everyone- Cersei in particular- that the Army of the Dead is real. He meets with Jaime with the help of Bronn, and delivers their terms. Jaime relays this to Cersei and learns that she’s pregnant. While in King’s Landing, Davos finds Gendry, King Robert’s bastard, among the blacksmiths. He readily joins Davos back to Dragonstone, along the way showing his prowess with a warhammer.

Jon ultimately decides he needs to be the one to lead the mission beyond the wall, and leaves after convincing Dany. Jon, Jorah, Davos and Gendry leave for Eastwatch by the Sea. From there, they meet up with Tormund, who reveals that they have captured several men trying to get beyond the wall themselves- Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr and Sandor Clegane. Eventually all of them join up into a ragtag band, mistrustful of each other yet united in purpose, beyond the wall…

• Understandably, this week’s episode quiets down a level from last week’s big battle, dealing with the aftermath of this latest development in the war.

• So how did Bronn manage to drag a full-grown man in heavy plate armor underwater for what seems to be several miles to safety? Is Bronn part Merman? Sea Turtles? Unlike Jon Snow’s parentage, we’ll never know…

• I’m sure Dany’s decision to execute the Tarlys will polarize. It was a terrible thing to see, and roasting prisoners is not a benign thing. But in my opinion, Randyll was given more than enough chances to live (three in fact), and he still clung to his misguided principles. Nothing is black or white in this show, and I can’t find myself sympathizing much with him given that he betrayed his rightful liege of a lifetime (Olenna). Dickon dying as well was sad, but he chose it too- Dany at that point could not back down herself or she’d appear weak, at least to her Dothraki, and to anyone else if word of Randyll succeeding in his defiance spread. War is messy and ugly, but it needs hard choices.

• It now seems that there were a lot more Lannister troops lost during the raid than thought earlier- at least enough that Cersei would consider hiring mercenaries- perhaps even The Golden Company? That said, Jaime telling Cersei that the Dothraki will defeat any mercenaries, ANY army he’s ever seen in the world is pretty much the show saying that the Loot Train Raid was THE big battle of the season, if there was any doubt. There simply is NO army in Westeros (watch the Golden Company MELT if they came up against Dany) that can match the horde (except for the Army of the Dead, that is).

• Anyone who keeps saying ‘Dany is becoming a Mad Queen already!’ is an idiot, IMO. There’s already one Mad Queen in the show, and her name is Cersei Lannister.

• Was there only one Scorpion in the entire Lannister army? It seems likely- but now that Dany has seen it, there’s NO WAY she’ll fall for it again. Or at least have some contingents of Dothraki actively looking out for the damn things next time (and ready to intervene).

• Speaking of Cersei, one has to admire how well she keeps Jaime under her thumb. Just when we thought he was out… she pulls him back in. Is she really preggie? If she is, the chances of him abandoning her are pretty much nil, which is bad news for those wanting him to fully defect.

• The Winterfell parts were pretty slow as we see Littlefinger playing Arya. Not entirely sure where this is going, but he is definitely trying to take the siblings apart- we have two more episodes to see who wins in this contest.

• Still no word from The Unsullied, or Euron. One may assume they are keeping each other occupied. Anyway, I can’t worry about Grey Worm- the Unsullied are a full ARMY, and they wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and swim out to sea and fight the Ironborn. If they march overland, they should get back to Dragonstone hopefully before the season ens- there is no one strong enough (or stupid enough) to try and get in their way.

• Anyone else seeing a parallel between Jon’s band of misfits and the Justice League?

• Overall, a quieter episode but SOOOO many things happened, even if scenes were a bit shorter than we would have liked (they could have stayed with Tyrion and Jaime a bit more).

Man, next week’s episode is going to be CRAZY.

The KOF Saga retold in slick CG!

A nice tie-in surely to the release of King of Fighters XIV on Steam is the new CG anime, The King of Fighters XIV: Destiny. The series will supposedly run for about 25 episodes, released first for free streaming on Steam and then apparently on SNK’s King of Fighters Youtube channel.

The story begins with a prologue talking about the Orochi, an ancient evil that was sealed away by three powerful clans (including Kyo’s Kusanagi clan). The story then picks up ten years prior, where ice cream vendor and father Jeff Bogard is killed by his rival Geese Howard for a mysterious scroll. His sons, Terry and Andy (who apparently looked like a very young Lee Chaolan back then) swear vengeance on their father’s murderer. Fast-forward to the present, where martial artist Kyo Kusanagi and his friends, Judo expert Goro Daimon and somewhat comical Benimaru Nikaido head off to join the upcoming King of Fighters Tournament, leaving behind Kyo’s father, Saisyu, in the lurch. Arriving in America, their paths soon cross with other KOF characters- Terry Bogard, Yuri and Ryo Sakazaki and Geese’s henchman, Billy Kane.

It seems that this series will mix in all the storylines of the various heroes- the team of Terry, Andy and Joe Higashi (which was already told in anime form years ago), the story of the King of Fighters Tournament and whatever shady dealings will be behind that, the Art of Fighting series and more. How they’ll handle all those heroes and villains should be interesting to see.

The CG animation of the show is pretty good, with fairly well-done fight scenes and generally slick-looking production values. The characters mostly look as they usually do in the games and artworks, which should please fans. So far the brisk pace, clean animations and a somewhat light-hearted tone make this a pleasant watch. Hey, it’s FREE so why not? I must admit, I may end up purchasing KOFXIV on Steam after a few more episodes.

The King of Fighters: Destiny is can be watched free on Steam or Youtube. Episodes feature Japanese dialogue with English subtitles.

Episode 2 is right here!

“The Spoils of War.”

With Episode 4, ‘Spoils of War’, the War for Westeros continues! Cersei continues to converse with the Iron Bank, promising the payment to the Crown’s debts soon. We then see the victorious, gold-laden Lannister-Tarly forces leaving HighGarden with their loot. Bronn complains about not being paid his due, as usual.

We head to Winterfell where we find Petyr Baelish trying to get on the newly-arrived Bran Stark’s good side, oddly enough by gifting him the Valyrian dagger, Cat’s Paw, which was wielded by a would-be assassin against him waaaay back in Season 1. Bran gets Littlefinger back by mouthing the words, ‘Chaos is a Ladder’ which probably makes LF pee his pants a little.

Arya FINALLY arrives home, despite some resistance by some surly guards. She and Sansa meet and hug in the crypts- they’ve never been close when they were kids- but now, seasons later each Stark girl, now grown and tested by so many trials, seem to finally have a bit of a bond- Sansa, from dainty little princess to high-stakes power player and lady, Arya from tomboy to full-fledged mystical assassin. Oh, and then they meet up with Bran, the new all-seeing demigod of time.

Daenerys, finally fed up with being held back after three episodes and having nothing but dead or captured allies to show for it, launches a full-scale attack on the Lannister-Tarly rear guard= for the first time ever we see the massive Dothraki Horde in full attack. The Lannisters may have been able to shore up a good defense, but the sudden appearance of Daenarys on Drogon pretty much spoils that.
After one of the most intense action sequences you’ll ever see on TV, and easily one of the FINEST fantasy battles EVER seen (Game of Thrones is kicking it out of the park with these battles!), we end with Jaime attempting to end the war single-handedly by spearing Dany but is almost fried to a crisp by Drogon… however, he may instead die a watery death by drowning in his heavy armor (he won’t, but hey, it makes for nice cliffhangers).

• This episode is apparently the shortest in the season, at less than an hour. But what a RIDE!

• Arya meeting Sansa was a wonderful moment, with a nice bit more emotion than the Bran-Sansa reunion last episode.

• The scene in the Dragonglass Cavern was a bit too dark to really make out the grandeur of the place, but still- it was nice to have Jon and Dany in a cave- and we all know how good Jon is in caves…

• Dany blowing her top at Tyrion is a bit distressing, but not without cause. They ARE losing, pretty much because they chose to handle the war with kid gloves. On the other hand, Jon still manages to rein in Dany’s impulse to BURN THEM ALL with a nice bit of advice.

• Arya versus Brienne was AWESOME. Best moment, Arya doing that slick leap up into that crouching stance. SO BADASS. Loved the end where each woman is smiling. They enjoyed themselves, as did the viewers surely.

• The Charge of the Dothraki with Drogon flying above them is sure to be one of the most iconic moments of this show- and there are so freakin’ many of those…

• I guess since Dany is basically their Khaleesi, there’s no need for any Khal anymore- there are no ‘named’ Dothraki, but it hurts to any of our fierce arak-wielding warriors getting killed. Yeah, Dany has many, many thousands of them but we’ll need as many of them as we can to face off with the Night King…

• I kinda like Dickon… I do hope he doesn’t die… but… I don’t like his chances of surviving the next episode.

• Bronn gets a Jon Snow-like single continuous, action-packed shot through the inferno of battle and dragonfire as he is pursued by an exceptionally relentless Dothraki, and it is glorious. Makes you wonder if Bronn is really a lot more important than he seems to be given such focus? That was amazing.

• Again, Bronn is the man of the episode. From some nobody sellsword who just appears out of nowhere hired by Tyrion to watch his back in Season 1, he becomes the one man in the Lannister army to actually injure Dany’s Dragon. What a rise!

• Oh, no! Jaime is dead?! No way.

“Spoils of War” surely has become the ‘Best Episode’ ever of Game of Thrones after today, but I think we’ll be seeing a lot more OMG moments and amazing episodes before this season is over. DAMN… only three more to go. THREE. I can’t. Wait. Till. Next. Week.

The third episode of Game of Thrones’ Season 7 is entitled ‘The Queen’s Justice’, and its pretty apt. There are queens aplenty in this latest chapter of GoT, all exercising their power, wit and guile in yet another hard-hitting bout of war, magic and politics in Westeros.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

• Without wasting any time, the show opens with The King in the North, Jon Snow, arriving at Dragonstone. He’s totally under Dany’s power at this point- he’s got Davos and a few guards with him, but really- Stark guardsmen have had a pretty bad record of protecting their lieges. Still, it’s not dread but giddiness that watchers should feel as these iconic characters meet after literal years apart. Jon and Tyrion, traveling companions to the Wall so long ago, meet and converse, and their exchanges are gold- heck, I would probably watch them just talking for an hour. But of course, they have to get on with the show and have The King meet The Queen. Jon and Dany’s first meeting is between rival rulers, and its tense and uncomfortable, but we know they’re both heroes and good people so there’s no real danger- all we want to see is them eventually seeing eye to eye… but of course it won’t- can’t- happen in their first meeting.

• “This is Jon Snow. He’s King of the North.”

• We see Euron Greyjoy, who has swiftly become Cersei’s champion on the seas, arriving to a hero’s welcome at King’s Landing. He presents his ‘gift’ to Cersei- none other than a captured Ellaria Sand and her one remaining daughter, the Sand Snake Tyene. Euron continues to be a dick to Jamie, which surely is only cementing a strong friendship between the two men vying for Cersei’s bed (well, Jamie already has it, Euron wants to grab it).

• The fate of Ellaria is textbook Cersei, and quite horrible. Of course, she won’t simply have The Mountain violate her like she did an unfortunate septa, Cersei has had quite some time to think up revenge. After a monologue, Cersei kisses Tyene on the lips, using the same poison Ellaria used on Myrcella on the lone remaining Sand Snake. Ellaria’s fate is now to remain alive in her cell to watch Tyene die a slow death from The Long Farewell poison, and then to spend the rest of her days with Tyene’s rotting corpse. UGH. Not sure how many will feel sorry for Ellaria, given how hated the character became after murdering Myrcella, but I guess its still a horrid end. Is this the last we see of Ellaria? Depending on how the war goes, she may pop up again if Dany manages to win and free her Dornish ally, but for now it seems she’s down for the count.

• We then head back to Oldtown and see that Sam has proven himself a healing genius, with a fully-recovered Jorah Mormont being presented to the Archmeister. Sam’s reward (or punishment) for this is a load of new chores, but at least he isn’t expelled for his transgressions. Meanwhile, Jorah says he’s headed back to his Dragon Queen. She needs all the allies she can get.

• Theon is fished out of the water by what we assume to be one of the few Ironborn ships not allied with Euron. Apparently they DID expect him to die with Yara, or at least die trying to save her. Not sure how this leaves him, as the Ironborn seem to shun him (but at least they didn’t throw him back into the water).

• We head back to Winterfell and see that while she’s still acting kinda emo, Sansa is proving to be a pretty good leader. Littlefinger gives her his ‘Every Battle in your Mind’ advice, which is sound but still you can’t trust him can you?

• Sansa is then called to the gates and for a bit I think its Arya, but instead its Bran and Meera. She hugs him but Bran seems to act a bit like an emotionless robot. They talk at the Godswood where Bran tells her about him being the Three-Eyed Raven, which he fails to properly explain adequately. However, he does reveal that he saw her on her wedding night to Ramsay, which utterly spooks her.

• Cersei meets with an official from the Iron Bank, and from all appearances she seems to have everything under control. She promises to pay back all her debts very soon.

• The Unsullied attack Casterly Rock, with a majority attacking the walls while Grey Worm and a small detachment head through the sewers (with information from Tyrion) and open the gates. They defeat the garrison but the victory turns to ashes when Grey Worm sees their ships being burned by Euron’s seemingly omniscient fleet. So now, the Unsullied have lost their ride back home and are facing a long march back home after taking what turns out to be a pretty useless castle.

• The main Lannister army wasn’t at The Rock since its off to Highgarden, led by Jamie who’s also with Randyll Tarly, who has chosen to forsake his allegiance to the Tyrells. We don’t see the battle aside from the imposing sight of the huge Lannister force approaching Lady Olenna’s stronghold. Jamie walks through the halls to the Queen of Thorns’ chamber, to have a talk before her execution.

• Thankfully, we won’t see an old woman beheaded or violated, as Jamie has seen fit to give Lady Olenna a painless, dignified end through poison. They talk as Olenna seems unsuccessful in trying to convince Jamie that Cersei is a monster who will ‘be the end of him’. However, Jamie (at this point) is still completely devoted and in love with his queen…

• Jamie’s gesture of mercy however flies back into his face as Olenna reveals at the very end that it was she who poisoned Joffrey, having the last word that she wants Cersei to know it was her.

• The Queen of Thorns leaves the show like a BOSS. Lady Olenna, you will be missed.

At episode three, the war between Cersei and Dany is taking quite an unpredicted turn. Where we thought that Dany would take Westeros back easily has been upturned quite a bit. Her Dornish and Tyrell allies are both gone, while her elite Unsullies are now far away and in danger of being trapped in Casterly Rock (unless they leave and make a dangerous march back to Dragonstone). Another large portion of her fleet has been lost to Euron’s magic fleet, which seems to know where and when to strike perfectly every single time- it’s getting a bit annoying.

• What’s Theon’s relevance now? Pretty sure he has only a few ships and men left, and their loyalty is suspect. His only path left is to try and save Yara, who is still Euron’s prisoner.

• No Arya yet, but the preview shows she may arrive next episode.

• The Lannisters so far have been batting well, reducing Dany to just her core forces. But yes, Dany still has her dragons AND the Dothraki horde- the game is far from over.

MAN, I can’t wait till next week. AS USUAL.

Winter is here.

I’m a bit late to this one, but with the awesome, awesome Game of Thrones HBO series now down to its final two seasons, I think I’ll be starting this weekly series giving my review and thoughts to these closing episodes of one of the finest, if not the BEST epic fantasy series ever seen so far. I just wish I had started this from day one and season 1 but, hey. Better late than never!

Season 7 has come, with last week’s episode ‘Dragonstone’ and today’s ‘Stormborn’. Here are my thoughts for each of the first two episodes. Of course…

SPOILER WARNING!!!

Episode 1: Dragonstone

• Easily the Best. Opening. EVER. Arya Stark’s single-handed annihilation of the Hated House Frey will go down in the series as one of the most satisfying comeuppance ever. Man, Arya has come far from being her Daddy’s little princess in Winterfell. That wasn’t her, indeed.

• Giant Wights. Or is it Wight Giants? SHIIIIIT! It would be heartbreaking to someday see Hodor’s corpse among the wights, but realistically there is no reason he wouldn’t be… unless his body was destroyed utterly…

• Cersei prepares as Jaime worries. So far Jaime has been faithful to his lover/sister/queen. But cracks are being placed thanks to his love apparently being open to an Ironborn suitor…

• Euron Greyjoy is a freakin’ ROCK STAR in pretty much every way. He’s going to be dangerous.

• Does Euron’s fleet really have 1000 ships? HOW did they manage that? Did they empty the damn Iron Islands of men to man these ships? At about conservatively 20 men a ship, that’s still 20,000 men- a large force in any book.

• The series seems to be dead-set on pitting Jon against Sansa. I don’t think it will come to that, openly. Sansa has a good heart, she just needs to reconcile that with the ruthlessness she’s been taught. I don’t think any Stark will end up dying because of their own kin (at least, I hope).

• Don’t know Ed Sheeran, so the cameo is lost on me. I did like the scene between Arya and the decent Lannister soldiers. It goes to show that Arya isn’t totally ruthless or heartless; while she may have had her guard up, she definitely warmed up to them after seeing and hearing what kind of men ALL of them were. That little jibe at the end may have been a bit daring of her, but obviously the men saw it entirely as a joke, and Arya’s sincere and uncharacteristically girlish laugh at the end revealed that her realizing how silly it indeed must have sounded. NO, I don’t think she kills or ‘silences’ them after.

• That entire ‘Shit and Soup’ segment went waaaay too long. GOT directors and writers have put in gory blood and guts, and now gross stuff.

• Little Bear Mormont is still Jon Snow’s MVP in the North.

• Tormund and the Wildlings are sent to man Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, the Wall’s castle that is closest to the threat of the incoming Army of the Dead. I really can’t see Tormund dying- he’s the ONLY Wildling character left. If he dies, so do the Wildlings as a faction we care about.

• Have to admit, a bunch of old, bearded guys isn’t the most entertaining bunch to watch despite the Hound being one of my favorite characters. The return to the old farmer’s house from many seasons back is an awesome touch and something you’d never have expected to see. How much the damn Hound has changed!

• Dany’s arrival in Dragonstone was a bit long and was a bit trying as it had no dialogue whatsoever, but I guess the sights and architecture of the awesome castle made up for it.

• “Shall we begin?” YES, DAMMIT!!!

Episode 2: Stormborn

• Dany was a bit harsh, but I guess her grilling Varys was probably a bit of a test as well as her getting back at the Spider for his past actions. But kudos to Varys for an awesome speech and proving himself to be one of the best characters in the show.

• The seeds for the Jon-Dany meeting are sown… YES!

• Dany’s first small council/meeting of heads is pretty much all women- Olenna Tyrell, Ellara Sand, Yara Greyjoy… Westeros is more advanced than a lot of places on present-day Earth.

• Grey Worm and Missandei have a long-deserved love scene. How does that work? I guess she gets most of the physical pleasure while he gets… fulfillment? DAMN I hope he doesn’t die. I like Grey Worm.

• Jon decides to accept Dany’s invitation to come to Dragonstone for the possibility of gaining her help against the Night’s King. Of course, the Lords of the North are not happy with their King leaving the North, but at least they get a Queen in his stead.

• Littlefinger is just standing around in Winterfell, just all this time looking shifty and whispering evil nothings into people’s ears. Jon makes his stand on the man who betrayed Ned Stark clear. I think Littlefinger’s days are numbered.

• DAMMN all of Sam’s scenes so far lead to VERY GROSS things happening. GRRRROOOOOOSSSS!!!

• Sam: “You’re not dying today, Ser Jorah.” But you may wish you did…

• That said, I still felt hungry when Arya gorged herself on Hot Pie’s, well, Pies. Nice scene and Arya finding out about the state of affairs in Winterfell had me giddy again. GO HOME, GIRL!

• Nymeria: I can’t go with you, Arya. We don’t have the budget for it.

• Euron takes down the Sandsnakes and captures Yara and Ellara. I don’t fault Theon for jumping ship- his side had lost, he had no chance of beating Euron with his blade at Yara’s throat. It was either live to fight another day or just die a heroic but stupid death. I do hope he tries (and succeeds) in saving Yara- she’s cool.

Next week, Jon Snow and Dany FINALLY meet. PLEASE don’t let it be at the very end of the episode with Dany saying, ‘Shall we talk?’ before cut to credits.

Fighting has never looked this good.

It’s been several years since the last release of a numbered, canon chapter of the King of Iron Fist Tournament, AKA Tekken. Tekken 6 was released for consoles waaaay back in 2009. Now, eight years later, is Tekken 7 the game that we’ve been waiting for? Is it the Tekken we need and deserve? Hell YES it is.

Graphically speaking, Tekken 7 is phenomenally gorgeous. Running 60FPS on 1080p resolution, this fighting game is truly a superior port of the arcade game, with huge characters onscreen with luscious detail from head to toe. Fighting moves are textbook Tekken, from meaty blows to bone-crunching throws. What appears to be excellent optimization ensures pretty much that a decent gaming PC will run this game well, as a solid 60FPS is integral to proper and decent Tekken 7 gameplay. But if you can, I say upgrade your old rig with a good, solid graphics card and you’re good to go.

The Single Player experience is, of course, my main interest and for the most part, Tekken 7 delivers a meaty package. There’s a solid roster comprising of classic returning fighters and several newcomers. So aside from the ever-present Heihachi Mishima and Paul Phoenix, you’ve got fresh-faced newbies like the sassy Katarina- a Brazilian martial artist who doesn’t practice Capoeira, instead using the French kickfighting art of Savate. Then there’s the controversial (for a while) Lucky Chloe, a blonde, petite Japanophile and mascot complete with a neon pink costume and a tail. Claudio Serafino is an Italian exorcist, Shaheen an Arabian security specialist and bodyguard, while Josie Rizal is an Escrima fighter and model(!) from the Philippines who kicks hard but cries even harder. Then there’s Gigas, a massive top-heavy armored bruiser and experimental bioweapon. Finally, Kazumi Mishima is Heihachi’s late wife and a powerful fighter in her own right.
As always, the Tekken roster is full of interesting characters, and you have to be truly finicky to not find a favorite to gravitate to.

That said, the roster harkens a bit to the controversial Tekken 4 slightly in that several classic fighters have so far failed to return- fans of Julia Chang and Lei Wulong, as well as Nina William’s rival and sister Anna will surely be peeved. I am quite surprised at the exclusion of Zafina- being that she is the only new fighter from Tekken 6 that failed to return for a second bout.

Central to the home version is the Cinematic Story Mode- which seems similar to the offerings of other contemporary fighting games. However, the ‘Mishima Saga’, as the mode has been called, is much shorter and smaller in scope than the world-beating, globe-hopping story modes of games like Injustice 2, Streetfigher V or even Dead or Alive 5. Instead of taking the effort to cram everyone in the roster into the narrative, the Saga mainly deals with the history of the Mishima rivalry- between Heihachi Mishima and his son, Kazuya. Told by a rather bland, nameless reporter, the narrative tries to explain the origins of the conflict, specifically explaining why Heihachi committed the act of basically trying to murder his own son and heir so many years ago. What caused the death of his young, beloved wife, who coincidentally died at the same time?

The most that can be said about the Story Mode is that it definitely is interesting, and ends with a true, decisive and rather final ending- though it remains to be seen how this will affect the game’s plotlines moving forward. It does make for some rather irritating boss fights against mega-powered enemies that will take you either a lot of practice or a high level of cheapness.

But perhaps the worst aspect of the Mishima Saga is that, as it centers on the Mishima Family, pretty much everyone else is glossed over. So most of the rest of the roster receives some of the shortest, worst endings EVER in the history of the franchise. These ‘Character Episodes’ are one-scene segments that barely tell any story or conclusion, and often comprise of the fighter and his/her rival talking a bit, or a single bit of action. Where are the cool, funny, weird, awesome or awesomely weird or funny endings from Tekkens past?

Once you finish Story Mode, you’ll probably get busy with Treasure Battle and Character Customization. Treasure Battle is basically the new version of the classic Ghost Battle mode, but this time your main reason for fighting customized CPU opponents is to earn gold or unlocking customization items to deck out or dress up your favorite fighter. As with the more recent Tekken games such as Tekken 6 or Tekken Tag 2, the customization items vary from common clothing items that are universal to most fighters to a few unique pieces and a TON of silly ornaments or accessories, and items that can be used to cause an effect or special attack in matches. While most of the customizations from the arcade version are included, there are many missing items and outfits that are expected to be added as additional DLC.

All in all, Tekken 7 is a superior home port of the latest King of Iron Fist Tournament. Loading times are relatively fast and the deep fighting action is easy to get into, but will take lots of practice to master. A good, solid internet connection will allow you to play online although there have been issues that the Tekken devs are still ironing out. As it is though, I reckon that this Tekken is easily the best home port so far in terms of graphics and gameplay. Content-wise, it can be better, and hopefully will when more stuff is added in the months ahead. If you’re a fighting game fan, this is one of the best fighting games you can get today. If you’re a Tekken fan, well, odds are you already have it.

Tekken 7 is out now for PC, PS4 and XBox One.

The Original Tekken hasn’t aged well, but its still a classic.

The Yo! Videogames crew recently streamed gameplay of the earlier Tekken games, including the first Tekken. This got me reminiscing about this classic beat ‘em up.

Back in the early-to-mid 90s, 3D fightes were a new thing. 2D fighters, mostly from Capcom or SNK, were the norm, while this new fad, started by Sega’s Virtua Fighter, was more of a novelty. I remember though being blown away when I first saw VF in the arcade- the animation (at 30FPS) was AMAZING. It was so lifelike, so impactful… so SOLID.

I first heard of Tekken in gaming mags- I remember seeing articles of something called ‘Rave War’ (which was Tekken’s original title) which had these weird-looking, but oddly compelling characters. Some time later, when Namco released its fighting game in arcades, I saw Tekken and was hooked. The animation was amazing, the music was awesome and the gameplay- for some reason it was even more fantastic than VF’s ultra-realistic fighting. Tekken mixed a bit of over-the-top action into its gameplay, which appealed to me.The clincher was seeing an arcade employee do Nina’s linker throws, which at the time was unheard of.

Fast forward to months later. I was in my second job in an advertising agency, and as company bonus we went on a trip to Hong Kong. I saved up money and on the trip I bought one of those new Playstation thingies, and with it two games- Battle Arena Toshinder…and TEKKEN. BAT came and went like flare pants. But since then, I’ve been a Tekken fan and will probably be for life.

Hopefully I’ll make even more awesome Tekken memories next week, when Tekken 7 hits consoles and PCs on June 2. We’re almost there, gamers. ALMOST THERE.

It’s time to take sides.

With about nine days left till Tekken 7‘s release, I find myself reasonably excited, though I guess having pre-ordered the Steam version, I don’t really have any jitters about needing to plan on which game store I need to stake out to grab my copy before the crowds of fanboys and fighting gamers gobble up every copy. Nor do I have to worry about my chosen branch having their stocks delayed or any such hogwash. I can just patiently wait for my Steam app to unlock the game and start downloading. Well, there’s the bit about hoping my internet can handle it, but my home DSL is pretty excellent so that shouldn’t be a problem (it won’t, right? EH??!).
I don’t even have to worry that I may have work on release day since I am currently not employed at any office or paid on the clock. I can stay home all day and play Tekken till I am sick of it on launch.

Yep, I’m ready. I just have the things I am looking forward to once my game is loaded and ready to run.

First thing is, I’ll probably rush into Customization mode, and check out all the customs for my favorite characters. I’ll probably head into Treasure Battle and win a few rounds.

Once I’ve cut my teeth there and have a feel for the game, I’ll go into Story Mode. I’ll try to play it to the end. Then I’ll see about the individual Character Episodes.

From there, we’ll see. Unlock items in Treasure Battle, customize my mains, perhaps go online and fight. It’s all good.

Just about nine more days. DAMN. I’ve been waiting for this game since 2012. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 brought the hype, and I pined for that game like I am doing right now for T7. But ultimately, I n ever got into TTT2 too much. I just couldn’t get into the Tag system, and if you can’t get into that, the game feels half-assed and unsatisfying. So eventually it just started gathering dust, and I moved on to other fighters. Since then, I’ve had a couple of constant favorites, but Tekken will always have a special place in my gamer’s heart.

Now it’s almost here. I hope this game is all that I want it to be. I need it to be so. After this, who knows when we’ll see another Tekken? I just hope they deliver and just keep supporting it for at least the next year or so after release. And then move to a new Soul Calibur, then think about Tekken X Streetfighter. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Let’s try to get past next week first. Next week. June 2. Tekken 7 or bust.

At 4K and 60FPS, this is perhaps the most gorgeous preview of the game yet.

Youtuber and hardcore Tekken fan Yellow Motion has made a name for himself online among Tekken fans thanks to his high quality vids promoting the Tekken series in general, as well as some prediction videos for Tekken 7 that have so far proven surprisingly accurate. Well, he ups the ante a bit more with a lengthy preview video of the PS4 PRO version of Tekken 7, of which he was fortunate enough to play for some time at the invitation of Namco-Bandai.
Granted, he doesn’t show any HUGE surprises save probably little tidbits or details the most sharp-eyed of Tekkenheads will spot, but this is perhaps a nice glimpse of how good the game looks, at least on PS4 PRO. It has been reported that while the PS4 and XBox One versions of the game are not full HD or in 60FPS, the PRO version runs at a solid 1080p or 4K resolution at 60FPS.

At just 11 days to release, hell- we’ll take any little bits of this game we can get. Hahaha. Tekken 7 releases on PS4, XBoxOne and PC on June 2.

A somber new English trailer for the upcoming brawler.

With about 13 days left till the release of the home versions of Tekken 7, we may be seeing a renewed media presence from Namco-Bandai for their impending brawler. This latest trailer shows off various scenes from the story’s narratives, mainly from the cinematic Story Mode which will decide/reveal the final conclusion of the Mishima Saga. With a title of “No Glory for Heroes”, a grim, brooding narrator and some pretty epic scenes, this certainly sets a dark mood for the fighting awesomeness to come. Have you preordered your copy yet?

Tekken 7 releases on June 2 for PS4, XBox One and Steam (PC).