14 DAY TRIAL // Our Incoming 2015 series focuses on the most important game launches of the next 12 months, and next up we talk about the next entry in one of the most popular fighting game franchises in the world, Tekken 7.
What we know
The last numbered entry in the Tekken franchise was released in 2007, so it's been a pretty long wait for fans of the series. Coincidentally, this year also marks the series' 20th anniversary.
Game Producer Katsuhiro Harada has teased fans by saying that the game's story will be darker than ever before and will conclude the Mishima Clan saga, ending the feud between Heihachi, Kazuya and Jin Kazama and unveiling the truth regarding the origin of the Devil Gene.
The game will focus on one-on-one battles and will introduce a number of new things, the most important of which are Rage Art and Power Crush.
Rage Art enables players to execute a succession of unblockable moves that deal around 40 to 80 percent of regular damage, depending on character and move, activated once their health bar is critical. The trade-off is that the normal attack power increase cannot be activated anymore.
Power Crush lets players continue their attacks even when getting hit by the opponent, receiving the full damage, however. The technique is only effective against high or mid attacks and is still susceptible to low attacks.
Furthermore, the company has revealed that the stagger system will be replaced by a similar mechanic that makes a character spin sideways when they are hit while airborne, increasing the opportunity to inflict addition hits after they fall to the ground.
So far, Bandai Namco Games has confirmed that Kazuya, Heihachi, Lars, Asuka, Lili, Alisa, Paul, Law, Xiaoyu, King, Dragunov, Bryan, Leo, Feng, Steve and Hwoarang will be making a comeback in Tekken 7.
Why it matters
Tekken 7 will introduce some new characters to the franchise, in the form of Katarina Alves, Claudio Serafino, Lucky Chloe and Shaheen.
If Lucky Chloe was somewhat of a mixed bag when it comes to community reception, due to her childish weaboo attire, donning cat ears and a pink fluffy jacket with paws, Shaheen, the good-looking Muslim warrior, was met positively by the community.
The fact that the Tekken franchise is welcoming new and more diverse characters into the cast is a good thing for the game's long-term health, as playing with the same brawlers time and time again starts getting a bit unsatisfying after a couple of years.
The introduction of the new gameplay mechanics is also something to get excited about, as within the confines of the fighting genre there is little room to innovate, and oftentimes developers don't want to risk alienating their fanbase for the sake of experimenting.
Tekken 7 is expected to land in Japanese arcades in March 2015. For the time being, there is no other information pertaining to platforms and potential release dates.
