GamePlay Journal of: Tekken 7

 

My Review Of The Video Game   

Tekken 7 

Product Information:

Developed and published by Bandai Namco Inc.

This game was released in 2015 and for platforms: Arcades, Microsoft, PS4, and Xbox One.

It is a 3D Fighting game, that has multiplayer and singleplayer functionality.

The game requires you to sign an End User License Agreement before play.

ESRB: Teen.

Introduction: 

This is a panoramic diagram of what a video game is: 

(See "Game Review Model" in posts for the full breakdown)

Warning: Spoilers &  Depictions of Violence!

Game Review:

Objective:

Purpose - In this game your objective is to stand apart and use many characters and many varying attacks to fight other Players, online or local. Play through the ranked matches and test your skills while increasing your rank.

This game is in Esports, so it is a quantifiable competitive sport. Besides being an extremely engaging and fluid fighting game.

Risk/Reward - * Honestly a lot of the risk and reward is contingent on your willingness to lose and try to get better. 

Players versus each other by fighting in rounds. Win three rounds, and you win the match. If you play ranked each win increases it, so choosing opponents is a factor to consider. You can set what ranks you are comfortable to match with, but you will gain the most from fighting near your level.

Progression - Progression is not the same as other types of games that we've covered so far. Your purpose is to defeat other Players, to get better and gain more ranks like 2nd Dan, Intermediate, or Brawler for instance. And it keeps going up from there (there are 40+ ranks).

There is an arcade mode that divvies up enemies to fight to earn in-game currency that can be used to unlock aesthetics and other.

Plus a story mode that has a gauntlet type layout were the Player needs to defeat characters that scaffold the story, ultimately ending with a long drawn out battle between the two flagship characters of Tekken 7.

  

Fame - If you can somehow become Tekken God or any other high rank you would definitely be one of the greatest players of this game in the world and that alone can spurn people to keep learning new techniques and improve.

Mechanics:

Systems - The engine for this game is "Unreal Engine" which can be made for many platforms. The programming language most likely used was C++ (a programming language is a type of format programmers communicate with code). These are usually staples for triple A games.

The main systems are: 

Online systems.

Balancing of game-play which is assisted by an optional game data collection setting that helps the Developers improve and modify the game the patches and updates. 

User information like Player ranks, data, and purchased add-ons. 

And many more.

Tekken has to detect high, middle, and low attacks, these hit boxes are quintessential for responsive gameplay, and the timing of animations that activate attacking colliders is the mode for damaging characters.

Every Player character has 175 health and is defeated when they hit zero. When two characters are extremely low and a hit away from defeat, the game slows in-game time to make the situation even more tense... and whoever got the hit off earns a "Great!" and feels great.

 (this is practice mode)

Design - Tekken is a 3D fighter, which means two characters fight in a limited space, where both are almost always square to each other.

Inspired by "Virtua Fighter" the predecessor in a way to Tekken, given the fact that a former designer of Virtua Fighter, Seiichi Ishii was the one who created Tekken.

The mold of 3D fighters starts with Virtua Fighters which was, and still is revolutionary for its time in 1993.

Tekken takes the controls to a new level, and with it a complex variety of moves to choose from, adds diversity to game-play.

Players choose from a character selector and dish it out in boxed in levels with limited time (unless you play practice mode).

Player characters have a variety of attacks that can be considered 'moves' or 'combos'. Players also have Rage arts that activate at low health, strong attacks that cannot be staggered, moves with knock back that bounce opponents off of the bounds of the level.

Players can block high and mid attacks by standing but are susceptible to low hits and grabs. Crouching avoids high attacks, grabs  and blocks low attacks but takes damage from mid attacks. Unblockable attacks are in fact unblockable and need to be interupted or avoided. Side stepping will dodge some attacks, usually frontal ones, but can be risky if the opponent has any sort of swing.

All these elements plus distancing and timing create a very complex game of rock-paper-scissors. Where Players need to use the full versatility of their own Playable character's unique tool kit to best the best. That... or use whatever move your opponent is struggling with, sometimes you don't have to be heady about it and just spam that winning low kick or keep grabbing if they can't seem to escape [I can't promise this will make you popular, winning and enjoyment are subjective (well winning can seem cut and dry but it really depends on what you value as a 'win')].

Here is a match between an online opponent (I'm the one on the left)

https://youtu.be/TBU0lSNfJ3o.

I was slow on the grab escapes and I kept leaving myself open to Rage arts, but that's part of the beauty of fighting games. And on the rematch I got revenge.

Controls - They are vital for fighting games. There are many standardized controllers for Tekken as a whole.

If the Player uses a keyboard for a computer a configuration could be like this in the figure below (players can bind their keys for almost all recent games; Tekken 7 is no exception).

Arcade games have their own static controls (unless you modify the machine). This is a portable arcade layout that shows keys for PlayStation and Xbox controls, but an actual arcade machine would probably only have four buttons and a joystick (besides start or menu buttons).

Because both shown control schemes don't actually need the other four buttons.

The ingenious of Tekken's controls, which were even used in the very first Tekken game. Is that each limb of a Player character is mapped to a different corresponding button e.g. 

PS4 controls square button [button 1] would be left arm which would be used for light punches,

triangle button [button 2] would be your right punch,

X button [button 3] would be your left kick and

circle button [button 4] would be your right kick.

These buttons combo many moves; pressing two at the same time then you'll do a move that usually involves using two hands, like grabbing. You can use the directional pad or the analogue stick to control your character.

Timing of presses is key to perfect execution, this game involves a lot of precise movements. There's a tempo, that's why they have many practice modes and even frame data (which is a purchasable add-on).

Given the mapping of the keys, the learning curve of control is quick. But there are a lot of specific moves that are subtle and unexplained: Escaping out of grabs needs you to press either arm buttons within a fraction of a second, quick get ups by pressing any leg buttons as soon as the Player hits the ground, and ground movement (if a Player is knocked down, they will stay down until given input) are things that took me more than 50 hours to really grasp and utilize effectively.

Here is a example of a basic punch combo:

                            The "tauk" sound is the timing of input to successfully execute the combo

These are some rapid fire demonstrations of a running attack, rising attack and sidestep attack:

Showcase of holding a direction input (the black arrow), a grab and sequencing moves:

Here is a unique double kick move that can be reversed and combined into an attack:

An unblockable jump attack that requires holding the input and a double kick attack:

There are a absurdly awesome amount of combos to unleash in Tekken 7. And it just so happens "King II" the character in the video, holds the Guinness World record for total moves in Tekken 7 which is 186.

To conclude, controls are extremely important, and that is even more true for fighting games. Controlling a character in a limited space is mainly all you can do, so giving the Player a lot 'to do' is imperative.

This game has intuitive control schemes and also has sneaky mechanics that are not so easily discovered, but the sheer amount of input will mull you over while you get the hang of it. And if you ever want a newish experience, play a new character.  

Visuals - The visuals of the game are pretty articulate the character models are vibrant with life and when fighting the Player really 'feels' the action. Physics of characters and animations sell this. There are a vast amount of martial arts and fighting styles throughout the game, and there are more fictitious modes of combat like magic, or impossible robotics (like nano-machines infinitely regenerating some characters body parts). This creates a very dynamic and visually interesting fighting game.

Audio -  There are many sound effects in this game that show different strength of punches and whether characters bounce off of walls or if someone is low on health. And other feedback that is standard for fighting games.

The sounds of characters taking damage instill the sense of guttural combat, but depending on your tolerance for certain groans are catch phrases; can become agitating.

* The music is electronic, which works for the atmosphere, but I personally am not a fan of the music selection.

* I want a lofi (low fidelity) fighting game song that mainly uses bongos and harmonicas, something totally different. And bringing back vocals in fighting games like in Mortal Kombat’s "Techno Syndrome." Albeit that song wasn’t made for the game but was instead associated later on.

Game Narrative - Fight, beat up that meanie who tarnished your credibility. Whether that be an in-game character or human Player (beat them up in the game I mean... I'm not condoning violence... got it?).

Content:

Levels - It's customary for fighting games nowadays to have a story, whether it's a martial arts tournament or you're fighting to save someone, there will be a general layout of stages that you will come across as the story progresses and those stages are the levels where you fight. The contents of them are either the circular stages that usually have a circumference of about 120 feet and the square stages with a perimeter of roughly 160 feet.

There are no obstacles, but some stages have destructible walls the increase the size and shape or transition to new stages.

Hazards - The only things that can damage the player character is another player character or NPC.

Abilities - The abilities of this game are not extras that you can unlock but really just an extent of the moves and capacity of each Player character. For example, there are certain moves that cannot be interrupted and your character will emit this white aura but this can be countered by a low hit. There are spinning moves that keep characters airborne and maybe will swap their stance. There are some characters that have completely different move sets. This keeps the game unique and gives a lot of depth for punching and kicking the other guy 'the game'.

Graphics - Graphics look fine. The 3D model’s animations look especially convincing due to them having skeletons, which are essentially just joints that are rigged from 3D modelling software. Artists can use simulations to make the characters move realistically (or at least consistently) and in an easily copyable manner.

There are some textures that are strangely low poly (polygons are the amount of vertices that make up the model) for a 2015 triple A game. This can be slightly off putting when the pre-rendered cutscenes like in the trailer are vastly different to in-game graphics (this is not uncommon at all for games), yet the game still looks good, character models especially.

Customization - There is an extensive customization system in this game. You can have a weapon attack depending on whatever thing you have on your back, although this just amounts to a ranged gun attack or a simple swing attack of your 'salmon' or other type of whacky item as this game so comically will have.

You can save presets of outfits for every character * Like 30 per Player character! Which is kind of excessive.

Characters - Characters range from bears, ninjas, assassins, martial arts masters and high schoolers. Each character is gunning for someone, the most notorious ones have vendettas against their own family.

My favorites are probably the analogue of Jackie Chan; Lei, with his drunken style and different animal Kung Fu moves (he has almost 180 moves, giving him a LOT of options).

 I also like Ling Xiaoyu, her stance changes and fluid and flexible attacks are fun.

And the personable almost human bear, Kuma. Who I naturally picked up as my first character and probably one of my best. I like stances and moves the change into stances, and Kuma scratches that itch (all the characters I've shown really. His big bear swings and attempts at Mishima style air kicks are fun and easy to get into * My dad is a butt hurt when he loses in games and has a grievance with the 'big character type' in fighting games, so I kind of stopped using Kuma because of that.

* I kinda hoped Tekken 7 would bring back more of their animal characters as they are known for. I would love to play as a velociraptor or a kangaroo as you could in earlier titles.

Story - Some games will have story just to give their characters stakes.

This is one of those games. There is not a lot of thought provoking plot points in the world of Tekken. The first game was just Kazuya Mishima (the 'protagonist' of Tekken 1) getting revenge on his father for throwing him off a cliff… by then throwing Heihachi Mishima off a cliff. This game is the grand build up of the conflict, but ultimately is just a grudge match between almost moronically motivated family members (spoiler someone gets thrown off a cliff).

But if you look past the genericness, it's a fun time with zany and overly serious characters mashed together like you're a kid fighting with your toys. It's incomprehensible fun and that's perfectly fine.

Intention Review:

Player's Expectations:

Genre - 3D fighting game with high damage (fights can end quicker), Arcade game.

Immersion - * Takes a lot of concentration. I really enjoy this game but when it comes to fighting other players online I personally get psyched out. If I don't see the opponent, just something about the not knowing of who's on the other side is weird to me.

This game is the most extensive and involved fighting game I have played and I enjoy memorizing and doing fun and intricate moves.

Hooks - Sidestepping, mapped controls for arms and legs, involved complex combat, were all things that drew me to the game. That and this series has been a favorite of my father which definitely drew me into it. Especially since he played the first game and to be part of the evolution of the generations of the Tekken as a series and the fans is pretty special.

Quality - Gameplay wise this game is peak fighting game for me. Everything else though is weirdly 'cheap' and in areas it's almost like they have a lack of budget for certain things. I would give the game a 9/10

Still fun and well made but some things hold it back, like the weird character story thing with the picture cutscenes. Some of the cross over characters have new mechanics that throw off the flow of the game slightly.

Difficulty - Because of the high damage of attacks even novices of fighting games can really get into Tekken and win. Now, generally people want to prepare themselves before (or at least I do) you know don't want to lose stupidly. Which in ranked means anyone can put up a challenge. 

Players who don't play characters who got very far in others usually will do better because of their experience which this can cause a wrench, a disconnect and a sense of progression and improvement because being a better player doesn't always yield winning a match.

The only constant is exploit your opponents weaknesses and make it hard for them to counter, disrupt their rhythm while maintaining your own. But that's easier said than done.

Developer's Expectations:

Genre - 3D fighting game with high damage, Arcade game * the Developers probably thought this game was more realistic then the actual product. Interpreted that what you will, just my gut feeling.

Project - It took three years to make. * With an Onsite team for Bandai Namco Inc. The Developers were probably under close supervision by a lot of higher ups. 

Hooks - The end of the conflict of a father and son. Colorful characters with updated looks for iconic characters. All for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One era of games.

* These were probably the target focuses.

Quality - [N/A]

Difficulty - [N/A]

Impact on Developers:

Expression - Developers wanted to create a more grounded martial art type game. This being said from main directors who flew around the world to actual sites of fighting competitions to gain more data for the game itself. The ultimate form of expression here is the game and it exudes in depth and competent unconventional fighters that even if not taken seriously, are fun.

Re-playability - [N/A]

Enjoyment - [N/A]

Benefits - This game has sold over 10 million copies since release in 2015. For comparison "Minecraft" has sold 300 million copies, and "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" has sold 60 million. But since both these games came out in 2011, giving them more time.

Besides these games being immense hits (Minecraft is one of the biggest games in the industry), Tekken 7 still was extremely profitable. The add-ons, DLC, game passes, and other strategies for consumer investment led to Tekken 7 selling 57 million units (units are either the lowest value product or any product purchased).

And given how positive the reviews are for Tekken 8, I think its safe to say the Developers improved with the production of this one.

Unfulfillment - * Maybe lacked budget from Namco. The story mode had 'picture cutscenes' which is a tell-tale sign of cutting corners for animation.

With any online multiplayer game and with the ridiculously high amount of elements video games have, there are bound to be bugs.

Patching and updating the game are obligations for Developers (good Developers) to maintain playability. The current patch is v5.1.

Recommendation  - Tekken is a franchise. So fans of the series can comfortably transfer from instalment to instalment. Tekken 8 was released in early February and is doing well. If the series keeps being successful than the Developers will probably keep making more. 

"Their answer was for me to win, or until the franchise ceases to economically be viable" - Katsuhiro Harada talking about upper management's expectations of him.

Impact on Players: 

Re-playability - Competition. Fighting games are some of the most re-playable of all games for the simple fact that a person versus a person will always create unique events usually the creativity of the mind can come up with new modes of play. Liken to even in the early days of the Ping pong video game created by Ralph Baer. Competition will never get old, to be greater than your opponent is a thrill that drives humans in general. Not just in games.

Enjoyment - With 58 playable characters, each having moves upwards to the 180's. Combinations, a good selection of round and square stages with mostly enjoyable music. Which all make the foundation of game that has a lot of mileage. 

Benefits - Ways to connect with other Players online for the purpose making friends. This game prioritizes 'performance mode' which is a useful skill in life. I'm more a 'practice mode' type person and this game helps me to be more cut throat, and explicit (a winner mindset is needed to come out on top against any Tekken opponent).

Unfulfillment - I would say the most notable detriments of this game would be the Players, not for them being rude (there are definitely annoying gamers) but the obnoxious play styles that can be a product of games like this. For me it's the rage art users, and this isn't technically something bad but I get frustrated at simple or robotic type forms of attacks; you know the Players that seem to only know like three moves.

Granted what I'm really frustrated with is when I lose to those repetitive three moves. If I'm actually outclassed that's tolerable, but I formulaic mind that bests me is a personal defeat. 

Recommendation - If someone is looking for a high damage, easy to pick up game then I would highly recommend Tekken 7. If they are a friend of mine, I would enjoy it even more since I personally like sitting in the same environment to really read the other player, like how I played with my dad a lot. I specialize in reading behaviors and once I know the player after like 100 different fights. I love improving and then learning opponents play style. The in-depth and diverse cast of characters can change and keep me on my toes.

Interpretation - It is my favorite fighting game that I've played so far. It's a game that I can really improve and have the capacity to show amazing moments of gameplay.