Tekken 7 (PC) Review

Tekken 7 is not just a quick crash-grab, as it doesn't solely depend on its popular name. It still manages to offer an experience that's extremely friendly to newcomers, as it's easy to just pick it up and play, quickly learning special moves and combos, but it still has an insane depth too, with lots of stuff to learn if willing to join the cream of the crop. Finally, it's still magnificently balanced, with a fine assortment of different characters to choose from, one for every taste.

Unfortunately, Tekken 7 still feels as if it can't seem to shake its arcade roots. In some ways, that's pretty logical, as, like all Tekken iterations, this is basically a port of an arcade game, just with a few additions and tweaks. This all becomes clear as day from the strange lack of a much needed tutorial mode, an absence that almost ensures that few will leave their favourite fighter aside for this one. The real problem, though, is that it feels a bit too much… "been there, done that."

Simply put, if you have ever played Tekken 2 or 3, then you're ready to enter the fray and start working your magic, as nothing has substantially changed. It's the same, good ol' Tekken, with the same not-too-slow, not-too-fast feel, the same control scheme, and, for the most part, the same characters, just with better visuals (a little too plastic, though), and new tunes to fight too… with a little too much dubstep for its own good.

Sure, there are some additions, but, in all honesty, they aren't anything special. Rage Arts, for example, activate when in low health, something that makes the final moments of a battle a bit more tense, yet this is just a super move (that's easy to pull off and avoid) that can be used when near death. Power Crushes, on the other hand, are moves that act as a sort of armour that lets a character continue even when hit - slightly more useful, but also quite annoying, to say the truth.

Negativity aside, however, this definitely is a very good game. The problem is that it's not for everyone. Pros and hardcores will have a blast here, as this is, without a single doubt, a game that feels as if it was made solely for the online and eSports crowd, maybe even more so than Street Fighter V. Those who expect to drown in an ocean of solo content as in Mortal Kombat X or any BlazBlue game… think again.

Apart from the standard Arcade mode, Tekken 7 has Treasure Battle, which is basically an endurance mode where one can gain currency to buy cosmetic stuff. Apart from the fact that it's not anything fancy, it's mind-numbingly boring, as it gets challenging way too slowly, unlike Mortal Kombat X's Living Towers and Test Your Luck, which added a pleasant amount of randomization into the mix to keep things interesting.

If there's one thing that Tekken 7 needlessly throws much weight on, that would certainly be the Campaign, which is actually a story mode that delves on the whole chronicles of the Mishima family. Technically, it's very good, with some nice direction tricks like mid-fight flashbacks, clever camera movements, and an overall cinematic feel. On the other hand, though, the plot is a mess that only fans will enjoy, and that's only if they can stomach the sleep-inducing, robotic narrator that tells this tale.

Oh, yeah! There's Akuma from Street Fighter here too, and, apart from actually playing an important part in the story section, he brings forth some of the mechanics of the franchise he belongs to… but only he can make use of them, so… meh! In conclusion: Tekken 7 is an extremely solid fighter, but the total absence of anything fresh means that only fans and online play junkies will really love it.