Review Tekken 7 | I literally grew up with Tekken, it has always been one of my favorite gaming franchises or at least fighting franchise. I never really had a big feeling for Street Fighter but Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament was played non-stop in our house. With Unreal Engine 4, new characters and a deep character customization options Tekken 7 finds his way on Xbox One. Let’s see if the King of the Iron Fist Tournament is worth playing in this review! 

THE GOOD

• This might be a little technical for some, so feel free to skip to the next bullet. Tekken’s fighting style has always been very technical and beginner friendly, each character has a deep learning curve and Tekken 7 isn’t any different. You still have “noob”-friendly characters like Eddy, Katarina or Hwoarang.. so unlike many other fighters everyone can really play and enjoy Tekken 7. One main thing that’s different, and that many e-sport players will understand, is the side-step defensive play style. The attack and defense play changed quite a lot and is now aimed towards position control. Backwards control has become much, much more important. Combo damage has received some slight changes too, so don’t be surprised that a previous Tekken tactic is far less effective in Tekken 7. (Law comes to mind) Fights have become so much more complex and strategic than before, you have to consider both players health bar for example. Sometimes it’s a far better strategy to inflict less damage so the opposite player doesn’t get his Rage attack, while hard to use getting a rage attack against you can be devastating (you can lose up to 35% health) For the record, if health reaches a specific low point you get one Rage attack. In short, Tekken 7 has an entirely different way to play for hardcore players. While I can’t speak for everyone I’m fairly sure that every professional or beginner player will love the changes from Tekken 7.
• The Mishima Saga, this is the new story mode for Tekken. It has a big focus on the relationship between father and son Heihachi and Yakuza. Jin, still extremely tired from the fight against the evil entity Azazel (Tekken 6) is less in the picture. In general, besides the odd few, for example Nina, Lars and a few more, most Tekken 7 characters don’t get any screen time in the main story. Don’t get me wrong though because this is a good thing. You really get the most deep and interesting story mode ever in a Tekken game. Besides the main story you also have a very small side-story for each and every character, most of them are quite.. nonsense but I loved it. (Especially Yoshimitsu)
• One of the greatest things about Tekken 7 is the impressive character customization options. You can’t make a fighter yourself but you can totally change existing characters into unrecognisable things. To give you an example, you can dress Katarina with a white bikini and a deer head or change her into a samurai warrior. The possibilities are always endless. You do have a few weird and out-of-place things but I didn’t really mind. Seeing other people’s creations online (and offline) is wonderful!
• In total you have 36 playable characters, fan-favorites return and newcomers are added too. It’s a shame that Mokujin, Christie, Ogre and especially Lei are missing but who known what the future will bring! It’s fantastic to see that known characters received some visual changes too, Hwaorang comes to mind so the developer hasn’t been lazy. The new characters all fit the universe and are definitely a positive thing for Tekken 7. Especially the good-looking beginner friendly Katarina is a welcome bonus.
• While fighting the presentation is simply outstanding, the camera shots while dealing the final blow looks marvelous and give Tekken 7 a cinematic look. (Not to mention it looks freaking cool) The Rage-moves only increase that cinematic feel. The option to change your health bar in hundred other possibilities is a nice touch too.

MIXED FEELINGS

• Maybe I’m spoiled with Injustice 2 but I felt a little disappointed by the online modes from Tekken 7. Especially the waiting time between matches. While it’s really nice to set up an in-game tournament I still miss something fresh like the guild-system from Injustice 2. I have nothing bad to say about the net-code though, everything ran perfectly, I just had to wait too long between matches. That said, I’m sure fighting fans will spend hours and hours online!
• Guest character Akuma just doesn’t fit Tekken. He might be a great character in Street Fighter but I do not like his main story presence, that stupid bonus ending fight (so freaking annoying!), his fighting style and his physics doesn’t really fit the other characters.
• Visually things look pretty decent, Unreal Engine 4 really shows some impressive things but not everything is positive. For example the hair is too basic and unrealistic. Fighting Stages are mixed too, some are really impressive with lots of moving parts and colorful objects, while others are extremely boring and lack any kind of detail.

THE BAD

• No match replay. You can use the Xbox One DVR function but I seriously miss a replay function for watching your fights again. Watching replays to see your mistakes is the number 1 way to improve your game. So yeah.. I’m pretty disappointed that none of that is available.
• The voice cast is pretty good and I love that multiple languages are spoken in the story. But what the hell is wrong with that reporter? Seriously, such a boring voice. He totally destroys the believable voice acting of all the other characters.
• Becoming more accessible, that is something that the developers have said multiple times. So let us agree that a missing tutorial is really weird. You have a practise mode but that’s it, newcomers need more and I’m afraid that some might be scared away by the complex fighting system.

Score: 90% |  Tekken 7 is a tremendous game that players will love for many years to come.  2017 is such a wonderful year for fighting fans and Tekken 7 might be the icing on the cake for many Xbox One gamers.

Dae Jim

Founder | Editor-in-chief | Social Media Manager
Gaming is a passion and I wanted to share my Xbox enthusiasm. That’s why I started LifeisXbox, to make sure gamers all around the world know what games they should buy or avoid. I would like to thank you for visiting my website. Your support is very welcome and I hope you stick around!