Tekken 7 Preview – Not Afraid to Hit Hard

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 came out in 2012, but it’s still one of the best fighting games on Xbox 360, and remains in constant rotation our machine, or more recently on the Xbox One as part of its back compatibility. But Tekken 7 is the first mainline entry in the series since Tekken 6 in 2007.

 

 

It’s clear with Tekken 7 and its long development history that they’ve taken the time to go back to the drawing board and reinvent Tekken to a degree, taking more than few pointers from Tekken Tag Tournament 2’s success. It also seems that the experimentation they conducted with Tekken Revolution has paid off too.

 

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The most exciting things about Tekken 7 are what has been thrown out, mixed up, and the freshness it oozes.

Tekken 7 is, first off, simply a very good fighting game, definitely deserving of the pedigree and prestige Tekken has built up over the years since the PSOne days. But it’s not a title that seems to be willing to rest on the laurel of its predecessors. Quite to the contrary, the most exciting things about Tekken 7 are what has been thrown out, mixed up, and the freshness it oozes for a game 7 entries deep in a series.

 

Tekken has always had a bit of a reputation for being a series that is hard to get into if you’re not used to it. The results of Tekken 7’s mechanical improvements not only make the game more refined, but also make it easier for new players to get to grips with.

 

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Tekken 7 feels like a great Tekken game, but also a very different Tekken game.

For starters it’s easier to recover in Tekken 7. Characters have more invincibility to get up than they used to, which makes it easier to get back into the fray and avoid being brutally demolished without being able to respond. On top of this, slimmed down move sets seem to have been carefully thought out to give each character and their moves a tighter focus.

 

Juggles have also been revised, so that the endless juggle/bound tactic isn’t really a thing anymore. This has been replaced by the “screw attack”, which allows you to screw out a couple more hits before you’re finished with the opponent.

 

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For Tekken 7 it’s all about the balance between action and reaction, call and response.

But it’s not only the offensive capabilities that have been tweaked in Tekken 7. The addition of the Power Crush might the best yet, as it gives another option for players to respond with when caught in an onslaught. Sort of a reverse Guard Break, these moves allow you to attack through an opponent’s pressure, though you still take damage.

 

For Tekken 7 it’s all about the balance between action and reaction, call and response. The new addition of Rage Mode and Rage Arts perhaps caps off this new philosophy of Tekken 7. It’ll seem familiar to players of some other fighting games. This mode gives you a simple two button special move, usable when you’re weakened. That means even players with an advantage over their opponent needs to be careful over how the opponent will respond, as the tables could turn at any moment.

 

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Tekken 7 feels like a great Tekken game from what we’ve played so far, but also a very different Tekken game. Despite this it somehow still remains very Tekken. Tekken needs to push hard to reach new ground with this one, and from what we’ve played so far they’re definitely not afraid to hit hard.

 

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Tekken 7 releases worldwide on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in Q1/Q2 2017.

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