The Lone Gamer

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).

Take on the Zombie Apocalypse from the best seat around.

A few years ago, Flaregames released a fairly unique zombie fighting game on mobile/iOS, Zombie Gunship. It put you in the gunner’s seat of an AC130 flying gunship (you know- that large plane that ‘brought the rain’ in the first Bayformers flick), fighting zombie hordes from the air. The original game had a nice concept, eerily atmospheric if monochrome visuals and very tense gameplay. Ultimately though, it was a matter of being accurate with your alloted guns- usually an automatic machine gun and a couple of one-shot cannons- and waiting for them to reload/cool down even as the hordes converged on the vulnerable shelters you were tasked to defend. Things soon became repetitive, with progression mostly being your earning enough coins to upgrade your ship and armaments.

The sequel, Zombie Gunship Survival, was soft-released some months ago here in The Philippines, but it will see a wider release soon. For all the faults, the original game was a favorite of mine, so when I saw this on the AppStore I jumped in.

Unfortuantely there was a red flag- the dreaded GET in the app’s store entry. Yep, ZGS is a Free-to-Play title (whereas the original was a premium game for the most part, with iAP being mostly unnecessary). Despite that, I installed and dove in. Pleasantly there are quite a few changes to mix things up, more goals and building elements, even if you may find yourself spending a bit to get into the meat of this zombie title.

Zombie Gunship Survival once again puts you as the commander/gunner of the last AC-130 Gunship around. The introductory mission sets up the story as your plane intercepts an out-of-control cruise ship headed for the mainland. A ground team boards the ship as you provide fire support, but no matter your skills, you can’t stop the coming of the apocalypse. The ship eventually crashes onto shore and all hell breaks loose. Lucky for you, you’re up in the air with a bunch of guns and ammo. Lucky bastard!

So the story picks up months after- you and your crew have survived, and have decided to continue your duty to fight the good fight, even as other military units have become self-serving hostiles. Fortunately, you are able to link up with some soldiers who team up with you to provide ground support. Securing an old air base as your headquarters, you continue your fight against the zombie hordes, who are a continual threat as the hours tick by.

Aside from the flying missions where you provide air support to your ground team, there is a base building element to ZGS, where you set up your facilities for storing resources and work towards upgrading them. As mentioned, zombie hordes will regularly attack your base, so you’ll also have to fly your gunship to defend your home turf. To help, you can set up walls and barriers around your valuable facilities, and have actual defense towers with machine guns and mortars to help in the defense. Thankfully, buildings that are ‘destroyed’ in these zombie attacks don’t remain permanently ruined when you return to normal status (otherwise I’d call foul for this game), and you won’t lose any of your hard-earned upgrades.
The bread-and-butter gameplay, where you fly missions and air support for your ground teams, gets some more variety with elements such as buildings to enter and loot, barriers and obstacles like derelict buses to destroy and break through. This is a change from the previous game which lacked any such features. Zombies spawn from ‘nests’ which are basically groves of irradiated trees. Some times there are small bands, sometimes there are huge crowds. You’ll have to manage your guns, avoid them overheating (and thus temporarily unusable) and keep a cool head. Your ground team is also armed though, and you can upgrade their armaments so they won’t be helpless when walkers come too close. Zombies themselves come in several varieties- the usual human walkers or shamblers, hellhounds or zombie dogs, and the giant-sized Titans. The kind of zombie may require specific weapons, so you’ll have to work at getting new gear by winning and opening crates which provide you these new resources.

As a F2P game though, Zombie Gunship Survival has the usual tropes- upgrades are bought with resources that are doled out in small amounts with every accomplished mission. Crates, which are often earned in gameplay, take time to open- time that can be ‘rushed’ with gold (that is bought with real-world money). So either you are patient or you’ll spend a few real dollars or whatever to get your team the gear you want. Still, there is stuff that can’t be bought readily- your Headquarters or main building, which is key to all upgrades, can only be upgraded as your character ranks up, so you WILL need to play the game a lot.

Myself, I will admit to have spent about ten dollars to get my base HQ to Level 4 and my Hangar to Level 5, which basically unlocks three gun slots for my gunship. At this point, further upgrades look absurdly far away, so I think this is where I can quit spending and just play and grind. Which is fine, as despite everything- building a base, gearing up a team and riding on an airborne angel of fiery zombie death is pretty awesome and worth a look at if you have an iPad or iPhone.

Ah, the Tekken 6 Intro. Still pretty and epic even today.

It seems that when you ask Tekken fans, or fighting game fans in general, about which Tekken they like best, the answer is usually Tekken 3 (“Still the best ever! The highest-selling!) or Tekken 5 (“That was the last one I got into…”). I seldom hear praise for Tekken 6- the last canon Tekken game prior to the upcoming and long-awaited 7th installment in the King of Iron Fist Tournament. Much of what Tekken 7 is, owes a lot of Tekken 6- most of the animations, the general gameplay style, the story setup. Yet Tekken 6 is rarely talked about.

I’ll say it with pride- Tekken 6 is my favorite Tekken. It was the Tekken that I got into arcades for, bought a whole bunch of those cards for, and enjoyed hours playing on in my fave arcade up until they closed down the mall for the day. The visual style of Tekken 6 was a big leap from Tekken 5; characters suddenly looked more defined, with much more detailed and human character models. Animations went through a major overhaul, and the gameplay was forever changed with the addition of Bound combo extenders. Really, the first time I saw Tekken 6 in the arcade- after having to elbow my way past crowds of gamers waiting in line or just spectating- my mind was blown. It looked AWESOME. And it played even better. And man, the Customization. Best Character Customization in the series, ever, period. Tekken Tag 2′s customization was garbage, and sadly the Tekken Devs haven’t seemed to recover from that fully up to now. But I spent real money and lots of effort to customize my fighters as I wanted, and it was bliss.

Then came the home version- so chock-full of stuff, it was crazy. And really, though many despise it, I LOVED the Scenario Campaign story mode and the Streets of Rage-style beat ‘em up sections. Where else could you fight as your favorite Tekken fighter, along with a buddy, against throngs of mobs? It was cool as hell, though admittedly the controls left a bit to be desired. Still, it was well-meant as a mode, and I appreciated it.

The Characters added into Tekken 6 mostly persist to today- Bob, Leo and Miguel are back in the Tekken 7 roster and haven’t much changed, though Leo seems to have had more testosterone injections to make her (yes, Leo is supposedly a SHE) more male-looking. For some reason, Zafina, the Middle Eastern femme fatale, is so far missing… sadly she may have been replaced by the Arabic fighter Shaheen in Tekken 7, which I really hope isn’t the case. Her fighting style was very interesting, and I loved her look. Story-wise though, she seemed to be very much connected to Tekken 6′s boss, Azazel, so with his defeat she may have lost her relevance as well.

Tekken 6 is still a favorite of mine, and as long as my PS3 still works, it always will. Of course, once Tekken 7 arrives I’ll be hard-pressed to go back to the old game, more so as the sequel is looking amazing in so many ways. That said, I still think Tekken 6 deserves respect and recognition. At the very least, if you want to get ready for the Next Battle, I suggest you dust off your old Tekken 6 disc and start practicing.

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

NZGamer talks Characters with the Tekken Devs.

There are still several weeks of waiting till Tekken 7′s home release, so it’s taking all that we can do to find stuff to occupy us. Well, aside from various videos showing off Customizations for the characters and bits of Story Mode, here are a couple of interviews conducted by a couple of Youtube channels with Tekken Team lead Katsuhiro Harada and designer Michael Murray (who also doubles as translator).

Both vids are certainly worth seeing if you want to get more insight into the development of this much-anticipated fighter. Man, how much more waiting can we take? Not too much more… For now though, give these vids a watch.

More tidbits straight from the Harada’s mouth (by way of Michael Murray).

Tekken 7 is looking EXCELLENT.

With little over a month of excruciating waiting to go, this week suddenly got a HUGE update of Tekken 7 content and previews, starting with an almost 5-minute long Gameplay Mode trailer for the game (Japanese only so far, the translated/localized version will be posted next week according to Harada).

Gameplay Modes on offer.

But soon after the release of the trailer, even more expansive previews were soon posted by Gamespot and other channels, showing off lengthy snippets of Story Mode, a look at VR mode (exclusive to PSVR), Customization and the Ghost Battle-like Treasure Battle. There are indeed spoilers to be seen in these videos, so anyone seeking to remain ‘pure’ should take care.

Story Mode is looking REALLY good. It seems that the narrative will look back and portray pivotal scenes in the Mishima Saga history and make them PLAYABLE- such as the fated duel of a young Kazuya and his father, Heihachi (set prior to the first Tekken) and the father-and-son free-for-all with the Jacks in Honmaru Temple (set before Tekken 5). The Rivalry between father and son is the central focus, with a decisive conclusion and the apparent death of one of the combatants to be the ultimate result- which will be canon? Something to be left unsaid until the next game, I guess.

But aside from that, the story is also continued from the events in Tekken 6′s Scenario Campaign, revealing what happened to the currently MIA Jin Kazama, now-former CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu. In addition to cutscenes and one-on-one fights, there are pleasant surprises in the story, such as third-person ‘FPS’-like sequences. Apparently these minigame-like events and even some Quicktime Events will pepper the story mode. It truly does seem that the Tekken team has excellently used the extra development time to make a Story Mode that stands up to the challenge of competing fighters like Mortal Kombat and Streetfighter V.

Not all fighters will figure in the Mishima saga, but all the included characters will appear in their own Character Episodes which will have the expected CG (or realtime) endings to be unlocked at the end.

I have to admit, I am truly stoked and hyped for this game. I already purchased the PC version weeks ago, so all is ready. I can’t wait for this, surely the BEST and latest Tekken ever to grace our consoles. Just a few more weeks! WE CAN MAKE IT!!!

Tekken folks talk the talk.

We are about two months away from one of the most long-awaited, anticipated game releases of all time- Tekken 7. MAN, Tekken fans and fighting gamers have been waiting for more than seven years for this latest KOIFT game. Not since Tekken Tag 2′s release on PS3/Xbox360 in 2010 have we had a Tekken come home. Well, from all indications, Tekken 7 looks to be worth the wait. It seems to be filled to the brim with content out of the box, with even more stuff coming in post-launch (we hear, and we hope). Additional fighters, more items, costumes and customizations, game modes and stages… and of course, the conclusion of the Mishima Saga which supposedly will end with either the death of Heihachi or Kazuya. Which will prove canon? Maybe we’ll find out in another six or seven years… ARGH. Will I be still playing games then? MY GOD, YES… I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO HAHAHAHA.

Kidding aside, hell- who can think about the next decade when the next couple of months will surely be a blaze of hype for Tekken 7? Namco-Bandai seems to be pulling out a lot of stops to make certain Tekken 7 sells, and with the positivity so far, I see that bearing fruit instead of the noisy but sadly overly-complex and rather lackluster Tekken Tag 2. THIS time though, it’s different- this is a canon Tekken, and fans will be behind this all the way. At least, I am. I plan to keep on this like a hawk for the next several weeks. Just a wee bit more waiting, everybody. I’m gonna have my bloody, grimy fingers on this in due time.

Oh right; I bought this game on PC. Deluxe version, preordered so I get Eliza day one. Expecting new character reveals in the next two months leading to release. Man, it’s a great time to be a Tekken fan.